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The Chitlin' Circuit: And the Road to Rock 'n' Roll Paperback – July 16, 2012

by Preston Lauterbach (Author)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 236 ratings
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“Lauterbach’s tribute . . . is welcome and overdue.” ―Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post

For generations, "chitlin' circuit" has meant second tier―brash performers in raucous nightspots far from the big-city limelight. Now, music journalist Preston Lauterbach combines terrific firsthand reportage with deep historical research to offer a groundbreaking account of the birth of rock 'n' roll in black America. 34 illustrations
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  1. Print length
    368 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    W. W. Norton & Company
  4. Publication date
    July 16, 2012
  5. Dimensions
    5.6 x 1.1 x 8.3 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0393342948
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0393342949
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

...crucial to our understanding of late-20th-century pop music and all the more impressive for its exhaustive research. Preston Lauterbach s book spirited, studious, surprising, occasionally hilarious is absolutely persuasive on its subject. --Stephen M. Deusner"

[T]he genius prequel to an oft-told epic. "

A well-researched valentine to a lost world of seedy con men, promoters and club owners, the power brokers and hustlers who made the circuitry spark. --Eddie Dean"

Lauterbach spins the tale with enormous vitality and it s terribly fun to read. He masterfully explains the complex logistics of the entertainment industry, and studs the book with fascinating, little-known characters. . . . The reader will finish with an overwhelming urge to turn up the volume. --Kate Tuttle"

Opens new doors in pop-music scholarship as well as American (and African-American) cultural history. --Michaelangelo Matos"

This sprawling, fascinating history drops readers into a chaotic, dangerous, utterly vanished world. --John Repp"

[T]he genius prequel to an oft-told epic.

Highly recommended....relishes the criminal origins of the mostly southern black club scene from the early '30s to the late '60s....a coherent, musically savvy history of a performance culture that until now was known only piecemeal.--Robert Christgau

Lauterbach has written the definitive history of the musical back roads and back rooms of the southern United States.... a great read, well written and insightful. Highly recommended to anyone interested in the seedy history of American popular music.

Lauterbach's writing is as energetic as a Little Richard song (a performer who started on the chitlin' circuit and crossed over to national fame).... a rocking read and a deserving tribute to the people and places who were the foundations of rock and roll.

Mr. Lauterbach uncovers a story as sensational as any day-glo circuit-show poster...The era's hepcat lingo ("ork" for orchestra, "ofay" for "white") and hard-boiled, noir ambience give Mr. Lauterbach a tune he can carry....the book is at heart a well-researched valentine to a lost world of seedy con men, promoters and club owners, the power brokers and hustlers who made the "circuitry spark.--Eddie Dean

A great read, well-written, and insightful. Highly recommended to anyone interested in the seedy history of American popular music.

In this terrific popular history, music journalist and first time author Lauterbach uncovers a secret world that involves not only music but also racketeering and bribery, bootlegging, and various scandals. Lauterbach focuses on how the chitlin' circuit developed from the late 1930s to the early 1940s, with a particular emphasis on how it nurtured early rock 'n' roll. A major achievement and an important contribution to American music history.

Lauterbach's first book is a rocking read and a deserving tribute to the people and places who were the foundations of rock and roll.

About the Author

Preston Lauterbach is the author of Bluff City, Beale Street Dynasty, The Chitlin’ Circuit, a Wall Street Journal and Boston Globe book of the year, and co-author of Brother Johnson: Growing Up with Robert Johnson. He is a former visiting scholar at Rhodes College and a Virginia Humanities Fellow. He lives in Virginia.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ W. W. Norton & Company; Reprint edition (July 16, 2012)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 368 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0393342948
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0393342949
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 11.6 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.6 x 1.1 x 8.3 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 236 ratings

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Preston Lauterbach

Preston Lauterbach

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Author of The Chitlin' Circuit (W.W. Norton), a Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, and NPR best book of 2011, and Beale Street Dynasty (W.W. Norton), a story of sex, song, and the struggle for the soul of Memphis, coming in April 2015.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
236 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Mark S. Crawford
5.0 out of 5 stars Finally!
Reviewed in the United States on November 25, 2011
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I was in the middle of reading another book when I saw this title on amazon. It was at that point I realized there is not much material dedicated specifically to the chitlin' circuit. I immediately set my book down to finish later and ordered "The Chitlin' Circuit".

Lauterbach's book is a fun, informative read about a time in pop music history that must have been in a constant state of chaos. I can only imagine all the personalities that were involved in the chitlin' circuit, as well as the frantic nature of making dates, trying to communicate back and forth, housing challenges, unpredictable venues, and keeping up with the constant change of popular music taste.

The book is well researched and I appreciate the specific names and locations. For example, among the events and stories I learned about included Walter Barnes and the song "The Natchez Fire," that Gene Gilmore performed about Barnes. This specific account shows that not every gig was fun and games.

