Musicians, singers, bands and groups Books

Book SynopsisThe stories in this here anthology may in fact be true true wild tales I’ve absorbed over time. Perhaps drenched with generous hyperbole? I’ll let you decide.As one of the founding members of the seminal punk band Angry Samoans, Gregg Turner has seen his fair share of weird shit. From his time at Creem Magazine in the early 1970s to the formation of the Angry Samoans in Los Angeles, and all the travels, trials, and tribulations that occured after, Turner takes us through a wild ride of stories he's heard, stories he's lived, and some he may or may not have made up.With illustrations by Emmy and Klein-award winning illustrator Gary Panter, Hallucinations from Hell is an onslaught of a book that will appeal to any reader who loves a good story.Trade Review"Grzegorz Laszlo Turner has made the US his home since 1963. In the decades since, he has brilliantly fused the brightest tendencies in contemporary Magyar and American prose. His body of work, bristling with post-modern tenderness and compassion, places him firmly on the short line for Nobel consideration."—Richard Meltzer, author of The Aesthetics of Rock and A Whore Just Like the Rest: The Music Writings of Richard Meltzer"Gregg Turner follows up his long legacy of rambunctious arrested adolescence—don't forget he is both a founding member of punk shock rock band The Angry Samoans, as well as a 1980s Creemmagazine contributor—with this collection of scatalogically-challenged tales of hyperbole. There's a reason that some areas of the USA are designated as 'fly-over', and in quite a few of Mr. Turner's stories he makes this abundantly clear."—Chris D., singer/songwriter of bands The Flesh Eaters and Divine Horsemen, and writer of fiction and film studies"Gregg can write. Even In a story set in the world of mathematics (a world in which I would customarily fear to tread] one discovers, for instance, "The fact that this veteran oldster was able to accomplish a remarkable mathematical feat heartened the cockles of the math community of academes.” Good stuff, Gregg’s stories. Real good stuff."—John Mendelssohn, author of The Kinks Kronikles and Gigantic: The Story of Frank Black and The Pixies"Gregg takes the essence and ethos of punk rock and spews it all over the page. I’m just glad I don’t have to clean it up."—Andy Shernoff, The Dictators"This is a fun ride (at 110mph) through an American landscape formed by late stage capitalism and littered with the smoking remains of alien abductees, grave-robbers, dominatrixes (dominatrii?), and a definitely alien rock star, as seen through the O.G. punk rock eyes of Gregg Turner, the Angriest Samoan."—Dr. Nicole Panter Dailey, psychologist and manager of the Germs from 1977-80

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Book SynopsisSami Yaffa is a bass guitar legend, an icon of the rock world, and an uncompromising walker of his own way, who rose to prominence as the bassist of the mythical Hanoi Rocks. A man of lights and shadows, and the embodiment of street credibility, Yaffa has recorded with Bruce Springsteen and Slash, played with the New York Dolls and Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, crawled across Helsinki pubs and restaurants with Anthony Bourdain, and performed at Carnegie Hall. This is his story.

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Book SynopsisFrank Bello, bassist with the legendary New York thrash metal band Anthrax since 1984, has sold over ten million albums, travelled the globe more times than he cares to count, and enthralled audiences from the world’s biggest stages. His long-awaited memoir would be a gripping read even if its pages only contained stories about his life as a recording and touring musician. While those stories are indeed included—and will blow your mind—Bello also focuses on deeper subjects in Fathers, Brothers, and Sons. Once you’ve heard his life story, you’ll understand why.Born into a family of five, Frank grew up in difficult circumstances. His father abandoned his wife and children, and Frank’s mother moved heaven and earth to keep them fed and educated. Left with no male role model, Frank found inspiration in heavy metal bass players, following their example and forging a career with Anthrax from his early teens—first as a roadie, and then as the group’s bass player.International stardom came Frank’s way by the mid-to-late 1980s, when he was still in his early twenties, but tragedy struck in 1996 when his brother Anthony was murdered in New York. Although the case went to trial, the suspected killer was released without charge after a witness, intimidated by violent elements, withdrew his testimony.Two decades later, Frank is a father himself to a young son. Like many men who grew up without the guidance of a dad, he asks himself important questions about the meaning of fatherhood and how to do the job well. This is the wisdom which Fathers, Brothers, and Sons offers readers.Despite the emotive nature of these topics, Fathers, Brothers, and Sons is a funny, entertaining read. A man with a keen sense of humor and the perspective to know how surreal his story has been, Frank doesn’t preach or seek sympathy in his book. Instead, he simply passes on the wisdom gained from a lifetime of turbulence, paying tribute to his loved ones in a way that will resonate with us all.Trade Review“Frank has been a close friend for 35 years. From dealing with being abandoned by his father, to the tragedy of his brothers murder, to the rise of Anthrax, it’s all here in Frankie’s unmistakable, sincere, and at times humorous voice. I am so proud of him for telling his long overdue life story in such a candid and honest way.“ —Eddie Trunk, SiriusXM Radio

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Book SynopsisWas John Lennon meeting Paul McCartney more significant than John Lennon meeting Yoko Ono? Rubber Soul or Revolver? Which Wings album was Paul McCartney’s solo pinnacle?In 100 brief chapters, John M. Borack discusses and ranks the greatest moments in Beatles history. An avid Fab Four fan since childhood and a music journalist for more than thirty-five years, Borack has created a book to agree with and disagree with, and one that is sure to spark conversations. A love letter to the greatest rock band of all time, The Beatles 100 is a book for Beatles buffs and casual fans alike.

