Musicians, singers, bands and groups Books

Book Synopsis''No other book has come close to capturing so well what Paul McCartney is about, nor described so vividly his mental breakdown when the Beatles separated, nor his need for Linda to nurse him back to good health...the book is packed with trivia, not for the sake of it but because it throws light onto the way Paul developed. And it''s fascinating; every word of it. It''s an extraordinarily brilliant book.'' SIMON NAPIER-BELL''Totally enjoyed. You might have got a bit close for Sir Paul, but then again a true pro always respects the one who gets inside. Brava. '' ANDREW LOOG OLDHAM''The most brilliant journalism ... Captivating.'' STEVE HARLEY, COCKNEY REBEL''...another amazing book. Your meticulous research is second to none.'' JOHNNIE WALKERThe first definitive account of Paul McCartney''s time in Wings, publishing on the fiftieth anniversary of the bestselling album Band on the RunNo comprehTrade ReviewAbsorbing . . . Jones perceptively portrays how Wings were always overshadows by the Beatles' success * Scotland on Sunday *

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Book SynopsisThink you know the story of Jim Morrison and The Doors? This revelatory and explosive biography from critically acclaimed rock journalist Mick Wall will make you think again. 'Explodes in to life from the opening paragraph' RECORD COLLECTORTrade ReviewThis biography explodes in to life from the opening paragraph.. -- Mick Houghton * RECORD COLLECTOR *The pick of the best guitar tomes: Wall's account pulls no punches, cataloguing each of the primal scenes - early performances, indecent exposure, Jim's sexuality, decline and death - with a detached, knowing eye. * GUITARIST *

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Book SynopsisJonathan Lethem is one of the most acclaimed American novelists of his generation. His books include Motherless Brooklyn, The Fortress of Solitude, and Chronic City. His essays about James Brown and Bob Dylan have appeared in Rolling Stone. He is Roy Edward Disney Professor in Creative Writing at Pomona College, US.Trade ReviewHis achievement in Fear of Music is to let his personal passion for the album inform his thoughts on it with a vital urgency, without ever allowing those feelings to run rampant and obscure the work at hand. ...[It is] a powerful piece of scholarship on a band that deserves, and whose work holds up to, close examination of the serious kind Lethem does here. [Lethem] revels in Fear of Music's strain, the way it encompasses punk and disco, aggression and passivity, paranoia and resolve, gleefully dancing its way off the brink. This ain't no party, indeed. * The Atlantic *A single-minded investigation ... Lethem's book demonstrates what happens when the twin beams of passionate fandom and slicing critical intelligence intersect to illuminate a record you only thought you knew. * The Guardian *The collision of Lethem and Talking Heads makes perfect sense. Both can't escape being identified with New York - or, in Lethem's case, Brooklyn - and despite working in disparate modes, each brings the formalism and precision of the high arts to popular forms. * Salon.com *Lethem analyzes each of the songs in his book, alternating between close readings of lyrics, song structure, and meditations on the album as a whole. ...His prose is as sharp as ever, and his visual evocations demand accompaniment by the tracks themselves. As he puts it in the epigraph, "turn it up, for f--k's sake." * The Daily Beast *Lethem looks for the heart of the record from all angles. The Bottom Line is that if you love this record, you’ll love Lethem’s book...Lethem’s Fear of Music is exactly what these books were made for: lyrical geeking-out, unfettered fandom, great writing about great music. -- Roy ChristopherBy far the biggest name in the 33 1/3 roster of writers, Jonathan Lethem is no music critic, but an award-winning fiction writer … His take on Talking Heads’ 1979 album forgoes fiction for first-person criticism, in which Lethem’s teenage self acts as a sympathetic protagonist. Even as he plumbs each song on Fear of Music for meaning and significance, he uses the album as a point against which he can measure his own growth as a listener, becoming older and wiser and hungrier for connection with each year and with each listen. -- Stephen M. Deusner * Pitchfork *

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Book SynopsisNick Attfield is Lecturer in Music at the University of Birmingham, UKTrade Review"A growing Alexandria of rock criticism (Los Angeles Times, 2008) 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)) 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)"Table of ContentsIntroduction: Punk Breaks At the Junction Archaeological Hard Rock You're Living All Over Me Rabbits Teeth Strings Girls Pressures The Hang Epilogue: Just Like Heaven Sources

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Book SynopsisLooks at the Rolling Stones band in the late 70s - inspired by a year just spent in the disco/punk cauldron of New York City. Weaving together the history of the band and the city, this title traces the genesis and legacy of the album that Mick Jagger would later call the band's best since Let It Bleed.Trade ReviewThis latest entry in the wonderful 33 1/3 series features the last great album by the Rolling Stones... * Globe & Mail *Listed in Rolling Stones books feature on examiner.com * https://www.examiner.com/rolling-stones-in-national/rolling-stones-books-set-for-publication-2011-and-2012 *Table of Contents1. Personal reflections; 2. The Stones and NYC in the 70s, in parallel; 3. Some Girls, track-by-track; 4. The album's aftermath; 5. Epilogue.

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Book SynopsisA GUARDIAN AND CHOICE BOOK OF THE YEAR''A walk on the wild side with the alt-rock pioneer'' GQ''DeCurtis is well placed to trace Reed''s five-decade career, drawing on insider knowledge but skilfully balancing it with detailed research and fascinating interviews'' Mojo MagazineAs lead singer and songwriter for the Velvet Underground and a renowned solo artist, Lou Reed invented alternative rock. His music, at once the height of sanctity and perversity, transcended a genre, speaking to millions of listeners, inspiring a new generation of musicians, and forever changing the way we think of that iconic era of sex, drugs, and rock ''n'' roll. Throughout his five-decade career, Reed embodied artistic self-awareness and captured the beauty, paranoia, and vivacity of his time into an array of hit songs, experimental albums, and a larger-than-life persona. With such masterpieces as ''Sweet Jane'' and ''Walk on Trade ReviewI'm not the first musician to pledge allegiance to Lou and the Velvets, and I won't be the last. Read this book, and explore the f*cking genius that was Lou Reed * Peter Buck, co-founder and lead guitarist of R.E.M. *Anthony DeCurtis captures the soul and the essence of Lou Reed in his terrific new biography of the brilliant, culture-shaping musician. DeCurtis' great gift of storytelling gives fascinating insight and perspective to Reed's complex personality and cutting-edge musical talent. This is a must read * Clive Davis *How did a middle-class suburban boy grow up to be king of Manhattan's wild side? Thanks to this groundbreaking biography, now we know . . . A must-read for fans of rock and roll, New York City, or sex * Ada Calhoun, author of St. Marks is Dead *Lou Reed was one of music's most brilliant and complicated figures-an explorer, a provocateur, and always a true artist. With grace and grit, Anthony DeCurtis has delivered a revelatory and insightful chronicle of this most challenging rock & roll icon, and Lou Reed gets the biographer he deserves * Alan Light, author of The Holy or the Broken *Lou Reed is Lou Reed! * Iggy Pop *A brilliant artist has found a biographer with the insight to, as Lou said, 'pass through the fire' and be a definitive interpreter of both his music and his life * Sting *Completely captivating * GQ *An eloquent account of a harrowing life transformed by love in the end. Anthony DeCurtis does a brilliant job of synthesizing the disparate parts of Lou Reed's life into an insightful, moving narrative. I highly recommend it * Suzanne Vega *Anthony DeCurtis was one of the few music critics Lou Reed read and whose company he enjoyed. After reading this sublime and subtle book, the mystery of Lou's respect for Anthony is revealed. Anthony is a great story teller, a writer's writer, turning pain into beauty the way Lou did in his songs * Bono *There were, [DeCurtis] states in the introduction, "aspects of his sex life, his drug use, and his cruelty" that Reed would "have loved to erase" - yet, while less prurient than other recent biographers, DeCurtis recognises that an airbrushed portrait would be a travesty of a life * Sunday Times *An even-handed, well-researched portrait * Financial Times *A serious and comprehensive account * Guardian, Books of the Year *DeCurtis is well placed to trace Reed's five-decade career, drawing on insider knowledge but skilfully balancing it with detailed research and fascinating interviews * Mojo Magazine *

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Book SynopsisTHE IRISH TIMES NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER 'He holds nothing back and gives everything' Bono Christy Dignam, lead singer of Aslan and one of Ireland’s greatest rock stars, reveals all in this extraordinary tale of excess and devotion to his music.   Growing up in Finglas, Dublin, there was only one thing Christy Dignam ever wanted to do – and that was sing. By the early 1980s, he had formed the band Aslan, part of a new wave of acts coming out of Ireland. Repeatedly chewed up and spat out in the feeding frenzy to sign 'the next U2', they stuck to their principles. developed a loyal following, and their first album Feel No Shame went to No 1 in their home country, showcased by the song ‘This Is’, which Christy proudly acknowledges has become 'part of Ireland's DNA'.   But just as America seemed ready to fall for Aslan, D

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Book SynopsisAn insightful biography of one of the world’s greatest musicians, Bob Dylan, by bestselling author Paul Morley. As one of the world’s greatest musicians, Bob Dylan has enriched the American song tradition for over 50 years. With a talent that has been proven in the worlds of music, radio, art and poetry, Dylan is a man of many personas. From defying pop music conventions with protest songs such as “The Times They Are a-Changin’” to releasing three of the most influential rock albums of the 60s, he has not only extended the parameters of music genres but has also showed us the fluidity his craft. To mark Bob Dylan’s 80th birthday and 60 illustrious years in the arts, this insightful biography by bestselling author Paul Morley will explore the many voices of the folk icon.

