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I Got Thunder: Black Women Songwriters on Their Craft
In this often fascinating, nostalgic, and thoroughly moving collection of 20 interviews, author LaShonda Katrice Barnett offers a rare glimpse into the careers of the world's prominent black women performing singers and songwriters. Marking an unprecedented exploration of the musical styles and careers of twenty black women performing songwriters, I Got Thunder represents practically all genres-folk, jazz, neo soul, hip-hop, rhythm and blues, and traditional blues. Barnett's interviews are accompanied by brief biographies and selected discographies for each of the influential artists included.Discussing their influences, inspirations and creative processes Abbey Lincoln, Angelique Kidjo, Brenda Russell, Chaka Khan, Dianne Reeves, Dionne Warwick, Joan Armatrading, Miriam Makeba, Narissa Bond, Nina Simone, Nona Hendryx, Odetta, Oleta Adams, Pamela Means, Patti Cathcart Andress (of Tuck & Patti), Shemekia Copeland, Shirley Caesar, Tokunbo Akinro, Toshi Reagon, and Tramaine Hawkins.
- GenresMusic
330 pages, Paperback
First published October 25, 2007
About the author
LaShonda Katrice Barnett
8 books102 followersLaShonda Katrice Barnett is an American author, radio host, teacher, lecturer. Her fiction, music books and plays are known for their themes about the African diaspora and race. She has a collection of short stories, three music books, a trilogy of full-length plays. Her 2015 debut novel Jam! On the Vine, drew attention to the author and scholar. In 2014, Barnett's short stories were featured in The Chicago Tribune, Gemini Magazine and Guernica Magazine. She's been nominated twice for the 2015 Pushcart Prize.
LaShonda Katrice Barnett was born in Kansas City, Missouri in 1974. She grew up on Park Forest, Illinois. Barnett has identified herself as a lesbian and often writes with same-sex female characters in mind in her short stories, plays and her first novel Jam! On the Vine. She's held residencies at the Noepe Center for Literary Arts-Martha’s Vineyard, the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, and the Fine Arts Work Center. She's been a Tennessee Williams Fellow and received a Standards Best Small Press Book Award for her short stories collection "Callalou & Other Lesbian Love Tales" in 2007.
Barnett has a love for music, as evidenced with her jazz program for WBAI (99.5 FM, NYC). She hosted a jazz show. In 2007, Barnett interviewed female musicians about the African diaspora and edited "I Got Thunder: Black Women Songwriters On Their Craft and "Off The Record: Conversations With African American & Brazilian Women Musicians" in 2015. Barnett lectured on women in jazz at the Lincoln Center and in on jazz as a whole in several countries.
Barnett taught at Columbia University and Sarah Lawrence College on history and literature.
Barnett received her B.A. from the University of Missouri, a M.A. from Sarah Lawrence College and a Ph. D. in American Studies from the College of William and Mary. She earned a B.A. in Women's History from the University of Missouri and an M.A. in Women's History from Sarah Lawrence College. Barnett received grants for her work from National Endowment for the Humanities, the New York Money for Women/Barbara Deming Memorial Fund, and the College Language Association.
Barnett lives in upper west side Manhattan as a full-time writer.
(from Wikipedia)
LaShonda Katrice Barnett was born in Kansas City, Missouri in 1974. She grew up on Park Forest, Illinois. Barnett has identified herself as a lesbian and often writes with same-sex female characters in mind in her short stories, plays and her first novel Jam! On the Vine. She's held residencies at the Noepe Center for Literary Arts-Martha’s Vineyard, the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, and the Fine Arts Work Center. She's been a Tennessee Williams Fellow and received a Standards Best Small Press Book Award for her short stories collection "Callalou & Other Lesbian Love Tales" in 2007.
Barnett has a love for music, as evidenced with her jazz program for WBAI (99.5 FM, NYC). She hosted a jazz show. In 2007, Barnett interviewed female musicians about the African diaspora and edited "I Got Thunder: Black Women Songwriters On Their Craft and "Off The Record: Conversations With African American & Brazilian Women Musicians" in 2015. Barnett lectured on women in jazz at the Lincoln Center and in on jazz as a whole in several countries.
