I didn’t appreciate Leon Russell’s music until my 30s. After reading his new biography by Bill Janovitz, I appreciate it more.
In the early ‘70s, Russell was the architect of the Tulsa Sound, a laidback shuffle that melded blues, country and rock. His influence was enormous. Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Tom Petty and others came to Tulsa to write and record with him. He influenced Elton John and shaped Southern rock.
Russell’s biography gave me a better understanding of this peculiar state we call home. Looking at our bookshelves, it occurs to me that several books have, too.
Want to expand your comprehension of our state? Here’s an incomplete list of Okie-centric books, all recommended. Happy summer reading:
● “Boomtown: The Fantastical Saga of Oklahoma City, Its Chaotic Founding, Its Purloined Basketball Team, and the Dream of Becoming a World-Class Metropolis” by Sam Anderson. This is a romp; my favorite book about our city.
● “November Road” by Lou Berney. Berney is Oklahoma’s finest contemporary novelist; this is his best.
● “Days of Sand: A Graphic Novel” by Aimee de Jongh. Visually stunning depiction of the Dust Bowl.
● “Staring at Sound: The True Story of Oklahoma’s Fabulous Flaming Lips” by Jim DeRogatis. Written at the Lips’ mid-2000s apex.
● “The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl” by Timothy Egan. Incredible tale of tenacity from our Greatest Generation.
● “Invisible Man” by Ralph Ellison. Bold and unflinching; ahead of its time.
● “Little Giant” by Carl Albert and Danney Goble. Biography of Oklahoma’s most storied statesman.
● “Killers of the Flower Moon” by David Grann. Some people don’t want this story told. That’s reason enough to read it.
● “Weaving Sundown in Scarlet Light: Fifty Poems for Fifty Years” by Joy Harjo. Collection from the U.S. poet laureate.
● “The Outsiders” by S.E. Hinton. The quintessential early-teen novel.
● “Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois” by Honoree Fanonne Jeffers. Ambitious, sprawling novel by the University of Oklahoma professor.
● “Black Wall Street” by Hannibal Johnson. Johnson was writing about the Tulsa Race Massacre years before most others.
● “Woody Guthrie: A Life” by Joe Klein. Gripping biography of Oklahoma’s original hell-raiser.
● “August: Osage County” by Tracy Letts (screenplay). An emotional wrecking ball of a play.
● “Mankiller: A Chief and Her People” by Wilma Mankiller and Michael Wallis. Important story of not only the chief, but the Cherokee people.
● “Where the Red Fern Grows” by Wilson Rawls. A summer classic.
● “The Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck. Established Oklahoma’s reputation for decades.
● “The Bootlegger’s Boy” by Barry Switzer. Demonstrates where Switzer got his tenacity.
● “The Real Wild West: The 101 Ranch and the Creation of the American West” by Michael Wallis. Big ranch, big personalities.
● “Twentieth Century Honky-Tonk: The Amazing Unauthorized Story of the Cain’s Ballroom’s First 75 Years” by John Wooley and Brett Bingham. The story of one of America’s most revered music venues.
Get yourself indoors and enjoy an Oklahoma-themed book. What’s on your list?
Russ Florence lives and works in Oklahoma City. His column appears monthly in Viewpoints.
Most Popular
Comments / 0