Rythm Oil: A Journey Through the Music of the American South

This is a collection of writings about the South (mainly Memphis), its musicians, and its music. Booth has gotten to know and hang out with musicians as diverse as Furry Lewis, Al Green, Phineas Newborn, Jr., and Keith Richards (okay, he's not from the South). And his portraits of each gets right to what makes them tick.

The most poignant, for me, was the chapter on Phineas Newborn, Jr., someone I hadn't known much about. Newborn was a virtuoso jazz pianist, with unmatched style and facility. Booth's portrayal sent me straight to iTunes and YouTube to check out Newborn's music more closely.

But the thing about Newborn, and all of Booth's subjects, is the friction in their lives. Newborn was repeatedly hospitalized for mental or emotional show more disorders. Furry Lewis collected garbage on the streets of Memphis to make ends meet. Keith Richards is an unholy mess. James Brown ran into legal problems and some obvious emotional troubles. But the personalities, the talents, and the friction are all one thing -- that's what makes these people interesting, more than just "heroes of music".

Well worth the time spent reading, for the background of the music, but more importantly for the portraits of the musicians as people. show less

If you read nothing in this book besides the essays about Mississippi John Hurt's funeral, the Bar-Kays' funeral, and about Stax (including Otis writing "DOck of the Bay"), it will be worth more than what you paid for it.

Good book on early Memphis the the music of early Memphis.