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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 SynopsisThe formative early ballets of West Side Story creators Leonard Bernstein and Jerome Robbins explored in detail for the very first time. 2022 CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title Winner. Leonard Bernstein and choreographer Jerome Robbins stand as giants of the musical-theatre world, but it was ballet that launched their stage careers and established their relationship. With Fancy Free (1944), their triumphant debut collaboration produced by Ballet Theatre, Bernstein, Robbins, and set designer Oliver Smith-all in their mid-twenties- captured the spirit of wartime New York, created a defining ballet of the period still widely performed today, and became overnight sensations. The hit musical On the Town (1944) and a now largely forgotten ballet, Facsimile (1946), followed over the next two years. Drawing extensively on previously unpublished archival documents, Bernstein and Robbins: The Early Ballets provides a richly detailed and original historical account of the creation, premiere, and reception of Fancy Free and Facsimile. It reveals the vital and sometimes conflicting role of Ballet Theatre, explores how Bernstein composed the scores, sheds light on the central importance of Oliver Smith, and considers the legacy of these works for all involved. The result is a new understanding of Bernstein, Robbins, and this formative period in their lives.Trade ReviewFor choreographers interested in commissioning scores for their dance pieces, the information contained in this book is very useful. -- Mark Kappel * NEWSNOTES DANCE BLOG *This very interesting book primarily relates the early partnership of Leonard Bernstein and Jerome Robbins. I enjoyed Redfern's...discussion of the staging and choreography of the various shows. The author wisely includes a discussion of Bernstein's ability to work quickly on theatrical assignments and Robbins's legendary rehearsal requirements, and how that affected their relationship. This book offers corrections to...prior information and presents the ballet information with enough detail to better appreciate the music and choreography. * AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE *Sophie Redfern's new book on Leonard Bernstein and Jerome Robbins provides a rich portrait of their collaborative relationship [and] the first in-depth, published analysis of their ballets. Her book adds many insights into the working relationship between these two influential figures. A fascinating narrative arc emerges. Redfern's book is important reading for scholars...who want to think more deeply about collaborative relationships between composers and choreographers. * STUDIES IN MUSICAL THEATRE *Sophie Redfern's groundbreaking and compelling new book offers a vivid account of the often high-octane collaboration between Leonard Bernstein and the choreographer Jerome Robbins-and to a lesser extent, the theatre designer Oliver Smith. . . . [A] manifestly important book that will undoubtedly establish itself as a classic text in the fields of both Bernstein and ballet studies, and which is distinguished throughout by its expert interweaving of historical narrative, source studies, music analysis, and criticism. -- Mervyn Cooke * MUSIC & LETTERS *Rich [archival] materials and Redfern's thorough analysis of Bernstein's music constructively articulate how each artist's individual contributions defined the futures of both ballet and musical theater in the United States...Some of the most compelling highlight Bernstein's adaptation of popular and Latin music into the classical French structure of ballet. Fancy Free's inclusion of defined character motifs, stacked ostinatos, tone rows, and rhythmic complexity would give American ballet a definitive form. * SOCIETY FOR AMERICAN MUSIC BULLETIN *Table of ContentsIntroduction Setting the Scene: American Ballet and Jerome Robbins Towards a First Ballet: Fancy Free Takes Shape Creating Fancy Free: A Long-Distance Collaboration The Music of Fancy Free: The Sketches and Score Explored The Fancy Free Premiere and a Move to Broadway Towards a Second Ballet: Bye Bye Jackie and the Creation of Facsimile The Music of Facsimile: The Sketches and Score Explored The Facsimile Premiere and Legacy of the Ballets Epilogue: Bernstein and Dance Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThis comprehensive study of the piano music of award-winning American composer Samuel Adler will interest pianists, teachers, and anyone interested in the musical art of our day. American composer Samuel Adler has composed a huge and multi-faceted body of works ranging from symphonies, concertos, and oratorios to solos for every standard Western instrument, to a rich trove of vocal and choral music, to pieces for students. Among them, encompassing his compositional life of some seventy years, is an array of works for the piano: three concertos; fifteen solo pieces and sets of pieces; a sonata for two pianos; and four volumes of music for beginning and intermediate players. Bradford Gowen writes about each of these works with the knowledge of one who has studied, performed, and recorded Adler's piano music and has previously written about it. He begins with an overview of stylistic and pianistic traits found throughout these pieces and then examines each work chronologically according to genre, in a two-part format. The first part