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David Ritz is an author who has written novels, biographies, magazine articles, and over a hundred liner notes for artists such as Aretha Franklin, the Neville Brothers, Smokey Robinson, Rick James, Janet Jackson, Marvin Gaye, Etta James, B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Morris Day, Ray Charles, and Nat King Cole. He has coauthored 36 autobiographies, including some celebrities’ autobiographies. Fifteen of Ritz’ books have appeared on bestseller lists.
Ritz’s first collaboration was Brother Ray (1978), the autobiography of Ray Charles. Ritz has said that his initial intention was to write a biography until becoming intrigued by the idea of rendering the book entirely in Charles’ voice. “That’s when I discovered I had a gift for channeling voice”, Ritz told the L.A. Times’ Patrick Goldstein in 2012. “That discovery changed the course of my literary life.”
His many novels include Pretty Paper (co-written with Willie Nelson), Blue Notes Under a Green Felt and Barbells and Saxophones.
Ritz is also credited as a songwriter on Marvin Gaye’s platinum-selling single “Sexual Healing,” and additional honors include a Grammy, four Rolling Stone/Ralph Gleason Book awards and ASCAP’s Timothy White award for outstanding musical biography.
You can purchase David’s books here.
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