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Book Synopsis Composer, conductor and operatic polymath Daron Hagen has written five symphonies, a dozen concertos, 13 operas, reams of chamber music and more than 350 art songs. His intimate, unsparing memoir chronicles his life, from his haunted childhood in Wisconsin to the upper echelons of the music world in New York and Europe. Hagen''s vivid anecdotes about his many collaborators, friends and mentors--including Leonard Bernstein, Lukas Foss, Gian Carlo Menotti, Paul Muldoon, Ned Rorem, Virgil Thomson and Gore Vidal--counterpoint a cautionary tale of the sacrifices necessary to succeed in the brutally unforgiving business of classical music.Trade ReviewIt is a rare privilege to experience a glimpse into the inner world of a great artist, and Daron Hagen has opened the door to his life in a memoir of searing honesty and unguarded intimacy. Daron leads us through a journey that begins in a brilliant, talented but dysfunctional family, into the treacherous depths of the ruthless competition and political machinations of the classical music scene, to a search for a happiness that often seems unattainable. Filled with anecdotes of countless musical luminaries, Duet with the Past is irresistible in its revealing candor and charm- an unforgettable journey into the private world of one of our country's greatest composers."" - JoAnn Falletta, conductor Buffalo Philharmonic

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Book SynopsisMaking headlines when it was launched in 2015, Omise'eke Tinsley's undergraduate course Beyoncé Feminism, Rihanna Womanism has inspired students from all walks of life. In Beyoncé in Formation, Tinsley now takes her rich observations beyond the classroom, using the blockbuster album and video Lemonade as a soundtrack for vital new-millennium narratives. Woven with candid observations about her life as a feminist scholar of African studies and a cisgender femme married to a trans spouse, Tinsley's Femme-onade mixtape explores myriad facets of black women's sexuality and gender. Turning to Beyoncé's Don't Hurt Yourself, Tinsley assesses black feminist critiques of marriage and then considers the models of motherhood offered in Daddy Lessons, interspersing these passages with memories from Tinsley's multiracial family history. Her chapters on nontraditional bonds culminate in a discussion of contemporary LGBT politics through the lens of the internet-breaking video Formation, underscoring why Beyoncé's black femme-inism isn't only for ciswomen. From pleasure politics and the struggle for black women's reproductive justice to the subtext of blues and country music traditions, the landscape in this tour is populated by activists and artists (including Loretta Lynn) and infused with vibrant interpretations of Queen Bey's provocative, peerless imagery and lyrics. In the tradition of Roxanne Gay's Bad Feminist and Jill Lepore's best-selling cultural histories, Beyoncé in Formation is the work of a daring intellectual who is poised to spark a new conversation about freedom and identity in America.Trade ReviewLemonade is proving to be a modern Mona Lisa, a work of art ripe for both academic analysis and inner reflection—modes Tinsley mixes and remixes in this lively, erudite memoir-cum-cultural critique that uses Queen Bey’s seminal album to examine her own life as a black Southern femme. * O, The Oprah Magazine *An incisive, spiraling celebration of Southern black women. * Publishers Weekly *You'll come away from each chapter with a new appreciation of what Beyoncé has meant to women, particularly black women, across the country. * The Current *Sure to appeal to scholars and pop-culture enthusiasts alike, this provocative book works to blur the lines between straight and gay black feminism. . . Lively and intelligent reading. * Kirkus Reviews *[Translates] the visual and audio to another plane entirely, and will undoubtedly inspire much rewatching and relistening. * Booklist *Tinsley...brings tremendous gusto to her critique of Beyonce's 2016 album Lemonade. * Publishers Weekly Holiday Gift Guide 2018 *Tinsley's…critical analysis of black women's sexuality, gender, and identity through the gaze of Beyoncé and the Lemonade album is especially important as her queer black perspective dissects Queen Bey in a way that only a black women-loving black woman could. * The Feminist Press *[Tinsley's] approach…keeps the text accessible to music fans while underlining the book's central thesis: that Lemonade is one of the great black feminist works of this century and it deserves an exalted place in the canon of women's studies. * austin360 *Part memoir, part pop-culture scholarship, this slim, engaging book uses Beyoncé as a springboard for wide-ranging ruminations on sexuality, motherhood, and activism, among other big ideas. * Texas Observer *Beyoncé in Formation is a remarkably pleasing book. It takes the reader by the hand and, skipping delightedly, leads her into a universe of happy, sexy, loving fandom, where Beyoncé is queen and all are welcome at worship. * Houston Chronicle *With all the headlines it generated upon its release, it's hard to believe there's anything left to say about Beyoncé's Lemonade. Yet, Omise'eke Natasha Tinsley…manages to find new meaning in this cultural analysis of the already iconic record. * Exclaim *An insightful cultural reading of the performer combined with memoir. * The Globe and Mail *...expands on [Tinsley's] popular course in a vibrant blend of memoir and cultural analysis. * Broadly *Tinsley's tone and use of first-person perspective throughout Beyoncé in Formation invites readers to likewise contemplate their relationship to Lemonade's themes. She writes with familiarity and authority all at once. I thought I 'got' Lemonade before, but Beyoncé in Formation inspired me to dig deeper. * Women's Review of Books *A call for solidarity among Black feminists, this painfully beautiful read reminds us that none of us are free until we are all free. * Bust Magazine *A smart, eye-opening examination. * Toronto Star *This 'mixtape' memoir is an empowering presentation that encourages readers to think outside the box...when it comes to defining feminism. * Philadelphia Tribune *Part scholarly treatise and part family history, part lavish scrapbook and part justice-oriented advocacy—you've never read a book quite like this. * The Millions *Accessible and compulsively readable. The Beyhive will ride with [Tinsley's] breathless video analyses, but I especially love Tinsley's candid stories about her own life and loves. * The Rumpus *Tinsley's commitment to theorizing Black queer femme gender and sexuality opens up a space for lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer Black women that most Black feminist projects neglect to address…Tinsley demonstrates the Black feminist practice of bringing one's self into their writing without overshadowing the larger contributions of their research much like the 2018 books Thick by Tressie M. Cottom and Eloquent Rage by Brittney Cooper. * Ethnic and Racial Studies *Table of Contents Introduction: For the Texas Bama Femme Family Album: Making Lemonade Out of Marriage, Motherhood, and Southern Tradition Queen Bee Blues Mama Said Shoot “Most Bomb Pussy”: Toward a Black Feminist Pleasure Politics Love the Grind Unapologetically Femme Calling for Freedom: Black Women’s Activism in the US South Freedom, Too I Came to Slay Outro: I Know Beyoncé Loves Black Femmes Acknowledgments Notes Index

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis(Mandolin). Named one of the "Best Mandolin Books of All Time" by BookAuthority.org! 20 favorite Beatles tunes in chord melody arrangements for mandolin including: All You Need Is Love * Blackbird * Can''t Buy Me Love * Eight Days a Week * Here Comes the Sun * Hey Jude * In My Life * Let It Be * Michelle * Strawberry Fields Forever * Twist and Shout * We Can Work It Out * Yesterday * and more.

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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Book SynopsisIn 1979, from the basement of a London squat, the Raincoats reinvented what punk could be. They had a violin player. They came from Portugal, Spain, and England. Their anarchy was poetic. Working with the iconic Rough Trade Records at its radical beginnings, they were the first group of punk women to actively call themselves feminists. In this short book the first on the Raincoats author Jenn Pelly tells the story of the group's audacious debut album, which Kurt Cobain once called wonderfully classic scripture. Pelly builds on rare archival materials and extensive interviews with members of the Raincoats, Sleater-Kinney, Bikini Kill, Hole, Scritti Politti, Gang of Four, and more. She draws formal inspiration from the collage-like The Raincoats itself to explore this album's magic, vulnerability, and strength.Trade ReviewIt is a record that could only be made by women, and although Pelly doesn't labor over this, she does an excellent job of showing its truth. Pelly writes of how, without any pretension or the slightest concern for the surface fashion of the movement, The Raincoats embodied the true expressive spirit of punk, and how these four women created music that was very much of their lives rather than by using any proven yet worn-out formulas. * Under the Radar *The book is a seamless hybrid of criticism and reportage; Pelly spent time with the band and visited their old haunts. But what’s extraordinary is that she doesn’t seem to be recounting the Raincoats’ early years so much as time-traveling back to the squats of late-’70s London and mind-melding with each of the four very different women who came together to make this strange, enchanting music. Over the years, The Raincoats has become a sort of talisman for feminist punks, a document that is somehow challenging and comforting at once. Pelly doesn’t just describe that effect—her writing recreates it. * Pitchfork *Pelly's writing is a pitch-perfect blend of academic references and a genuine fan's adoration that raises both the band and their debut record to a status they very much deserve but haven't received until now. * Record Collector: Books of 2017 *Recent years have seen some excellent additions to the [33 1/3] series ... Joining this list is Jenn Pelly's study of The Raincoats' self-titled debut album. * The Wire *The 33 1/3 series of books on individual albums ... is an intriguing project, and this title is a welcome addition. * International Times *One of the strangest and most inspiring of punk rock stories, finally brought into the light. Jenn Pelly’s brilliant book is a crucial work of history, not just music history, opening up the story of how four women formed a band and created a legend, passed from fan to fan around the world. * Rob Sheffield, author of Love Is a Mixtape and Dreaming the Beatles *Jenn Pelly's The Raincoats brings much-needed attention to the British post-punk group's landmark self-titled 1979 album. [Pelly] adeptly traces the connections between The Raincoats' arty, playfully inventive and boldly feminist music and the male-dominated classic-rock music scene they were rebelling against, and also points out how their unpredictable songs still resonate today. * LA Weekly *[An] empathetic, encyclopedic, and eloquent reclamation of the musical canon. Pelly’s vivid study offers a meticulously detailed look at the band’s origins, influences, and legacy from their days squatting in London basements to Kurt Cobain’s passionate fandom. * Bookforum *This book from Bloomsbury's 33 1/3 series is more than a history of The Raincoats' eponymous album. It is a very comprehensive and entertaining biography up until the release of the album, that also documents the development of the British punk and post-punk scene in the 1970s. * OX-Fanzine (Bloomsbury Translation) *Table of ContentsTracklist Preface I II III IV Epilogue Acknowledgements Works Cited

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Book SynopsisTwo and a half decades on, Jawbreaker''s 24 Hour Revenge Therapy (1993-94) is the rare album to have lost none of its original loyalty, affection, and reverence. If anything, today, the cult of Jawbreakerin their own words, the little band that could but would probably rather notis now many times greater than it was when they broke up in 1996. Like the best work of Fugazi, The Clash, and Operation Ivy, the album is now is a rite of passage and a beloved classic among partisans of intelligent, committed, literary punk music and poetry.Why, when a thousand other artists came and went in that confounding decade of the 90s, did Jawbreaker somehow come to seem like more than just another band? Why do they persist, today, in meaning so much to so many people? And how did it happen that, two years after releasing their masterpiece, the band that was somehow more than just a band to its fanscloser to equipment for livingwas no longer?Ronen Givony''s 24 Hour Revenge Therapy is an Trade ReviewThis is an excellent book – unmissable for ‘breaker fans and with much to offer anyone who is interested in the politics of punk. * International Times *Table of ContentsIntroduction 1: Rainy Days Drop Boyish Wonder 2: How Can I Do This Better? 3: The Clarity of Cal to Break Your Heart 4: These Things Go Wrong So Often 5: This Is All We Want from Line 6: Our Enemies Will Laugh and Be Pointing 7: Selling Kids to Other Kids 8: It's a Long Way Down Again 9: People from Bands and Labels. The Good Ones Postscript: Hey, I Remember That Day Acknowledgments Bibliography Notes