is an essay on the work's style, emotional content, and unique features, which at the same time places the work in the context of other music by Adler and by additional composers from the present and past eras. The second part, informal and practical, is directed to a pianist interested in getting to know this music. As a "lesson" on the piece, it offers specific suggestions for practicing and interpretation and many solutions to technical challenges. Rounding out the book are an in-depth interview with the composer plus six invaluable appendices.Trade ReviewA practical and useful book for all levels of pianists, from students to seasoned performers. Gowen's engaging prose and clear enthusiasm for Adler's music make reading about the works enjoyable as well as instructive. This book will be especially useful to institutions with strong piano and music education programs. -- Carol Lubkowski * MUSIC LIBRARY ASSOCIATION NOTES *Table of ContentsPreface Acknowledgments A Note to the User of This Book Samuel Adler: A Biographical Sketch Interview with Samuel Adler Introduction 1. Pedagogical Volumes Gradus Books I and II (1971) Gradus Book III (1981) The Sense of Touch (1982) 2. Solo Works through 2000 Capriccio (1954) Sonata Breve (1963) Canto VIII (1973) Sonatina (1979) "Thy Song Expands My Spirit" (1980) The Road to Terpsichore: A Suite of Dances (1989) Three Piano Preludes (1999-2000) 3. Solo Works since 2001 Four Composer Portraits (2001) Festschrift (2007) Fantasy for Piano (2013) Four Choreographies (2017) Five Short Occasional Pieces (2018) "Bagatelle for Jürgen" (2020) Variation on "America the Beautiful" (2020) Music for the Young and the Young at Heart (2021) 4. For Two Pianos Duo Sonata for Two Pianos (1983) 5. For Piano and Orchestra Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (no. 1) (1983) Second Piano Concerto (1996) Piano Concerto no. 3 for Piano and String Orchestra (2003) Appendix 1: Piano Music Graded Approximately according to Technical Difficulty Appendix 2: Chamber Works with Piano Appendix 3: Partial List of Works for Voice and Piano, Selected by the Composer Appendix 4: Works for Other Keyboard Instruments Appendix 5: Chronological Representative Selection of Adler Works for Other Instruments and Ensembles Selected Bibliography Index About the Author

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Book SynopsisThis biography of Minna Planer, Richard Wagner's wife of 30 years, reveals her as a self-assured woman and artist who was vital to her husband's creative life. When Richard Wagner first met Minna Planer in 1834, he was an unknown conductor, she a popular actress. His hectic pursuit of her affections culminated in marriage in 1836. Minna endured poverty with him, nursed him through chronic illness, followed him across Europe as he fled from creditors and pursued his artistic goals, and sought to provide him with the stable domestic and erotic life that he craved. He played his works to her as he wrote them, up to Tannhäuser and Lohengrin, and set store by her opinions. But when he went on the run as a wanted revolutionary, Minna only reluctantly followed him into Swiss exile. Domestic peace tentatively prevailed, but was ultimately destroyed by Wagner's passion for Mathilde Wesendonck. In 1858, he and Minna separated, she returned home to Germany, and subsequent efforts at reconciliation proved ultimately impossible. They remained married, however, until Minna's death in 1866. Despite having been at Richard's side as he matured into the composer of the Ring and Tristan, Minna has been given short shrift by most Wagner commentators. In Eva Rieger's acclaimed biography, translated into English by Chris Walton, the author reveals Minna as a self-assured woman and artist who played a crucial role in the creative life of her husband.Trade ReviewFascinating, detailed, and absorbing. Chris Walton has done a superb job in creating the illusion that this volume was written in English. Detailed footnotes are included as well as a number of germane photographs. Marvelous to read and completely engrossing. * AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE *Through Rieger's vivid and sometimes humorous presentation of Richard and Minna's daily life together, we discover an attractive and also tragic figure, courageous, highly adaptable and generous to the point of offering her last piece of bread to a hungry friend, even when she didn't know what her own next meal would be. -- Anna Stoll Knecht * The Wagner Journal *Table of ContentsIllustrations Abbreviations Notes on this translation Introduction: "He could not breathe without her" Chapter 1. "I have become her despot": From Love to Marriage Chapter 2. "Deprived of incipient motherhood": Riga, London, Paris, 1836-1842 Chapter 3. "Home for me is you alone": Dresden 1842-1847 Chapter 4. "My knucklehead of a husband": Revolution and Its Aftermath, 1848-1850 Chapter 5. "This ridiculous, amorous intrigue": The Jessie Laussot Affair, 1850-1851 Chapter 6. "That good, foolish man...": Exile in Zurich, 1852-1854 Chapter 7. "I'm a poor, stupid woman to have let you go...": Zurich and London, 1854-1856 Chapter 8. "Alas, now all our happiness is gone...": The Wesendonck Scandal, 1857-1858 Chapter 9. The Bitter End: 1858-1859 Chapter 10. "In love and fidelity, your Emma": Emma Herwegh Chapter 11. "...neither wife, housekeeper, nor friend": Dresden, Paris, Biebrich, 1860-1862 Chapter 12. "That weak, blind man...": The end of a marriage, 1863-1866 References Index

