Midnight at the Barrelhouse: The Johnny Otis Story
To Otis’ autobiographies Listen to the Lambs (1968) and Upside Your Head (1993) and Lee Hildebrand’s book about Otis’ paintings, Colors and Chords (1995), Lipsitz adds the first full biography of the Greek American bandleader and musician who spent most of his life in the African American community. As much as or even more than Elvis Presley, Otis brought black music to the mainstream audience with his integrated revues, his groundbreaking (if stolen from Bo Diddley, beat-wise) 1958 hit “Willie and the Hand Jive,” and his long-running radio show. He headed a strong live-music aggregation that specialized in R&B and gospel and featured many of the singers Otis discovered, foremost among them Little Esther Phillips, Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson, and Otis’ son Shuggie, a 1960s guitar hero supreme. Otis was also an accomplished producer, recording hits by Etta James (“Roll with Me, Henry”), Big Mama Thornton (“Hound Dog,” later covered by Elvis), and many more. Long-overdue recognition and appreciation of one of the founders of rock music. --Mike Tribby