BEHIND-THE-SCENES MUSIC VETERAN
BIL CARPENTER’S FIRST BOOK
“UNCLOUDY DAYS: THE GOSPEL MUSIC ENCYCLOPEDIA”
IS NOMINATED FOR NAACP IMAGEAWARD
FOR OUTSTANDING LITERARY WORK BY A DEBUT AUTHOR
38th NAACP Image Awards Airs March 2, 2007 @ 8 PM (ET/PT) on FOX
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., (January 9, 2007) – Bil Carpenter - who has worked behind the scenes of the music industry as a publicist with artists such as Vickie Winans, Aaliyah, Bishop T.D. Jakes and Candi Staton – has been nominated for his first NAACP Image Award.
Carpenter’s 500+ page book, “Uncloudy Days: The Gospel Music Encyclopedia” (Hal Leonard Books, NY), has been nominated in the category of Outstanding Literary Work by a Debut Author. The book has received praise in publications such as Ebony, the Dallas Morning News, the Philadelphia Daily News, the Dallas Morning News, the London Voice, Upscale and Jet magazine. “The music that gave birth to soul gets the book it deserves,” Charles Waring wrote in Britain’s #1 pop music magazine, Mojo. “Utilizing a raft of revealing interviews with the great and the small from the gospel world, Carpenter brings the idiom’s rich and fascinating history vividly to life. A revelation. “
The Nominees for Outstanding Literary Work by a Debut Author Are:
1) “A Dead Man Speaks” – Lisa Jones Johnson (Genesis Press/ Kensington)
2) “Boldfaced Lies” – Charlene A. Porter (Rose City Press)
3) “The Legend of Quito Road” – Dwight Fryer (Kimani Press – Sepia Imprint)
4) “Letters to a Young Brother” – Hill Harper (Gotham Books)
5) “Uncloudy Days: The Gospel Music Encyclopedia” – Bil Carpenter (Backbeat Books/Hal
Leonard)
The NAACP Image Awards honors projects and individuals that promote diversity in the arts in television, recording, literature and motion pictures. The theme of this year’s show is “Youth Create Change. The 38th NAACP Image Awards will air live on Friday, March 2nd (8:00 – 10:00 p.m. ET/PT) on FOX Television. Show website: http://www.naacpimageawards.net/imageawards38.html
Media Contact (Direct): Bil Carpenter at 202-526-6322 or carpbil@aol.com
Website: www.uncloudydays.com
The Comprehensive Gospel Music History Resource
The church hymn Uncloudy Days speaks of Heaven as a cloudless day where no storm clouds rise. Yet, many of the musical performers who have sung so passionately about that celestial place over the years, experienced hell on earth in their personal lives. Uncloudy Days concisely chronicles the lives - happy or sad -- of over 650 artists and personalities, the infamous and the forgotten, dating from 1900 to the present, in encyclopedia form.
Author Bil Carpenter conducted interviews with over 100 of them and many of these historical stories are told here for the very first time. From Philip Bailey's record label pressing him to make gospel music that sounded like his pop hit "Easy Lover" and a sex scandal that almost silenced the Boys Choir of Harlem to the circus-like exploitation of Gloria Spencer - billed as the world's largest gospel singer at 615 pounds - their stories are all here in the same place for the first time.
This music timeline includes a glossary of gospel terms, trivia questions, a listing of the best-selling gospel recordings of all time, songs that crossed over to the Billboard R&B chart and gospel Grammy, Dove and Stellar award winners. It is America's first true black gospel music encyclopedia and a welcome exploration into the roots of rock and roll and rhythm and blues music. Uncloudy Days is of interest to history buffs, black studies enthusiasts, as well as, devout and eclectic music lovers alike.
The 544+ page book also includes over 90 black & white photographs.
Bil Carpenter is a music journalist who has written for a dozen publications, including People magazine and the Washington Post. He's also served as a publicist for recording projects artists by artists such as Vickie Winans, Bishop T.D. Jakes and Andrae Crouch.
"An invaluable work that is as welcome as it is long overdue.."
GORDON ELY, gospel music critic, Billboard magazine
"I love Bill and I am glad to see that he has taken time out to educate us all about the greatest genre of music - Gospel Music!"
CECE WINANS, five-time Grammy Award winning vocalist
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