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Book SynopsisThis biography of Minna Planer, Richard Wagner's wife of 30 years, reveals her as a self-assured woman and artist who was vital to her husband's creative life. When Richard Wagner first met Minna Planer in 1834, he was an unknown conductor, she a popular actress. His hectic pursuit of her affections culminated in marriage in 1836. Minna endured poverty with him, nursed him through chronic illness, followed him across Europe as he fled from creditors and pursued his artistic goals, and sought to provide him with the stable domestic and erotic life that he craved. He played his works to her as he wrote them, up to Tannhäuser and Lohengrin, and set store by her opinions. But when he went on the run as a wanted revolutionary, Minna only reluctantly followed him into Swiss exile. Domestic peace tentatively prevailed, but was ultimately destroyed by Wagner's passion for Mathilde Wesendonck. In 1858, he and Minna separated, she returned home to Germany, and subsequent efforts at reconciliation proved ultimately impossible. They remained married, however, until Minna's death in 1866. Despite having been at Richard's side as he matured into the composer of the Ring and Tristan, Minna has been given short shrift by most Wagner commentators. In Eva Rieger's acclaimed biography, translated into English by Chris Walton, the author reveals Minna as a self-assured woman and artist who played a crucial role in the creative life of her husband.Trade ReviewFascinating, detailed, and absorbing. Chris Walton has done a superb job in creating the illusion that this volume was written in English. Detailed footnotes are included as well as a number of germane photographs. Marvelous to read and completely engrossing. * AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE *Through Rieger's vivid and sometimes humorous presentation of Richard and Minna's daily life together, we discover an attractive and also tragic figure, courageous, highly adaptable and generous to the point of offering her last piece of bread to a hungry friend, even when she didn't know what her own next meal would be. -- Anna Stoll Knecht * The Wagner Journal *Table of ContentsIllustrations Abbreviations Notes on this translation Introduction: "He could not breathe without her" Chapter 1. "I have become her despot": From Love to Marriage Chapter 2. "Deprived of incipient motherhood": Riga, London, Paris, 1836-1842 Chapter 3. "Home for me is you alone": Dresden 1842-1847 Chapter 4. "My knucklehead of a husband": Revolution and Its Aftermath, 1848-1850 Chapter 5. "This ridiculous, amorous intrigue": The Jessie Laussot Affair, 1850-1851 Chapter 6. "That good, foolish man...": Exile in Zurich, 1852-1854 Chapter 7. "I'm a poor, stupid woman to have let you go...": Zurich and London, 1854-1856 Chapter 8. "Alas, now all our happiness is gone...": The Wesendonck Scandal, 1857-1858 Chapter 9. The Bitter End: 1858-1859 Chapter 10. "In love and fidelity, your Emma": Emma Herwegh Chapter 11. "...neither wife, housekeeper, nor friend": Dresden, Paris, Biebrich, 1860-1862 Chapter 12. "That weak, blind man...": The end of a marriage, 1863-1866 References Index

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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 first study to explore the crucial influence of Kurt Weill on operas and musicals by Marc Blitzstein and Leonard Bernstein. Theodor Adorno famously proclaimed that the model of Kurt Weill could not be repeated. Yet Weill's stage works set an inescapable precedent for composers on both sides of the Atlantic. Rebecca Schmid explores how Weill's formal innovations in particular laid the groundwork for operas and musicals by Marc Blitzstein and Leonard Bernstein, although both composers resisted or downplayed his aesthetic contribution to American tradition. Comparative analysis based on Harold Bloom's Anxiety of Influence and other modes of intertextuality reveals that the principles of Weill's opera reform would catalyze an indigenous movement in sophisticated, socially engaged music theatre. Weill, Blitzstein, and Bernstein: A Study of Influence focuses on works that represent different phases of Weill's mission to renew the genre of opera, evolving from Die Dreigroschenoper to the musical play Lady in the Dark and the Broadway Opera Street Scene. Blitzstein and Bernstein in turn defied formal boundaries with The Cradle Will Rock, Regina, Trouble in Tahiti, Candide, and West Side Story - part of a short-lived movement in mid-twentieth century America that coincided with a renaissance for Weill's German-period works following the premiere of Blitzstein's translation, The Threepenny Opera, under Bernstein's baton. The unpublished A Pray by Blecht, for which Bernstein rejoined Stephen Sondheim and Jerome Robbins, his collaborators on West Side Story, deepens the connection of Bernstein's aesthetic to Weill.Trade ReviewSchmid traces the tutelage of Blitzstein to Bernstein and back to Weill through performance anecdotes, personal letters, and documentation by previous researchers. Schmid's research is sound [and] the book is full of diverting production history and insights into the lives and minds of the three composers and their close circles. * The New England Theatre Geek *Deserves a warm welcome from anybody with an interest in the emergence of 'serious' Broadway shows after the Second World War. Weill's fundamental role in this is explored thoroughly, and the significance of his influence is brought into the light for the first time. This really is a fine read. A fascinating and original study. * Gramophone *Sheds considerable light on a fascinating subject and is well worth reading [since] Schmid writes so well. * SOUNDWORDSIGHT: AN ARTS MAGAZINE *Schmid's comprehensive archival research and revealing musical analysis offer new perspectives to support the many ways in which the "spectre of Weill" hovers gently over American opera. * KURT WEILL NEWSLETTER *Table of ContentsIntroduction 1 Why Influence? 