Go, Girl, Go! The Women's Revolution in Music [Paperback]

James L Dickerson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2005

Go, Girl, Go! provides a nearly 100-year history of women in music, beginning with Lil Hardin Armstrong and Billie Holiday, and continuing up to present-day artists such as Britney Spears and Norah Jones. Features interviews with artists such as Shania Twain, Pat Benatar, Brenda Lee, Bonnie Raitt, Melissa Etheridge, Ann and Nancy Wilson, and Tammy Wynette, plus many industry executives. Over 50 black and white photos.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Tracing women in pop chronologically, Go, Girl, Go! opens with a chapter covering a very long period (1900-1953) and continues in decade-spanning chapters. Dickerson observes the growth of women's viability and influence from the hardscrabble beginnings of commercial American music to the impact of feminism and such styles as disco to the era when, by his lights, "Country Divas" reshaped pop to the present. A list of top-20-charting albums by women by decade rounds out the presentation. Mike Tribby
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

Author James L. Dickerson was born and raised at the intersection of Highways 61 and 82, the heralded crossroads of "the blues" in the Mississippi Delta. That music was his inspiration and he’s become the dominant voice in the South on matters related to music, politics, and culture. With more than 18 non-fiction books under his belt, he’s written about everyone from Elvis Presley and Colonel Tom Parker to Ashley Judd and Stevie Ray Vaughn.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Schirmer Trade Books (March 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 082567316X
• ISBN-13: 978-0825673160
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,649,978 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

A native of Mississippi, James L. Dickerson is the author of twenty-six books, and over 2,000 magazine and newspaper articles; he has worked as a magazine editor and publisher, newspaper editor, reporter, columnist, book critic, and social worker.
Dickerson's book, The Mojo Triangle, was the winner of a 2006 IPPY award (Independent Publisher Book Awards) in the non-fiction category. Two other books, Goin' Back to Memphis and That's Alright, Elvis, were finalists for the Gleason Award. Reprint rights to Dickerson's books have been sold to publishers in Australia and China, where two of his books have been translated into Chinese.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not even close to a complete history of women in modern music, but interesting,, November 12, 2005

By 

J. Marchese (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Go, Girl, Go! The Women's Revolution in Music (Paperback)

It is obvious that every non-fiction writer is going to come to the table with some biases. It can be curbed, but it can't be helped. And I think James. L. Dickerson came into this book on the women's revolution in modern music with his taste in music firmly in place. It's a book about women in the top twenty pop charts essentially with a lot of stories about the Country charts. Country music and female Country performers. The book also takes a lot of stock in the unprecedented rise of female solo artists on the charts in the 1990's. The concept of the book is fantastic. I loved reading about women in the recording industry both under the lights and behind the stage, but the problem with this book was while it came off as trying to be a comprehensive collection of the movement in women's music, it really just showed Dickerson's bias to music from and of the South. For example, while there are pages dedicated to country music artists that I've never heard of before, there is no mention of the Riot Grrrl movement of the early-mid 90's that began making waves in the underground and perhaps coincidently, perhaps not, preceded the move on the main stream charts in the mid-90's by female artists like Alanis Morissette and Liz Phair. There was also a lot of information on The Bangels, yet next to nothing (aside from the fact that Belinda Carlisle took it off for Playboy) on The Go-Go's who really paved the way for all-girl bands. There is also very little information on female singers of Disco hits and no information on women in the punk and heavy metal genres. Those are just a few examples out of many. However, there is a wealth of information as I said before about Country singers and Top 40 pop singers with some kind of link to South. Perhaps that isn't totally fair, I do think Dickerson did include a fair share of the female hitmakers, just not close to all of them. The book is set up with chronological chapters highlighting many of the stars of the time. It is chock full of interesting material, some new, most not to someone who has been following the music press or reads a decent amount of rock history. I think this would be an excellent book for younger women without a sense of what came before them and what has been accomplished. I also think it's a great reminder that before the mid-90's we weren't hearing back to back female artists on the radio. I only wish this was a complete history of the women's movement in music. As a side note, it is also a big shame that with all the talk of women's movements and women's power in this business, this book was written by a man.