Composers and songwriters Books

Book SynopsisAn October 2022 IndieNext pick”[An] engaging and beautifully narrated quest for personal fulfillment and musical recognition...This is a fast-paced tale in which music and love always take center stage...A truly gifted musician, Price writes about her journey with refreshing candor.”—Kirkus, starred review”Brutally honest…a vivid and poignant memoir.”—The GuardianCountry music star Margo Price shares the story of her struggle to make it in an industry that preys on its ingenues while trying to move on from devastating personal tragedies. When Margo Price was nineteen years old, she dropped out of college and moved to Nashville to become a musician. She busked on the street, played open mics, and even threw out her TV so that she would do nothing but write songs. She met Jeremy Ivey, a fellow musician who would become her closest collaborator and her husband. But after worTrade Review[An] engaging and beautifully narrated quest for personal fulfillment and musical recognition...This is a fast-paced tale in which music and love always take center stage...A truly gifted musician, Price writes about her journey with refreshing candor. * Kirkus, starred review *[A] dazzling debut...Told with moving candor, Price’s tale of overcoming squalor and pain provides powerful emotional context to her hard-won country music stardom. Fans will adore this story of survival. * Publishers Weekly *[Maybe We'll Make It] documents [Price's] prolonged plight and the unsung truth of breaking into the biz: It’s not glamorous...Her candid memoir takes the reader on a life-affirming journey. * BuzzFeed News *Brutally honest…a vivid and poignant memoir. * The Guardian *Margo Price delivers an unflinching self-portrait of an artist striving to find her sound and make her Music City dreams come true...Artists of all creeds will find something relatable in Maybe We’ll Make It, with its raw depictions of the artist’s perennial dilemma: bridging the transcendental need to create with the very real need to survive. Beyond this, Price’s memoir offers a heart-wrenching account of her journey as a mother. * Chapter 16 *Price has a knack for telling stories and drawing readers into her life and experience, and Maybe We’ll Make It radiates with her bright candor; she’s not interested in hiding her heart in the shadows and covering her feelings with darkness. Price bares her soul and the jaggedness of her emotions, making Maybe We’ll Make It one of the best music memoirs so far this year. * No Depression *An astonishing tale of an incredible journey...Of its many notable successes, the book efficiently and effectively seals the chapter on popular, mainstream country music's divorce from its diverse, rustic roots. Plus, Price's tales highlight that split's honest, near-destructive impact on the genre's metaphorical orphaned children. Even deeper, these artists energizing themselves and their careers via digital-era globalization and DIY bootstrapping—amid East Nashville-residing marginalization from country music's mainstream industry—reads like the most authentic and timeless outlaw tale combining elements of punk rock and country's crossover into 70s-era rock and roll. * The Tennessean *The gritty struggle of how to get noticed in Nashville…Now established as a favourite songwriter of Willie Nelson, Margo Price had a hard ride to where she is today, her memoir reading like a soap opera borne from a song...As Price's music evolved, so her wisdom grows during the book, and at its heart is stoic love: for each other, for family and friends, and above all for music and creative freedom. * Mojo *Courageously frank, utterly moving...Price tells us, with breathtaking honesty and courage, her story to achieve a sustainable career as a singer-songwriter. Through all manner of struggles, humiliations, disappointments, and personal tragedies, Price maintains her perseverance despite being tested to the core. * The Current *Compelling, honest, and powerful...Maybe We’ll Make It should be required reading for anyone thinking about how music is made in the 2020’s. That applies not only to artists, but also (perhaps especially) to club owners, journalists, or record company executives. * Americana Highways *[A] stunning, emotional, inspiring new memoir…In her authentic, no-nonsense voice, Price shares the stories that became songs, and the small acts of love and camaraderie it takes to survive in a music industry that is often unkind to women. * Our Quad Cities *A rough, rowdy, and brutally honest story of dreams and frustrations, good and bad choices, pain and joy...Price’s willingness to be open and honest about her experiences and mistakes is one of the most fascinating aspects of the book. She also avoids the twin traps common to memoirists, neither amping up her tales for exploitative shock value nor casting her past in self-pitying justification. Instead, she presents her stories of substance abuse, bad choices, and infidelity as simple facts...While Price’s personal journey centers the book, a larger story unfolds alongside it. Price’s encounters with the 21st-century mainstream Nashville music-biz complex are informative, entertaining, and, at times, unsettling. * The Nashvillian *[Maybe We'll Make It] begins with Price’s childhood in rural Illinois and ends with her April 2016 appearance on 'Saturday Night Live.' Most of her fans have followed the music she’s made since then, but Maybe We’ll Make It sheds light on the long road that got her there. * Austin American-Statesman *Margo Price's memoir of grit and resilience is one of our favorites to come out on University of Texas Press's consistently quality American Music Series. The Nashville-based, Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter relates the twenty years since she dropped out of college to become a musician with a keenly illustrative narrative voice and invokes a storyteller who 'quit trying to change the past' in order to share the lessons for 'the recent future.' * Rough Trade, "US Books of the Year 2022" *[Price’s] new memoir, which covers her childhood and her years struggling to start her career in Nashville, proves that she’s just as talented at penning prose as she is at writing songs – which is to say, really damn good. Reading this book feels like hanging out with one of your smartest, liveliest friends. * NPR, "2022 Books We Love" *Maybe We’ll Make It is a beautiful, soul-bearing memoir…Despite her elegant prose, Price does not hold back any of the ugly details of her starving artist lifestyle…Her unabashed commentary on the sexist undertones of the country music industry, and the grueling need to prove herself to record labels that are only too eager to cast her aside, reveal her fighter spirit...Even in her darkest moments, Price writes with crushing honesty and humility. Her story serves as a poignant reflection on finding courage in chaos and leaning on a support system when life is too difficult to shoulder alone. * SPIN, "9 Can’t-Put-Down Music Memoirs Of 2022" *[An] unflinching memoir...Price paints a vivid portrait of a musician who moves to Nashville with big dreams. * The Boot, "10 Best Country Music Books of 2022" *Maybe We’ll Make It never becomes a morality tale, which would be out of character for the artist and a poor interpretation of her life. Price’s early years become part of the complexity of who she is, not just as an artist but as a person...It might be unusual for an artist to pen a memoir so early in her career, but Price has never done things the normal way, and in this case, the choice to write was an excellent decision. * Spectrum Culture *[Maybe We'll Make It leaves] you hankering for a sequel this sharply remembered, keenly written and marvelously self-perceptive. * Variety, "Best Music Books of 2022" *Price is a forthright and spirited raconteur with a quick turn of phrase. Her affable, earnest nature draws in the reader, despite her occasional transgressions (and, at times, maybe even because of them). * Relix *This is the best music memoir of the year. As she does in her music, Price lays her soul bare here, pulling no punches in revealing her highs and lows, including her struggles with addiction and the faltering early days of her marriage, with bright candor. Price knows well how tell a story and draws us easily into the shadows and light of her life and music. * No Depression, "2022's Most Memorable Music Books" *[An] excellent memoir. * Rolling Stone *It would be an understatement to call her poignant, pulverizing memoir, ... Maybe We’ll Make It, soul-baring. Price practically plops her heart, spleen, and a couple of kidneys onto the page. * Jezebel *A riveting, often shocking read. * Clash Music *In terms of heartbreaking honesty, [Maybe We'll Make It] gives Prince Harry a run for his money. * The Irish Times *Much like [Price's] music, her memoir is written with an authentic, singular voice. She opens up more about loss, motherhood, drinking, her songs, and much more. * The Bluegrass Situation *[Maybe We'll Make It] offers a beautifully wrought narrative of cheerleading, waitressing, poverty, substance abuse, drunk tanks and grievous personal loss as she was rebuffed by the music business for over a decade. * The Telegraph *The writer and woman we find in the memoir is the same person we find in [Price's] music: candid and vulnerable with the ability to make you laugh with one line and make you cry with the next. Maybe We’ll Make It explores the balance of art and life, the ups and downs of 'making it,' profound love, and profound loss. Price’s writing is conversational, lyrical, and above all, human. You can hear the person behind the prose. * Literary Hub *[An] outstanding and unflinching memoir. * Nashville Scene *Price has to be praised for writing such an open and honest account of her early life as a musician, struggling to ‘make it’ in the modern day music business. Reading this book, you can’t help but think that every wannabe music star should be sat down and forced to read this before they embark on their first gig, because this is an incredibly honest account of just how difficult it can be to even get on the bottom rung of that long climb to the top...This book is every bit as compelling as her songs...[Maybe We'll Make It] is, quite simply, a great read. * Americana UK *'Singing is not a real job,' a guidance counselor once told a teenage Margo Price. What she shows us in her moving memoir is what a heck of a lot of work it is...Here, you sense, is someone who has fought every day for what she wants to do—and a reminder of how much unseen toil goes into a creative life. * Wall Street Journal, "Five Best Books on Country Music" *The story of [Price's] development as an artist—and a person—who, by almost any means necessary, is making it by sticking to her beliefs and doing it her way, makes for a interesting read. * Ft.Myers Magazine *Price’s music is the soundtrack to her courageous story in progress. In the best possible way, this book reads like the liner notes: honest, heartfelt, and profound. * Shepherd *She has never lost that early hunger, or her rebellious streak. Hers is a tale of committed endurance punctuated by euphoria, and gives insight into several unlikely influences – the Kinks and Sylvia Plath among them – on her irrepressible music. * Times Literary Supplement *Table of Contents Prologue Chapter 1. The Unpaved Road Chapter 2. Rearview Mirror Chapter 3. Fifty-Seven Dollars Chapter 4. Strays Chapter 5. Lay Around with the Dogs Chapter 6. This Town Gets Around (and Around and Around) Chapter 7. Black Water Chapter 8. Stealing from Thieves Chapter 9. Floating Chapter 10. Pearls to Swine Chapter 11. Hell in the Heartland Chapter 12. Everywhere Chapter 13. Mesa Boogie Chapter 14. C for California Chapter 15. Aimless Fate Chapter 16. Ball and Unchained Chapter 17. New Mama Chapter 18. Ezra and Judah Chapter 19. Drowning Chapter 20. Uppers, Downers, Out-of-Towners Chapter 21. Burn Whatever’s Left Chapter 22. Treading Water Chapter 23. Weekender Chapter 24. A Band of My Own Chapter 25. Midwest Farmer’s Daughter Chapter 26. One Dark Horse Chapter 27. The Recent Future Epilogue Acknowledgments