2 "Have You Seen My New Opera?" 3 "Something Like Opera" 4 "Make Our Garden Grow 5 "This Isn't Worth drei Groschen" 6 A Pray by Blecht 7 "The Saga of Lenny" Epilogue Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThe first feminist analysis of some of the most performed works in the American-opera canon, emphasizing the voices and perspectives of the sopranos who brought these operas to life. In the 1950s, composers and librettists in the United States were busy seeking to create an opera repertory that would be deeply responsive to American culture and American concerns. They did not break free, however, of the age-old paradigm so typically expressed in European opera: that is, of women as either saintly and pure or sexually corrupt, with no middle ground. As a result, in American opera of the 1950s, women risked becoming once again opera's inevitable victims. Yet the sopranos who were tasked with portraying these paragons of virtue and their opposites did not always take them as their composers and librettists made them. Sometimes they rewrote, through their performances, the roles they had been assigned. Sometimes they used their lived experiences to invest greater authenticity in the roles. With chapters on The Tender Land, Susannah, The Ballad of Baby Doe, and Lizzie Borden, this book analyzes some of the most performed yet understudied works in the American-opera canon. It acknowledges Catherine Clément's famous description of opera as "the undoing of women," while at the same time illuminating how singers like Beverly Sills and Phyllis Curtin worked to resist such undoing, years before the official resurgence of the American feminist movement. In short, they ended up helping to dismantle powerful gendered stereotypes that had often reigned unquestioned in opera houses until then.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction Chapter 1 American Opera at Midcentury Chapter 2 A Conniving Gold Digger: Elizabeth "Baby Doe" Tabor Chapter 3 A "Really Vicious Monster": Lizzie Andrew Borden Chapter 4 A Chaste White Woman: Laurie Moss Chapter 5 A Dangerous Jezebel: Susannah Polk Epilogue "The World So Wide": Beyond the Virgin or the Whore in the Twenty-First Century Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThe formative early ballets of West Side Story creators Leonard Bernstein and Jerome Robbins explored in detail for the very first time. 2022 CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title Winner. Leonard Bernstein and choreographer Jerome Robbins stand as giants of the musical-theatre world, but it was ballet that launched their stage careers and established their relationship. With Fancy Free (1944), their triumphant debut collaboration produced by Ballet Theatre, Bernstein, Robbins, and set designer Oliver Smith-all in their mid-twenties- captured the spirit of wartime New York, created a defining ballet of the period still widely performed today, and became overnight sensations. The hit musical On the Town (1944) and a now largely forgotten ballet, Facsimile (1946), followed over the next two years. Drawing extensively on previously unpublished archival documents, Bernstein and Robbins: The Early Ballets provides a richly detailed and original historical account of the creation, premiere, and reception of Fancy Free and Facsimile. It reveals the vital and sometimes conflicting role of Ballet Theatre, explores how Bernstein composed the scores, sheds light on the central importance of Oliver Smith, and considers the legacy of these works for all involved. The result is a new understanding of Bernstein, Robbins, and this formative period in their lives.Trade ReviewSophie Redfern's groundbreaking and compelling new book offers a vivid account of the often high-octane collaboration between Leonard Bernstein and the choreographer Jerome Robbins-and to a lesser extent, the theatre designer Oliver Smith. . . . [A] manifestly important book that will undoubtedly establish itself as a classic text in the fields of both Bernstein and ballet studies, and which is distinguished throughout by its expert interweaving of historical narrative, source studies, music analysis, and criticism. -- Mervyn Cooke * MUSIC & LETTERS *This very interesting book primarily relates the early partnership of Leonard Bernstein and Jerome Robbins. I enjoyed Redfern's...discussion of the staging and choreography of the various shows. The author wisely includes a discussion of Bernstein's ability to work quickly on theatrical assignments and Robbins's legendary rehearsal requirements, and how that affected their relationship. This book offers corrections to...prior information and presents the ballet information with enough detail to better appreciate the music and choreography. * AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE *For choreographers interested in commissioning