https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/...KhiL5WX&rank=1
I'm in the midst of reading Shine Bright by Danyel Smith, a long time music and cultural critic. The book is a celebration and analysis of Black women singers of the 20th century. Smith also mixes in raw emotionally intense personal memoir growing up in a home with a mother with an abusive boyfriend and Smith details how the music of such singers as The Dixie Cups, Dionne Warwick, Cissy Houston, Whitney Houston, Donna Summer, Peaches, Marilyn McCoo, Aretha Franklin, and others helped her through as well as examining their own lives and careers and cultural impact.
Diana Ross has a chapter devoted to her which I read earlier this week. Smith talks about how Lady Sings the Blues soundtrack was frequently played in her home growing up and she goes into some detail about Diana's solo debut album, I"m Coming Out and Endless Love. She also discusses how Diana's unapologetic ambition has helped make her a divisive and controversial figure.
Book is quite interesting and well worth reading. I'm up to the chapter on Donna Summer and how her song State of Independence helped the author in her college years in the early 80s at UC Berkeley.
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