Read more less

Book SynopsisA full-length study of two of Berlioz's most unique works, which combine the highest goals of both symphony and opera and incorporate two of the greatest classics of Western literature into a total fusion of the arts. This work studies two works that are among the most challenging of the entire Romantic Movement, not least because they assault the notion of genre: they take place in a sort of limbo between symphony and opera, and try to fulfillthe highest goals of each simultaneously. Berlioz was a composer who strenuously resisted any impediments that stood in the way of complete compositional freedom. Most of his large-scale works nevertheless obey the strictures of some preexistent form, whether opera or symphony or mass or cantata; it is chiefly in these two experiments that Berlioz allowed himself to be Berlioz. One of the central characteristics of Romanticism is the belief that all arts are one, that literature, painting, and music have a common origin and a common goal; and this book tries to show that Berlioz achieved a Gesamtkunstwerk, a fusion of arts, in a manner even more impressive (in certain respects) than that of Wagner, in that Berlioz implicated into his total-art-work texts by two of the greatest poets of Western literature, Shakespeare and Goethe. The method of this book is unusual in that it pays equally close attention to the original text [Romeo and Juliet and Faust] as well as to the musical adaptation; furthermore, it suggests many analogues in the operatic world which Berlioz knew -- the world of Gluck, Mozart, Mehul, Spontini, Cherubini -- in order to show exactly how Berlioz followed or flouted the dramatic conventions of his age. This book aims to contribute to Berlioz studies, to studies of the Romantic Movement, and to the rapidly growing field of comparative arts. Daniel Albright is Richard L. Turner Professor in the Humanities at the University of Rochester.Trade ReviewAlbright has written a literary essay of great originality and charm, appealing to undergraduates through faculty, general readers, and professionals in both music and the humanitites. * CHOICE *Albright's work will inform and entertain admirers of Shakespeare, Goethe, and Berlioz alike. -- Julian Rushton, West Riding Professor of Music, University of LeedsThe rhetoric is comfortable, modern, familiar. . . 132 affable, inviting pages. . . of its originality there can be no doubt. * OPERA QUARTERLY *The originality of Albright's work lies in his unusual capacity to read texts and listen to music with a similar degree of sensitivity and insight and to detect the deeper resonance in structure and signification between the two without compromising their individuality. * THE EUROPEAN ROMANTIC REVIEW, December 2003 *This is a wonderful, concise, and compact discussion of two interesting and complex musical works of the Romantic period, exploring the historical and dramatic backgrounds of two of the more popular literary stories in human history. While written from the scholarly perspective, this book is easy to read and not overly technical in its presentation. -- Dr. Brad Eden * OPERATODAY.COM *Table of ContentsShakespeare's Romeo and Juliet From Shakespeare to Berlioz Berlioz's Roméo et Juliette Goethe's Faust From Goethe to Berlioz Berlioz's La damnation de Faust

