Jimmy Thomas: Don’t Back Down By: T. Allen Cook Jimmy Thomas is in a tough spot and there's no way around it but to fight his way out. He's 13 years old, new to gritty Grand Rapids, and struggling with his parents’ separation. Jimmy's handling a large paper route, determined to buy his dream motor scooter, and hacking off the baddest gang bangers in the city. When the gang raises the stakes, Jimmy is forced to up the ante. With his new friend Marshall giving him a hand with the route, he shows the gangsters what he's made of. With martial arts training from his father, the support of his family, and his superb fighting skills, Jimmy is out to attain what any 13 year old would be proud of- make enough money to help his single mom get by, keep the bad guys off his back, and get his dream motor scooter. Jimmy Thomas won't back down.

It Was Never A Gamble is a true-life story of an early 1900's gambler and hustler. It chronicles the life of Jimmy James. Born in 1900 and leaving home at the age of 14, he made a living by taking advantage of other's greed. He learned early that to get ahead he might have to bend a few rules. But, in a time when the rules were few and the enforcement was often left to one's own conscious, there could be big rewards for the person with the intestinal fortitude to bend the rules. From the worn down storefront street games to the most luxurious hotels and clubs of the times, Jimmy James was able to operate freely and feel at home. He was able to mingle with the common street grifters and rub shoulders with some of the most influential people of the times as he made his way across the country. This is a story of one man's life journey through many adventures, twists and turns, ups and downs. Cards, dice, roulette, no game was safe; no game was ever a gamble. This is the story of Jimmy James, hustler and gambler.

This visual celebration and musical analysis of Jimi Hendrix, the genius who created modern guitar, includes 300 color and b&w photos--many never before published.

British blues fan Mike Leadbitter launched the magazine Blues Unlimited in 1963. The groundbreaking publication fueled the then-nascent, now-legendary blues revival that reclaimed seminal figures like Son House and Skip James from obscurity. Throughout its history, Blues Unlimited heightened the literacy of blues fans, documented the latest news and career histories of countless musicians, and set the standard for revealing long-form interviews. Conducted by Bill Greensmith, Mike Leadbitter, Mike Rowe, John Broven, and others, and covering a who's who of blues masters, these essential interviews from Blues Unlimited shed light on their subjects while gleaning colorful detail from the rough and tumble of blues history. Here is Freddie King playing a string of one-nighters so grueling it destroys his car; five-year-old Fontella Bass gigging at St. Louis funeral homes; and Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup rising from life in a packing crate to music stardom. Here, above all, is an eyewitness history of the blues written in neon lights and tears, an American epic of struggle and transcendence, of Saturday night triumphs and Sunday morning anonymity, of clean picking and dirty deals. Featuring interviews with: Fontella Bass, Ralph Bass, Fred Below, Juke Boy Bonner, Roy Brown, Albert Collins, James Cotton, Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup, Joe Dean, Henry Glover, L.C. Green, Dr. Hepcat, Red Holloway, Louise Johnson, Floyd Jones, Moody Jones, Freddie King, Big Maceo Merriweather, Walter Mitchell, Louis Myers, Johnny Otis, Snooky Pryor, Sparks Brothers, Jimmy Thomas, Jimmy Walker, and Baby Boy Warren.