scores for their dance pieces, the information contained in this book is very useful. -- Mark Kappel * NEWSNOTES DANCE BLOG *Sophie Redfern's new book on Leonard Bernstein and Jerome Robbins provides a rich portrait of their collaborative relationship [and] the first in-depth, published analysis of their ballets. Her book adds many insights into the working relationship between these two influential figures. A fascinating narrative arc emerges. Redfern's book is important reading for scholars...who want to think more deeply about collaborative relationships between composers and choreographers. * STUDIES IN MUSICAL THEATRE *Rich [archival] materials and Redfern's thorough analysis of Bernstein's music constructively articulate how each artist's individual contributions defined the futures of both ballet and musical theater in the United States...Some of the most compelling highlight Bernstein's adaptation of popular and Latin music into the classical French structure of ballet. Fancy Free's inclusion of defined character motifs, stacked ostinatos, tone rows, and rhythmic complexity would give American ballet a definitive form. * SOCIETY FOR AMERICAN MUSIC BULLETIN *Table of ContentsIntroduction Setting the Scene: American Ballet and Jerome Robbins Towards a First Ballet: Fancy Free Takes Shape Creating Fancy Free: A Long-Distance Collaboration The Music of Fancy Free: The Sketches and Score Explored The Fancy Free Premiere and a Move to Broadway Towards a Second Ballet: Bye Bye Jackie and the Creation of Facsimile The Music of Facsimile: The Sketches and Score Explored The Facsimile Premiere and Legacy of the Ballets Epilogue: Bernstein and Dance Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisA practical manual for building musical understanding and physical skills, intended for conductors at all stages of development.

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Book SynopsisA Monumental Gift for Music Lovers: A Deluxe Boxed Set of Philip Glass's Most Beloved and Personal Body of Work, Along with a Book of Appreciations from Notable Fellow Artists Philip Glass is one of the most influential artists of our time. In his long and staggeringly creative career as a composer, he's reached millions of people and transformed how we listen to music. He's written 26 operas, 12 symphonies, 13 concertos, and 35 film scores. But his most beloved, personal, and listened-to work is a series of 20 piano etudes. Originally created to "address the deficiencies in my own playing," in Glass's words, they've taken on a life of their own as a modern masterpiece-majestic and intimate at the same time, these compositions for solo piano have been performed and recorded by dozens of artists and streamed over 100 million times. Philip Glass Piano Etudes is in every way a one-of-a-kind tribute to this singular work. A deluxe boxed gift set, it includes the complete etudes, 1 through 20, plus a hardcover book: Studies in Time: Essays on the Music of Philip Glass. Each etude has been newly engraved (the technical term used for drawing music notation at the highest quality), and each is printed on oversize heavy stock and sewn-bound into individual folios. In Studies in Time, artists and writers including Laurie Anderson, Martin Scorsese, Maira Kalman, Pico Iyer, Alice Waters, Tim Page, Ari Shapiro, and others reflect on the music, the art of composition, the meaning of practice, and so much more. In its heirloom box, this deluxe edition of the etudes is to be cherished by music lovers, piano students and players, and anyone attuned to contemporary culture, savoured for its beauty and insights, and, of course, explored at the keyboard.Trade Review“Gorgeously printed and prepared, they’re a perfect gift for beginners and experienced players alike.”—The Washington PostTable of ContentsList of Contributors Alice Waters Angelique Kidjo Ari Shapiro Dennis Russell Davies Ira Glass Jenny Saville JLin Justin Peck Laurie Anderson Lucinda Childs Maira Kalman Maki Namekawa Martin Scorcese Michal Rovner Nathan Chen Nico Muhly Phelim McDermott Pico Iyer Tania Leon Tim Page Timo Andres

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Book SynopsisFrom beloved indie musician Andrew McMahon comes a searing, honest, and beautifully written memoir about his childhood and his career, told through the lens of his three pianos. The lead singer and songwriter for such bands as Something Corporate and Jack's Mannequin grew up in Southern California as a talented child prodigy, learning to play piano and write songs at a very early age, stunning schoolmates and teachers alike with his gift for performing as well as his unique ability to emotionally connect with his audiences. But behind this incredible pop talent lurked a darker tale, a child dealing with a father prone to opioid addiction and a mother whose own fragility enabled a worsening situation for Andrew and his sister, Kate. Uprooting the family numerous times as a fallout of his own drug abuse, Andrew's father miraculously saved the one treasure that would keep his son connected to hope, creativity, and solace: the family piano. Told through the lens of his connection to three pianos-as a child, then as a newly established adult musician, and then as a father Three Pianos takes readers on a beautifully rendered and bittersweet American journey, one filled with hope, heartbreak and an unwavering commitment to shedding away our past in order to create a better future.

