{"product_id":"why-willie-mae-thornton-matters-hardback-9781477321188","title":"Why Willie Mae Thornton Matters (Hardback) 9781477321188","description":"\u003cfont face=\"Georgia\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"6\"\u003eWhy Willie Mae Thornton Matters\u003c\/font\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"4\"\u003eLynnée Denise (Author)\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e9781477321188, University of Texas Press\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eHardback, published 12 September 2023\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e240 pages\u003cbr\u003e20.3 x 12.7 x 3.8 cm, 0.367 kg\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cdiv\u003eDenise offers a desperately-needed corrective in this volume about the art, life, and legacy of Thornton, whose song “Hound Dog” (later recorded by Elvis) changed the course of American music. A standout installment in the University of Texas Press’s always great Music Matters series.\u003c\/div\u003e (The Millions) \u003cdiv\u003eThe enigmatically intelligent and scholarly productive thinker, LynnÉe Denise, who has made strides in Black realms of music for well over a decade is now presenting a new book. \u003ci\u003eWhy Willie Mae Thornton Matters\u003c\/i\u003e gives an honest and incredibly bright examination of the relevance of Big Mama Thornton.\u003c\/div\u003e (The New York Amsterdam News) \u003cdiv\u003eDenise uses shrewd music criticism and a Black, queer, feminist lens, to reintroduce Thornton as a performer who transcended gender norms . . . Denise’s thoughtful reimagination of Thornton’s career pays tribute to a woman that embodied Black creation and resilience.\u003c\/div\u003e (Alternative Press) \u003cdiv\u003eImpressive research and thoughtful commentary illuminate the life and career of Willie Mae 'Big Mama' Thornton (1926–84) in this eloquent volume...What emerges is a portrait of an extraordinary woman who influenced later blues, rock, and pop music performers such as Janis Joplin...An engaging and well-written must-read with generous resources for further study.\u003c\/div\u003e (Library Journal, starred review) \u003cdiv\u003eWillie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton was a Black, queer blues woman often recognized for her song, “Hound Dog,” but she was so much more. In the latest volume of the Music Matters series, LynnÉe Denise rediscovers and reclaims Thornton’s life and legacy, a gift to us all.\u003c\/div\u003e (Ms. Magazine) \u003cdiv\u003eDenise reintroduces Thornton as a performer who transcended genres and gender norms.\u003c\/div\u003e (The 19th) \u003cdiv\u003eDenise effectively delivers perhaps her most salient point: Who is authorized to convey the story of these Black musicians?\u003c\/div\u003e (The Austin Chronicle) \u003cdiv\u003eThe enigmatically intelligent and scholarly productive thinker LynnÉe Denise, affectionately known as Big Mama Thornton, has made strides in Black realms of music for well over a decade, and is now presenting a new book. The exploration of the life and times of this enigmatic blues visionary gives the artist its due. \u003ci\u003eWhy Willie Mae Thornton\u003c\/i\u003e Matters is a well-written examination of and homage to Black music enthusiasts should collect and enjoy.\u003c\/div\u003e (The New York Amsterdam News) \u003cdiv\u003eAnything but a boring book.\u003c\/div\u003e (De Blueskrant) \u003cdiv\u003e[This book] really gets into that idea of myth-making…[Denise] got to the heart of why we need to create these big ideas that often leave the real people behind.\u003c\/div\u003e (No Fences Review)\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFinalist, 2024 Lesbian Memoir\/Biography, Lambda Literary Award for Arts and Culture\u003cbr\u003e Winner - Walter \u0026amp; Lillian Lowenfels Criticism Award, 45th Annual American Book Awards, Before Columbus Foundation\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA queer, Black “biography in essays” about the performer who gave us “Hound Dog,” “Ball and Chain,” and other songs that changed the course of American music.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Born in Alabama in 1926, raised in the church, appropriated by white performers, buried in an indigent’s grave-Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton's life events epitomize the blues-but LynnÉe Denise pushes past the stereotypes to read Thornton’s life through a Black, queer, feminist lens and reveal an artist who was an innovator across her four-decade-long career. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eWhy Willie Mae Thornton Matters\u003c\/i\u003e “samples” elements of Thornton’s art-and, occasionally, the author’s own story-to create “a biography in essays” that explores the life of its subject as a DJ might dig through a crate of records. Denise connects Thornton’s vaudevillesque performances in Sammy Green’s Hot Harlem Revue to the vocal improvisations that made “Hound Dog” a hit for Peacock Records (and later for Elvis Presley), injecting music criticism into what’s often framed as a cautionary tale of record-industry racism. She interprets Thornton’s performing in men’s suits as both a sly, Little Richard–like queering of the Chitlin Circuit and a simple preference for pants over dresses that didn’t have a pocket for her harmonica. Most radical of all, she refers to her subject by her given name rather than \"Big Mama,\" a nickname bestowed upon her by a white man. It's a deliberate and crucial act of reclamation, because in the name of Willie Mae Thornton is the sound of Black musical resilience. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Introduction \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Mothering the Blues \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e The Black South Matters \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Sisters of the Dirty Blues \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e White Boy Magic and the Making of Genre \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Grown Little Girls, Tomboy Women, and Black Radio \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Don’\u003cbr\u003et Ask Me No More about Elvis \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e California Love \/ California Dreamin’\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Willie Mae inna England \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Your Blues Ain’\u003cbr\u003et Like Mine \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Mixtapes, White Biographers, and Black Blues People \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Saved by the Amazing Grace of Mahalia Jackson \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e A Jailed Sassy Mama \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e The ’\u003cbr\u003e80s Blackness of Willie Mae’\u003cbr\u003es Blues \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Epilogue \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Acknowledgments \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Sources and References \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003c\/font\u003e","brand":"University of Texas Press","offers":[{"title":"Brand New","offer_id":52653247562008,"sku":"9781477321188","price":19.39,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/products\/why-willie-mae-thornton-matters-hardback-9781477321188","provider":"Freshly Printed Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}