This Bell Still Rings: My Life of Defiance and Song
By
A renowned folk, blues, and jazz singer who performed with some of the twentieth century’s most celebrated musicians, from Louis Armstrong to Bob Dylan. A proud progressive who has tirelessly championed racial equality and economic justice in America, and who has traveled the world to sing out against war and tyranny. An organizer, a venue owner, a record label founder, and a woman who has charted her own creative and political path for more than ninety years. Barbara Dane has led an epic, trailblazing life in music and activism, and This Bell Still Rings tells her story in her own adventurous voice. Dane’s memoir charts her trajectory from singing in union halls and at factory gates in World War II–era Detroit, to her rise as a respected blues and jazz singer, to her prominence as a folk musician frequently performing at and participating in civil rights and peace demonstrations across the US and abroad—from post-revolutionary Cuba to wartime Vietnam. This Bell Still Rings illuminates “one of the true unsung heroes of American music” (Boston Globe), and it offers a wealth of inspiration for artists, activists, and anyone seeking a life defined by courage and integrity.
Reviews
"Barbara is someone who is willing to follow her conscience. She is, if the term must be used, a hero." Bob Dylan
"I first met Barbara when I was seventeen. She taught me that 'Wild women don't worry, wild women don't get the blues.'" Linda Ronstadt
“What a life of service in the fight for civil rights and human dignity. Barbara Dane's music lifted us as it lifted me when we were together in Mississippi in 1964 to register African American voters. Thank you for keeping the faith all these years." Judy Collins
“Barbara Dane has always been a role model and a hero of mine, both musically and politically, and for her lifelong commitment to truth, justice, equality, and representation for all.” Bonnie Raitt
“An important read: the amazing story of Barbara Dane, a powerful radical citizen-artist whose magnificent voice, and uncompromising dedication to freedom, social justice, and global liberation continues to ring.” Danny Glover
“A true unsung hero of American music [with] a jazz musician's sense of rhythm, a blues singer's deep investment in the material, and a folk stylist's attention to authenticity." James Reed, The Boston Globe
“Barbara Dane is a long-haul kind of woman: committed, loyal, gifted, and steadfast in the struggle for deep social change. And here's something none of you know: She persuaded me to make the movie Klute." Jane Fonda
"This book is medicine for the soul in these dark times; not a book of songs but a book that sings. It tells the story of movements that have transformed American consciousness, told from the perspective of a life lived for giving." Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, author of An Indigenous Peoples's History of the United States
"Barbara Dane has led the way, showing us, through the choices she made throughout her life, how to use music as a tool for more than just entertainment. She knew it best, that when we sing about what matters, songs can change hearts, and changed hearts will change minds. This is how music changes the world: one changed heart at a time." Mary Gauthier
"Dane’s new memoir This Bell Still Rings: My Life of Defiance and Song offers a fascinating look at a time when Berkeley nurtured a bohemian culture that would come to shape the nation in the following decade." Berkeleyside
"What leaps out from Dane’s memoir is her spirit—loving, cooperative, collective-minded, generous, risk-taking, humble, and warmly contemplative." People's World
About the Author