Read more less

Book SynopsisAn innovative contribution to Scriabin studies, covering aspects of Scriabin's life, personality, beliefs, training, creative output, and interaction with contemporary Russian culture. This book is an innovative contribution to Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915) studies, covering aspects of Scriabin's life, personality, beliefs, training, creative output, as well as his interaction with contemporary Russian culture. It offers new and original research from leading and upcoming Russian music scholars. Key Scriabin topics such as mysticism, philosophy, music theory, contemporary aesthetics, and composition processes are covered. Musical coverage spans the composer's early, middle and late period. All main repertoire is being discussed: the piano miniatures and sonatas as well as the symphonies. In more detail, chapters consider: Scriabin's part in early twentieth-century Russia's cultural climate; how Scriabin moved from early pastiche to a style much more original; the influence of music theory on Scriabin's idiosyncratic style; the changing contexts of Scriabin performances; new aspects of reception studies. Further chapters offer: a critical understanding of how Scriabin's writings sit within the traditions of Mysticism as well as French and Russian Symbolism; a new investigation into his creative compositional process; miniaturism and its wider context; a new reading of the composer's mysticism and synaesthesia. Analytical chapters reach out of the score to offer an interpretative framework; accepting new approaches from disability studies; investigating the complex interaction of rhythm and metre and modal interactions, the latent diatonic 'tonal function' of Scriabin's late works, as well as self-regulating structures in the composer's music.Table of ContentsIntroduction: Demystifying Scriabin Kenneth Smith & Vasilis Kallis Part I. Shaping Creativity 1 About That Chord, and about Scriabin as a Mystic Simon Morrison 2 Scriabin and the Russian Silver Age Rebecca Mitchell 3 Scriabin as a Writer: The Development of Scriabin's Thought as Shown in a Lifetime's Writings Simon Nicholls 4 Russian Pedagogy in Composition and Music Theory during Scriabin's Creative Period Kostantin Zenkin 5 Studying Scriabin's Autographs: Reflections of the Creative Process Pavel Shatskiy Part II. The Music as Prism 6 Scriabin's Miniaturism Stephen Downes 7 The Scriabin Tremor and Its Role in His Oeuvre Inessa Bazayev 8 Demystifying the Mystic Vasilis Kallis 9 Temporal Perspectives in Scriabin's Late Music Antonio Grande 10 Scriabin's Multi-dimensional Accelerative Sonata Forms Kenneth Smith 11 Setting Mystical Forces in Motion: The Dialectics of Scale-Type Integration in Three Late Works Ross Edwards Part III. Reception and Tradition 12 Scriabin's Synaesthesia: the Legend, the Evidence, and Its Implications for Multimedia Counterpoint Anna Gawboy 13 Playing Scriabin: Reality and Enchantment Marina Frolova-Walker 14 Scriabin and Music Analysis: The Search for the Holy Grail Vasilis Kallis & Kenneth Smith 15 Scriabin and the Classical Tradition Ildar Khannanov 16 Scriabin's Critical Reception: 'Genius or madman?' James Kreiling Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade ReviewThis book is far more than an ethnography of the Russian musical diaspora: it investigates the stages of emigration of Russian composers as manifested in the music they actually composed. The wide range of composers and compositions examined makes this volume an excellent addition to the shelf that includes more general histories of 20th– and 21st–century Russian music, such as work by Malcolm Brown and Richard Taruskin. . . . Highly recommended. -- W. E. Grim, Strayer University * Choice *Russian Composers Abroad: How They Left, Stayed, Returned examines the movement of both Soviet and post-Soviet composers within the greater paradigm of socio-political identities, ones which shifted and morphed, or not, according to geography and circumstance. Connections in and around these inner and outer realities are ones Dubinets takes particular care with; such investigations have pointed resonance to the current, perilous displacements and journeys being made by so very many. Utilizing a myriad of references and quotations from a variety of sources (including composers Boris Filanovsky, Anton Batagov, Serge Newski and Dmitri Kourliandski) Dubinets examines the 20th and 21st-century diasporic musical landscapes through wonderfully contextualized lenses of history, culture, finance, socio-religious beliefs and practices, and old and current politics, as well as the ways in which identity can and does change according to a combination of these factors. -- Catherine Kustanczy * The Opera Queen *This weighty 388-page-long musicological work by Elena Dubinets is clearly a work of love. Love for her own country of origin, love for the music, and last but not least, love for the achievements that many of the composers Ms. Dubinets has known personally have reached. . . . Elena Dubinets follows the history, fate, and success of many composers, their initial struggle to adapt to a new and mostly-unknown ambiente. She does so in a sincere and partly hard way, describing the noble but also selfish aspects of each of her subjects. -- Giorgio Koukl * EarRelevant *Table of ContentsPrefaceAcknowledgmentsNote on TransliterationIntroductionPart I: National versus Global1. The "Universal": Globalizing the Local2. The National: Super-Icons3. National Identification versus Cultural Affiliation: Non-Russian Composers4. Cultural Affiliation versus Citizenship: Russian DiasporaPart II: How to: Perspectives of Music Creation5. The "Social" Perspective6. The "Production" PerspectivePart III: How they left7. A Brief History of Russian Diaspora Through Music8. "Kolbasa Emigration": a New Cultural Mythology?Part IV: How they stayed9. The Trauma of Migration10. The Many Professions11. Supporters and ConnectorsPart V: How they returned12. Homecoming and Reception at Home13. Russia under Putin: to stay or to go?ConclusionBibliographyIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn September 1998, a completely unknown band from London performed in the corner of a cafe in Manchester to an audience of fewer than ten people. One of these people was Debs Wild, a record company talent scout who immediately knew she'd seen the future. To celebrate the band's twentieth anniversary, Debs Wild – the discoverer of Coldplay – and Malcolm Croft look back on the band's phenomenal rise to glory. Life In Technicolor: A Celebration of Coldplay charts the band's extraordinary history from the very first rehearsal right through to the conclusion of their record-breaking A Head Full of Dreams Tour. With a unique insider's perspective and never-before-seen photos, this book will delight Coldplay's legions of fans across the globe. Table of ContentsIntroduction • The Early Years • The Safety EP & Brothers and Sisters EP • Parachutes • A Rush of Blood to the Head • X & Y • Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends • Mylo Xyloto • Ghost Stories • A Head Full of Dreams • The Future • Chronology of Performances • Discography.

Read more less

Book SynopsisChairman at the Board is an intimate, funny, and absorbing look at the music business by an insider who has recorded a host of the greatest musical artists of the twentieth century. Bill Schnee takes the reader inside the studiobehind the curtainand through the decades with a cavalcade of famous artists as he helped them to realize their vision. After his high school band was dropped by Decca Records, Schnee began his quest to learn everything he could about making records. Mentored by recording legend Richie Podolor at his American Recording Studio and mastering guru Doug Sax, he immediately began recording the top acts of the day as a freelance engineer/producer in Hollywood. Clive Davis soon hired him to work for CBS where he partnered with famed music producer Richard Perry. Schnee went on to record and/or mix most of Perry''s biggest albums of the ''70s and ''80s, including those by Barbra Streisand, Carly Simon, Ringo Starr, Art Garfunkel, and the Pointer

