Preston Lauterbach

Ernest Withers took some of the most legendary images of the 1950s and 60s: Martin Luther King Jr. riding a newly integrated bus in Montgomery, Alabama; Emmett Till's uncle pointing an accusatory finger across the courtroom at his nephew's killer. But from his position at the heart of the cultural revolution, Withers was simultaneously gathering information for the FBI.Withers traversed disparate worlds, from Black Power meetings to raucous Memphis nightclubs where Elvis brushed shoulders with B. B. King. In this gripping narrative history, Preston Lauterbach examines the complicated political and economic forces that supported Withers' seeming betrayal of those he witnessed, and suggests that Withers' attention to nuance--so arresting in his photography--also made him essential to the FBI.Bluff City culminates with a riveting account of the 1968 riot that led to Dr. King's death, and investigates how Withers may have altered the course of this momentous event.

The Secret Life of Photographer Ernest Withers

Bluff City

The vivid history of Beale Street--a lost world of swaggering musicians, glamorous madams, and ruthless politicians--and the battle for the soul of Memphis.

Sex, Song, and the Struggle for the Soul of Memphis

Beale Street Dynasty

Chosen by The Wall Street Journal as one of the Top Ten Non-Fiction books of 2011 Chosen by The Boston Globe as one of Top Non-Fiction books of 2011 An NPR Best Music Book of 2011 An Onion AV Club Best Book of 2011 The first history of the network of black juke joints that spawned rock 'n' roll through an unholy alliance between vice and entertainment. A definitive account of the birth of rock 'n' roll in black America, this book establishes the Chitlin' Circuit as a major force in American musical history. Combining terrific firsthand reporting with deep historical research, Preston Lauterbach uncovers characters like Chicago Defender columnist Walter Barnes, who pioneered the circuit in the 1930s, and larger-than-life promoters such as Denver Ferguson, the Indianapolis gambling chieftain who consolidated it in the 1940s. Charging from Memphis to Houston and now-obscure points in between, The Chitlin' Circuit brings us into the sweaty back rooms where such stars as James Brown, B. B. King, and Little Richard got their start. With his unforgettable portraits of unsung heroes including King Kolax, Sax Kari, and Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Lauterbach writes of a world of clubs and con men that has managed to avoid much examination despite its wealth of brash characters, intriguing plotlines, and vulgar glory, and gives us an excavation of an underground musical America.

And the Road to Rock 'n' Roll

The Chitlin' Circuit

The Blind The Blind Boys of Alabama

Our Own Story

Spirit of the Century

Combining firsthand reporting with historical research, a music journalist provides a musical history of the birth of rock 'n' roll in the black juke joints where James Brown and B.B. King got their start. 17,000 first printing.

The vivid history of Beale Street—a lost world of swaggering musicians, glamorous madams, and ruthless politicians—and the battle for the soul of Memphis. Following the Civil War, Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee, thrived as a cauldron of sex and song, violence and passion. But out of this turmoil emerged a center of black progress, optimism, and cultural ferment. Preston Lauterbach tells this vivid, fascinating story through the multigenerational saga of a family whose ambition, race pride, and moral complexity indelibly shaped the city that would loom so large in American life. Robert Church, who would become “the South’s first black millionaire,” was a mulatto slave owned by his white father. Having survived a deadly race riot in 1866, Church constructed an empire of vice in the booming river town. He made a fortune with saloons, gambling, and—shockingly—white prostitution. But he also nurtured the militant journalism of Ida B. Wells and helped revolutionize American music through the work of composer W.C. Handy, the man who claimed to have invented the blues. In the face of Jim Crow, the Church fortune helped fashion the most powerful black political organization of the early twentieth century. Robert and his son, Bob Jr., bought and sold property, founded a bank, and created a park and auditorium for their people finer than the places whites had forbidden them to attend. However, the Church family operated through a tense arrangement with the Democrat machine run by the notorious E. H. “Boss” Crump, who stole elections and controlled city hall. The battle between this black dynasty and the white political machine would define the future of Memphis. Brilliantly researched and swiftly plotted, Beale Street Dynasty offers a captivating account of one of America’s iconic cities—by one of our most talented narrative historians.

Beale Street Dynasty: Sex, Song, and the Struggle for the Soul of Memphis

Howard Grimes

Timekeeper is the first-person insider account of the birth and expansion of the Memphis Sound, told by Howard Grimes, the celebrated house drummer from the early days at both iconic Memphis soul studios, Stax Records and Hi Records. Author Howard Grimes backed Rufus and Carla Thomas, William Bell, Willie Mitchell, Ann Peebles, and Al Green among countless others, and shares his story of artistic and personal tragedies and triumphs in his raw and authentic voice. He was a member of the Mar-Keys and sat in the number one drummer's chair for the Hi Rhythm Section. Howard Grimes' co-author is Preston Lauterbach, the highly-acclaimed author of The Chitlin' Circuit, Beale Street Dynasty, and Brother Robert (about the life of bluesman Robert Johnson). With Lauterbach's help, Timekeeper is more than a waltz through the past; it is a rollicking, boots-on-the-ground up close look at the rise and ultimate fall of the soul era of Memphis music.

Preston Lauterbach

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