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Book SynopsisBy 1985 Tom Petty had already obtained legendary status. He had fame. He had money. But he was restless, hoping to stretch his artistry beyond the confining format of songs like The Waiting and Refugee. Petty's response to his restlessness was Southern Accents. Initially conceived as a concept album about the American South, Southern Accents's marathon recording sessions were marred by aesthetic and narcotic excess. The result is a hodgepodge of classic rock songs mixed with nearly unlistenable 80s music. Then, while touring for the album, Petty made extensive use of the iconography of the American Confederacy, something he soon came to regret. Despite its artistic failure and public controversy, Southern Accents was a pivot point for Petty. Reeling from the defeat, Petty reimagined himself as deeply, almost mythically, Californian, obtaining his biggest success with Full Moon Fever. Michael Washburn explores the history of Southern Accents and how iTrade ReviewMichael Washburn, in his first book, [Tom Petty’s Southern Accents] argues that we can glean significant cultural understanding from [Tom] Petty’s failure. * LA Review of Books *This is a great read that digs hard into the background of the making of the album … This is a book that every Tom Petty fan should read – but you don’t have to be a fan to appreciate it. Washburn has written an assessment of the creative process that anyone could appreciate. Creativity is not just about the great artistic successes; it’s often just as well served by the flawed visions as the realised masterpieces, something that Michael Washburn clearly understands and conveys through this book. * Americana UK *In Michael Washburn’s new book for the 33 1/3 project — a series of insightful, deep dives into albums — he confronts the conundrum that swirls around [Tom Petty’s] Southern Accents. * Leo Weekly *Table of ContentsTrack Listing Introduction Down South Who Did You Expect to Meet? Southern Accents Rebels Born in the CSA Free Fallin' The Best of Everything Acknowledgements Endnotes

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Book SynopsisThere has never been a band like Pearl Jam. The Seattle quintet has recorded eleven studio albums; sold some 85 million records; played over a thousand shows, in fifty countries; and had five different albums reach number one. But Pearl Jam's story is about much more than music. Through resilience, integrity, and sheer force of will, they transcended several eras, and shaped the way a whole generation thought about art, entertainment, and commerce.Not for You: Pearl Jam and the Present Tense is the first full-length biography of America's preeminent band, from Ten to Gigaton. A study of their role in history from Operation Desert Storm to the Dixie Chicks; Jeremy to Columbine; Kurt Cobain to Chris Cornell; Ticketmaster to Trump Not for You explores the band''s origins and evolution over thirty years of American culture. It starts with their founding, and the eruption of grunge, in 1991; continues through their golden age (Vs., VitalogyTrade ReviewRonen Givony's Not for You does what Givony would like Pearl Jam to do: it rises above its immediate purpose. It is a critical annotation to a body of work which lifts off the ground and becomes an extravagant performance about time, rebellion, fame, disenchantment, civil discourse, the idea of the mainstream, the desire of a fan, and what a band can do to answer it. * Ben Ratliff, author of Every Song Ever *An enjoyable book and, as a non-fan, I found myself coming around to their music and what they were trying to achieve. Whether you love them or not, it is clear they were trying to be genuine and reach out to their fans. -- Simon Cocking * Irish Tech News *Brilliantly contextualises the early ’90s socio-political climate from which the grunge icons emerged. It paints a vivid portrait … Not For You is a compelling examination of one of modern rock’s most enduring and compelling groups. -- Kate Brayden * Hot Press *Near perfect Pearl Jam prose… Not For You: Pearl Jam and the Present Tense is a book every Pearl Jam fan needs to read. Not only is it an excellent biography it is also the definitive unofficial Pearl Jam book for fans of the Last Grunge Band Standing.™ * Guerrilla Candy *[A] hefty and impressive work, digging into its subject with the kind of relentlessness any fan will appreciate… A thoughtful celebration of a band who’s still going strong, and should even be of interest to non-PJ fans, especially if they have an interest in alt rock of the ‘90s. * Record Collector News *[A]n insightful work for many reasons, not least its temperate analysis of fandom. Author Ronen Givony never forgets the whys and wherefores of the Seattle outfit and of how from their early days in the 1990s, despite their status as one of the mostpopular US acts, they sidelined traditional commercial channels in favour of servicing their fans … Givony incisively reflects on th[is] and more, but the primary selling point is what the band have meant to their fans across the years and the often-profound bonds that can be made. -- Tony Clayton-Lea * The Irish Times *The strength of Givony’s book lies in his readiness to make the tough call. His book is unreservedly opinionated, as so few these days are … Givony proves himself a master of the bon mot, the memorable soundbite, demonstrating ample literary chops throughout. If I had room, I’d quote a hundred worthy passages. -- Des Cowley * Rhythm Magazine *Givony trenchantly argues that Pearl Jam haven’t made a great album since 1998. Yet his sometimes contentious analysis is always delivered with a wry snap and bolstered by diligent sociocultural contextualisation, pinpointing one aspect of the band’s appeal; they’re more ‘for you’ than might initially appear to be the case. -- Keith Cameron * MOJO *CHOICE Magazine’s “New Year Reads” 2021 * CHOICE *CBC’s “18 Books for the Holiday Season” * CBC *Table of ContentsIntroduction: A Personal Preface 1 The Cast 2 A Dozen Moments in the Prehistory of Pearl Jam 3 The Bacchanal, San Diego (November 21, 1989) 4 The Off Ramp, Seattle (October 22, 1990) 5 “Jeremy,” “Garden,” “Yellow Ledbetter” (1991) 6 J.C. Dobbs, Philadelphia (July 12, 1991) 7 The Palladium, Hollywood (October 6, 1991) 8 Cow Palace, San Francisco (December 31, 1991) 9 MTV Unplugged (March 16, 1992) 10 Pinkpop Festival, Holland (June 8, 1992) 11 The Singles Soundtrack (1992) 12 Stadio Flaminio, Rome (July 6, 1993) 13 Lakefront Arena, New Orleans (November 16, 1993) 14 Hints, Allegations, and Things Left Unsaid (1993) 15 Civic Center, Pensacola (March 9, 1994) 16 Bayfront Amphitheater, Miami (March 28, 1994) 17 Patriot Center, Fairfax (April 8, 1994) 18 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington DC (June 30, 1994) 19 Dave (1994) 20 Self-Pollution Radio (January 8, 1995) 21 Soldier Field, Chicago (July 11, 1995) 22 38th Annual Grammy Awards (February 28, 1996) 23 Cox Arena, San Diego (July 10, 1998) 24 Binaural and the Battle of Seattle (1999) 25 Roskilde Festival, Denmark (June 30, 2000) 26 Madison Square Garden (October 15, 2000) 27 Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale (April 30, 2003) 28 Thin Air (2006—2013) 29 Tomas Young and Body of War (2005—2014) 30 Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia (April 29, 2016) 31 Altice Arena, Lisbon (June 20, 2019) Afterword (For Chris Cornell) In Memoriam Acknowledgments Bibliography Index About the Author

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Book SynopsisMoon Pix was conceived during a hallucinatory waking nightmare in the South Carolina home of Chan Marshall one fateful day in 1997. Spirits violently swam up around her house, looming at the windows, beckoning her to join them. Her and her acoustic guitar warded them off song after song, nearly the entire album rushed forth onto a tape recorder that night. Facts, fictions and visions ripple throughout the accounts of Moon Pix from every angle memories of screaming at an audience, spirals of drunkenness, swimming with sharks in Australia, intense, resonant lyrics and thunderstorms ringing through speakers. Like all legends, the aura surrounding them is an impression, a sensory feeling of unreliable memories: layers of stories become histories. Through interviews with key players, audience member accounts, fictional narrative imaginings, a collection of record reviews and other explorations of truth, this book, like Moon Pix itself, is an ode to the myth within the music and the mTable of ContentsAuthor's Note: Welcome to this book. 1. American Flag: From a South Carolina farmhouse full of demons to the 20th Anniversary at the Sydney Opera House 2. He Turns Down: On recording the album & an interview with engineer Matt Voigt 3. No Sense: Chan, Michael Galinsky & Roe in New York & an interview with photographer and filmmaker Michael Galinsky 4. Say: The “Cross Bones Style” video & an interview with director Brett Vapnek 5. Metal Heart: Chan + Bill & interviews with ex-boyfriends on what makes a break up album 6. Back of Your Head: Album reviews & an interview with music journalist Gail O’Hara 7. Moonshiner: The disputed folk history of “Moonshiner” (1927-1998) 8. You May Know Him: Tour stories & an interview with U.S. tour manager Jim Romeo 9. Colors and the Kids: A pivotal show review & an interview with music journalist Ben Ratliff 10. Crossbones Style: Chan on performing & Mark, Jennifer and Ben on a show 11. Peking Saint: 20 years later & my Moon Pix story Annotated Bibliography: Unraveling the sources

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Book SynopsisOn Saturday, June 28, 1986, George Michael picked up his tasselled leather jacket, walked out of London's Wembley Stadium and cheerfully tore up five years of glittering pop history. He'd just disposed of Wham!, the band he'd formed with school friend Andrew Ridgeley when they were teenagers, and now, at 23, he knew he was all grown up. He just needed to convince everyone else. Faith is what happens when you've outstripped your dreams, your peers, your friends and your fans, and no one's caught up yet. It's about pouring all of that confusion, insecurity and sizzling ambition into music that comes out confused, insecure and ambitious and then selling 25 million copies of it. George Michael was always preparing for this and, in the process, he set a template for all disaffected singers making that move. This book examines that model and the themes that went into Faith from engaging in politics to crossing over to a Black audience and writing classic pop songs to endure Table of ContentsTrack listing Acknowledgements 1. Wham! wrapped 2. The public image 3. Freedom 87 4. Sex and the serious man 5. Politics (the pop remix) 6. I will be your adult contemporary 7. Bearing the crossover 8. Signing off Notes Selected bibliography