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisSympathy for the Drummer: Why Charlie Watts Matters is both a gonzo rushcapturing the bristling energy of the Rolling Stones and the times in which they livedand a wide-eyed reflection on why the Greatest Rock ''n'' Roll Band in the World needed the world''s greatest rock ''n'' roll drummer. Across five decades, Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts has had the best seat in the house. Charlie Watts, the anti-rock staran urbane jazz fan with a dry wit and little taste for the limelightwas witness to the most savage years in rock history, and emerged a hero, a warrior poet. With his easy swing and often loping, uneven fills, he found nuance in a music that often had little room for it, and along with his greatest ally, Keith Richards, he gave the Stones their swaggering beat. While others battled their drums, Charlie played his modest kit with finesse and humility, and yet his relentless grooves on the nastiest hard-rock numbers of the era (Gimme Shelter, Street Fighting MaTrade Review“Charlie Watts lays it down, and the others follow. He is the Law. This book explains why.” — Clem Burke, Blondie“Required reading for any Stones fan.” — Bun E. Carlos“The most colorfully graphic and, arguably, the most accurate description extant of the Rolling Stones at the absolute pinnacle of their career.”— All About Jazz“[Edison] shoots from the hip from the first line to the last in this extremely entertaining celebration... Edison’s frenzied, gunned up prose repeatedly reminds one and all of exactly why Charlie Watts Matters... Stones fans and jazzers, bluesers and rockers alike all owe Mike Edison a massive thank you.” ★★★★ — Shindig“Sympathy thankfully is not a ponderous academic treatise, and while Edison occasionally leans into gonzo flights of fancy, he takes the reader on a grand tour of forty years of Watts’ contributions to the Rolling Stones... As Keith Richards has said, “No Charlie, no Stones,” and Edison wrote the book to prove it.”— Modern Drummer“Sympathy for the Drummer is so much more than an incisive appreciation of Charlie Watts, it is an effusively infectious tribute to art in all of its myriad forms. Edison’s insights into the Rolling Stones are backed up by a fluent scope of cultural historicity, and peppered with an array of no-nonsense broadsides. Compelling evidence to convince even the most non-partisan reader that Charlie is indeed the WORLD’S GREATEST ROCK’N’ROLL DRUMMER!” — Jim Sclavunos, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds“It’s not hard to fathom why a former editor of both Screw and High Times magazines would find writing about the Rolling Stones, one of the most dissolute champions of sex and drugs, right in his conceptual wheelhouse. But Edison takes a unique approach by focusing his investigation on Charlie Watts, the woefully underappreciated lynchpin of the Stones sound. This book is a delightful look at the Stones through the eyes and the beats of their most reticent member. Finally someone gave this drummer some.” — Larry “Ratso” Sloman, author On the Road with Bob Dylan“A great voice of authority and knowledge, dispensed with free-wheeling fluidity. Super entertaining, and right on.” — Katherine Turman, coauthor, Louder Than Hell: The Complete Oral History of Heavy Metal“A wild ride through six-plus decades of music history... An illuminating and massively entertaining book.” — Dan Epstein, author Big Hair and Plastic Grass“Mike Edison’s libertine prose swings and hits like Charlie Watt’s right hand.” — Meredith Ochs, author Rock-and-Roll Woman“Charlie Watts is the backbone of the Rolling Stones. In this affectionate yet unflinching biography, Mike Edison shows how integral his jazz sensibility makes them a true band: keeping time, creating space, and hitting the crash cymbal at just the right moment.” — Lenny Kaye, guitarist, author of You Call It Madness: the Sensuous Song of the Croon“An imaginative consideration of the Rolling Stones, one which will let you hear utterly familiar tracks with entirely fresh ears." — Ira Robbin“Rollicking ... highly engaging ... essential.” — Classic Rock“A marvelous snare-crack of a book.” — Hot Press (UK)“Exhilarating... magnificent insouciance... Edison writes like Charlie Watts drums: with panache.””— Planet Rock“A remarkable achievement... insightful, passionate, knowledgeable, funny, fresh and astute... Sympathy for the Drummer is hard to beat.” — International Times“Edison’s style captures the effortless nature of Watts’ drumming... you come away with new respect for the man behind the small kit, and I guarantee you’ll blast a Stones cut when done. Highly recommended.”— The Big Takeover“Fanf**kingtastic.”— Kenny Aranoff"The most fun and evocative Stones book since Keith Richard's Life." — Record Collector (UK)

Read more less

Book SynopsisEverything I Need to Know I Learned from Bruce Springsteen is an eye-popping collection of stunning photos and insightful lessons inspired by Springsteen’s life and musical legacy. For decades, the Boss has imbued his work with great depths of feeling and authenticity, speaking his truth to millions of fans worldwide. The analysis of his lyrics and the story of his life have generated bestselling literary works for decades. Now, as Springsteen takes on what may be his final world tour, on the cusp of turning an unstoppable 75 years old, author Trevor Courneen examines Bruce’s lyrics, quotes, media appearances and personal history, mining each for the invaluable bits of wisdom that so often give life and meaning to his music, and translates them into actionable lessons that readers can apply to their own lives. Throughout, the book features stunning black and white and full colour photos of Bruce on stage, in private and on the road, making this book a one-of-a-kind collectible or gift book for fans of The Boss.

Read more less

Book SynopsisBob Gendron is a longtime contributor to the Chicago Tribune and a veteran Music Editor. He co-authored Nirvana: The Complete Illustrated History and has written for DownBeat, Rolling Stone, TONEAudio, and other outlets. In his spare time, he enjoys visiting craft breweries, playing hockey, and exploring neighborhoods. An avid fan of the White Sox and the Blackhawks, he lives in his hometown of Chicago with his wife and two dogs.Trade Review"In the absence of love, there is loneliness, sorrow and desperation. And that's where I come in."--Greg Dulli, introducing "When We Two Parted" onstage in San Francisco It was only a matter of time before a clever publisher realized that there is an audience for whom Exile on Main Street or Electric Ladyland are as significant and worthy of study as The Catcher in the Rye or Middlemarch...The series, which now comprises 29 titles with more in the words, is freewheeling and eclectic, ranging from minute rock-geek analysis to idiosyncratic personal celebration--The New York Times Book Review Ideal for the rock geek who thinks liner notes just aren't enough--Rolling Stone One of the coolest publishing imprints on the planet - Bookslut These are for the insane collectors out there who appreciate fantastic design, well-executed thinking, and things that make your house look cool. Each volume in this series takes a seminal album and breaks it down in startling minutiae. We love these. We are huge nerds. - Vice A brilliant series...each one a word of real love - NME (UK) Passionate, obsessive, and smart - Nylon Religious tracts for the nock 'n' roll faithful - Uncut (UK) We...aren't naive enough to think that we're your only source for reading about music (but if we had our way...watch out). For those of you who really like to know everything there is to know about an album, you'd do well to check out Continuum's "33 1/3" series of books." - Pitchfork"

Read more less

Book SynopsisBob Dylan's impact on popular music has been incalculable. Having transformed staid folk music into a vehicle for coruscating social commentary, he then swept away the romantic platitudes of rock 'n' roll with his searing intellect.From the zeitgeist-encapsulating protest of 'Blowin' in the Wind' to the streetwise venom of 'Like a Rolling Stone', and from the stunning mid-sixties trilogy of albums - Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde - to Time Out of Mind, his stunning if world-weary comeback at the age of 56, Dylan's genius has endured, underpinned by the dazzling turn of phrase that has made him the pre-eminent poet of popular music.Because Dylan's achievements have no equal, his career is the most chronicled in rock history. Here, Sean Egan presents a selection of the best writing on Dylan, both praise and criticism. Interviews, essays, features and reviews from Dylan intimates and scholars such as John Bauldie, Michael Gray, Nat Hentoff and Jules Siegel are interspersed with new narrative and reviews of every single album to create a comprehensive picture of the artist whose chimes of freedom still resound.Trade ReviewManages to catch some of Dylan's magic. * Catholic Herald *Fascinating and hilarious anecdotes. * Jewish Chronicle *A great book ... as discursive and illuminating as any recent book on Dylan I've read. * Craig McGregor, author of 'Bob Dylan: A Retrospective' *