The content is full of colorful characters and accounts of scheming and drama. Pop music history buffs will certainly devour this book in no time. It's also accessable to the casual music fan. "The Chitlin' Circuit" is begging to be made into a miniseries or a documentary! Ken Burns are you listening!?
7 people found this helpful
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Ron Hawkins
4.0 out of 5 stars A significant piece of research
Reviewed in the United States on March 21, 2012
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In this book Preston Lauterbach has dug deep into the origins and the workings of the chiltlin' circuit, a place of mystery that I knew by name as a signifier for down-home music and what I imagined to be wild and behaviour you wouldn't take down-home. I know a great deal more now because Lauterbach's scope of research and ability as an historian is astounding. For a writer in 2011 to have found the information and pieced together the puzzle that is contained in this book is a remarkable achievement.

For work of this kind I am always on the lookout for errors that will tell me the real depth of a writer's research and commitment. I'm not an expert but I can pick a faker, all I found were a couple of very minor factual errors; Mr Lauterbach is the real deal in music history and I hope that he continues his commitment.

Aspects of the book that I really liked were finally Roy Brown getting due credit for his achievements. I also liked that we weren't spoon-fed the R&B + C&W = Rock and Roll myth again. Elvis Presley while a significant artist and cultural influence had nothing to do with `creating' Rock and Roll, that work was done. Presley's significant achievement was the brief popularising of rockabilly; music which he quickly abandoned (as the public did) in favour of the already existent Rock and Roll. I love Elvis, but I also love those who came before and who Mr Lauterbach pays tribute to in this book.

After all this praise of the book I have to say that the Lauterbach's writing style needs some work. At times I found the book a little difficult to get through and I am ready to admit that it may just be me, or maybe that there is so much new that you need to take it a little slowly. I found the writing overall a little too earnest, and the attempts at humour often a bit forced. The writing style overall made me work a little bit too hard when it should have carried me along for the ride.

It is Preston Lauterbach's first book and a great achievement. His writing will improve, his research and historical analysis skills are there already. I recommend this book to people who really care about the multi-layers that went into the creation of rock and roll and want to look past the standard simplistic history.
6 people found this helpful
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Capital A
5.0 out of 5 stars The Chitlin' Circuit is hard to put down
Reviewed in the United States on September 5, 2011
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[[ASIN:0393076520 The Chitlin' Circuit: And the Road to Rock 'n' Roll]

This is an important book. Lauterbach has a frank and honest writing style that pulls you into the pages as you read, and his vivid account of this under-appreciated slice of American cultural history is refreshingly real, thoroughly informative, and very entertaining. The Chitlin' Circuit spans genres and generations and the writer connects the dots from Jimmie Lunceford to Willie Mitchell, from Louis Jordan to James Brown, and from Big Joe Turner to Elvis Presley. You don't have to be a music aficionado to appreciate the journalistic insight and detail that is The Chitlin' Circuit and as you read, you'll want to meet every character and be at every place detailed in this book. Lauterbach clears it up - there's no Blues, Soul, R&B or Rock N Roll without the Chitlin' Circuit.
2 people found this helpful
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Ken Kardash
5.0 out of 5 stars parallel universe
Reviewed in the United States on July 25, 2017
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This is a story well told, down to the choice of title. Like the contents of chitlins, much is mixed together here: musical, cultural, and political history. Rather than whitesplaining a significant piece of black American history, the author wisely gets out of the way and largely lets the players speak in their own voices. This is what makes an already original, interesting topic shine on the page. I felt like I was there witnessing young James Brown and Little Richard before they hit it big, and relished the detail of what those first performances were like. And my eyes were opened to the countless other pioneers that preceded them, like Walter Barnes who literally sacrificed himself to his music.

I felt that the thesis of rock and roll being born on the chitlin circuit was slightly forced, as if it were necessary to justify the musical history here. To me, the development of this parallel universe of black entertainment in response to segregation was fascinating in itself. My other quibble is that the entrance and dismissal of some of the most intriguing characters can be a little abrupt. Little Richard certainly merits a chapter to himself. To be poor, black and gay in the 1950s South and succeed as a crossover entertainer is a story that deserves, and has received, a book of its own. But the emphasis here is on social history, rather than biography. In describing how race politics, vice and music weaved together to give birth to a vibrant new sound in the juke joints of the past, it strikes a sweet note.
5 people found this helpful
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Mark Sutter
3.0 out of 5 stars Lots of Info
Reviewed in the United States on September 25, 2020
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The book was well written and well researched. Unfortunately, it contained a lot more information than I bargained for about a great number of musicians I'd never heard of. That's not a fault of the book or the author -- just my own shortcomings. I did enjoy the coverage of B.B. King, Little Richard, and James Brown.
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Top reviews from other countries

Mark Anderson
5.0 out of 5 stars A Very Good Book On The Chitlin' Circuit And The Origins Of Rock n' Roll
Reviewed in Canada on August 20, 2014
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This is a really good book on the history of the "Chitlin' Circuit," a collection of nightclubs throughout the south eastern and south central United States which featured African-American musicians and which, as the title suggests, played a major role in the development of rock n' roll.