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Book SynopsisMore than 40 years after her death, the legend of Maria Callas, La Divina Assoluta, remains unsurpassed. Much has been written about her sensational opera career and fraught private life, from her definitive mastery of iconic opera roles to her love affairs and tantrums. The prototype for the 20th century celebrity diva, Callas emblematizes the cliche of tormented talent genius in the ring with catastrophe. Her extraordinary voice, in particular, has become an object of cult-like adoration and cultural significance almost with a life of its own: as fetish object, as sophisticated sonic signifier, and most recently, as the lifeblood for a Callas hologram. Such adoration is not without consequences. When Callas is transformed into a vessel for such transcendent magic, it overshadows what is perhaps her most superhuman ability the masterful technique she deployed to shape and craft her astounding instrument. Singing bodies are working bodies, enacting an intimate and complex form of artTrade ReviewEven if you’ve never heard of the 1954 Maria Callas album, even if you neither know nor care about her or opera, this book is entrancing. * Los Angeles Review of Books *Table of ContentsList of Figures Author’s Note 1. Cilea, Adriana Lecouvreur, Act I: Io son l’umile ancella [I am the humble servant of the creative spirit] 2. Cilea, Adriana Lecouvreur, Act IV: Poveri Fiori [Poor flowers] 3. Giordano, Andrea Chénier, Act III: La mamma morta [Mother is dead] 4. Catalani, La Wally, Act I: Ebben? Ne andrò lontana [Well? Then I’ll go away] 5. Boito, Mephistophele, Act III: L’altra notte in fondo al mare [The other night, in the depths of the ocean] 6. Rossini, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Act I: Una voce poco fa [A voice just now] 7. Meyerbeer, Le Pardon de Ploërmel, ou Dinorah, Act II: Ombra leggera [The Shadow Song] 8. Delibes, Lakmé, Act II: Dov’è l’indiana bruna [The Bell Song] Acknowledgments Appendix: Aria Texts and Translations Bibliography

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Book SynopsisFrom male bisexuality to religion in pop, Little Richard spent the 1950s pioneering ideas that are still too challenging for the mainstream. As a Black multimillionaire rock star, he was the most exciting person on the planet between 1955 and 1957, the years in which his seismic debut album was created.Featuring new interviews with famous fans including Sir Elton John, Dave Grohl, Joan Jett and Nile Rodgers, this is the first in-depth look at Here's Little Richard since Richard Penniman's death in May 2020. The book explores his roots in the queer underground of the American South, a scene so progressive you'd scarcely believe it thrived seven decades ago, and early rebel music such as jump blues, which soon collided with the emerging juggernaut that was rock'n'roll. When that weird alchemy occurred, the self-proclaimed Living Flame was ready to spark the likes of The Beatles, David Bowie and Prince into existence. Those close to the tale pinpoint the ways in which Long Tall SaTable of ContentsTrack List Prologue 1. The Big Bang 2. Macon, Georgia 3. Influences 4. Making It 5. Specialty Records 6. The Girl Can’t Help It 7. Here’s Little Richard 8. The Songs 9. Fame 10. Can’t Believe You Wanna Leave Epilogue Acknowledgements Bibliography

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Book Synopsis 'A raw and raging celebration of music . . . astounding.' Megan Bradbury'Funny, filthy, erudite, and rude.' Carl Shuker'A magnificent novel.' Alan McMonagleDuring their 1985 tour, two events of hatred and stupidity forever change the lives of a band’s four members. Neues Bauen, a post-hardcore Illinois group homing in on their own small fame, head on with frontman Conrad Wells sexually assaulted and guitarist Tone Seburg wounded by gunshot. The band staggers forth into the American landscape, traversing time and investigating each of their relationships with history, memory, authenticity, violence and revelling in transcendence through the act of art.With decades passed and compelled by his wife’s failing health to track down Tone, Conrad flies to North Africa where her brother is rumoured to be hiding with a renowned artist from their past. There he instead meets various characters including his former drummer, Spence. Amongst the sprawl and shout of Morocco, the men attempt to recall what happened to them during their lost years of mental disintegration and emotional poverty.Dance Prone is a novel of music, ritual and love. It is live, tense and corporeal. Full of closely observed details of indie-rock, of punk infused performance, the road and the players’ relationship to violence, hate and peace. Set during both the post-punk period and the present day, Dance Prone was born out of a love of the underground and indie rock scenes of the 1980s, a fascination for their role in the cultural apparatus of memory, social decay and its reconstruction.Trade ReviewHis book is many things. A giddy rush of indie excess, punk mayhem, outsider art, blurred memory, lapsed existence and sudden grace. A mind-bending trip that plays out in that liminal space between innocence and insanity; drift and purpose; rational and rogue; anarchy and calm; between what was lost and what may endure. Cut with a cast of characters sawn through the bone, language that giddies-up the heart, and always, always, alive with a throbbing pulse that insists you read on. Lyrical. Violent. Elegiac. Epic. I adore David Coventry's writing and Dance Prone is a magnificent novel. -- Alan McMonagle, author of Ithaca. Taught and intelligent, this story of music, trauma and artistic ambition has all the precision, spookiness and elegance of the best post-rock. -- Matt Thorne'What a brute fucken show, man.’ David Coventry's new novel is a gorgeous panegyric to the purity, poison and impossibly high stakes of punk. A young band of fleeting genius tours the living rooms and crappy bars of early 80's US before imploding in violence and horror. Dance Prone captures that thing about beautiful doomed brilliance sanctified by its miniature life expectancy. It's funny, filthy, erudite, and rude, like LCD Soundsystem’s "Losing My Edge" as retold by the mid-period DeLillo of The Names and Mao II. -- Carl Shuker, author of A MistakeA novel that interrogates music and it’s capacity for producing societal change, the bonds of friendship and family, and the manner in which we avoid confronting ourselves with the truth . . . An attempt to create the novel in it’s essence: looking for the new, resisting the obvious, denying the familiar. * Red Close blog *Pitch-perfect and nuanced . . . extraordinary . . . remarkable . . . Coventry’s work is some of the finest in recent NZ literature. * Herald (New Zealand) *A transcendental quest through the mind, body and through landscape, and a raw and raging celebration of music . . . This book is astounding. -- Megan Bradbury, author of Everyone is Watching

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Book SynopsisIn her intimate memoir, More Myself, Alicia Keys shares her quest for truth: about herself, her past, and her shift from sacrificing her spirit to celebrating her worth.One of the most celebrated musicians of our time, Alicia Keys has enraptured the nation with her heartfelt lyrics, extraordinary vocal range, and soul-stirring piano compositions. Yet away from the spotlight, Alicia has grappled with private heartache over the challenging and complex relationship with her father, the people-pleasing nature that characterized her early career, the loss of privacy surrounding her romantic relationships, and the oppressive expectations of female perfection.Since her rise to fame, Alicia’s public persona has belied a deep personal truth: she has spent years not fully recognizing or honoring her own worth. After withholding parts of herself for so long, she is at last exploring the questions that live at the heart of her story: Who am I, really? And once I discover that truth, how can I become brave enough to embrace it?More Myself is part autobiography, part narrative documentary. Alicia’s journey is revealed not only through her own candid recounting, but also through vivid recollections from those who have walked alongside her. The result is a 360-degree perspective on Alicia’s path: from her girlhood in Hell’s Kitchen and Harlem, to the process of self-discovery she’s still navigating.With the raw honesty that epitomizes Alicia’s artistry, More Myself is at once a riveting account and a clarion call to readers: to define themselves in a world that rarely encourages a true and unique identity.

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Book SynopsisSunday Times Bestseller'I can't rewrite history; all I can do is be honest and wear my heart on my sleeve. It's really the only way I know. I want to show people the real me. Or perhaps remind them. Because, somewhere - amongst the nightclubs, the frocks and hairdos, the big chart hits, and the glamour of being a popstar - the other Sarah Harding got utterly lost. She's the one who's been forgotten. And all I want is for you to hear her out.'Sarah Harding is best known as the wild member of Girls Aloud, whose reputation for partying, drinking and dating made her a tabloid favourite. But where does the celebrity Sarah Harding end and the real Sarah begin? Faced with a devastating cancer diagnosis that turned her life upside down, Sarah has decided that now is the time to write her story. Her truth.This is Sarah Harding in her own words.

