Outside my trilogy of black music histories (Where Did Our Love Go, The Death of Rhythm & Blues, Hip Hop America), there are several of my titles that are worth looking into for black music month, including collections of journalism, histories of Soul Train and James Brown and some more obscure books.
Buppies, B-Boys, Baps & Bohos: Notes on Post-Soul Culture is primarily a collection of my work for the Village Voice. There are record and concert reviews from the Riffs section, selections from my Native Son column, and longer pieces on sports, crime, and NYC politics. The Post-Soul time line included is from a long article that traced threads in black Culture from the 1970s to the 1990s, which was absolutely one of the most ambitious (and perhaps pretentious) works of my career. It’s available for order at all major on line retailers.
The Nelson George Mixtape Volume 1 and 2, both named after this Substack, are conscious efforts to keep my legacy alive by digging out much of my journalism for Billboard as well as periodicals that no longer exist like Record World, where I was on staff from 1981 to mid ‘82. Moreover I wanted these vintage articles presented in a visually engaging way most mainstream publisher would deem too expensive. With the aid of the owners at Pacific_Pacific Books, each Mixtape perserves the work in a very stylish format. Volume 1 has a wide range, including interviews with Bob Marley, Marvin Gaye, and hip hop’s founding DJs - Grandmaster Flash, Kool Herc and Afrika Bambaataa. Volume 2 contains only hip hop pieces, from my ground breaking profile of Kool Herc in 1978 to an interview with Andre 3000 in Spin from 2004.
Both books are only available via www.pacificpacific.pub.
I’m a child of soul culture, of 45rpm singles and house parties. In the wake of James Brown’s death in 2006, I co-edited ‘The James Brown Reader: 50 Years of Writing About the Godfather of Soul’ with JB scholar Alan Leeds that collects articles from the start of his career to retrospectives after his death. It’s a book that tells you much about how Brown’s music, and public image, evolved over five decades in the spotlight. (Alan has also written an excellent book about the Godfather called ‘There Was A Time.’)
Brown was a regular on TV’s ‘Soul Train,’ so he’s featued prominently in ‘The Hippest Trip In America,’ a look at this influential music and dance show that began in 1971 and helped sharp pop culture into the 21st century. Don Cornelius was its creator and main host, but it is the dancers like Rosie Perez, Jody Watley, Damita Jo and so many others who were the stars and its their storytelling that animates this oral history.
Not as well known as my non-fiction is a series of five music based noir books that feature a bodyguard turned detective named D Hunter. The first was ‘The Accidental Hunter’ and the most popular ‘The Plot Against Hip Hop.’ All are published by Brooklyn based Akashic Books. Each plot is inspired by the lore of some part of black music lore.
If you can find a copy of ‘Fresh, Hip Hop Don’t Stop,’ please let me know. One the first serious titles about hip hop (there were a flood of ‘How to Rap’ and ‘How to DJ’ books when it was seen as a fad), this beautifully illustrated book contains essays on music, fashion, dance and art. I did the introduction and the chapter on music. I’m still looking for my copy. If you find it let me know.
FOR PAID SUBSCRIBERS ONLY: I will be posting a podcast next week about the relationship between Donald Trump, hip hop, and black men.