It's a really interesting book. The author writes well and his research is very good.

If you're interested in the history and origins of modern American music, this book is a very worthwhile read.
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Mr. M. C. Murphy
5.0 out of 5 stars haven't finished it yet... best musical read for ages..
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 2, 2014
Verified Purchase
I’m always on the lookout for a new book to help indulge my musical interests and a friend recently recommended this to me. I’ve been in love with Black Rhythm and Blues for a number of years and that genre had its dancing feet firmly stuck in the backwoods mud of the Chitlin’ Circuit; the mildly derogatory term for the network of Black music venues littered about the (mainly) Southern states of the U.S.A.

This book seeks to tell the tale of these venues creation, a response to a virtually new phenomenon, the disposable income of a self determined Black population. It sets out to tell tall tales of the musicians and gig goers, the ingenuity of the venues creators, the shadowy background of their financing, stories of the back handers given to a white controlling force of politicking and policing. The book is littered with tales, lacework links, and histories of all those names you’ve come to know and love such as Louis Jordan, T-Bone Walker, Gatemouth Brown, Jimmy Lunceford, Amos Milburn, Dave Bartholomew, and Roy Brown.

These places, the timber frame buildings of Chicken Shack Boogie fame are where Rock n’ Roll was birthed. Louis Jordan once said that Rock N’ Roll was only a poor imitation by Whites of Black Rhythm and Blues and the more I listen and the more I learn, the more I’m agreeing with that statement. Lauterbach’s book just confirms it … yet again.

I haven’t got more than a third of the way into this, and I’m here telling you all about it, because it’s that good. It’s oozily wet, not dry, teeming with tales and hearty history. It beats with the sort of knowledge only an insider can ever get the low-down on, and luckily for us, the reader, it has been passed on with ’nuff style. Preston Lauterbach (I don’t know nothing more about him) is obviously a fan, and has a fine twist and turn of phrase. It feels like he won’t let stuffy academic research get in the way of a good story and the telling of it. I haven’t got a problem with that, let’s slightly suspend our sceptically critical natures and just wallow in the world that was the Chitlin’ Circuit.

Recommended!
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Geffers
4.0 out of 5 stars Chillin' on the Chitlin'
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 9, 2012
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First of all let me explain that this is no lightweight read. Hours of research and what appears to be meticulously recorded facts go to make this a very good run up from the 1930s into the sixties giving the reader the down and often dirty history of African American music from jazz to rock n roll. Some of the characters like Don Robey of Duke -Peacock records fame were well known to me and would be to any other student of fifties black music but others such as Sax Kari ,Denver Ferguson,Walter Barnes were new names that as described in this book helped to fill in the missing parts of the jigsaw of the black artists and promoters and club owners who through their sheer will to overcome prejudice ,corrupt police and city officials gave via the chitlin cicuit black patrons the entertainment that they craved. Lauterbach is a white writer but he evokes the feeling and mood of places like Beale Street,and the black owned clubs[most a huge jump up from the country juke joints] with an authenticity that you almost think he was a frequent visitor to them. Plenty of stories about Louis Jordan ,Big Mama Thornton ,Little Richard,Johnny Ace,Roy Brown and others, illustrated with well reproduced photos plus an index this book is probably not a casual read but a historical often funny ,often shocking account of a time that is fast fading from memory.
5 people found this helpful
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flickersboy
5.0 out of 5 stars A must-read for anyone interested in blues, r&b and rock'n'roll.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 18, 2017
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Having read the many positive comments about this book on Amazon, I bought my own copy, and am not disappointed. It is an excellent read, heavy on detail of both individuals and places, whilst at the same time keeping the reader 'on the road'. Some of the real-life characters talked about in the book as significant players on the Chitlin Circuit could have movies made about them - 'Sunbeam' Mitchell and Don Robey to name two, and that is excluding the musicians, many of whom wrote and recorded the original songs, but did not get the recognition for them when they were recorded by white artists as 'rock n'roll.

A must-read for anyone interested in blues, r&b and rock'n'roll.
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Well researched and written
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 6, 2016
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Well researched and fascinating read, possibly even to those who are not particularly interested in Jazz or Rhythm and Blues. It's full of great characters and the black entrepreneurs who paved the way for many now famous artists. Shady deals, payoffs and graft were all part of the black music scene from the late twenties until the rock'n'roll era thirty years later. Great stuff!
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