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Book SynopsisThe global number one bestseller, set to become a hit movie produced by Reese Witherspoon and starring Dolly Parton. AN UNFORGETTABLE COLLABORATION BETWEEN THE BELOVED INTERNATIONAL SUPERSTAR AND THE WORLD'S #1 BESTSELLING THRILLER WRITER__________________________'A GRIPPING AND HEARTBREAKING BOOK I COULDN'T PUT DOWN' REESE WITHERSPOON'LIKE HAVING DOLLY IN THE ROOM WITH YOU' VAL McDERMID'UNFORGETTABLY GOOD STUFF' TONY PARSONS___________________________Find a future. Lose a past.She's a star on the rise, singing about the hard life behind her.She's also on the run.Nashville is where she's come to claim her destiny.It's also where the darkness she's fled might find her. And destroy her . . .RUN ROSE RUN: a story glittering with danger and desire.Also available: an album of 12 original Dolly Parton songs made for the novel!____________________________Readers are loving Run Rose Run'It feels so authentic''This book pulls you in from page 1 and you don't want to put it down.''I would give the novel ten stars were it possible''Fabulous book. Could feel Dolly in the writing. James was his usual, story telling at his best''A great read, fabulous characters, short sharp chapters . . . A terrific collaboration'____________________________More praise for Run Rose Run'Deserves to be a runaway success' Express'Enthralling, terrifying, moving' Lee Smith'A thrilling journey' Kathleen Grissom'I absolutely loved it!' Ross King'A sublime partnership' Sun'This is going to be BIG' The Times'You'll find yourself pulled right in' I Paper'Told with passion and sensitivity' Daily Mail'Will have you rooting for them all the way' Guardian'One great read' Lisa Gardner'A diverting duet' Financial Times'Smart, spirited and entertaining' Daily MirrorRun Rose Run was a no.1 Sunday Times bestseller 18th March 2022Trade ReviewWarm, feisty. Like having Dolly in the room with you -- VAL McDERMIDRun Rose Run grips your heart from the start and never lets go. Like a great Dolly Parton song, it is rich with heart, humour and humanity, full of a yearning for the light even in the darkest of nights. Unforgettably good stuff. -- TONY PARSONS, bestselling author of the DC Max Wolfe seriesTaut and exciting. Patterson's mastery plus Parton's insider knowledge of Nashville's dark underbelly equals one great read. -- LISA GARDNER, bestselling author of the Detective D. D. Warren seriesRun Rose Run is a suspenseful tale of a young musician desperate to escape her troubled past. A thrilling journey from two beloved voices, set against the backdrop of the country-music scene. -- KATHLEEN GRISSOM, bestselling author of The Kitchen House and Glory Over EverythingDolly Parton is the beating heart and yearning soul of this amazing novel. Enter James Patterson, who knows how to grab a reader by the throat, kick up the suspense, and move a novel along better than anybody else in the world. Run Rose Run is enthralling, terrifying, enlightening, and moving all at once. -- LEE SMITH, bestselling author of The Last Girls and DimestoreI absolutely loved it! -- ROSS KINGA detailed, loving, professional portrait of a country music songwriter's process, whether alone and dreaming or down in the studio. * The Times *One of the most eagerly anticipated thrillers of 2022 * Daily Express *Told with passion and sensitivity it is as much a tribute to Parton's warmth and humanity as it is to Patterson's skill as a thriller writer * Daily Mail *A diverting duet . . . [Dolly Parton] is able to supply an authenticity in the details of the American music business . . . The autobiographical aspects of the novel are foregrounded: AnnieLee is as diminutive as Run Rose Run's co-author, with a similarly sparky, self-deprecating character. * Financial Times *Just like Parton's hit songs, you'll find yourself pulled right in * i Paper *Smart, spirited and thoroughly entertaining . . . set against the backdrop of the toxic music industry, Dolly's fury at the way women are treated blazes off the page. A wish fulfilment fairytale grounded in grit . . . deserves to be a runaway success * Daily Express *An iconic singer and a master storyteller make for a sublime partnership in this fun and fast tale. * Sun *All the great country songs are about heartbreak, about gittin' back on your feet and startin' over. Ultimately, that is where this book scores. AnnieLee is an adorable firecracker of a heroine . . . Run Rose Run has a sweet moreishness that will keep millions happily turning its 409 pages (plus lyrics at the back). Parton and Patterson may have invented a new style; let's call it Dolly Mixtures . . . Seriously, is there anything this phenomenal 76-year-old cannot do? * Daily Telegraph *The likable trio will have you rooting for them all the way * Guardian *If you love Dolly (and let's be honest, who doesn't?), you'll enjoy the ride. * Woman's Weekly *A deliciously hokey yarn about a young singer-songwriter (AnnieLee) struggling to shake off her murky past and make a career in Nashville. * Independent *Dreams, drama and danger, with a generous sprinkling of magic and wisdom at every turn, it makes for a super holiday or bedtime read * Herald *A perfect daily serving of soapy escapism * Guardian Weekly *A big-hearted tale of music and perseverance from a living country legend is our top literary pick this month . . . Along the way, we get plenty of genuinely interesting information about the country-music world . . . Frankly bonkers fun * Reader's Digest *Sassy AnnieLee and the Nashville music scene come across as authentic, and the plot speeds along with good humour and energy * Irish Independent *James Patterson is promiscuous with his charms. He has co-written thrillers with Bill Clinton, now he has snuggled up to another Southern institution, Dolly Parton. In this thriller a young singer-songwriter in Nashville is determined to make it big, but - surprise, surprise - she's on the run from her deadly past . . . It's going to be big. * The Times *America's master storyteller and much-loved performer join forces * Sun *Tells the story of a down-on-her-luck singer songwriter whose career is turbo-charged by a country music legend bearing more than a passing resemblance to the legendary Parton herself * Sunday Express *Who doesn't love Dolly Parton? As well as being a wonderful singer, songwriter and actor, she has created a remarkable legacy as a philanthropist for children's literacy. Parton has now joined forces for a writing duet with bestselling author James Patterson. * Independent *

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Book SynopsisIn the hierarchy of British jazz & rock musicians, the electrifying guitarist, composer, and bandleader John McLaughlin arguably holds an unassailable position at the very top. Across dozens of official studio and live albums that encompass solo acts, The Mahavishnu Orchestra, Shakti, and co-headlining group projects, GRAMMY Award-winner John McLaughlin has consistently enthralled and surprised with boundary-pushing, genre-defying music. He revolutionized guitar playing with his virtuosic style, carving out one of the most critic-proof and prolific careers in modern times and was Miles Davis’s guitarist of choice on epochal albums In A Silent Way, Jack Johnson, Bitches Brew, and Live-Evil. Drawing on hundreds of sources and interviews with key collaborators, Matt Phillips takes us on an exciting journey through McLaughlin’s entire career: his early years on the London pop scene; his flirtations with the European avant-garde; groundbreaking work with Miles Davis and Tony Williams; the electrifying fusion groups The Mahavishnu Orchestra and Shakti; special projects with the likes of Chick Corea, Sting, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Carlos Santana, and Jeff Beck; hugely popular acoustic collaborations with Paco De Lucia, Larry Coryell, and Al Di Meola; and his 4th Dimension band. This is the first major book about McLaughlin to illuminate his entire output from 1980–2020. Including never-before-seen photographs, it’s a thrilling ride through the life of a master musician.Trade ReviewJohn McLaughlin is one of a kind. What he has contributed to the world of music will never be duplicated. It’s the reason why a book reflecting on his musical career should be a must-have in every aspiring musician's personal library. -- Billy Cobham, drummer, Mahavishnu Orchestra, inductee, Modern Drummer Hall of FameTable of ContentsIntroductionChapter 1: The Early Years (1942 – 1968)Chapter 2: 1969-1970Extrapolation, Miles and LifetimeChapter 3: 1970-1973From Devotion to Between Nothingness & EternityChapter 4: 1974-1979From Apocalypse to Electric DreamsChapter 5: The 1980sFrom Friday Night In San Francisco to Paco & John At MontreuxChapter 6: The 1990sFrom The Mediterranean Concerto to Remember ShaktiChapter 7: The 2000sFrom The Heart Of Things Live to Five Peace Band LiveChapter 8: The 2010sFrom To The One to Is That So?Epilogue: Covid, Liberation Time and John’s Goals BeyondAcknowledgmentsBibliographySelected Online ReferencesSelected Print ReferencesAbout The Author

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Book SynopsisReissued for the 40th Anniversary of the Oscar-winning, Sissy Spacek-starring film of the same name, COAL MINER'S DAUGHTER recounts Loretta Lynn's astonishing journey to become one of the original queens of country music. Loretta grew up dirt poor in the mountains of Kentucky, she was married at fifteen years old, and became a mother soon after. At the age of twenty-four, her husband, Doo, gave her a guitar as an anniversary present. Soon, she began penning songs and singing in front of honky-tonk audiences, and, through years of hard work, talent, and true grit, eventually made her way to Nashville, the Grand Ole Opry, eventually securing her place in country music history. Loretta's prolific and influential songwriting made her the first woman to receive a gold record in country music, and got her named the first female Entertainer of the Year by the Country Music Association. This riveting memoir introduces readers to all the highs and lows on her road to success and the tough, smart, funny, and fascinating woman behind the legend.

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Book SynopsisA collection of the very first, the very last, and the very best interviews conducted with Prince over his nearly forty-year career.

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Book SynopsisAt 102 years of age, Louise Tobin is one of the last surviving musicians of the Swing Era. Born in Aubrey, Texas, in 1918, she grew up in a large family that played music together. She once said that she fell out of the cradle singing and all she ever wanted to do was to sing. And sing she did. She sang with Benny Goodman and also performed vocals for such notables as Will Bradley, Bobby Hackett, Harry James (her first husband), Johnny Mercer, Lionel Hampton, the Glenn Miller Orchestra, Peanuts Hucko (her second husband), and Fletcher Henderson.Based on extensive oral history interviews and archival research, Texas Jazz Singer recalls both the glamour and the challenges of life on the road and onstage during the golden age of swing and beyond. As it traces American music through the twentieth century, Louise Tobin's story provides insight into the challenges musicians faced to sustain their careers during the cultural revolution and ever-changing styles and tastes in music.In this absorbing biography, music historian Kevin Edward Mooney offers readers a view of a remarkable life in music, told from the vantage point of the woman who lived it. Rather than simply making Tobin an emblem for women in jazz of the big band era, Mooney concentrates instead on Tobin's life, her struggles and successes, and in doing so captures the particular sense of grace that resonates throughout each phase of Tobin's notable career.