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Book SynopsisVilla-Lobos and Modernism: The Apotheosis of Cannibal Music provides a new assessment of the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos in terms of his contributions to the Modernist Movement of the twentieth century. In this profound study, Ricardo Averbach elevates Cultural Cannibalism as a major manifestation of the Modernist aesthetics and Villa-Lobos as its top exponent in the music field. Villa-Lobos’s anthropophagic appetite for multiple opposing aesthetics enlightens through the juxtaposition of contradictory elements, leaving a legacy of unmatched originality, a glittering kaleidoscope of sounds that draw from the radical power of Josephine Baker to the outrageous extravagance of Carmen Miranda, from Dada to Einstein’s counterintuitive scientific findings, from folklorism to atonality. The constructed analyses use the works of Stravinsky as a familiar and popular touchstone for accessing Villa-Lobos as the leading exponent of an aesthetic movement that has been neglected due to a traditional Eurocentric view of Modernism. Averbach opens up new possibilities for the study of twentieth-century music, in general, while unveiling how much our present aesthetics owes to the Modernist ideas introduced by the Brazilian composer.Trade ReviewRicardo Averbach presents an innovative framework for a fresh understanding of Villa-Lobos’s music in the context of the Brazilian early twentieth-century Modernism. The book addresses the multicultural influences that shaped the composer’s unique style and makes skillful use of analytical tools to unveil details of his brilliant works. -- João Guilherme Ripper, Composer, President of the Brazilian Academy of MusicIt is impossible not to recognize, in the manuscript, the work of an experienced, qualified researcher, whose results are presented in a text that is breathtaking, exciting, and pleasant to read. Cultural references demonstrate remarkable scholarship…the text serves as a kind of cartography of Brazilian culture. -- Pedro Belchior, Historian, Head of Research of the Villa-Lobos MuseumAverbach carries out an impressive study, gathering at the same time expertise as a great performer of Villa-Lobos's symphonic works and as a theorist, analyzing the musical structure. The book does a remarkable job of presenting the cultural context of Villalobosian's work, from its connections with Brazilian popular music (carnival song, choro, samba, etc.), Bach, Stravinsky, and Modernism from Brazil and abroad. -- Paulo de Tarso Salles, Musicologist, Villa-Lobos Symposium Coordinator, Universidade de São PauloTable of ContentsAcknowledgmentsPrefaceChapter 1: The Anthropophagic AestheticChapter 2: Villa-Lobos, the “Cannibal who Wore Tails”Chapter 3: The Sad Clowns of Carnival: Polichinelo and PetrushkaChapter 4: Taking Flight with Two Ballet Birds: Uirapuru and FirebirdChapter 5: Dissecting UirapuruChapter 6: Breaking Treaties: Amazonas and Le Sacre du PrintempsChapter 7: Diving into the AmazonasChapter 8: Towards a New Assessment of Villa-LobosChapter 9: The Influence of Surrealism in Villa-Lobos’s Modernist WorksAppendix 1: The Anthropophagous Manifesto: An Annotated TranslationAppendix 2: Glossary of Musical TerminologyBibliographyAbout the Author

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Book SynopsisThe music, image, performances, and cultural impact of some of the most enduring figures in popular music are explored in Rock Music Icons: Musical and Cultural Impacts. A rock music icon is readily recognizable—but intriguing and little-known stories lie behind the public’s enchantment. Readers of Rock Music Icons will encounter new perspectives on notable recording artists ranging from Elvis Presley, Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, and Bob Marley to Elton John, David Bowie, Bruce Springsteen, Metallica, and Kurt Cobain. One meets Pink Floyd upon the fall of the Berlin Wall, the drama of Freddie Mercury, Ozzy Osborne, and Madonna, and the musical craft of Billy Joel. Rock Music Icons investigates authenticity, identity, and the power of the voices and images of these widely circulated and shared artists that have become the soundtrack of our lives. Rock Music Icons brings a reader an inside look into the creativity of some of the most prominent rock stars of our time.Table of ContentsIntroduction: Recreating Elvis PresleyRobert McParlandChapter 1. Made in Rockdown: Paul McCartney and McCartney IIIRichard D. DriverChapter 2. Sometimes I Turn: Bob Dylan’s Enduring IconoclasmKeith Nainby and John RadostaChapter 3. Elton John and the Mondegreen GirlsTanis MacDonaldChapter 4. Reflections on/of Billy JoelJoshua S. DuchanChapter 5. The Lion of Jamaica: Robert Nesta Marley OM as IconEric AbbeyChapter 6. Roger Waters and The Wall—Live in Berlin 1990: The Global Broadcast of a Historical ConcertClaudia BucciferroChapter 7. How the 1980s Output of Bruce Springsteen and Morrissey Captured the Working-Class Experience in America and the UKAnastasia Rose HydenChapter 8. Loving the Alien(ated) Self: Theatricality, Artifice, and the Outsider Mythos of David BowieDouglas RasmussenChapter 9. What It Feels Like for a Boy: Masculinity in Madonna’s Mid-career Music VideosDavid R. CoonChapter 10. Killer Queen: Freddie Mercury’s Communicative LongevityJulianna KirschnerChapter 11. Ozzy Osborne: Master of Multiple RealitiesCandace Ursula GrissomChapter 12. Divine Comedy: The Humor and Creativity of Kurt CobainCristian StrombladChapter 13. Obey Your Masters: Metallica’s Journey to Icon StatusPaul M. Miller and Thomas R. Davis, Jr.About the Contributors