Barnett taught at Columbia University and Sarah Lawrence College on history and literature.
Barnett received her B.A. from the University of Missouri, a M.A. from Sarah Lawrence College and a Ph. D. in American Studies from the College of William and Mary. She earned a B.A. in Women's History from the University of Missouri and an M.A. in Women's History from Sarah Lawrence College. Barnett received grants for her work from National Endowment for the Humanities, the New York Money for Women/Barbara Deming Memorial Fund, and the College Language Association.
Barnett lives in upper west side Manhattan as a full-time writer.
(from Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
March 27, 2008
This is an insightful work. I met LaShonda when she came to the Museum of the African Diaspora, San Francisco. She is engaging and has a great sense of humor. This book consists of the transcripts from her interviews with about 20 different Black Women Singer/Songwriters. I believe that no other book has taken on the enormous task of interviewing and focusing on Black Women singer-songwriters. Mainstream music and music history has taken them for granted, and LaShonda makes a move to correct this gross oversight. You get the impression of sitting down with these ladies and being a part of their private conversation. It's great, and you also get to learn the stories behind how these ladies became singers and get their recommendations if you're an aspiring musician or other creative artist.
I would have given this book a 5, hearing Nina Simone, Dianne Reeves, and Nona Hendryx tell about their experiences in the music industry is just awesome. However; LaShonda obviously has a bias toward a particular type of music and she seems to strongly guide many of the conversations-- except with Nina Simone, of course. There were many times when the conversations would stray away from a focus on the women and their craft and lean toward LaShonda's particular areas of interest. When this happened, I felt like there were missed opportunities to discover more of what makes these ladies tick-- like going more into depth in their unique experiences as Black Women.
There is also a strong anti-hip-hop sentiment throughout the book. I am definitely of the hip-hop generation and I tended to disagree with the way hip-hop was continuously seen as degrading and immature. Yeah, that;s the commercial hip-hop that makes it to the airwaves by design, but what about all the amazingly revolutionary stuff that never hits the airwaves-- like Malkia Cyril and Rosa Clemente, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Common, Zion I, Medusa, check out the Womanhood Learning Project, We B*Girlz Festival, I mean the resources are endless. LaShonda is very good at what she does, but I feel like a great interviewer and researcher needs to look at all angles of an issue, and not let their own biases get in the way. If hip-hop is talked about so much, reseach needs to be done, and the source needs to be questioned. Some of the artists interviewed, like Chaka Khan had good things to say, but most don't really know enough about what's really going down. I would have loved it if she would have sought out to balance the perspective by interviewing a woman who is part of the hip-hop movement or at least in the mix-- like Jill Scott or Erykah Badu. That would have really done it for me.
Jeff Chang says, "it's a small number of black artists — Snoop Dogg, Ludacris and 50 Cent, to name some — who are paid large amounts to perpetuate some of America's oldest racial and sexual stereotypes." Furthermore, Chang says, "none of the critics who accuse hip-hop of single-handedly coarsening the culture think to speak with members of the hip-hop generation.... To confuse commercial rap made by a few artists with how hip-hop is actually lived by millions is to miss the good that hip-hop does. If hip-hop's critics paid attention to the hip-hop generation, they would learn that the discussion has already begun without them and that they might need to listen. Then a real intergenerational conversation could begin."
I know I'm ranting about this one issue, but for me it is a big deal. There is too much stereotyping, and it seems unfortunate that LaShonda and most of the artists she interviewed are not in touch with the next new movement in Black music. We are seeing a resurgence of amazing artists going back to the classic Jazz and Blues, like Lizz Wright and Toshi Reagon (interviewed in the book), but there is a whole other movement that is changing people's lives and ways of thinking.