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Book SynopsisShortlisted for the Penderyn Music Book Prize 2017. In this first installment of acclaimed music writer David Toop’s interdisciplinary and sweeping overview of free improvisation, Into the Maelstrom: Music, Improvisation and the Dream of Freedom: Before 1970 introduces the philosophy and practice of improvisation (both musical and otherwise) within the historical context of the post-World War II era. Neither strictly chronological, or exclusively a history, Into the Maelstrom investigates a wide range of improvisational tendencies: from surrealist automatism to stream-of-consciousness in literature and vocalization; from the free music of Percy Grainger to the free improvising groups emerging out of the early 1960s (Group Ongaku, Nuova Consonanza, MEV, AMM, the Spontaneous Music Ensemble); and from free jazz to the strands of free improvisation that sought to distance itself from jazz. In exploring the diverse ways in which spontaneity became a core value in the early twentieth century as well as free improvisation’s connection to both 1960s rock (The Beatles, Cream, Pink Floyd) and the era of post-Cagean indeterminacy in composition, Toop provides a definitive and all-encompassing exploration of free improvisation up to 1970, ending with the late 1960s international developments of free music from Roscoe Mitchell in Chicago, Peter Brötzmann in Berlin and Han Bennink and Misha Mengelberg in Amsterdam.Trade Review[A] discursive and consistently stimulating account. * The Guardian *Maelstrom indeed ... [This] is an encyclopedic vortex of musicology, memoir and speculative extemporisation on the nature of improvisation and freedom in music ... crammed with detail and fascinating observations ... A captivating reading experience that perfectly embodies its subject in form. * The Wire *David [Toop] has browsed through history and offers readers an extremely rich overview of myriad germs of improvisation popping up all over the world, in so many musics, in fine arts and theater, in politics and philosophy, in social activism, and in small musical events. ... [T]his panoramic book is an absolute must-read for everyone interested in (the archeology of) free improvisation, actually for anyone interested in music in general. I am already looking forward to the second volume. * Journal of Sonic Studies *A typically multi-faceted and prismatic look at improvisation, written from the perspective of a practitioner. Turns out exploring free improvisation in music is really about exploring life. * Pitchfork *This is a long overdue book, and there is no-one else who could have written it. It is an astonishing achievement, and a highly readable and enjoyable one too. * International Times *Toop spends much of his latest effort exploring the philosophical and artistic movements from which pre-1970 performers drew inspiration ... In this, [Into the Maelstrom] provides a fascinating view of 20th century underground movements well beyond that of music alone. * Pop Matters *There is a wide range of substantive material here for both scholars and fans of the music ... If one accomplishment of the work must be singled out, it is that it assumes no foreknowledge of improvised music, and yet it would enrich the understanding of anyone who considers themselves an expert on the subject. * Popular Music *Any discussion of free improvisation, as an essential (anti?)-discipline of creative music, is an amusing balance between considering an unruly child and a sacred cow. History has come into a wild favor towards a genre that perpetually defies definition and prediction. David Toop, with a critical facility informed by over forty years of activity on and off the bandstand, sets his ruminations in the service of the music. Essaying on free improvisation in the mode of composition can result in didactic chin scratch. Thankfully Toop engages the readers interest with a sentient breath of prose charged by academic insight where poetic space becomes the page. It's only the beginning. * Thurston Moore *Toop's latest opus explores in depth the various traces of improvisation in music and elsewhere ... It is a broad panorama of portraits, reflections, anecdotes, evocations, miscellaneous quotations, interview extracts and questions on the nature and the development of the concepts of spontaneity and free expression throughout the twentieth century. * Revue & Corrigée (Bloomsbury translation) *The range of artists that are written about in this book is absolutely amazing. The beautiful thing is Toop was also in the height of the scene during the 1960s - so his views are both personal as well as a history of music being made and recorded throughout the 20th century. ... Toop has an encyclopedic knowledge of literature and music. What makes him a great writer is that he is able to use those tools to tell a remarkable narrative ... Perfect book. * TamTam Books blog *Describing the world as increasingly policed and regulated, Toop argues that people have come to devalue the role of improvisation in human behavior. Although the focus of Into the Maelstrom is music, Toop also examines theater, film, and the visual arts along with sociologists such as W. E. B. Du Bois. He explores a wide variety of musical styles and practitioners, including jazz musicians Sidney Bechet, Ornette Coleman, and the AACM; composers such as Luciano Berio, John Cage, Edgard Varèse, and Percy Grainger; and the rock band Pink Floyd. Toop also acknowledges the role of technology in music and improvisation—as exemplified by, for example, composer/performing artist Pauline Oliveros. The interesting discography will be a useful resource. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals. * CHOICE *David Toop has dived into the Maelstrom that is the genesis of improvised music and come up with a string of pearls. There is so much here that will be new to even those of us who thought we knew the subject. A remarkable piece of real scholarship that relies on painstaking research with a refreshing absence of jargon. * Evan Parker *Into the Maelstrom gives an astonishing, vivid history of improvised music across the 20th century­­ before 1970, tracing its transnational criss-crossings, trans-arts contagions, the folds between Cream and AMM, ‘musicking’ and John Stevens' Spontaneous Music Ensemble, Nuova Consonanza and For a Few Dollars More. David Toop’s panoramic account makes obvious how urgently we have needed this alternative history, attuned to musical sounds as they resonate with artistic, cultural and political currents. A landmark book, Into the Maelstrom re-centres those vast and auspicious margins deserted by previous music histories. * Georgina Born, Professor of Music and Anthropology, University of Oxford, UK *Table of Contents1: (only begin) A DESCENT 2: FREE BODIES 3: collective subjectivities 1 4: OVERTURE TO DAWN 5: collective subjectivities 2 6: INTO THE HOT 7: solitary subjectivities 8: TROUBLED SEA OF NOISES AND HOARSE DISPUTES 9: collective objectivities 10: IMAGINARY BIRDS SAID TO LIVE IN PARADISE 11: postscript: the ballad of john and yoko 12: RAIN FALLING DOWN ON OLD GODS Index

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Book SynopsisSleater-Kinney’s 1997 album Dig Me Out is built on Corin Tucker and Carrie Brownstein’s competing guitars, Janet Weiss’s muscular rhythms, and layered vocals that teeter between an urgent, banshee-like vibrato and a lower accompaniment. Dig Me Out was the band’s third studio album, but the first one written and recoded with Weiss. It inaugurated Sleater-Kinney into a lineup that would span its two-decade career. This 33 1/3 follows the narrative of Dig Me Out from its inception in Olympia to its recording in Seattle and its reception across the United States. It’s anchored in a short period of time – roughly from mid-1996 to mid-1998 – but it encompasses a series of battles over meaning that continued to preoccupy Sleater-Kinney in the coming decades. The band wrestled with the media about how they would be presented to the public, it contended with technicians about how their sound would be heard in clubs, and they struggled with pervasive social hierarchies about how their work would be understood in popular culture. The only instance where the band didn't have to put up much of a fight was when it came to their fans. The acclaim Sleater-Kinney received from their listeners in the late 1990s, and continue to receive today, speaks to a need for icons who challenged normative notions of culture and gender. This story of Dig Me Out chronicles how Sleater-Kinney won the fight to define themselves on their own terms – as women and as musicians – and, in the process, how they redefined the parameters of rock.Trade ReviewSleater-Kinney’s Dig Me Out by Jovana Babovic not only dives into the album, but it also dives into the culture surrounding women in music. While the book takes you through the album, it focuses on what it meant for the individual band members, the tour surrounding the release, and how the band was treated on the road. Babovic displays the toughness and the DIY attitude of Sleater-Kinney perfectly through her writing… I can’t recommend this book enough. * HiFi Noise *[In this volume] Babovic makes the case that S-K are that alternative; a band that should be held in as high esteem as Bowie, The Beatles and the rest of rock’s predominantly male superstars ... Though it’s strongly grounded with analytic arguments and sociological theories, it’s also hugely passionate; written with a similar excitement and frustration as the record itself. * Record Collector *I loved Dig Me Out. It's about feminism and gender as much as it is about the three musicians and this one particular album. For SK fans, it's a must, but I also recommend it highly to people interested in media and sexism. * Lower East Side Librarian *Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction – Sleater-Kinney’s Dig Me Out in the Cultural Moment of the late 1990s Chapter I – Olympia Calling: The Making and Breaking Out of Spaces Chapter II – Eight Days in Seattle: The Struggle to Record Dig Me Out Chapter III – Strange Words: Writing about Gender, Punk, and Sleater-Kinney Chapter IV – Hey Soundguy: The Dig Me Out Tour Chapter V – Words & Guitars: Celebrity, Fandom, and the Cult of Sleater-Kinney Notes

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Book SynopsisIn his time, the Austrian American composer Arnold Schoenberg (1874–1951) was an international icon. His twelve-tone system was considered the future of music itself. Today, however, leading orchestras rarely play his works, and his name is met with apathy, if not antipathy. With this interpretative account, the acclaimed biographer of Toscanini finally restores Schoenberg to his rightful place in the canon, revealing him as one of the twentieth century’s most influential composers and teachers. Sachs shows how Schoenberg, a thorny character who composed thorny works, raged against the “Procrustean bed” of tradition. Defying his critics—among them the Nazis, who described his music as “degenerate”—he constantly battled the anti-Semitism that eventually precipitated his flight from Europe to Los Angeles. Yet Schoenberg, synthesising Wagnerian excess with Brahmsian restraint, created a shock wave that never quite subsided and, as Sachs powerfully argues, his compositions must be confronted by anyone interested in the past, present or future of Western music.Trade Review"Lucid... Sachs's book is a succinct guide to Schoenberg's life and work, one designed in part to make the composer's music accessible to a wider audience. Much of the book's appeal lies in that implicit promise to help find the beauty hidden in what can seem, to the uninitiated, a writhing mass of noise. Sachs is neither a hater nor a glassy-eyed enthusiast... [he] is, as he puts it, 'a writer and music historian who is Schoenberg-curious.'... This is not to say that he doesn't admire the music—he does. And there's real pleasure to be found in the way Sachs writes about it. He clearly describes, for instance, the genius of the way in which Schoenberg composes the voice of God in his opera Moses und Aron, which Sachs calls a nearly ideal vehicle for twelve-toned music... The effect is perfectly eerie." -- Christopher Carroll - Harper's"[A] concentrated meditation . . . It may be recommended for anybody with an interest in the work of the Viennese-American composer Arnold Schoenberg—and perhaps especially to those who have never quite been able to “crack” his music . . . Despite his postwar decades in California, Schoenberg—with his rattles and shimmers, his craggy melodies and pervasive angst—never quite escaped the nightmares of what was then a crabbed and bloody Old World . . . Mr. Sachs’s fine study should inspire a fresh understanding of his life and work." -- Tim Page - Wall Street Journal"[A]n immensely valuable source for anyone desiring an accessible overview of this endlessly controversial and chronically misunderstood giant of 20th-century music... Sachs can be refreshingly candid, sharing his feelings at times as if he were whispering confidentially in your ear during a concert intermission... his genuine enthusiasm for those pieces that do stir him is enough to draw the reader in, and in so doing has done a great service to the cause. " -- John Adams - The New York Times Book Review"In this study of Arnold Schoenberg, the Austrian-born composer who immigrated to the U.S. in 1933, Sachs blends fleet-footed biography with an accessible analysis of Schoenberg's works. " -- The New Yorker"[An] elegant and judicious book" -- Rupert Christiansen - Literary Review

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Book SynopsisAn alphabetical history of rock ’n’ roll’s most iconic band…the Grateful Dead.Featuring playful rhymes and glorious illustrations, The ABCs of the Grateful Dead celebrates the band’s rich and dynamic history. Each letter of the alphabet highlights a significant moment, cultural contribution, or innovation along the band’s journey, from their groundbreaking release of American Beauty to their pioneering Wall of Sound, from the beloved dancing bears to their singular community of tape traders. This delightfully kaleidoscopic look back on the Grateful Dead will entertain first-time readers as well as diehard fans of all ages. The Grateful Dead is a social and musical phenomenon that grew into a genuine American treasure. In 1965, an entire generation was linked together by common ideals, gathering by the hundreds and thousands. This movement created a seamless connection between the band and its fans. As the band toured, Dead Heads would follow. Not because it was a part of popular culture, but because it is a true counterculture that exists to this very day-one that earnestly believes in the value of its beliefs. By 1995, the Grateful Dead had attracted the most concert goers in the history of the music business, and today remain one of the all-time leaders in concert ticket sales. Eventually, the caravan evolved into a community with various artists, craftsmen and entrepreneurs supplying a growing demand for merchandise that connected them to the music. Today, the connection is as strong as ever. The band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame in 1994 and received a Grammy® Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007. Their final tally of 2,318 total concerts remains a world record. The Grateful Dead recently celebrated their 53rd top 40 album on the Billboard chart, a feat no other group has achieved.Trade Review"Unique, original, fun, The ABCs of the Grateful Dead offers a fascinating and entertainingly kaleidoscopic look back on the Grateful Dead that will have a very special appeal to young first-time readers—as well as diehard fans of all ages! The ABCs of the Grateful Dead is especially recommended for family, elementary school, and community library ABC collections in general, and dedicated Grateful Dead fans of any age in particular." -- Midwest Book Review

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Book SynopsisA new biography of the beloved but mysterious Blind Lemon Jefferson, famous blues musician. Born in 1897, Jefferson was a blind street musician who played his guitar at the corner of Elm Street and Central Avenue in the Deep Ellum area of Dallas, Texas, until a Paramount Records scout discovered him. Between 1926 and his untimely death in 1929, Jefferson made more than 80 records and became the biggest-selling blues singer in America. Although his recordings are extensive, details about his life are relatively few. Through Govenar and Lornell's extensive interviews and research, See That My Grave is Kept Clean gathers the scattered facts behind Blind Lemon Jefferson's mythic representations.

