A forthcoming new book, Tastykakes, Soul Songs and Shining Stars, written by longtime music industry executive Joe McEwen, will be published April 28, 2026, by ZE Books. The book features what’s described in a press release as “vivid, compelling, up-front and personal profiles (predominantly written by McEwen while working as a music journalist in the 1970s) with a host of indelible figures: Pops and Mavis Staples, George Clinton, Allen Toussaint, Betty Wright, Michael Jackson, Gamble and Huff, Don Covay and many more.
“A Philadelphia native and an A&R executive for Columbia, Sire/Warner Brothers, Verve and Concord Music Group, McEwen gathers a lifetime’s worth of encounters, essays and reveries into one radiant collection, a love letter to rhythm-and-blues and soul music,” says the announcement.
It’s available to order in the U.S. here, in Canada here and in the U.K. here.
“This book is meant to be a fan’s notes with, as its heart and soul, a collection of profiles all written between 1973 and 1978,” it continues. “‘While rereading these during Covid downtime, the vitality of the voices and the vivid memories reconnected me with feelings and emotions that had been long stored in my mental attic. I thought they deserved a second airing,’” says McEwen.
“Alongside these portraits of legends at the peak of their powers are heartfelt musings spanning the 1960s through the ’80s, illuminating the creative processes behind the songs that defined a generation,” says the press release. “Interwoven throughout are reflections on basketball, memory and movement—parallel sources of rhythm, improvisation and joy.” The book culminates in an extended 2024 conversation with music author and longtime confidant Peter Guralnick (who has written books on Elvis Presley, Sam Cooke and others), “a fitting finale to a collection that captures the soul of a lifetime in music.”
“This is a tribute to some of the music and artists that have provided me with the building blocks, the sturdy foundation for a career and a never-ending journey of wonder,” McEwen says as the book’s final chapter concludes. “I saw James Brown at the Arena in West Philadelphia in the fall of 1966. It was the first music performance I had ever attended. Somewhere inside remains the heart of a 16-year-old kid at the Arena, overcome by a sense of uncomprehending, incredulous amazement at the drama and spectacle unfolding before me.”
Watch Mavis Staples sing “I’ll Take You There”
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‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source bestclassicbands.com ’
