There is a possibly apocryphal story about Loretta Lynn’s classic “Coal Miner’s Daughter.” Supposedly, Lynn’s original version of the song included ten (or eight or twelve) verses. Hearing it, her […]
Category: music
Happy “Bird”-day
Jazz innovator Charlie “Bird” Parker was born on August 29, 1920 in Kansas City. Before his death at age 34, Parker transformed jazz with harmonic creativity and complex melodic saxophone lines. […]
UIP music titles honored with ARSC Awards
Several University of Illinois Press books were honored with the 2014 Awards for Excellence from the Association for Recorded Sound Collections. The winners will be acknowledged at the awards ceremony at […]
“James Brown is a freedom I created for humanity”
The release of the film Get On Up in early August rekindled interest in the life and music of James Brown. One of the most staggeringly influential entertainers in American […]
Woodstock flashback: don’t mess with Joe
Hippydom’s high holy day, August 15, marks the anniversary of those three days of peace, love, and mud known as Woodstock. Those who care about the iconic rock festival know […]
New in paperback: a pioneer, a president and a King
Three UIP titles are available in paperback editions today. Locomotive to Aeromotive: Octave Chanute and the Transportation Revolution Earth, water, air—Octave Chanute grappled with the very elements themselves. He built the massive […]
Accordionist Weird Al hits #1
For the first time in his 30 year career, singer, parodist and accordionist “Weird Al” Yankovic has a #1 slot on the Billboard charts with his album Mandatory Fun. What’s […]
Happy birthday Alison Krauss
Born on July 23, 1971, Central Illinois native Alison Krauss has been awarded with more Grammys than any other female artist. The singer and fiddle player has put up sales […]
Mancini’s Pink Panther hits 50
In the spring and summer of 1964, the Blake Edwards film The Pink Panther, starring Peter Sellers, became a huge hit. The farcical tale of an incompetent French detective matching wits with a […]
$2.99 eBook sale on select Music titles
For the month of July we have lowered the e-book list price of four music titles in the University of Illinois Press catalog to $2.99. Carla Bley by Amy C. […]
Read an excerpt from Pioneers of the Blues Revival
Steve Cushing, the award-winning host of the nationally syndicated public radio staple Blues before Sunrise, has spent over thirty years observing and participating in the Chicago blues scene. In his upcoming […]
Happy birthday, Jimmy Rogers
Jimmy Rogers was born James A. Lane on this day in 1924. As Wayne Everett Goins notes in Blues All Day Long, his new biography of Rogers, the legendary guitarist […]