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Book SynopsisA curated collection of Enlightenment operas, paintings, and literary works that were all marked by the "Telemacomania" scandal, a furious cultural frenzy with dangerous political stakes. Imaginatively structured as a guided tour, Opera and the Politics of Tragedy captures the tumultuous impact of the so-called Telemacomania crisis through its key artifacts: literary pamphlets, spoken dramas, paintings, engravings, and opera librettos (drammi per musica). Prominently featured in the gallery are two operas with direct ties to this aesthetic and political war: Mozart and Cigna-Santi's Mitridate (1770) and Mozart and Varesco's Idomeneo (1781). Reading and listening across the Enlightenment's cultural spaces (its new public museums, its first encyclopedias, and its ever-controversial operatic theater), this book showcases the Enlightenment's disorderly historical revisionism alongside its progressive politics to expose the fertile creativity that can emerge out of the ambiguous space between what is "ancient" and what is "modern."Table of ContentsExhibition List Patrons of the Museum Guidebook A Mozartean Museum The Death of Tragedy Exhibiting Enlightenment Dramma per musica Map of the Exhibits Entrance Hall Arts, Letters, and Music Modern Antiquarian Spaces "La Poésie" and its Systems Arts and Letters The Lyrical Impulse Exhibit A The Poet's Prose: Mitridate Room 1 Literary Adventures in Télémacomania Treasonous Popularity Sensual Lyricism Tragic Prose on Trial Opera as Mediator Room 2 Mitridate's Operatic Poetry Allegorical Mithridates Political Mithridates Operatic Mithridates Transformative Farnace Exhibit B Paintings Unseen: Idomeneo Room 3 Imagi(ni)ng the Prose Epic Epic Values Painting Télémaque Myths Invisible and Unheard Epic Opera Room 4 Idomeneo's Operatic Canvas The Operatic Stage as Canvas The Composition of an Opera Portrait of a King Supernatural Angles Exit Regrets on Parting Decorative Luxury Prose Painting Declassification Bookshop

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Book SynopsisThe hidden meanings of the Beatles’ most esoteric lyrics and sounds are revealed by a rare insider who spent two decades with the man who made “meditation,” “mantra,” and “yoga” household words: Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. “I absolutely love this book. Between the stories and the pictures, many I’ve not seen before, this is truly a spiritual journey.” —Chris O’Dell, author of Miss O’Dell, My Hard Days and Long Nights with The Beatles, The Stones, Bob Dylan, and the Women They LovedThe spiritual journey of the Beatles is the story of an entire generation of visionaries in the sixties who transformed the world. The Beatles turned Western culture upside down and brought Indian philosophy to the West more effectively than any guru. The Inner Light illumines hidden meanings of the Beatles’ India-influenced lyrics and sounds, decoded by Susan Shumsky—a rare insider who spent two decades in the ashrams and six years on the personal staff of the Beatles’ mentor, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. “With clarity, depth, and impeccable research, an exceptionally comprehensive book filled with engaging tales and fresh insights that even diehard Beatles fans will find illuminating.” —Philip Goldberg, author of American Veda: From Emerson and The Beatles to Yoga and Meditation, How Indian Spirituality Changed the West This eye-opening book draws back the curtain on the Beatles’ experiments with psychedelics, meditation, chanting, and Indian music. Among many shocking revelations never before revealed, we discover who invented "raga rock" (not the Beatles), the real identity of rare Indian instruements and musicians on their tracks, which Beatle was the best meditator (not George), why the Beatles left India in a huff, John and George’s attempts to return, Maharishi’s accurate prediction, and who Sexy Sadie, Jojo, Bungalow Bill, Dear Prudence, Blackbird, My Sweet Lord, Hare Krishna, and the Fool on the Hill really were. “This book reminds us in illuminating fashion why Susan is the premier thinker about India’s key influence upon the direction of the Beatles’ art. In vivid and stirring detail, she traces the Fabs’ spiritual awakening from Bangor to Rishikesh and beyond.” —Kenneth Womack, author of John Lennon 1980: The Last Days in the Life Half a century later, the Beatles have sold more records than any other recording artist. A new generation wants to relive the magic of the flower-power era and is now discovering the message of this iconic band and its four superstars. For people of all nations and ages, the Beatles’ mystique lives on. The Inner Light is Susan Shumsky’s gift to their legacy.Trade Review“Fascinating, informative, revelatory, The Inner Light: How India Influenced the Beatles by Susan Shumsky is a 'must read' selection for the legions of Beatles fans.” -- Midwest Book Review“With all the Beatles books out there, it's extremely rare for anyone to find a genuinely worthwhile angle to re-examine the Fabs anymore, but Shumsky has found one and handles it honestly and thoroughly.” -- Mike Segretto, Psychobabble“In this 500-page book, replete with over 170 photos, over 130 QR codes, and stunning revelatory information, a niche in Beatles history that until now has largely been ‘sampled’ is thoroughly investigated and brought to light. Whatever your religion, philosophy, or outlook, The Inner Light is a superb work. Even lifelong Beatles fans will definitely learn something new in this well-written, meticulously documented book.” -- Jude Southerland Kessler, Culture Sonar“Susan’s book tells a whole story, without sugar coating the truth. The references are like ripples in a pond, reminding me of places, people, events, books, and music that warmly fill my heart, mind and soul.” -- Gurudas (Roger Siegel), author of By His Example“A captivating, perceptive study. Long after The Beatles’ 1968 visit to Rishikesh, the sights, sounds, and religious beliefs of India resonated through their lives and music. Their stay at the ashram comes under special scrutiny, including some revelatory stories about Maharishi.” -- Gary Tillery, author of The Cynical Idealist: A Spiritual Biography of John Lennon and Working Class Mystic: A Spiritual Biography of George Harrison

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Book Synopsis Updated paperback version features a new chapter of never seen photos plus a new interview with Henry Rollins. TOTAL CHAOS: The Story of The Stooges / As Told by Iggy Pop is the first time the story of this seminal band has been told entirely in Pop's own words. Hundreds of full color rare photos illustrate Pop's story. Author Jeff Gold and contributor Johan Kugelberg, noted music historians and collectors, spent two days with Pop at his Miami home, sharing with him their extensive Stooges collection and interviewing the legendary singer. Pop's candid, bare-all responses left them with the almost unbelievable tale of the band he founded-the alternately tragic and triumphant story of a group who rose from youth, fell prey to drugs, alcohol, and music biz realities, collapsed and nearly 30 years later reformed, recording and touring to great acclaim. In 2010 The Stooges, credited with having invented punk rock, were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Their continuing influence can be felt today in the shape and sound of rock-n-roll music. "Gasp at the awe inspiring memorabilia and frank talk in Total Chaos: The Story of The Stooges/As Told By Iggy Pop"— Mojo Magazine "Tells the band’s revolutionary story through many never-before-published photos and extensive interviews…(and) contributions from Johnny Marr, Josh Homme, Dave Grohl, Joan Jett and Jack White."— Rolling Stone "A fantastic new book…a must-read for both diehard fans and anyone who wants to learn first-hand from Pop what it was like from the inside looking out in one of the seminal bands of the post-’60s era."— Esquire Trade Review"This book is everything. Definitive." — Anthony Bourdain"Both definitive and unique." — LA Weekly

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Book SynopsisThe first book to celebrate the classic-era Motà rhead lineup of Lemmy Kilmister, 'Fast' Eddie Clarke, and Phil 'Philthy Animal' Taylor.

