For many years Nelson George has been both America's premier black music writer and our best writer about black music. In a field populated largely by white, middle class music dorks with a passion for black culture (present writer included), George's keen insights and insider's perspective have placed him at the head of a small (but growing) class of African-American music journalists. As his career progressed, Nelson expanded into fiction, history, television, and film, earning equal - if not greater - acclaim to what he received as a music critic.

Nelson George's first big gig came in 1979 as black music editor at Record World magazine. He made his bones, however, at Billboard where he served in a similar capacity from 1982 to 1989. He published his first book, The Michael Jackson Story, in 1984. A huge bestseller at the time, it is now out-of-print and long-forgotten - a condition for which the author expresses relief.

That book was quickly followed by a number of far more substantial tomes, and he continued writing features and columns for Essence, Playboy, Esquire, The Village Voice, and others. He also delved into several aspects of film making (screenwriting, producing, directing), and, until recently, wrote a regular online column, "Mr. 125 Street," for Africana.com.

Nelson George's influence has grown large both in size and scope, and he has become a one-man media conglomerate. He is a celebrated authority on all aspects of modern Black culture, and he maintains an extensive website, www.nelsongeorge.com, about his life and work. In addition to the books discussed below, that body of work includes:

• Elevating The Game: Black Men And Basketball (nonfiction, 1992)
• Urban Romance (fiction, 1993)
• Blackface: Reflections on African-Americans and the Movies (nonfiction, 1994)
• Seduced (fiction, 1996)
• One Woman Short (fiction, 2000)
• Show & Tell (fiction, 2001)
• Life & Def: SeX, Drugs, Money, And God (biography, 2001)
• Night Work (fiction, 2003)

Nelson George is also frequently tapped to write liner notes, a skill that earned him a "Best Album Notes" Grammy award in 1991 for James Brown's Star Time boxed set. Other notable contributions include NBA at 50: A Musical Celebration (1996), Motown 40 Forever (1998), Michael Jackson's Ultimate Collection (2004), and Tommy Boy's historic Hip Hop Essentials series (2005).

Where Did Our Love Go? The Rise and Fall of the Motown Sound
by Nelson George (1985)
Motown Records - still alive today - stakes it's claim on a relatively brief period (1962-1971) often called its "golden decade." Aided by a variety of cultural factors (including the movie The Big Chill and the phenomenal rise of Motown alumnus Michael Jackson), Motown's publicity machine has burnished their jealously guarded legacy to an heroic sheen. The music of Motown's golden decade was canonized in the early 80's, and it dominates oldies radio to this day. As glorious as the music was, the truth behind Motown's innumerable hits is far more complex than founder Berry Gordy would have us believe. Nelson George chronicles the history of Motown - the stories and personalities, the glories and scandals - with clarity, honesty, and sensitivity. [top of page]

The Death of Rhythm & Blues
by Nelson George (1988, reprinted 2003)
The first grand statement of his career, this book earned George a permanent place on the essential rock bookshelf. Part diary, part history, part expose, The Death Of Rhythm & Blues is everything good music writing should be - well-informed, passionate, opinionated, and evenhanded. Much of black culture derived from folk-based (that is, enduring) forms; modern pop culture, on the other hand, is relentless in its assimilation, transformation, and ultimate destruction of its outside influences. Nelson confronts the fact that music provided access for blacks and profit for whites, and that we are are all complicit in the destruction of this once timeless culture. [top of page]

Buppies, B-Boys, Baps, & Bohos: Notes on Post-Soul Black Culture
by Nelson George (1992)
This book is, in part, a collection of his feature writing for Essence, Esquire, and other periodicals. Throughout, George struggles to draw a connecting thread through the varied, disparate, and sometimes conflicting conditions of African-Americans in the late 20th century. It's a style not dissimilar from George's friend and peer, Spike Lee, who has often gone to extremes showing that there is no such thing as "the Black experience." There is, instead, the many experiences of Blacks - growing, living, and dying in ways distinguished and anonymous, honorable and dishonest. George touches on music, film, politics, sports, and more in his portrayals, creating in the process an unforgettable snapshot. (Updated and revised in 2001.) [top of page]

Hip Hop America
by Nelson George (1999)
The author is on record stating that rock is, in a sense, on its last legs. Like the blues, rock is becoming a specialized genre, appealing only to diehard fanatics willing to carry the torch for a dead (or, at least, mummified) art. Rap and hip hop (and they are not synonymous) have become, if not the voice of a generation, clearly the most popular musical pastime of today's youth. Rock, I would argue, has shown a remarkable willingness to reinvent and reassert itself, but America has indeed become a hip hop nation, and this music has influenced the world as much as rock or jazz ever did. Here, Nelson George traces the history of hip hop (the music, the fashion, the culture, the business) from the late 70's to the present, often using his own experiences as a touchstone. Hip Hop America is a fundamentally important book of history in the making. It is also one that will demand frequent updates and revisions - a job for which the author is imminently qualified. [top of page]