The original architects of rock 'n roll were black musicians, but by the 1980s, rock music produced by African Americans was no longer "authentically black." Mahon offers an in-depth account of how, since 1985, members of the Black Rock Coalition have broadened understandings of black identity and culture through rock music.
African American women have played a pivotal part in rock and roll—from laying its foundations and singing chart-topping hits to influencing some of the genre's most iconic acts. Despite this, black women's importance to the music's history has been diminished by narratives of rock as a mostly white male enterprise. In Black Diamond Queens, Maureen Mahon draws on recordings, press coverage, archival materials, and interviews to document the history of African American women in rock and roll between the 1950s and the 1980s. Mahon details the musical contributions and cultural impact of Big Mama Thornton, LaVern Baker, Betty Davis, Tina Turner, Merry Clayton, Labelle, the Shirelles, and others, demonstrating how dominant views of gender, race, sexuality, and genre affected their careers. By uncovering this hidden history of black women in rock and roll, Mahon reveals a powerful sonic legacy that continues to reverberate into the twenty-first century.
The second novel in bestseller Maureen Lee's outstanding Liverpool sequence about family life during the Second World War September 1940 - the cruellest year of war for Britain's civilians as the Luftwaffe mercilessly blitz their cities. In Pearl Street, near Liverpool's docks, families struggle to cope the best they can. A nasty surprise for ever-cheerful dressmaker Brenda Mahon, and flighty Sean's love for little Alice, show how life goes on even when it appears to be falling apart. Yet while Eileen Costello tries to hide her ruined hopes of happiness with Nick, and do her best by the husband she hoped had gone for ever, Ruth Singerman returns, having escaped from Austria. Even the joy of seeing her father again cannot make up for the bitter loss of her children. Look out for titles in the bestselling Pearl Street series: Book 1 - Lights Out Liverpool Book 2 - Put Out the Fires Book 3 - Through the Storm
Liverpool, 1942. As the residents of Pearl Street prepare for Christmas, adversity and tragedy bring them ever closer together. A powerful new saga from the bestselling author of AFTER THE WAR IS OVER. Eileen is worried about the growing distance between herself and her RAF husband since he was seriously injured. Why does Nick find every excuse to stay in London on his weekends off, not returning to his loving wife and gorgeous little boy in Liverpool? Lena Newton has longed for a baby of her own but, with her husband posted overseas with the Navy, it's looking unlikely. Lena's lonely days are brightened by visits to the cinema with her neighbour, Mr Ransome, until a familiar face returns to Pearl Street... Since she discovered her American lover was already married, Kitty has hidden away, too ashamed to return to Pearl Street in disgrace with her baby. Finally facing her fears - and her old friends and neighbours - Kitty learns that life has one more surprise in store for her. As the final years of the war are played out, Pearl Street sees friendships forged, hearts broken, babies born and the most joyful of reunions. Once again SUNDAY TIMES Top 10 bestseller Maureen Lee brings to life the small Liverpool street where everyone has a key on a string in their letter box, in case a friend is in need...
The Comic Irishman makes heretofore unacknowledged distinctions among different types of comic Irishmen and convincingly casts away the stereotyped version of the stage Irishman. It shows how the Irish comic character--whether a blundering fool or a lazy, fun-loving fellow--evolved into a glib and witty rogue. The book is a critical study of modern Irish fiction and drama. The first part provides an analysis of the various Irish comic figures which were popular in the nineteenth century. These are discussed within a social and historic framework because they were to a large extent shaped by the erosion of Gaelic culture under the impact of English government. In the process of shifting from one cultural nexus to another, the Irishman came to be regarded as highly inferior to his English counterpart, yet amusing because of his difficulty with the English language and his rebellious, unpredictable behavior. The second part of the book discusses the writings of such twentieth-century authors as James Joyce, Samuel Beckett, Sean O'Casey, and Flann O'Brien, who concentrated on the analysis of the stage Irishman. Some brilliantly exploited the comic tradition, while other used satire to explode what they perceived as a debasing myth.
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