Read more less

Book Synopsis'The publication of this study of the music of Bela Bartok is an important event. Many descriptive analyses of particular works of his have appeared, but here for the first time is an authoritative and convincing exposition of the theoretical principles which the composer worked out for himself but refrained, as far as is known, from expounding it to anyone during his lifetime. Erno Lendvai has disclosed the fact that Bela Bartok, in his early thirties, evolved for himself a method of integrating all the elements of music; the scales, the chordal structure with the melodic motifs appropriate to them, together with the proportions of length as between movements in a whole work, main divisions within a movement such as exposition, development and recapitulation and even balancing phrases within sections of movements, according to one single basic principle.' Alan BushTrade Review'Erno Lendvai is a Bartok specialist of the highest order...a theorist of genius.' Tempo; 'Essential reading for any composition student.' Composer; 'His analysis of the Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion is remarkable.' The ListenerTable of ContentsIntroduction, 1. Tonal Principles - The Axis System, 2. Form Principles - Golden Section, 3. Fibonacci Series, 4. The Use of Chords and Intervals - Chromatic System, 5. Diatonic System, Appendices

Read more less

Book SynopsisLeads the reader through the personal, political, and professional events that shaped the music composer Dmitri Shostakovich's singular, emblematic twentieth-century life.Trade Review“Music for Silenced Voices is a sensitive and enlightening meditation. . . . Lesser, in other words, is giving Shostakovich back to his listeners.”—Paul Mitchinson, Washington Post -- Paul Mitchinson * The Washington Post *“Riveting.”—Laurence Vittes, The Huffington Post -- Laurence Vittes * The Huffington Post *“This book is a paean to Shostakovich’s quartets and their significance. In her listening, Lesser…is literate, sensitive, and imaginative.”—Edward Rothstein, The New York Times Book Review -- Edward Rothstein * The New York Times Book Review *"An essential companion for anyone planning to hear the quartets."—Ed Vuillamy, Guardian -- Ed Vuillamy * Guardian *"We need to find new approaches in order to bring music into the mainstream of general culture, where it belongs. Music for Silenced Voices helps to show that this can be done, and done well."—Jessica Duchen, Standpoint -- Jessica Duchen * Standpoint *"An elegant, thought-provoking synthesis of the current state of knowledge and ideas about one of the most celebrated and controversial composers of the twentieth century. It is a delight to read, and reread."—Laurel E. Fay -- Laurel E. Fay"Lesser moves between looking at the life as a way of understanding the quartets, and using the music of the quartets as a way of comprehending the complexities of Shostakovich and the manner in which he both negotiated and was pushed through the history of Stalin’s Soviet Union. The always imprecise links between a life and the work that comes out of it are beautifully elucidated. The idea of the quartets as songs for not singing resonates with many other elements of Shostakovich’s contradictory life."—William Kentridge -- William Kentridge“Wendy Lesser has written a fantastic book that is as exciting as a detective story. Music for Silenced Voices is a book for those who love Shostakovich and also for those who are going to love Shostakovich after they read it. A must read.”—Menahem Pressler -- Menahem Pressler“Thoughtful and appealing…[Lesser’s] commitment to Shostakovich is so intense that she achieves what every critic must hope for: Lesser sends us straight back to the quartets, to see if we can hear what she hears.”—Adam Kirsch, The Barnes and Noble Review -- Adam Kirsch * Barnes and Noble Review *“The book does not disappoint….The cumulative effect of the book is to send us back to the music with renewed enthusiasm and enhanced insight; and the impression of Shostakovich and his world as conveyed in its pages lingers in the mind long after the cover is closed.”—Jessica Duchen, Standpoint -- Jessica Duchen * Standpoint *"It is clear that no other analyst could do better . . . Lesser has acquitted herself very well indeed, and we should hope for more from her in future."—R.J. Stove, The American Conservative -- R.J. Stove * The American Conservative *"A sensitive biography. . . . Her enthusiasm for the quartets is infectious."—Michael O'Donnell, The Nation -- Michael O'Donnell * The Nation *"What makes Lesser's book such a ripping good read, in addition to deeply considered music appreciation, is her intelligently personal involvement with the subject."—Jonathan Kiefer, SF Weekly -- Jonathan Kiefer * SF Weekly *"A sensitive and enlightening meditation. . . . Lesser is giving Shostakovich back to his listeners."—Paul Mitchinson, The Washington Post -- Paul Mitchinson * The Washington Post *“Written with the general reader in mind, it is an altogether remarkable book; a deeply serious and scholarly yet astutely accessible and rewarding portrait of a man caught and confined within a murderous maelstrom whose response was music in which the personal and the political are indelibly, and perhaps intractably, intertwined.”—Michael Quinn, Classical Music -- Michael Quinn * Classical Music *“This is a brilliant and fascinating book.”—The Weekly Standard * The Weekly Standard *“…..It is hard not to be swept up in the stories behind the Shostakovich cycle and by the zeal of Wendy Lesser’s advocacy. The cumulative impact of Music for Silenced Voices is considerable.”—John Greening, Times Literary Supplement -- John Greening * Times Literary Supplement *“….this is a study that has much to offer to all who know and love Shostakovich’s quartets, and there should be few performers, critics or musicologists who would read it without profit.”—David Fanning, Gramophone -- David Fanning * Gramophone *“A book of musical and biographical insight.”—Jewish Book World * Jewish Book World *Winner of the 2011 American Publishers Awards for Professional and Scholarly Excellence (PROSE) in the Performing Arts category, as given by the Association of American Publishers -- PROSE Award in Music and the Performing Arts * Association of American Publishers *“Lesser’s elegant prose brings the music and the man vividly to life.”—Katie Owen, The Sunday Telegraph -- Katie Owen * The Sunday Telegraph *"An enriching read."—Helen Wallace, Financial Times -- Helen Wallace * Financial Times *"An enormously gripping read… [Wendy Lesser] has that rare capacity to illuminate the music through the written word… Her absorbing reflections stimulate you to think afresh about some of the most profound and disturbing music written in the last hundred years… skilful interweaving of the music against a narrative that explores Shostakovich's tortured personality and his troubled relationship with the Soviet regime."—Erik Levi, BBC Music Magazine -- Erik Levi * BBC Music Magazine *“A rich blend of biographical anecdote and interpretation of the personal man…and the public man. Lesser…presents a complex man who was aware that he was making terrible compromises to protect himself and his family.”—Library Journal * Library Journal *“Lesser has written a sensitive biography…a generous reflection on his life and chamber music.”—Michael O’Donnell, The Nation -- Michael O'Donnell * The Nation *

Read more less

Book SynopsisBest known for the challenging four-opera cycle The Ring of the Nibelung, Richard Wagner (1813-83) was a conductor, librettist, theater director, and essayist, in addition to being the composer of some of the most enduring operatic works in history, such as the Flying Dutchman. This book explores key ideas in Wagner's life and works.Trade Review"A fine biography.... This is the most balanced account of Schumann's life and work for more than a generation, one that makes us want to relisten to Schumann's music, knowing better the man behind it." -Wall Street Journal, on Robert Schumann"

