Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews a new release of music by the little-known American pianist George Copeland. It's a 2-CD set of his complete Victor recordings from the 1930s on the Pearl label. They are the first of his work to be back in print.
Singer, songwriter and guitarist Carl Perkins died yesterday at the age of 65. He died of complications from a series of strokes. Perkins is the pioneer of a style of music called Rockabilly, which is described as "a country man's song with a black man's rhythm." He's the man who wrote "Blue Suede Shoes," the hit song sung by Elvis Presley which became the first Sun label record to sell over a million copies.
Historian Taylor Branch. He won the Pulitzer Prize for the first book of his planned trilogy of the Civil Rights movement: "Parting the Waters: America In the King Years 1954-63" (now in paper, Simon & Schuster) His new book "Pillars of Fire: America In the King Years 1963-65" (Simon & Schuster) begins where the other book ended, and covers what he considers the peak years in the movement. At the center of the book are Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Robert Kennedy, LBJ, and J. Edgar Hoover.
Book critic Maureen Corrigan list some of her best bets for the holidays, including Eudora: A Writer's Life by Ann Waldron, The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, The Mysterious Case of Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys by Carole Kismaric and Marvin Heiferman and Holes by Louis Sachar.
Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews "At First Light" (Archetype Records), a new recording of music by composer John Harbison with singers Lorraine Hunt, Dawn Upshaw, and oboist Peggy Pearson.
Langford, who co-founded the British punk band, now lives in the US. He's plays in the country-inspired band the Waco Brothers. Langford is also a visual artist. and, under the pen name Chuck Death and draws the comic Great Pop Things, which is published in the LA Weekly, and collected in the new book. "Great Pop Things: The Real History of Rock n Roll from Elvis to Oasis" (Verse Chorus Press) Langford has just released his first solo CD called: "Skull Orchard."
Bible Scholar James Kugel is a professor of Hebrew literature at Harvard and Professor of Bible at Bar Ilan University in Israel. He's the author of the new book "The Bible As it Was" (Harvard University Press). In it, Kugel reconstructs the Old Testament from ancient times, as it was understood by the first readers, and then traces the interpretations that follow.
Professor of History at Columbia University Eric Foner discusses the new study guide by the producers of the film "Amistad." Though Foner finds the film "interesting historical(ly)" he is critical of the guide because of it's inaccuracies. Foner says the guide "erases the distinction between fact and fabrication," using composite characters instead of real ones, and that the guide misrepresents the significance of the Amistad incident. (Foner's editorial about this appeared on The New York Times Op-Ed page, December 20, 1997)
Comedienne and actress Tracey Ullman. Earlier this week her HBO series "Tracy Takes On" (Sundays at 10 PM ET/PT) began it's third season. Each week she features a gallery of her characters talking about a topic, such as families, sex, money and crime. She also has a companion book "Tracey Takes On" (Hyperion), and there's a HBO home video release of her previous shows. Ullman is a native of England. She got her start in the U.S. with The Tracey Ullman Show, and has since won several Emmys and Cable Ace awards.
Author, and advocate for children, Geoffrey Canada. He is President of the Rheedlen Centers for Children and Families in New York City. He's written a new book about the crisis among young boys, and the need to redefine their sense of manhood. He writes that "Our belief about maleness, the mythology that surrounds being male, has led many boys to ruin. The image of male as strong is mixed with the image of male as violent." Canada's new book is "Reaching Up for Manhood: Transforming the Lives of Boys in America" (Beacon Press).
Actor, director, and founder of the Sundance Institute, Robert Redford. He discusses his work in films, and his work promoting independent films, with the festival he founded, the Sundance Film Festival. The Festival begins next week, January 15 thru 25th in Park City, Utah.
Record producer Nick Venet. He has produced more than 300 albums in his career and has collected numerous Grammy nominations and awards. He is co-producer of a new Bobby Darin box set (Rhino). Venet was also Darin's producer and friend. Venet died last week. (Rebroadcast of 3/19/1996)
Gwendolin Sims Warren has performed with the Metropolitan Opera and the Boston Symphony and has sung in opera houses in Europe, but she's most at home singing in church. She's the daughter and granddaughter of ministers. Now she's the minister of music and choir director at the Allen AME Church in Queens, New York. She's compiled 101 best-loved Psalms, Gospel hymns and spirituals of the African American church in her new book "Ev'ry Time I Feel The Spirit." We invited her to talk about and sing some of those songs.
New York City is celebrating its centennial this year. Perhaps the man most responsible for the shape of the city and for its parks, expressways, and bridges is Robert Moses. Moses held 14 state, regional, and city offices ranging from city parks commissioner to construction coordinator. Our guest, Robert Caro, won a 1975 Pulitzer Prize for his book about Moses called "The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York." In the January 5th edition of the New Yorker, Caro wrote about Moses' impact on New York City.
