Wednesday, April 6, 2011

RECOMMENDED READING - L.A. R&B VOCAL GROUPS 1945-1965


Authors Steve Propes & Galen Gart have put together a powerful book exploring the Los Angeles rhythm & blues music scene spanning the years 1945 to 1965. Artists relating to the Eastside Sound are well respesented in this book as well as soul, rhythm & blues and doo wop. It reads like a dictionary with the artists being listed in alphabetical order. Loaded with historical facts gathered by Steve Propes through actual interviews and listings of  records from his own collection, this is another must have.
  One of the most interesting things in the book is a Greater Los Angles Music History Map which shows where high schools, record companies, movie theaters etc. were located during those years. I'm sure you can tell by the looks of my book that I refer to it a lot.

Steve Propes is a disc jockey, record collector and music historian. I first started listening to Steve on the radio in the early 1980's on KLON-FM out of Long Beach, California. He currently can be heard on station WPMD out of Cerritos, California over the internet on Saturday mornings called "The 45's Show", He doesn't just play the records. He gives lots of historical information on the labels & the artists themselves. His guests sometimes include record collectors or artists from that musical era. I recommend you check out his show.

From what I've heard Steve is currently working on expanding & revising the book.

2 comments:

  1. I've got the other books and video but I haven't seen this one, I'll have to try to track down a copy, thanks Guy!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I've seen it listed on Amazon and a couple of other places used but it's very pricey. Hoepfully a new edition will be out soon. You could try shooting him an e-mail at:
    rockinsteve@gmail.com
    He also has a Facebook page.

    ReplyDelete