Read more less

Book SynopsisNoted organist and scholar Anthony Hammond tells the full story, for the first time, of one of the great organists of the twentieth century. Described by his teacher Marcel Dupré as "a phenomenon without equal in the history of the contemporary organ," Pierre Cochereau is considered one of the twentieth century's greatest French organists.This book tells, for the firsttime, the full story of of his extraordinary life and glittering, worldwide career. In 1955 Cochereau was appointed Organiste Titulaire at Notre-Dame de Paris, where he restored the cathedral's musical glory and oversawa far-reaching and controversial transformation of its organ. As a recitalist, he toured South America, Australia, Asia, Canada, and Europe in addition to twenty-five tours of the United States. He was the first western organist to perform in the former Soviet Union., played with many major orchestras under the batons of distinguished conductors, participated in numerous music festivals in Europe, made over eighty recordings, and was one of the founders of the Chartres International Organ Competition. He was honored several times for his achievements, including being named an Officer of the Legion of Honor (1978). A tireless campaigner for standards in music education, Cochereau also served as director at many of France's prominent conservatories, including Le Mans, Lyons, and Nice, which under his directorhsip became one of the leading music schools in France. Biographer AnthonyHammond draws from a variety of of prominent primary sources, notably Marcel Dupré's papers in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, but also from Cochereau's surviving family and friends, and uses recordings and previously overlooked archive films in the Institut National de l'Audiovisuel, France to construct this definitive account and critical appraisal of one of France's most distinguished organists. Anthony Hammond is an English concert organist, improviser, and musicologist who specializes in French Romantic and twentieth-century organ music.Trade ReviewA layered and affectionate portrait. . . Figure 4.4, modestly described as 'summariz(ing) the essential features of Cochereau's style, is in fact a tiny masterpiece. . . . Hammond's manner of discussing improvisation is readable and practical. . . . His writing is sharp and deeply knowledgeable, [with] inspiring originality and enormous energy. Anthony Hammond makes me think of a young Charles Rosen, enthusiastic and sincere, . . . an advocate for performance as an intellectual act. -- Christina Linklater * MUSIC LIBRARY ASSOCIATION NOTES *A compelling read for all organists and, especially today, for the new breed of improvisers. . . . . In the discussions of Cochereau the improviser the story really comes to life. . . . A fine tribute to one of the 20th century's true musical geniuses--and a great read. -- Rollin Smith * THE AMERICAN ORGANIST *Fascinating and welcome. . . . Daring, brave, and brilliant. . . . Defines and reintroduces us to a spectacular church musician, organist, educator, and 'Premier Prix' in all his accomplishments. . . . Be sure to read this charming and intelligent book. -- William Tortolano * PASTORAL MUSIC *Fascinating. . . . A most respectful account of his compositions, at a length and thoroughness to satisfy anyone as keen on the French conception of organ-music and organ-playing as he clearly is. -- Peter Williams * MUSICAL TIMES *Hammond here offers a thorough account of the work of this passionate, attractive, and generous artist, . . . showi[ng] how Pierre Cochereau's legacy would inspire generations to come. . . . Can be consulted with great interest even by non-English-speakers. -- Carolyn Shuster Fournier * ORGUES NOUVELLES *In this most welcome first biography of Pierre Cochereau, Anthony Hammond gives us just what one would hope for: a detailed account of Cochereau's life, a thorough look at the influences that shaped his work, a valuable assessment of his craft as an interpreter, and new understanding of his art as an improviser. --Lawrence Archbold, Carleton College * . *'A model of scholarly research, Pierre Cochereau's legendary career is extensively recounted and the influence forming his mature style as an improviser and composer expertly documented. The post-1955 history of the Notre-Dame organ is by far the most accurate account in print today. -- Jesse Eschbach, University of North TexasTable of ContentsIntroduction Cochereau: The Life and Career of the Organist of Notre-Dame An Apostolic Succession?-Studies with Marcel Dupré Pierre Cochereau as Interpreter The Musical Language of Pierre Cochereau The Improvisations of Pierre Cochereau In Conclusion: The Legacy of Pierre Cochereau Notes Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis work is part of a series of comprehensive practical guides for the solo piano. A reference book for all levels - amateur, student, teacher and professional - the purpose of the series is to help pianists with their choice of music to suit their own styles and capabilities, and to discuss their technical and interpretive demands. This volume provides a complete survey of Chopin's music for solo piano, including a graded list of his works together with detailed suggestions for study and performance. An extended introduction places Chopin in the context of his time, distancing him from the romantic misconceptions that have dogged his reputation through successive generations.Trade Review'Eleanor Bailie has a disciplined yet refreshingly natural way of dealing with the necessary regard for structure and detail, and ceaseless care for the many technical problems present in Chopin's works, balanced simply and convincingly by the sheer love of music. This is a rare talent indeed...' - Peter Katin; 'The author has a unique way of involving us and of instilling into the pianists compulsion to turn to that particular piece and find out more about it. In summary, this book is a treasure-trove.' - Beryl Chempin, Piano Journal; 'This book exudes the love and practical knowledge of Chopin's work. It will help pianists, teachers and students to enter the unique world of Chopin.' - Jean-Jacques EigeldingerTable of ContentsForeword by Peter Katin, Preface, Introduction, 1. More Specific Aspects of Style, 2. Some Explanations and Amplifications, 3. Editions, 4. A Graded List of Chopin's Works for Solo Piano, 4.1 Preludes, 4.2 Mazurkas, 4.3 Waltzes, 4.4 Polonaises, 4.5 Nocturnes, 4.6 Studies, 4.7 Trois Nouvelles Etudes, 4.8 Scherzos, 4.9 Ballades, 4.10 Sonatas, 4.11 Impromptus, 4.12 Rondos, 4.13 Variations, 4.14 Miscellaneous Works, 4.15 Works for Solo Piano without Opus Numbers, 4.16 Other Works, Persons mentioned in the text, Appendix, Bibliography, Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisWhen one considers The Beatles' early history, there are several names that immediately come to mind, like Ivan Vaughan, Rod Davis, Stuart Sutcliffe and Pete Best. However, the story of the evolution of The Beatles from The Quarrymen to The Fab Four is about more than just the musicians in those groups. Other people, like George Smith, Joe Ankrah, Red Carter, Zancs Logie, Ian James, Marie Maguire, Colin Manley and Arthur Pendleton are all important to the story as well. These one hundred and four friends, family and musicians get a long overdue credit for their contributions to the musical development of the greatest pop group of all time: The Beatles.

