The WELL: inkwell.vue.412: Susan Whitall: Fever! July 7-21

#99: Gail Williams (gail) Fri 22 Jul 11 11:21

Fri, 22 Jul 2011 11:21:00 PDT

Thanks, this has been great, and for anybody who comes along afterwards, please feel free to chime in, and to look for more information about the book from Susan at <http://www.susanwhitall.com/fever__little_willie_john__a_fast_life__mysterious_death_and_the_birth_of_soul_107497.htm> [Read entire topic]

#98: My free and simple demeanor set everybody at ease. (pdl) Fri 22 Jul 11 09:02

Fri, 22 Jul 2011 09:02:00 PDT

thanks for taking the time to participate here, susan. I enjoyed both books and look forward to the future projects! [Read entire topic]

#97: David Wilson (dlwilson) Fri 22 Jul 11 08:37

Fri, 22 Jul 2011 08:37:00 PDT

Thank you Susan. It was a treat to talk to you. [Read entire topic]

#96: Susan Whitall (bluesyscribe) Fri 22 Jul 11 08:31

Fri, 22 Jul 2011 08:31:00 PDT

As for next projects, I hate to weasel out of descriptions but for competitive reasons and not to jinx myself I'd rather not go into details yet. There are still a lot of threads of stories to follow around here, that I've already got a jump on, I will say that.

I'm going to get "Women of Motown" back in print, even if it's via an e-book. Whether it's printed as a book or e-book alone, I'll expand it with additional material. I've interviewed Berry Gordy a lot, and Diana Ross, and Mary Wilson several times, and all that needs to be added.

I will let you know when the next thing comes out..or maybe when they make a movie out of Willie's wild life.

Thanks for having me! [Read entire topic]

#95: Ed Ward (captward) Fri 22 Jul 11 08:29

Fri, 22 Jul 2011 08:29:00 PDT

Well, thanks for being with us here on <inkwell.vue.>, and sorry it went nuts at the end. Let us know what you're up to, so we can do this for your *next* book! [Read entire topic]

#94: Susan Whitall (bluesyscribe) Fri 22 Jul 11 08:24

Fri, 22 Jul 2011 08:24:00 PDT

I'm here, sorry about that...yes Borders went down and took my Birmingham Borders book signing with it, was supposed to happen tonight. But then Biggby Coffee, a Michigan chain, offered itself as an alternate venue so we're scurrying to do it there.

Kevin John and Keith John do these presentations with me, and they're pretty lively guys, Keith sings backup for Stevie Wonder, and Kevin gave up singing professionally but both of them will start singing at the drop of a hat, just to illustrate a point. At a book signing a few weeks ago, Keith was doing Levi Stubbs' voice (warning him to stay away from his daughter), then his dad's voice (singing "Cottage for Sale").

It's great, I can talk occasionally but mostly be the quiet writer and let the John effervescence hold the audience's attention. There's no doubt Willie's performing skills passed down. [Read entire topic]

#93: Ed Ward (captward) Fri 22 Jul 11 06:30

Fri, 22 Jul 2011 06:30:00 PDT

I know, I know! Actually, what seems to have killed it is the collapse of Borders, where Susan had an important book-promotion meeting the other night which had to be re-scheduled and re-promoted. Plus, of course, she has a day-job.

I've got an e-mail into her. Don't want to dribble. Or even be accused of it. [Read entire topic]

#92: David Wilson (dlwilson) Fri 22 Jul 11 06:09

Fri, 22 Jul 2011 06:09:00 PDT

I guess the recent heatwave did in this discussion. I enjoyed it a lot because I learned about such a underrated talent as Little Willie John. It is criminal the way his career trajectory played out. Also got to reminisce about the music scene in Detroit in the 70's.

The takeaway: Detroit is not just Motown. There is and always has been a lot of music that you just never hear, but you should.

<captward> here is a suggestion: you should close out the discussion, not let it dribble away. [Read entire topic]

#91: Ed Ward (captward) Sun 17 Jul 11 09:32

Sun, 17 Jul 2011 09:32:00 PDT

I think it was more than that, actually, but I don't know how much is public knowledge and I don't want to hurt innocent people.

Actually, though, Parliament was going along (with the same personnel) the whole time those Funkadelic records were coming out from Osmium (on Holland, Dozier, and Holland's Invictus label, another Detroit winner) to the early Casablanca albums like Up for the Down Stroke, which bears rediscovery.

So...after Little Willie John, what's up next? Got any projects you want to work on? [Read entire topic]

#90: Susan Whitall (bluesyscribe) Sun 17 Jul 11 09:11

Sun, 17 Jul 2011 09:11:00 PDT

My favorite George Clinton era is Funkadelic....pre- P-Funk. "I'll Bet You" and all that. Dennis Coffey just re-cut "I'll Bet You" on his new album, re-doing his guitar riff.

Armen Boladian's Westbound label was just the best. I knew sort of instinctively as a teenager just seeing that label that it was going to be a good record.

The issues that tripped Mitch up had to do with bad management...luck of the draw (or bad luck). [Read entire topic]