Overview

Bruce Jenkins was twelve years old, living in Malibu with his parents, when he heard the original ""Shop Around"" single, by ""The Miracles featuring Bill 'Smokey' Robinson,"" the first Billboard No. 1 R&B single for Motown's Tamla label. Released nationally in October 1960, the single would ultimately make it into the Grammy Hall of Fame, but for young Bruce, the first times he heard the song were a revelation. Jenkins grew up surrounded by music. His father, Gordon Jenkins, was a composer and arranger who worked with artists from Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday to Louis Armstrong and Johnny Cash, but was best known for his close collaboration with Frank Sinatra. His mother, Beverly, was a singer. For Bruce, ""Shop Around"" ushered him into a new world of loving Motown. In Shop Around, he brings to life the first thrill of having the music claim him, provides the back story of the recording (and rerecording) of the hit single, shares sketches from his life with his father and mother, and traces how his love of music has grown and evolved over the years and how he still loves driving around San Francisco with Motown cranked up on his car stereo.

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Reviews

I loved it. Bruce Jenkins manages to accomplish the always dangerous task of describing music with words as well as anyone I've read. His knowledge is formidable and his passion is infectious. --Huey Lewis A warm and witty memoir about how music binds us all. --Joel Selvin, San Francisco Chronicle pop music critic An absolutely essential read. An awesome story about a priceless time in music history. --Emilio Castillo, bandleader, Tower of Power I always knew Bruce Jenkins was a cool dude, but I didn't know how cool he was until I heard him talking music. You can't be that cool unless you've got some deep roots. --Dusty Baker, author, Kiss the Sky What do you get when you combine art (Bruce Jenkins' smoooth writing) with heart (his passion for '60s soul music)? Shop Around. It flows like a great Smokey Robinson song and when you come to the end, you'll want to cue it up all over again. --Scott Ostler, San Francisco Chronicle

I loved it. Bruce Jenkins manages to accomplish the always dangerous task of describing music with words as well as anyone I've read. His knowledge is formidable and his passion is infectious. --Huey Lewis A warm and witty memoir about how music binds us all. --Joel Selvin, San Francisco Chronicle pop music critic An absolutely essential read. An awesome story about a priceless time in music history. --Emilio Castillo, bandleader, Tower of Power I'd read whatever Bruce Jenkins has to write on any subject, but Shop Around is a perfect marriage: Bruce's smooth, rhythmic prose describing his lifelong love of music. The book itself is a song. --Tim Keown, ESPN the Magazine I always knew Bruce Jenkins was a cool dude, but I didn't know how cool he was until I heard him talking music. You can't be that cool unless you've got some deep roots. --Dusty Baker, author, Kiss the Sky What do you get when you combine art (Bruce Jenkins' smoooth writing) with heart (his passion for '60s soul music)? Shop Around. It flows like a great Smokey Robinson song and when you come to the end, you'll want to cue it up all over again. --Scott Ostler, San Francisco Chronicle

Author Information

A San Francisco Chronicle sportswriter since 1973, and a sports columnist since 1989, Bruce Jenkins has covered twenty-seven World Series and nineteen Wimbledons. In 1999 he was named one of the nation's top ten columnists in the Associated Press Sports Editors awards and has twice been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. His previous books include Goodbye: In Search of Gordon Jenkins, about his father, A Good Man: The Pete Newell Story, and North Shore Chronicles: Big-Wave Surfing in Hawaii. He lives in Montara, CA, with his wife and daughter.

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