Dreams to Remember: Otis Redding, Stax Records, and the Transformation of Southern Soul - Hardcover

Mark Ribowsky is a New York Times acclaimed, best-selling author of fifteen books, including biographies of Tom Landry, Al Davis, Hank Williams, and most recently, In the Name of the Father: Family, Football, and the Manning Dynasty. He lives in Florida.lorida.

“Evokes the fire of Redding.... Ribowsky tells the story with nonstop energy, while always probing for the larger social and musical pictures.... [H]is insightfulness and storytelling gift trump all. Helped by revealing quotations from musicians, he recalls a time of interactive music-making that seems worlds removed from today’s computer-assembled, Auto-Tuned pop.”
- James Gavin, New York Times Book Review

“Subtly passionate.... What Mark Ribowsky has done here is to describe someone who was, not divine, but as godlike as a human can be.”
- David Kirby, Wall Street Journal

“A fascinating tale of the artist and his musical era.”
- Dave Shiflett, Washington Post

“Ribowsky's focus on Redding adds a new slant regarding how the singer also wanted to remain independent of [Stax].... Ribowsky―a veteran chronicler of musical and athletic heroes―also combines thorough descriptions of Redding's songs, and global audiences' growing appreciation for soul, with the social changes of the 1960s.”
- Aaron Cohen, Chicago Tribune

“Ribowsky has labored hard to get at [Redding’s] emotional center. Unlike other performers who died far too young, Redding’s death did not come out of abuse, and though he suffered, it was a universal human suffering―a pain in the heart that, partnered with unerring musical instinct, personal strength, and a little tenderness, he transformed into art. Ribowsky goes into the seamy side of the record business but also the sheer beauty and magic of the sixties soul music that Redding epitomized.”
- Mark Levine, Booklist

“[A]n engaging account of Redding’s rise to stardom and the parallel story of Stax/Volt.... Insightful and informative.”
- Michelle Jones, Dallas Morning News

“This book looks at the bigger picture beyond the details of the soul legend's life, giving a sense of how he fit into the civil rights movement and music as a whole. Ribowsky spins some compelling what-ifs about Redding had he lived, speculating about his musical evolution and how he might have gotten along with later stars like Jimi Hendrix.”
- Andy Lewis, Billboard

“Ribowsky's meticulous biography makes it clear that Arthur Conley's 1967 hit ‘Sweet Soul Music’ (co-written by Redding) got it wrong. James Brown wasn't ‘the king of them all, y'all.’ Otis was.”
- Bruce Jacobs, Shelf Awareness

“A rousing storyteller, Ribowsky energetically chronicles Redding’s rise from local singer to the King of Soul.... Ribowsky’s book is a fast-paced and entertaining tale of a man, a time and a place where black and white musicians, in spite of the racial tensions swirling around them, came together simply by playing the sweet soul music that transcends any divisions.”
- Henry L. Carrigan Jr., Bookpage.com

“Ribowsky here has penned the definitive look at the life and career of Otis Redding thus far. More importantly, he offers a sort of parallel book about the political and social implications of ‘Southern Soul’ music in the ‘60s, as well as the story of Stax Records, Redding’s label where he was also the undisputed marquee artist.... In Dreams to Remember, listeners can find a new appreciation for this “King of Soul” whose reign was all too brief.”
- Bob Ruggiero, Houston Press