Burn, Baby! BURN!: The Autobiography of Magnificent Montague (Music in American Life) [Hardcover]

Magnificent Montague (Author), Bob Baker (Author)

Book Description

Series: Music in American Life | Publication Date: November 2003

With his dynamic on-air personality and his trademark cry of 'Burn, baby! Burn' when spinning the hottest new records, Magnificent Montague was the charismatic voice of soul music in Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s. In this memoir Montague recounts the events of his momentous radio career, which ran from the era of segregation to that of the civil rights movement; as he does so, he also tells the broader story of a life spent in the passionate pursuit of knowledge, historical and musical. Like many black disc jockeys of his day, Montague played a role in his community beyond simply spreading the music of James Brown, Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, and other prominent artists. Montague served as an unofficial spokesman for his black listeners, reflecting their beliefs and acting as a sounding board for their concerns.Montague was based in Los Angeles in 1965 when the Watts rioters seized on his incendiary slogan, turning the shout of musical appreciation into a rallying cry for racial violence. In "Burn, Baby! Burn", Montague recalls these tumultuous times, including the personal struggle he faced over whether to remain true to his listeners or bend to political pressure and stop shouting his suddenly controversial slogan. Since the mid-1950s Montague had also expressed his passion for African American culture by becoming a zealous collector of artifacts of black history. He has built a monumental collection, taking time out from his collecting to become only the second African American to build his own radio station literally from the ground up. A compelling account of a rich and varied life, Burn, Baby! Burn gives an insider's view of half a century of black history, told with on-the-air zest by the DJ/historian who was there to see it unfold.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

The Magnificent Montague, a disc jockey extraordinaire, radio station owner, and collector of black memorabilia, lived a life that reflects both the struggle and the triumph of black America through the 1960s. Baker, who collaborated in writing Montague's autobiography, was a teenager growing up in California when he listened to the Magnificent Montague on the back end of the radio dial and became fascinated by his edgy soul. Some years later, his "whatever happened to" interest was the impetus for contacting Montague. What Baker discovered was a human phenomenon with stories beyond imagination, a poet, producer, performer, promoter, and radio station owner--edgier than Baker remembered. Montague's radio show reflected black taste and interests and became a sounding board for the same, but it also became an outlet through which many whites and other Americans began to adopt both the music and its meaning as their own. The cultural integration of America forms a substantial subplot of this fascinating look at the life of a disc jockey. Vernon Ford
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Review

"Montague! Dynamic! Understanding! A brother in the struggle! Yes, the Magnificent Montague! A man who commanded so much love and respect it will never, never, never be replaced. Take it from the Godfather of Soul, paying homage to the Don of Radio: This book tells it all." -- James Brown "Webster defines 'magnificent' as splendid, superb, noble---truly a description of Montague. He was splendid in his ability to captivate the listening audience, superb in his role as a community leader, and noble in the way he showed young people how to move through life with class. As I looked up these definitions, I thought to myself, 'Webster must have known my friend Montague.' I'm so glad he was around during the infancy years at Motown. What a blessing he was to so many of us." -- Smokey Robinson "The only sustained account by a black deejay who lived through the harshly segregated world of the 1950s and the explosive civil rights era of the 1960s. This book is a valuable contribution to the literature of black life and history." --Robert Pruter, author of Chicago Soul and Doowop: The Chicago Scene

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 232 pages
• Publisher: University of Illinois Press; 1St Edition edition (November 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0252028732
• ISBN-13: 978-0252028731
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,717,551 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Truly magnificent voice.!!, October 4, 2007

By 

Hilltop (Arlington, Va USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Burn, Baby! BURN!: The Autobiography of Magnificent Montague (Music in American Life) (Hardcover)

I grew up in San Pedro California and anyone listening at that time can remember the shout "burn baby burn" (even before the riots)or "give me four and a half more bars" where Magnificent would put the needle back on the record randomly and extend the record another 3-4 minutes. This brother is and was as much a part of the fabric of American radio as any other person as Dick Clark and Alan Freed (without the payola charge). A Berry Gordy ,Smokey Robinson,Gamble and Huff of the radio, a
true radio Giant that set the stage for many, many ,many others to follow in his large footsteps.
MagnificentMontague, you will always be.. the man..!!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Burn, Baby! Burn!, May 20, 2009

By 

Basheer Muhammad - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Burn, Baby! BURN!: The Autobiography of Magnificent Montague (Music in American Life) (Hardcover)

I love The Magnificient Montaque. Have Mercy Brother Montaque, Have Mercy!
Growing up here in Los Angeles during the time 1965 Riot(Uprising), I
enjoyed him imensely (misspelled ?) on the radio. He is a powerful voice
for the spirit and life of Black People.