Don't get me wrong, this is a great book, with some great insights. My judgements are not because I didn't tear through this book in a week, and not because I was not completely fascinated by the tid-bits of knowledge I gained from every page. My critiques are more directed toward how the sequel would improve upon this landmark undertaking. As I said earlier, to my knowledge, no other book has taken up interviewing these ladies this in-depthly-- and folks like Nina Simone, who are no longer with us.
I would have given this book a 5, hearing Nina Simone, Dianne Reeves, and Nona Hendryx tell about their experiences in the music industry is just awesome. However; LaShonda obviously has a bias toward a particular type of music and she seems to strongly guide many of the conversations-- except with Nina Simone, of course. There were many times when the conversations would stray away from a focus on the women and their craft and lean toward LaShonda's particular areas of interest. When this happened, I felt like there were missed opportunities to discover more of what makes these ladies tick-- like going more into depth in their unique experiences as Black Women.
There is also a strong anti-hip-hop sentiment throughout the book. I am definitely of the hip-hop generation and I tended to disagree with the way hip-hop was continuously seen as degrading and immature. Yeah, that;s the commercial hip-hop that makes it to the airwaves by design, but what about all the amazingly revolutionary stuff that never hits the airwaves-- like Malkia Cyril and Rosa Clemente, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Common, Zion I, Medusa, check out the Womanhood Learning Project, We B*Girlz Festival, I mean the resources are endless. LaShonda is very good at what she does, but I feel like a great interviewer and researcher needs to look at all angles of an issue, and not let their own biases get in the way. If hip-hop is talked about so much, reseach needs to be done, and the source needs to be questioned. Some of the artists interviewed, like Chaka Khan had good things to say, but most don't really know enough about what's really going down. I would have loved it if she would have sought out to balance the perspective by interviewing a woman who is part of the hip-hop movement or at least in the mix-- like Jill Scott or Erykah Badu. That would have really done it for me.
Jeff Chang says, "it's a small number of black artists — Snoop Dogg, Ludacris and 50 Cent, to name some — who are paid large amounts to perpetuate some of America's oldest racial and sexual stereotypes." Furthermore, Chang says, "none of the critics who accuse hip-hop of single-handedly coarsening the culture think to speak with members of the hip-hop generation.... To confuse commercial rap made by a few artists with how hip-hop is actually lived by millions is to miss the good that hip-hop does. If hip-hop's critics paid attention to the hip-hop generation, they would learn that the discussion has already begun without them and that they might need to listen. Then a real intergenerational conversation could begin."
I know I'm ranting about this one issue, but for me it is a big deal. There is too much stereotyping, and it seems unfortunate that LaShonda and most of the artists she interviewed are not in touch with the next new movement in Black music. We are seeing a resurgence of amazing artists going back to the classic Jazz and Blues, like Lizz Wright and Toshi Reagon (interviewed in the book), but there is a whole other movement that is changing people's lives and ways of thinking.
Don't get me wrong, this is a great book, with some great insights. My judgements are not because I didn't tear through this book in a week, and not because I was not completely fascinated by the tid-bits of knowledge I gained from every page. My critiques are more directed toward how the sequel would improve upon this landmark undertaking. As I said earlier, to my knowledge, no other book has taken up interviewing these ladies this in-depthly-- and folks like Nina Simone, who are no longer with us.
August 23, 2009
I thought this book did an excellent job of giving the reader a bit of insight into the the creative process. I appreciated the mix of artists--the well-known and the lesser know, rock, folk, jazz, R&B and pop were all represented. Hardcore music lovers will probably enjoy and appreicate this book more than others, but I think the book's value as a reference guide on an underexplored subject is undeniable.
May 29, 2010
I love this book. Taken as a whole, it's often too much to handle. So much inspiration, so many stories about the creative process, so much great music (both artists that I know and new ones!). I like thinking of this book as a treat. When I have 20 minutes or so, like if I'm riding the bart to work, I pick up and read another profile and interview.
Want to Read
February 17, 2009Skuh-WEE!
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February 7, 2012It is Black History Month! The best thing about February!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews