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Hype & Soul - Al Abrams - It's Arrived!

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By Neil Rushton in News Archives
Published 08 Sep 2011

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Hype & Soul - Al Abrams - It's Arrived! magazine cover

Just a quick note to say that the advance copies of the Al Abrams book "Hype & Soul - Behind The Scenes At Motown" turned up last night. They have been approved and we will have the bulk stock delivered early next weeek, and will be mailing out on Tuesday or Wednesday to everyone who has ordered an advance copy.

The book looks amazing and we are thrilled with it. If you are into Motown and Soul it's a must read.

It's strange how things work out. The approval copies turned up yesterday around the same time as Al sadly,attended the funeral of his former boss and long time friend Esther Edwards. There are some great pieces about Esther in the book and she was looking forward to seeing it.

The book is 288 pages long, hardback with dust cover, and is full colour. The combination of searing "I was there" essays written by Al for the book and stunning graphics made up of press releases, newspaper and magazine clippings, rare photographs and Motown documents from Al's extensive West Grand Boulevard archives is stunning.It's a combination of great editorial and chic coffee table book.

ccs-1-0-47656900-1315511398_thumb.jpg

It's been a real honour, and daunting too, to have had the task of working on the book by Berry Gordy's first employee. Hopefully we have done it justice.I had to pinch myself this morning when I looked at the introductions from Lamont Dozier, Mickey Stevenson and Mary Wilson!.

ccs-1-0-16236700-1315511418_thumb.jpg

The first 500 copies of the book come with a bonus single, a red vinyl replica of the 1964 Hitsville Tamla Motown Appreciation Society disc. The records have been sent out in adance of the book and have gone down particulary well overseas as I guess not that many copies of the original escaped from the UK.

The book/record is £34.99 plus £5 postage & packing, total £39.99. To order online go to - www.soulvation.biz



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theboyfromxtown

theboyfromxtown 1

Posted

I spent most of last night reading through the book but eventually fell asleep as it was so late. There is a mountain of stuff in there and all pf it, beautifully illustrated and presented. There are superb examples of how Motown was promoted and the hard work spent trying to get the music to the people. This book makes the reader feel as though they were there as it happened and as a staunch Motown follower, it can't get any better than that.

Well done to everyone that was involved in this project. An excellent publication for all music fans.

Steve L

Steve L 1,433

Posted

Mine just dropped though the door, looks great!

Looking forward to reading it :thumbsup:

soulfulmick

soulfulmick 111

Posted

Just got mine, really looks the mutts nuts :thumbsup::yes:

kevinsoulman

kevinsoulman 930

Posted

picked mine up when i got to work today took the cover off straight away so as not to damage it when i drop it in bed

lol kev

looks great btw

Wilxy

Wilxy 780

Posted

Yes, fair play it looks the business!

Neil Rushton

Neil Rushton 130

Posted

Thanks for the nice comments.

We are having a launch weekend for the book Manchester this weekend.

It will be on sale at Beatin' Rhythm on Saturday & Sunday, and at The Twisted Wheel session on Sunday from 3pm till 8pm.

All copies sold at The Wheel will be marked with a stamper confirming they were bought on the day.

All the books will have the bonus Tamla Motown Appreciation Society disc included, I know because I have just packed them.

If you cannot get to Manchester and want the book then you can order online - www.souvation.biz

It is also available on Amazon too - but ignore the £29.99 price "not in stock" listing. That is from Amazon and it is not in stock because we are not supplying them. The other listing is from me and is in stock.

All The Best,

Neil

Matt

Matt 113

Posted

Top draw Neil- received my book the other day! well worth a look - totally recommended to anyone who hasn't yet seen a copy!

Amsterdam Russ

Amsterdam Russ 5,033

Posted

My copy arrived in the Netherlands today. I have to say it looks jaw-droppingly good.

Neil Rushton

Neil Rushton 130

Posted

My copy arrived in the Netherlands today. I have to say it looks jaw-droppingly good.

Glad the overseas copies are getting through to their destinations.

Pleased you like it Russell, the book is causing quite a stir.

Getting it out has been a marathon, and we hit the wall more than once, but it has come out great.

The story about Al, Barrett Strong and the young lady seems to creating the biggest stir.

For me it is Al's meeting with Alan Freed to get the dub of "Money" played that makes me smile each time I read it.

And how about "The Detroit Sound" memo about the two bit labels.Priceless!

Guest DeeJay

Guest DeeJay

Posted

Just a quick note to say that the advance copies of the Al Abrams book "Hype & Soul - Behind The Scenes At Motown" turned up last night. They have been approved and we will have the bulk stock delivered early next weeek, and will be mailing out on Tuesday or Wednesday to everyone who has ordered an advance copy.

The book looks amazing and we are thrilled with it. If you are into Motown and Soul it's a must read.

It's strange how things work out. The approval copies turned up yesterday around the same time as Al sadly,attended the funeral of his former boss an...

this is an 500 chrs clip of the article - use link below to view the article in full (images, video etc)

Click here to view the soul article in full

Hey Neil i thought i purchased one of those pre-purchase opportunities but i never received it Is there anyway i can check. I cant even remember if i paid with a credit card or paypal If there's no way of checking dont worry yourself about it It's my fault-cheers

DJ

nixon

nixon 1

Posted

This is an amazing book! Thanks, Neil!

Neil Rushton

Neil Rushton 130

Posted

Hey Neil i thought i purchased one of those pre-purchase opportunities but i never received it Is there anyway i can check. I cant even remember if i paid with a credit card or paypal If there's no way of checking dont worry yourself about it It's my fault-cheers

DJ

All pre-orders have gone out. You would have received a copy of the bonus single as soon as you paid, and the book went out last week.

If you haven't got either it means either you have not ordered or we have messed up. Please PM me with your full details and some idea of the date you think you paid and we will check.

Neil Rushton

Neil Rushton 130

Posted

Only the first 500 copies of the book contain the bonus TMAS single. After that it is the book without the single which will available.

To get the book with the single you can order online from

www.soulvation.biz

or

Amazon

but if you order it for £29.99 you won't get it, as that it Amazon trying it on and we have not supplied to them.

The £39,99 listing is from our Amazon shop and if you order it you will get it.

All The Best,

Neil

Neil Rushton

Neil Rushton 130

Posted

Books wll be on sale tomorrow night (Saturday) at Soulfusion.

If anyone wants to reserve one, please PM me.

Neil Rushton

Neil Rushton 130

Posted

The Detroit FREEP newspaper ran a massive spread/review of the book on Sunday,and that has resulted in a rush of sales in Detroit and Michigcan book stories. The book has also infiltrated to Japan and is creating a stir over there..

In fact we have done a lot more on export that I imagined would be the case, just shows how much Motown is loved all round the world. .

Anyway as a result the frst 500 books with the bonus replcia TMAS

are going fast.

If you want one you can order from www.soulvation.biz or Soulvation shop on Amazon. Amazon themselves are saying it is out of stock (they never had it!) but if you persevere you will see the book available on the Soulvation Amazon shop..

After these sell out, books will be available without the TMAS single.

All The Best - Neil

Guest

Guest

Posted

Got my copy yesterday...recommended it to some fellow collectors in the store at the same time and x3 more left the shelves!

:thumbsup:

A stunning piece of work featuring a fabulous account of behind the scenes realities of the day. I am particularly interested in the picture on page 18 taken during '66(?) whilst the Supremes were on tour in Japan...anyone got any other details of that Japanese trip? I've seen some poor quality clips of 'the Supremes In The Orient' video footage, but doesn't tell you much. I've also seen some colour pics of them dressed up in kimono, but can't source those at present...anyone help?!

:g:

The Yank

The Yank 2,457

Posted

The Supremes' Far East tour took place in the Fall of 1966. They appeared in Tokyo, Okinawa,

Taiwan, Hong Kong, Manila and also stopped at several U.S. Naval and Air Force bases.

Guest

Guest

Posted

The Supremes' Far East tour took place in the Fall of 1966. They appeared in Tokyo, Okinawa,

Taiwan, Hong Kong, Manila and also stopped at several U.S. Naval and Air Force bases.

Many thanks...have followed that up and found some great useful information for my own book on American Soul released in 1960's Japan!

:thumbup:




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