Robert Douglas Pruter (born July 1, 1944) is an American writer, mainly on

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest atte ...

and

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...

music, and on

sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...

. He was the rhythm and blues editor of '' Goldmine'' magazine from 1985 to 2006.

Career

In 1969, he was hired as an assistant editor on the '' New Standard Encyclopedia'', published by the Standard Educational Corporation. He became associate editor, social sciences, in 1974, and senior editor in 1979. He started writing separately-published articles on soul music in 1976, in outlets including the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago ...

'' and ''Record Exchanger''. He became rhythm and blues editor for ''Goldmine'' in 1985, and in all has contributed over 500 articles to journals including the ''Illinois Entertainer'', ''The Reader'', ''Juke Blues'', and ''

Living Blues ''Living Blues: The Magazine of the African American Blues Tradition'' is a bi-monthly magazine focused on blues music, and America's oldest blues periodical. The magazine was founded as a quarterly in Chicago in 1970 by Jim O'Neal and Amy van ...

''. "Meet the commenters: Robert Pruter", ''Chicago Tribune'', February 1, 2013
Retrieved 1 July 2015 He has written

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desc ...

on many soul and R&B musicians, including Jackie Wilson,

Gene Chandler Gene Chandler (born Eugene Drake Dixon; July 6, 1937) is an American singer, songwriter, music producer, and record-label executive. Chandler is nicknamed "the Duke of Earl" or, simply, "the Duke." He is best known for his most successful son ...

Curtis Mayfield Curtis Lee Mayfield (June 3, 1942 – December 26, 1999) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer, and one of the most influential musicians behind soul and politically conscious African-American music.

, and

Dinah Washington Dinah Washington (born Ruth Lee Jones; August 29, 1924 – December 14, 1963) was an American singer and pianist, who has been cited as "the most popular black female recording artist of the 1950s songs". Primarily a jazz vocalist, she performe ...

, as well as biographies and overview chapters in reference works including ''The Marshall Cavendish Illustrated History of Popular Music'', ''The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music'', ''

Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various t ...

'' (2000 edition), and ''

American National Biography The ''American National Biography'' (ANB) is a 24-volume biographical encyclopedia set that contains about 17,400 entries and 20 million words, first published in 1999 by Oxford University Press under the auspices of the American Council of Le ...

''. Starting in the early 1990s he wrote in journals (in particular ''Journal of Sport History'') and in encyclopedias on the development of sport in the United States, especially on the history of high school sports. Robert Pruter, ''Midland Authors''
Retrieved 1 July 2015 Professionally, he left Standard Educational Corp. in 1996, and worked for Planning/Communications and Charles D. Spencer & Associates before becoming reference librarian at

Lewis University Lewis University is a private Roman Catholic and Lasallian university in Romeoville, Illinois, United States. The enrollment is currently around 6,800 students. Lewis offers more than 80 undergraduate majors and programs of study, 22 graduate pr ...

Romeoville, Illinois Romeoville is a village in Will County, Illinois, United States. The village is located southwest of Chicago on the Des Plaines River. Per the 2020 census, the population was 39,863. It is located in the southwest suburban area of Chicago near ...

, in 2001. His published books include: * ''Chicago Soul'',

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...

Press, 1991 ::The book won the Certificate of Excellence for scholarly works from the Illinois State Historical Society, 1992; and the ARSC Award for Excellence In Historical Recorded Sound Research from the Association for Recorded Sound Collections, 1992. * ''Blackwell Guide To Soul Recordings'' (editor),

Basil Blackwell Sir Basil Henry Blackwell (29 May 18899 April 1984) was born in Oxford, England. He was the son of Benjamin Henry Blackwell (18491924), founder of Blackwell's bookshop in Oxford, which went on to become the Blackwell family's publishing and books ...

Ltd., 1993 * ''Doowop: The Chicago Scene'', University of Illinois Press, 1996 ::The book won the ARSC Award for Excellence In Historical Recorded Sound Research from the Association for Recorded Sound Collections, 1997. * ''The Rise of American High School Sports and the Search for Control, 1880-1930'', Syracuse University Press, 2013

Personal life

Pruter is the son of Bishop Karl Pruter and the brother-in-law of folk singer Steve Goodman and writer Daniel Abraham.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pruter, Robert 1944 births Living people American magazine journalists American music historians American male non-fiction writers American information and reference writers Sportswriters from Illinois