Reviews
Adds a significant entry to the scholarship on soul music. . . . Throughout these profiles, a portrait of how racial segregation and post-Civil Rights Act integration in Florida affected both black and white musicians emerges. . . . Essential.
--Library Journal
Entertaining and colorful . . . Assures that the Sunshine State gets its due alongside the musical hubs of Detroit, Memphis, and New Orleans.
--Publishers Weekly
As Mr. Capouya brings the epoch, the genre and its creative music-makers to life, he shapes eloquent personality portraits that bring us inside the lives and minds of dozens of individuals we would not otherwise get to know.
--Florida Weekly
[Capouya] looks at the music not only as entertainment but as an expression of the culture and history that surrounded it.
--Tampa Bay Times
[Capouya’s] respect for the music, sound, and culture of Florida . . . will resonate for eons to come.
--HenryStoneMusic Blog
It’s a fluent, well-written book filled with facts and a valuable source of information for classic soul music fans.
--Soul Express
As it turns out, there are great stories about soul music, hiding in plain sight, in almost every corner of Florida.
--Creative Loafing, Tampa Bay
Thoroughly absorbing book.
--Soul Basement
As a historical account of the importance of Florida in the history of soul music, John Capouya’s book is essential reading.
--Soul Music
Compelling. . . . Mr. Capouya is to be commended. The casual fan will enjoy dipping in and out of these stand-alone stories; the hard-core fanatic will relish wading deep into the musical waters.
--Wall Street Journal
Prove[s] that Florida does--and always did--have a whole lot of soul.
--Creative Loafing Tampa Bay
An engaging and informative read, placing an emphasis on the stories behind the singers and the songs gleaned from historical research as well as interviews with surviving musicians, singers, producers, deejays, and other industry personnel. . . . An important resource on a music scene that’s never been fully documented within a single volume, adding greatly to our understanding of American music and, in particular, the soul, R&B, disco and funk grooves emanating from the Sunshine State in waves that spread across the nation.
--Black Grooves
Engrossing.
--JazzWax
[Capouya] looks at the music not only as entertainment but as an expression of the culture and history that surrounded it. The heyday of soul and R&B was also the era of the civil rights movement, and these songs sometime tell stories that reverberate well beyond their three-minute play times.
--Florida Verve
[A] well-researched and informative book.
--Living Blues
A great musical history lesson.
--Blues Time in the City
John Capouya discovered that a number of soul singers, writers, musicians, and producers came from Florida--some were born in the state, while others arrived later in life. Whether Floridians by nature or nurture, they all made memorable contributions to one of America’s most treasured indigenous genres of music.
--Florida Humanities Council
Capouya allows the singers, producers, and musicians to tell their stories in their own words and to reveal the many hours they put into practicing and rehearsing their songs to tighten their harmonies and the challenges they often faced in a racially segregated society.
--No Depression