Read more less

Book SynopsisNew York City in the 1970s was an urban nightmare: destitute, dirty, and dangerous. As the country collectively turned its back on the Big Apple, two musical vigilantes rose out of the miasma. Armed only with amplified AC current, Suicide''s Alan Vega and Marty Rev set out to save America''s soul. Their weaponized noise terrorized unsuspecting audiences. Suicide could start a riot on a lack of guitar alone. Those who braved their live shows often fled in fear--or formed bands (sometimes both). This book attempts to give the reader a front-row seat to a Suicide show. Suicide is one of the most original, most misunderstood, and most influential bands of the last century. While Suicide has always had a dedicated cult following, the band is still relatively unknown outside their musical coterie. Arguing against the idea of the band''s niche musical history, this book looks at parallels between Marvel Comics'' antiheroes in the 1970s and Suicide's groundbreaking first album. Andi Coulter tTrade ReviewThe text is accessible, the neat compact size of the book is a delight, it’s a book that could be read over a couple of commutes; and as we approach Christmas Day it would form an ideal gift for any inquisitive music lover. * Louder than War *Table of ContentsTrack Listing 1. Prelude to a Private Armageddon 2. Two Against Death 3. Wheels on Fire 4. A Specter Stalks the Soundstage 5. A Legend is Born 6. The Hell-bound Hero 7. Resurrection Bibliography Notes

Read more less

Book SynopsisBy 1976, Elton John was the best-selling recording artist and the highest-grossing touring act in the world. With seven #1 albums in a row and a reputation as a riveting piano-pounding performer, the former Reggie Dwight had gone with dazzling speed from the London suburbs to the pinnacles of rock stardom, his songs never leaving the charts, his sold-out shows packed with adoring fans. Then he released Blue Moves, and it all came crashing down.Was the commercially disappointing and poorly reviewed double album to blame? Can one album shoot down a star? No, argues Matthew Restall; Blue Moves is a four-sided masterpiece, as fantastic as Captain Fantastic, as colorful as Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, a showcase for the three elements--piano-playing troubadour, full orchestra, rock band--with which Elton John and his collaborators redirected the evolution of popular music. Instead, both album and career were derailed by a perfect storm of circumstances: Elton's decTrade ReviewRestall makes the case for renewed examination and appreciation of this often misunderstood album in the Elton John catalog. * Under the Radar Magazine *Table of ContentsTrack Listing 1. A Dumb but Gorgeous One-Night Stand 2. Just as Good 3. Best of, Volume 300 4. Our Mount Everest 5. A Few Surprises 6. A Sad, Sad Situation 7. It Could Be Me 8. One of My Favorite Albums 9. The Queen Mum of Pop Acknowledgments Notes Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisFollowing methods known to have been adopted by Bach himself, the exercises provided in chorale harmonization are graded in such a way as to encourage the student to develop both technique and imagination within a closely-defined framework. The instrumental counterpoint section is based on Bach's two-and three-part Inventions. By close analysis the author helps the reader to recognize the procedures Bach adopted in various musical situations. The exercises are taken largely from Bach's keyboard works.Trade ReviewMalcolm Boyd's lucid text investigates how often various chords and progressions occur, in what contexts and (where possible) for what reasons. Following methods known to have been adopted by Bach himself, the exercises are graded in such a way as to encourage the student to develop both technique and imagination within a closely defined framework. Recommended for all music students.Table of ContentsPart One - Chorale Harmonization: Introduction, 1. Melodic Characteristics of the Chorale, 2. Cadences, 3. Harmonic Resource, 4..Unessential Notes, 5. Consecutives, 6. Textures, 7. Modal Chorales, 8. Exercises, Appendix, Part Two - Instrumental Counterpoint: 1. Introduction, 2. Melodic Characteristics, 3. Harmony, 4. Rhythm and Texture, 5. Musical Forms, 6. Exercises

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis is a book not just for fans of the band: it sot just for fans of the band: it's for anyone interested in how culture can spark national conversations.

Read more less

Book SynopsisFor 5 years after they''d swapped sought-after apprenticeships for life on the dole, brothers William and Jim Reid sat up till the early hours in the front room of their parents'' East Kilbride council house, plotting their path to world domination over endless cups of tea, with the music turned down low so as not to wake their sleeping sister. They knew they couldn''t play in the same band because they''d argue too much, so they''d describe their dream ensembles to each other until finally they realised that these two perfect bands were actually the same band, and the name of that band was The Jesus and Mary Chain. The rest was not silence, and picking up those conversations again more than 40 years later, William and Jim tell the full story of one of Britain''s greatest guitar bands for the very first time - a wildly funny and improbably moving chronicle of brotherly strife, feedback, riots, drug and alcohol addiction, eternal outsiders and extreme shyness, that also someh

