Upside Your Head (Johnny Otis Related)

LaserWolf

I just read Upside Your Head! Rhythm and Blues on Central Avenue by Johnny Otis. Much better than I was expecting and recommended.Johnny is a decent writer with lots of great stories. The book is only partially about R&B and Cental Ave. It is also about jazz, Omaha, San Fransico. It was written during & after the Rodney King riots. So it is also largely about Black anger. Much of Johnny Otis' analysis is simplistic or maybe I should say visceral. Sometimes insightful.

pickwick33

I second the recommendation.

If you're looking for more, Otis had a similar book in the sixties, Listen To The Lambs, which was written not long after the Watts riots in '65.

The difference between the two books is that Upside talks about music with a touch of politics; with Listen, it's still a good R&B chronicle, but the politics come first.

Is he retired now? He'd fit in well at the Ponderosa Stomp, Green Bay or any of these other roots/vintage rock festivals springing up.

I just read Upside Your Head! Rhythm and Blues on Central Avenue by Johnny Otis. Much better than I was expecting and recommended.

Johnny is a decent writer with lots of great stories. The book is only partially about R&B and Cental Ave. It is also about jazz, Omaha, San Fransico. It was written during & after the Rodney King riots. So it is also largely about Black anger. Much of Johnny Otis' analysis is simplistic or maybe I should say visceral. Sometimes insightful.