The real tea of Shine Bright shows up through the author’s personal interactions with pop music royalty.
Danyel Smith’s inside perspective offers exclusive glimpse into the lives of our favorite icons
Our May book club selection by pioneering Black female music journalist Danyel Smith is one of those reads I instantly want to re-read after finishing because her music references are deep, familiar, and abundant. Smith’s ability to weave together the stories of so many influential musicians is iconic in itself.
History lesson meets need-to-know pop info shapes Part One of Shine Bright, schooling us on the legacy of music forefathers – read: foremothers – like Leontyne Price and Dionne Warwick, while parts Two and Three discuss divas we’re more familiar with (Whitney, Janet, Mariah).
💥 One moment that still rings in my ear is from the chapter “Leontyne + Dionne + Cissy”, when Danyel talks about Cissy Houston's career with the group Sweet Inspirations, famous for backing Elvis Presley and catchy vocals on timeless hits like "Son of a Preacher Man" by Dusty Springfield and Aretha’s “Chain of Fools”.
On "Brown Eyed Girl" by Van Morrison ("Do you remember when we used to sing?") it's the Sweet Inspirations who lay down the resplendent, ultrachantable 🎶 Sha-la-la, la-la, la-la, la-la, la-la-tee-dah! 🎶
We used to to sit and say, “You know, people never mention us,” Cissy Houston said in 1995. “But Aretha never would have had all those hits if the background wasn't so good.” The amount of sales of the records [Sweet Inspirations] have helped shape is in the billions. The Grammy Awards of the artists they have influenced would fill a hangar.
Shine Bright is chock full of I-never-knew-that! moments about artists whose music we grew up hearing on the radio, singers whose music is sampled by artists played on the radio today. I couldn't recommend this book enough.
If you’re not one to commit to full book reads, there are playlists going around (like this trove) that compliment Shine Bright, which I recommend adding to your favorites list. But if you can, do spend time with this book and go on the deep excavation of pop music's roots.
☕️ Join our virtual book club discussion for Shine Bright: A Very Personal History of Black Women in Pop by Danyel Smith, next Thursday, June 2 at 6:30 p.m. PST/ 9:30 EST.