The Big Life of Little Richard

Advance Praise for The Big Life of Little Richard

“We had the great pleasure of performing with Little Richard. He opened the door for Elvis Presley, James Brown, Chuck Berry, and all the greats that came thereafter. This is a must-read for music lovers.”
—Dr. Otis Williams, founding member of The Temptations

“Little Richard kicked open the doors to a new world of wonder for everyone from Dylan to Hendrix to Led Zeppelin to Prince—to everything we now take for granted when we think of the most extraordinary music of the late 20th century. Mark Ribowsky tells the whole tutti-frutti story in a-wop-bop-a-loo-bop style.”
—Mick Wall, bestselling author of When Giants Walked the Earth: A Biography of Led Zeppelin

“Few artists in the history of rock ’n’ roll personified the raw rhythm and rebelliousness of the musical genre like Little Richard. In The Big Life of Little Richard, author Mark Ribowsky has matched a rockin’ prose style with an in-depth exploration of the man and his musicianship. This book should be in every rock fan’s library.”
—John Glatt, author of Live at the Fillmore East and West: Getting Backstage and Personal with Rock’s Greatest Legends

Praise for Dreams to Remember: Otis Redding, Stax Records, and the Transformation of Southern Soul

“Subtly passionate. . . . What Mark Ribowsky has done here is to describe someone who was, not divine, but as godlike as a human can be.”
—Wall Street Journal

“A fascinating tale of the artist and his musical era.”
—Washington Post

“Evokes the fire of Redding and his Memphis label, Stax Records, the cradle of Southern soul. . . . Ribowsky tells the story with nonstop energy, while always probing for the larger social and musical pictures. He vividly evokes locales . . . as well as the Stax sound and Redding’s art. . . . his insightfulness and story­telling gift trump all.”
—New York Times Book Review

“The best. . . . Otis Redding biography to date.”
—Popmatters

“Ribowsky provides colorful descriptions of Macon's cultural history, including how Redding drew considerable inspiration from its other famous son, Little Richard. . . . Ribowsky—a veteran chronicler of musical and athletic heroes—also combines thorough descriptions of Redding's songs, and global audiences' growing appreciation for soul, with the social changes of the 1960s.”
—Chicago Tribune

Praise for The Supremes: A Saga of Motown Dreams, Success and Betrayal

“A powerful biography.”
—Midwest Book Review

“A dishy, insider look at Berry Gordy's making of the Supremes…Ribowsky nicely intersperses some hindsight reflections by the main players…In this engaging, vivacious account, Ribowksy energetically and thoroughly underscores the Supremes' significance as one of the first crossover successes.”
—Publishers Weekly

“[Ribowsky] unearths the incredible, real-life drama of Motown’s biggest female stars…An extensively researched history of one of the most successful female musical groups of all time.”
—African American Family Magazine

“A narrative so vivid that you would believe [Ribowsky] was there to witness it firsthand . . . Ribowsky succeeds in constructing a definitive account of the group from its humble and seedy origins to its anticlimactic demise.”
—Elmore Magazine

Praise for Hank: The Short Life and Long Country Road of Hank Williams

“A timely biography . . . Ribowsky has taken on a truly harrowing life . . . [and] spends a significant amount of time on the music.”
—New York Times Book Review

“A compassionate yet clear-eyed study of the iconic country star. . . . It’s to [Ribowsky’s] credit that he gets as close to Williams as any writer could.”
—Washington Post

“A new biography that exhumes the strange case of the poet and the peckerwood. . . . [and] offers a feast of juicy anecdotes and sharp analysis that should satisfy devotees and attract newcomers to the fold.”
—Wall Street Journal

Praise for Signed, Sealed, Delivered: The Soulful Journey of Stevie Wonder

“Ribowksy's exploration of Wonder's music is first-rate.”
—Publishers Weekly

“A fluid and lively read, critical and celebratory.”
—Time Out

Praise for He's a Rebel: Phil Spector—Rock and Roll's Legendary Producer

“Perfect…The virtue of Ribowsky's book is that he brings the story down to earth without sacrificing its drama. Relying on frank and extensive interviews…Ribowsky spends time on details other writers have taken for granted.”
—Greil Marcus

“A rich, racy inside-show-biz story, with enough backstabbing to dye the Borgias' drapes and a madman cast ranging from John Lennon and Lenny Bruce to Sonny Bono. . . . [Ribowsky] springs terrific quotes from Spector's few friends and many foes.”
—Vanity Fair

“Everything you've ever heard about Specter comes to life in this book.”
—Billboard

“A fascinating account of Spector's staggering list of professional accomplishments. . . . He’s a Rebel [is] such great place to start exploring the life of this talented and tormented man. Ribowsky sees the tragic truth of the story that he's telling: Phil Spector is a terrible man who made wonderful music.”
—Popmatters

Praise for Howard Cosell: The Man, The Myth, and the Transformation of American Sports

“Brilliant . . . entertaining . . . a thought-provoking portrayal of the multi-faceted Howard Cosell in all his glory and enmity.”
—Wall Street Journal

“Skillfully resuscitates [Cosell] . . . Ribowsky, who seems to have read just about everything on Cosell, is a deft narrator . . . All this Ribowsky describes vividly, with a critical eye and an awareness of his subject’s hypocrisies.”
—New York Times Book Review

“Ribowsky's clear-eyed take on the broadcaster who built his career on ’telling it like it is’ reveals the insecurities that fueled Cosell's bravado, charting his ascension from growing up in a middle-class home in Brooklyn to a short-lived career as a lawyer before elbowing his way into radio and TV and becoming the most influential―and controversial―sports commentator in America.”
—Sports Illustrated