Read more less

Book SynopsisFrom the early days of The Rolling Stones, with a relatively baby-faced 'Keef' sporting a hounds-tooth jacket, to his heroic piratical look of the present day, rock's indestructible hero has been photographed by many people over half a century. Featuring more than 300 photographs in colour and black-and-white.Among those who took the pictures in this book are legendary photographers Jim Marshall, Terry O'Neill, Deborah Feingold, Neil Preston and Mark Seliger.If many of Keith Richards' adventures have passed into folklore, never before has there been quite such a comprehensive collection of portraits and candid shots collected to match the passing moments: police busts, global superstardom, a legendary Glastonbury set, a satisfying appearance in the Pirates Of The Caribbean movie franchise and an unlikely 2008 advertising stint as a lifestyle icon for Louis Vuitton, as photographed by Annie Leibowitz.Beautifully produced and elegantly designed, Keith Richards: A Life In Pictures is simply the must-have book of the year.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe legendary Jimi Hendrix has had all kinds of superlatives bestowed on him since his incendiary debut in 1966, but Lou Reed's pithy summation beats the lot: '...he was such a bitching guitar player'. Jimi Hendrix On Track explores each thrilling song and album, drawing out exactly what made Hendrix not only a great guitarist but also a vocalist, arranger, interpreter, producer and songwriter of genius. Hendrix's revolutionary albums with The Experience and Band of Gypsys are discussed in detail, as are his posthumous releases from First Rays of the Rising Sun to Both Sides of the Sky. His early work as a session player for acts like The Isley Brothers, Little Richard and even Jayne Mansfield is considered, along with his later work as a guest star on albums by Stephen Stills, Robert Wyatt, and McGear and McGough; and not forgetting his blistering work as a producer for Eire Apparent. From psychedelic odysseys to progressive blues to proto-metal to funk-rock, Hendrix mastered them all. Jimi Hendrix On Track is an informative guide to some of the 20th century's most extraordinary recordings.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisQuite simply, Martin Popoff’s Sabotage! Black Sabbath in the Seventies marks the most intensive analysis of Black Sabbath’s first eight albums ever attempted. This is a big book—129,000 words long, every song analysed in detail, loads of first-hand interview footage from close to 50 interrogations. In the baking, Popoff interviewed all of the principles—Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward—repeatedly, along with myriad other folks who are part of this remarkable tale. Black Sabbath, Paranoid, Master of Reality, Vol 4, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, Sabotage, Never Say Die and Technical Ecstasy… these are the building blocks of heavy metal, and within these awesome audio chapters, Popoff breaks down each and every song on each of these reverberating and cannonating records, while Geezer offers explanation of the lyrics, Bill poetically explains why these songs resonate and Tony and Oz look on with their characteristic sense of bemusement. Also touched upon are the band’s torrid troubles with money and management and drugs and booze, as well as tour tales, album cover stories and production tips ‘n’ tricks. Also included are two four-page sections of colour plates. All told, it’s everything needed to send the reader back to the catalogue, headphones on, for a second listen of this landmark run of records spanning 1970’s self-titled debut to 1978’s Never Say Die, the shambling, controversial last gasp before Ozzy’s shocking ouster from the ranks.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisMozart's greatest works were written in Vienna in the decade before his death (1781â1791). This biography focuses on Mozart's dual roles as a performer and composer and reveals how his compositional processes are affected by performance-related concerns. It traces consistencies and changes in Mozart's professional persona and his modus operandi and sheds light on other prominent musicians, audience expectations, publishing, and concert and dramatic practices and traditions. Giving particular prominence to primary sources, Simon P. Keefe offers new biographical and critical perspectives on the man and his music, highlighting his extraordinary ability to engage with the competing demands of singers and instrumentalists, publishing and public performance, and concerts and dramatic productions in the course of a hectic, diverse and financially uncertain freelance career. This comprehensive and accessible volume is essential for Mozart lovers and scholars alike, exploring his Viennese masteTrade Review'Simon P. Keefe is one of our greatest experts on Mozart's life and on his music. In Keefe's new book he weaves the two together into an extended narrative showing the many connections between the two. His graceful prose makes this admirable book accessible to anyone – whether beginner, experienced amateur, or professional – who is interested in gaining a fuller understanding of Mozart the man and the conditions under which he produced his extraordinary music.' Neal Zaslaw, Cornell University, New York'An authoritative, richly annotated volume by a leading Mozart scholar that offers a comprehensive survey of the composer's life and music in the last ten years of his life. The integration of these two aspects is a signal achievement: a life in music, rather than a life alongside the music. The volume will be an accessible point of reference for years to come.' David Wyn Jones, Cardiff University'Simon P Keefe's mammoth study of Mozart's creative achievements during the last ten years of his life is an engrossing read … The book has impeccable scholarly credentials, boasting a huge number of footnotes and a generous selection of printed music examples, yet its written style is lively and accessible with Keefe's abundant enthusiasm for Mozart shining through every page.' Erik Levi, BBC Music Magazine'… Mozart in Vienna is a handsome addition to Keefe's output as well as to the rich Mozartian literature, representing a welcome, if undeniably challenging, new look at some of the finest music ever created.' David Threasher, Gramophone'Mozart in Vienna will take you intimately close to the internal workings of Mozart's creative genius.' Larry Wolff, The New York Review of BooksTable of ContentsPart I. Beginnings, 1781–1782: 1. Settling in Vienna: exploiting opportunities for instrumental performance and composition; 2. Singers and effects: seeking operatic success in Die Entführung aus dem Serail; Part II. Instrumental and Vocal Music, 1782–1786: 3. Consolidating experiences and expanding horizons: the instrumental music, 1782–83; 4. 'You can easily imagine that I must inevitably play some new things': Mozart's piano concertos and other instrumental works for concerts, 1784–1786; 5. Composing, performing and publishing: the 'Haydn' string quartets and other chamber music for publication, 1784–86; 6. Operas, arias, ensembles, songs and a mass: vocal and dramatic music, 1782–86; Part III. The Da Ponte Operas, 1786–1790: 7. Le nozze di Figaro; 8. In Prague and Vienna: Don Giovanni, 1787–88; 9. The Figaro revival and Così fan tutte; Part IV. Instrumental Music, 1786–90: 10. For publication and performance: solo and chamber music; 11. Orchestral music and concert activities; Part V. Mozart in 1791: 12. New beginnings, continuations and endings: Mozart's last year.

Read more less

Book SynopsisJIMI HENDRIX: MUSICIAN

Read more less

Book SynopsisNo musical entity has been more closely associated with ÊGuitar WorldÊ magazine over the years than Edward Van Halen ä the man who in the late seventies and early eighties changed the course of guitar history. This collection of classic and new interviews with the great Edward tells the real story behind his earth-shaking technique brilliant songwriting and relationship with both David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar. This is the authoritative book ä revised and updated with new exclusive interviews and information on one of the greatest rock bands of all time and the guitar god at the center of it all.

Read more less

Book SynopsisNPR Best Books of 2017NOW IN GLORIOUS PAPERBACH AND FEATURING NEW PHOTOS18 And Life on Skid Row tells the story of a boy who spent his childhood moving from Freeport, Bahamas to California and finally to Canada and who at the age of eight discovered the gift that would change his life.Trade Review"In the hedonistic new memoir 18 and Life on Skid Row, Sebastian Bach is brutally frank in his description of life on the road and exploits...Written in a funny, everyman style, 18 and Life finds Bach as one of rock's most affable frontmen." -- Rolling Stone "The soulfulness of Sebastian Bach's new memoir caught me off-guard...The book's personal stories are compelling...they're what make 18 and Life on Skid Row a captivating read." -- LA Weekly "[a] ribald and freewheeling memoir...often a delightfully trashy and salacious read. The overall impression one gets of Bach is of an outgoing and genial person...it works because of Bach's puppyish enthusiasm-for music, yes, but also for booze, for drugs, and for sex in unusual places. Rock it up!" -- AV Club "a wild ride of a memoir" -- The Houston Press "the rock book that's going to be hard to beat" -- Las Vegas Weekly "give the gift of Baz this holiday season and get the Skid Row scoop via one of rock's greatest frontmen." -- Vanyaland

Read more less

Book SynopsisJanáček wrote regular articles for the Brno daily paper and in these he expressed his attitude and feelings towards the everyday things in nature and human situations which had commanded his attention. The sounds he heard, especially the human voice, he annotated with musical sketches and these appear in this book in his own words and serve to illuminate the works which this great composer produced. The thirty-odd articles are grouped under Memories of Youth, The Sounds of Music, Travel, Birds, while included under Operatic Studies is a fascinating account of the origins of The Cunning Little Vixen. The book also contains some rare photographs and music examples, many in Janáček's own hand.Trade ReviewAnyone who is the least bit interested in opera and certainly anyone who as listened to Leoš Janáček’s music will love Leaves From His Life. The writing style alone is a wonderful insight into his music. The man really did think in those terse little aphorisms. But what shines through his music and his words is his love of and devotion to the experience of ordinary folk, and the occasional bird, furry creature or insect: life, in short.Table of ContentsRecollections of Leos Janáček, Preface, Introduction, Memories of Youth, The Sounds of Music, Birds, Gypsy Children, Travel, Operatic Studies, Music

Read more less

Book SynopsisFirst substantial overview of the life and career of Pharrell Williams, the foremost producer of the modern era, and performer in his own right. It follows him from his days growing up in Virginia, his meeting with musical partner Chad Hugo and formation of The Neptunes, through his collaborations with the great and the good of pop, rap and R&B, including Jay-Z, Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Usher, Snoop Dogg, Gwen Stefani, Nelly and Kelis. It assesses his ground-breaking work with the radical rap-rock-pop band N*E*R*D, and his emergence as a solo superstar via Daft Punk's Get Lucky, Robin Thicke's controversial Blurred Lines and global mega-hit Happy. It delves behind the immaculate facade to find out what makes Williams one of the most driven and inventive musicians of the last 20 years

Read more less