Say It Loud! A Celebration of Black Music in America [BOX SET]

Various Artists (Artist)

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 9, 2001)
• Original Release Date: September 18, 2001
• Number of Discs: 6
• Format: Box set
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: Rhino / Wea
• ASIN: B00005NTQB
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #260,779 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Track Listings

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com's Best of 2001

As with 1999's Respect box, which chronicled women recording artists, Rhino again attempts to capture and condense a mighty field with the six-CD Say It Loud! And again, it largely succeeds. A companion to the VH1 series of the same name, Say It Loud! tells one story and many. It covers the development of many related genres, the business of locking many outsize talents and personalities into the grooves of records, and the music as it mirrored a rustling, ever-changing society--that last underscored by the inclusion of spoken sound bites (everyone from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to Sammy Davis Jr.). But within these larger themes move many smaller but no less compelling tales. The roughly chronological programming allows for accidental, startling juxtapositions--disc one places Paul Robeson's pained, dignified reading of "Ol' Man River" just a few tracks away from bluesman Son House's insistence in "My Black Mama (Part 1)" that "there ain't no burnin' Hell." From there, pop ballads, big bands, bop, gospel, doo-wop, rock & roll, soul from Motown! Memphis! and Philly!, gorgeous civil-rights-era jazz, funk, and rap cohere and speak to one another in a selection about as good as can be expected given its length and various legal restrictions. (The most glaring omission is Stevie Wonder.) Any taint of "this stuff is good for you" is lost in the parade of great gifts, personalities, statements, dance crazes, poetry, and word games. If the above track listing contains lots of names you don't recognize, Say It Loud! will offer you a topnotch one-stop survey course. --Rickey Wright

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A phenomonal collection, however..., November 21, 2001

By	Pat Kelly (Here, There & Everywhere) - See all my reviews

This is truly a terrific set. I'd buy each of these CD's separately if they weren't available together. But stop and think about this for a minute.

Can you imagine a box set called "A Celebration of White Music in America"? Would anyone put together a collection that included tracks from, say, Rudy Vallee, Backstreet Boys, The Beach Boys, Garth Brooks, Glen Miller, Elvis Presley, Meat Loaf, Patti Page, Sons of the Pioneers, The Captain & Tennille, Vaughn Monroe, Limp Bizkit, Carole King, Itzhak Perlman, Green Day, Pat Boone, Pat Benatar and about a hundred other artists? Of course not.

Why? Because these acts have nothing in common!

Now the tough follow-up question: Why should being black give the artists on this set anything more in common?

Let's call this what it truly is: A Celebration of GREAT Music In America, and hope the day arrives soon when no other label need apply

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Say It Loud"-A celebration of Black music in America, October 12, 2001

By	Veggiechiliqueen - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

"Say It Loud" is a six-CD testament to the vibrant, fascinating history of black music in America. The box set features music featured in the five-part "Say It Loud" miniseries on VH1 divided into songs of politics, protest, and spreading the message, progress in the music business, gospel and blues, black sexuality in music, and the reflection (and creation) of popular culture in (and through) black music.

This is the definitive box set of black music and culture. It features 128 tracks chronicling ragtime, jazz, blues, spirituals, gospel, R&B, rock 'n' roll, pop, soul, jump blues, Motown, funk, country, and hip-hop, sound bytes from influential moments (Jesse Owens on the 1936 Olympics, Civil Rights legislation, prejudice, Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Mountain Top" speech and the report on his assassination, Blaxploitation films, the Rodney King verdict and more). The 100-page book features a foreword by Quincy Jones and extensive essays by David Ritz, Earnest Hardy, Ingrid Monson, and Grammy®-nominated journalist Gerald Early.

"Say It Loud" is a cultural legacy as well as an excellently packaged box set. For maximum effect watch the "Say It Loud" miniseries as well...there are numerous interviews with many of the recording artists and producers and the stories behind the music and the times as well as rare early (black-and-white) TV footage of concerts by Motown artists. Much of today's popular music owes a large debt to black music and to black artists that paved the way for later generations.

In the words of legendary producer Quincy Jones, "The history of black music in America is the history of America itself." So buy "Say It Loud" as a sonic history lesson, whether to brush up on your knowledge of black music or to learn from the beginning. This is one of the best box sets I've seen on the market, period. Made with love, with track after track of great cuts and informative liner notes. The only box set you'll need to buy.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Important History Lesson, October 19, 2001

By	Thomas Magnum (NJ, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

Say It Loud! A Celebration of Black Music in America is a important musical collection for people of all races, creeds and colors to own. It is a musical history lesson and celebration of music and sounds that have helped shape American culture. The set spans the entire 20th century including such turn of the century icons like Scott Joplin, Fats Waller and Paul Robeson. Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit" is one of the most stirring vocal performances in history. Many people acknowledge the Ink Spots as the first group to employ the rock 'n' roll sound and their "If I Didn't Care" is offered as evidence. Jazz is well represented with tracks by Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and others like the superb "'Round Midnight" by The Thelonious Monk Quartet. As the set moves into the 60's and beyond, the songs become more Afro-centric. The Impressions' "Choice Of Colors" is one of the most thought-provoking songs of the civil rights movement. James Brown sums up the spirit of the box set with "Say It Loud! I'm Black, I'm Proud". The grooves in Parliament's vision of black leaders in politics "Chocolate City" led to songs like De La Soul's "Me, Myself & I". Interspersed throughout the disks are news cuts from Jackie Robinson, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and news stories like breaking the segregation lines make this set more powerful and relevant.