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Book SynopsisA Grateful Dead concert, Ray Robertson argues, is life. Like life, it can be alternately compelling and lackluster; familiar and foreign; occasionally sublime and sometimes insipid. Although the Grateful Dead stopped the day Jerry Garcia’s heart did, what the band left behind is the next best thing to being there in the third row, courtesy of the group’s unorthodox decision to record all of their concerts. Meaning that it’s possible to follow the band’s evolution (and devolution) through their shows, from the R&B-based garage band at the beginning, to the jazz-rock conjurers at their creative peak, to the lumbering monolith of their decline.In All the Years Combine: The Grateful Dead in Fifty Shows, Robertson listens to and writes ecstatically about fifty of the band's most important and memorable concerts in order to better understand who the Grateful Dead were, what they became, and what they meant—and what they continue to mean.Trade ReviewPraise for All the Years Combine"You do not need to drop acid, get high, or be a Deadhead to enjoy Robertson’s long strange trip ... Through the author’s research, knowledge, passion and critical analysis you will gain new insights about this unique group."—David McPherson, Toronto Star"Robertson—writing at full, heart-exploding tilt—charts the course of the greatest American band (yes, I said it), from their humble start to their humbling end through capsule reviews of 50 shows. This is a glorious book, full of setlists and anecdotes and clear-eyed love."—Robert J. Wiersema, Toronto Star"Robertson has written an ideal companion for the devoted Deadhead while charting intimidating territory for the curious ... books like this one help enshrine (the music) with the reverence it deserves."—Michael Strizic, Literary Review of Canada"Ray Robertson's All the Years Combine is part love letter and part band history, showing why—and how—Deadheads really talk (and feel) about their favorite band."—Peter Conners, author of Growing Up Dead and Cornell '77“Ray weaves short stories around fifty shows—and altogether they tell the story of the The Grateful Dead’s timeline.”—Karim Kanji, Welcome to the Music"Ray Robertson ... walks listeners through the endless thicket of music. At points, his crackling prose froths over into hyperventilating superfan’s rants—an approach that befits a band with such a passionate following. Sometimes ... more is more."—Spin"Impressively insightfully informative, exceptionally well organized and thoroughly 'reader friendly' in presentation, All the Years Combine: The Grateful Dead in Fifty Shows is a 'must read' history for the legions of Grateful Dead fans."—Midwest Book Review“Author Ray Robertson delves into a staggering fifty Grateful Dead shows in his new collection … embark on a wild trip with Robertson and follow the trajectory of one of live music’s most groundbreaking acts.”—Gabriel Sigler, Bad Feeling Magazine"Delightfully genre-fluid—part critique, part review, part biography, part journalism."—Ashwinin Gangal, Palo Alto Weekly"If life were a Grateful Dead concert, Chatham author Ray Robertson would be its philosopher archivist."—Dan Savoie, 519 Magazine"All the Years Combine is a fast, enlightening read but it is also something to savor, like one of the Dead's notorious hour-long jams."—Kevin Wierzbicki, Anti Music"There is a huge amount of useful information collected in this book. And it was written as a serious criticism with love and affection and a large portion of honesty and humor thrown in for good measure."—M. Sarki, The Rogue Literary Society"As any Deadhead worth their weight in hemp and LSD will tell you, there’s nothing like a Grateful Dead concert, and the author capably demonstrates the good, bad, and ugly elements that followed the band around for decades ... A must for devoted Deadheads."—Kirkus Reviews"The great thing about this book is that if you know the Grateful Dead’s music, it’s a hum-along, sing-along tome ... His summaries of Dead concerts often display elements of verve, invention and colour in the telling ... Robertson’s other object is corrective—to change the focus of the Grateful Dead’s legacy in our culture. And in this, he succeeds admirably."—Winnipeg Free Press"This collection celebrating fifty concerts by the Grateful Dead shows them to be tougher and more complex than you might think ... meticulous readings of the band's concerts (alongside track listings) are impressively extensive but crucially they also build a surprising picture too."—Louder Than War"All the Years Combine is a superb book."—Shannon MacLeod, The Miramichi Reader"All the Years Combine is perhaps the first truly great book chronicling The Grateful Dead through the band’s live shows ... And for the Grateful Dead live neophyte ... the book provides a roadmap, a guide, a place to start and finish and explore the music while you read. And for these reasons, All the Years Combine, much like the music it heralds, transcends."—Frank Valish, Under the Radar“One of Canada’s most prolific writers ... one thing that’s always made Ray’s work stand out is how he seamlessly blends his favourite music into his prose, whether it’s fiction or non-fiction.”—Jason Schneider, Roots Music Canada"Fascinating and provocative."—David Gans, "Tales from the Golden Road" on Sirius Satellite Radio"Author Ray Robertson ... put[s] it all in perspective."—Greg Prato, Ultimate Guitar"Robertson ... tell[s] the story of one of the most loved and bewildering bands of all time."—Trevor Wilhelm, Windsor StarPraise for Ray Robertson's Lives of the Poets (with Guitars)“On North American shores, writing about music and its cultural spin-offs has largely been defined by the snarky authority of Pitchfork and trash-talkin’ teardowns of VICE giving birth to the new, new cool. Whereas those writing for music publications in Britain, although still cheeky, offer far more in the way of literary craft, storytelling and historical insight compared to the brash Americans. Ray Robertson, a Canadian novelist, aligns himself closer to the British tradition reinforcing that smart, lively prose and a bit of wit go a long, marvelous way. One part of Lives of the Poets is a record guide revealing these undiscovered treasures, the other is Robertson’s gift of spewing out stories that simply shame most rock ‘n’ roll writers into the hacks they really are.”—Beat Route“Lives of the Poets (with Guitars) should come with a warning label: May cause significant increase of spending on music. Readers are strongly advised to avoid record stores within 72 hours of reading. There is much to love and admire about Lives of the Poets (with Guitars). Robertson brings a discerning ear and keen passion, a sly sense of humour and a deep sense of philosophical questioning to each of these pieces. [It] is a powerful book and one to which music fans are likely to often return.”—Toronto Star“Robertson toils for a higher purpose: to reveal the transcendent, enduring qualities of the artist and their importance to society. He establishes his intentions in the introduction: 'One wants to convey in words what it is that makes for a musically-transformed, more-alive human being.' With this collection of essays on 13 remarkable figures, Robertson leaves no doubt about the success of his endeavor.”—Elmore Magazine“Crossing a number of musical genres, Robertson is often effusive in his praise, but consistently provides a stirring rationale for the strong emotional impact that each artist elicits with their music ... Robertson offers the whole picture, warts and all. In doing so, he honors the music of artists who have enriched his life—and opens the door for his readers to experience the same magic.”—Blues Blast Magazine"Robertson brings a good ear and plenty of critical insight to essays aimed at helping readers discover new favorites or hear more familiar music from a fresh perspective.”—Kirkus Reviews

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Book SynopsisBorn in a mainly working-class area of North Tyneside in 1951, Gordon Sumner would become one of the world's best-selling music artists. Known professionally as Sting, he was the lead singer for the band The Police from 1977 to 1984, before launching a hugely successful solo career. The foundations of Sting's creativity and drive for success were established in the region of his birth, with vestiges of his 'Northern Englishness' continuing to emerge in his music long after he left the area. Published to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the formation of The Police, this is the first book to examine the relationship between Sting's working-class background in Newcastle and the creativity and inspiration behind his music. Focusing on the sometimes-blurry borderlines between nostalgia, facts, imagination and memories - as told by Sting, the people who knew (and know) him, and those who have written about him - Carr investigates the often complex resonance between local boy Gordon Sumner and the star the world knows as Sting. This book will be of great interest to the many fans of Sting and The Police, as well as those interested in the history of popular music.

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Book SynopsisBono (U2) once said, "More than any other band, The Who are our role models." Starting as a simple four-piece 'mod' band in the early 1960s, The Who went on to conquer the world with their unique and supremely powerful music that transcended any genre and appealed to fans across the world. The original lineup of Roger Daltrey, Keith Moon, Pete Townshend and John Entwhistle honed their sound and recorded some milestone albums in rock history: Live at Leeds, Tommy and Quadrophenia are just some of the legendary records they released.

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Book SynopsisDavid Bowie: every single song. Everything you want to know, everything you didn't know. David Bowie remains mysterious and unknowable, despite 45 years of recording and performing. His legacy is roughly 600 songs, which range from psychedelia to glam rock to Philadelphia soul, from avant-garde instrumentals to global pop anthems. Rebel Rebel catalogs Bowie's songs from 1964 to 1976, examines them in the order of their composition and recording, and digs into what makes them work. Rebel Rebel is an in-depth look at Bowie's early singles and album tracks, unreleased demos, session outtakes and cover songs. The book traces Bowie's literary, film and musical influences and the evolution of his songwriting. It also shows how Bowie exploited studio innovations, and the roles of his producers and supporting musicians, especially major collaborators like Brian Eno, Iggy Pop and Mick Ronson. This book places Bowie's music in the context of its era. Readers will discover the links between Kubrick's 2001 and "Space Oddity"; how A Clockwork Orange inspired "Suffragette City". The pages are a trip through Bowie's various lives as a young man in Swinging London, a Tibetan Buddhist, a disillusioned hippie, a rock god, and a Hollywood recluse. With a cast of thousands, including John Lennon, William S. Burroughs, Andy Warhol and Cher.Trade Review...best writing on David Bowie bar none. -- Bob Stanley, writer and a member of the pop group Saint Etienne 2014 If you're a David Bowie fan, you'll love Chris O'Leary's Pushing Ahead of the Dame. Each post is devoted to analyzing a Bowie song, in roughly chronological order: its words, music, history, precursors and influence on other performers...Even if you're not an admirer of the artist sometimes known as Ziggy Stardust, the site's a rewarding read. If nothing else, it may leave you wishing that your favorite musician had a fan as perceptive and prolific as O'Leary. (TIME's Best Blogs of 2011) -- Harry McCracken Time Magazine, 2012

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Book SynopsisFrom 'Neighbours' TV teen queen to Stock Aitken Waterman's megastar, the rise of Kylie Minogue to the top of the charts is one of the biggest smash hit success stories in pop music. Across 15 studio albums her transition from SexKylie (with help from Michael Hutchence) to IndieKylie (thanks to Nick Cave and Manic Street Preachers), then to undisputed Princess of Pop (courtesy of the irresistible 'Can't Get You Out Of My Head') proved she was not just an actress, a singer and a remarkable live performer (including Glastonbury Goddess), but a true global superstar. After successfully beating cancer, Kylie returned to the top with several big-selling albums, including the critically lauded 'The Abbey Road Sessions', festive fave 'Kylie Christmas' and 2020's history-making 'Disco'. This book is an exhaustive "step back in time" through her complete 'Katalogue' across five poptastic decades. Every released track and collab from her 300+ song catalogue - many self-penned or co-written - over 35 years is examined in detail with new insights, revelations & vital video/remix information. 'Kylie: Song By Song' celebrates this unique artist's truly remarkable and unparalleled career and is a must-have for every dedicated fan of the lucky, lucky, lucky Australian pop princess.Table of ContentsIntroduction; About This Book; Acknowledgements; Glad To Be Getting Closer In Oz Era (1985-1987); Kylie Album/Especially For You Single Era (1988); Enjoy Yourself Album Era (1989); Rhythm Of Love Album Era (1990); Let's Get To It Album Era (1991); Greatest Hits Compilation Era (1992); Kylie Minogue Album Era (1994); Where The Wild Roses Grow Single/Impossible Princess Album Era (1997); Intimate & Live Album & More Era (1998-2000); Light Years Album Era (2000); Fever Album Era (2001); Body Language Album Era (2003); Ultimate Kylie Compilation Era (2004); The X Files Era (The Unofficial Xtra Tracks); X Album Era (2006-2008); Boombox Compilation & More Era (2008-2010); Aphrodite Album Era (2010-2011); Abbey Road Sessions Album & More Era (2012-2013); Kiss Me Once Album + Garibay & More Era (2013-2015); Kylie Christmas & Snow Queen Edition Albums Era (2015-2017); Golden Album Era (2018); Step Back In Time: The Definitive Collection Compilation Era (2019); Disco Album Era (2020); Appendix I: Kylie Kompletists; Appendix II: Kylie Koncerts; Appendix III: Kylie's Brit Hit List (1987-2020); About the Author.

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