TORONTO, March 17, 1998 -- What does "Try a Little Tenderness" mean to you? In a lecture on Thursday, March 26, York University musicologist Rob Bowman will explore how we attach meaning to music -- and why two versions of the same song can have entirely different meanings, depending on who is singing it.

Bowman's lecture, part of York University's year-long Premier Lecture Series, will look at "Try a Little Tenderness" as uniquely rendered by Bing Crosby and Otis Redding, as he explores the role of culture in influencing the meaning of music.

Bowman's interest in popular music, and in rhythm and blues in particular, began when he was 10 and picked up a copy of Otis Redding's "Try a Little Tenderness." Throughout his career as a professor, writer, broadcaster and musician, Bowman has been recognized as a pioneer in the field of popular music studies.

One of Bowman's abiding passions is the history and culture of Stax Records, one of the two great R&B record companies (along with Motown Records) of the 1960s and early 1970s. Bowman has just released Soulsville USA: The Story of Stax Records, a well-reviewed book chronicling the history of Stax, which produced musicians such as Otis Redding and Isaac Hayes.

Bowman's years of exhaustive research into Stax Records also resulted in his 1996 Grammy Award for Best Album Notes for the monograph accompanying the 10-CD boxed set of The Complete Stax/Volt Soul Singles, Vol. 3: 1972-75. He previously earned Grammy nominations for Best Album Notes for The Complete Stax Singles, Vol. 1: 1959-1968, and Best Historical Reissue for The Otis Redding Story.

Bowman's lecture, "Bing Crosby, Otis Redding, 'Try a Little Tenderness' and the Location of Meaning in Music," will be held from 7 to 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 26 in Stedman Lecture Hall A, York University, 4700 Keele Street.

*** Admission is free and the lecture is open to the public.*** The Premier Lecture Series is organized by the Centre for the Support of Teaching as a year-long series of public lectures inviting the community to enjoy the talents of some of York's most dynamic teachers.

For more information, please contact:

Steve Mason
Ctr. for the Support of Teaching
(416) 736-5754
email: smason@yorku.ca

Sine MacKinnon
Senior Advisor for Media Relations
(416) 736-2100, ext. 22087
email: sinem@yorku.ca

Alison Masemann
Media Relations Officer
(416) 736-2100, ext. 22086
email: masemann@yorku.ca
YU/023/98