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Book SynopsisThe music, performances, and cultural impact of some of the most enduring figures in popular music are explored in Rock Music Icons: Musical and Cultural Impacts. This collection investigates authenticity, identity, and the power of the voices and images of widely circulated and shared artists that have become the soundtrack of our lives.Trade ReviewThe 13 essays McParland has gathered look at how rock music icons influenced music and impacted culture. Rock enthusiasts might balk at Bob Marley and Madonna—who are included because they have what Thomas Kitts states in his foreword is “a rock and roll sensibility—but one cannot argue with their contributions to the genre. Also included Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, Elton John, Billy Joel, Roger Waters, Bruce Springsteen, Morrissey, David Bowie, Freddie Mercury, Ozzy Osbourne, Kurt Cobain, and Metallica. The introduction looks at the “king of rock” himself, Elvis Presley. The contributors to the volume include a high-school teacher; a music journalist; and university-level professors in the fields of English, communications, media and cultural studies, history, and music. All bring their own perspectives on the contributions of the artists they discuss. Scholars and fans of music, culture, and history will surely find this book both enlightening and entertaining. Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates; general readers. * Choice Reviews *"Rock Music Icons: Musical and Cultural Impacts provides a wide-ranging survey of major musical figures, such as Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, Bob Marley, David Bowie, Madonna, and Kurt Cobain. Iconoclasm, nostalgia, authenticity, gender presentation, and humor in rock music are among the significant topics covered. Featuring over a dozen studies of iconic musicians, this book would make excellent reading for an upper-level undergraduate course on rock history or prove rewarding for rock music enthusiasts interested in a scholarly, and sometimes superfan, take on the figures they admire." -- David C. Wright, Misericordia University"Rock Music Icons gets to the heart of the matter, bringing our pop idols and our cultural ideals into bold relief. Chock-full of new insights about the music and musicians that make our hearts sing, Rock Music Icons provides us with a powerful window into the high art and artists of the rock music era." -- Kenneth Womack, author of John Lennon 1980: The Last Days in the Life“From the sustained critique of authoritarianism inherent in Pink Floyd's The Wall to the use of nostalgia as a way to construct and critically engage the present in the songs of Billy Joel to the radical interrogations of gender that characterize the musical videos of Madonna and beyond, this collection of essays considers how certain artists become icons of popular culture and why their work is of such enduring and world-wide importance.” -- Theodore L. Trost, University of Alabama

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Book SynopsisSergei Rachmaninoff experienced life-changing upheavals and competing inflection points of musical taste, traversing countries and continents as he pursued the triply-brilliant career of composer-conductor-virtuoso pianist. Born in tsarist Russia and raised as a nobleman in a well-educated musical family, Rachmaninoff led a bold lifestyle as a cutting-edge composer, admirer of the latest trends in art, and even aficionado of new developments in farm equipment for his beloved estate of Ivanovka. Wherever his concertizing took him, to glittering capitals all over the world, Rachmaninoff became a nexus for prominent musicians, writers, actors, and other personalities defining this era.Valeria Z. Nollan’s biography of perhaps the finest pianist of the twentieth century plunges readers into Rachmaninoff’s complex inner world. Sergei Rachmaninoff: Cross Rhythms of the Soul is the first biography of Rachmaninoff in English that presents him in the fullness of his Russian identity. As someone whose own life in Russian emigration ran in parallel ways to Rachmaninoff’s own—and whose meetings with the composer’s grandson in Switzerland informed her work—Nollan brings important cultural insights into her observations of the activities of this generation of creative artists. She also traces the intricacies of Rachmaninoff’s relations with the women closest to him—whose imprints are palpable in his compositions—and introduces a mystery woman whose existence challenges our established narrative of his life.Table of ContentsContentsChapter 1. Rachmaninoff’s OriginsChapter 2. Early EducationChapter 3. Birth of a Composer-PianistChapter 4. Birth of a ConductorChapter 5. The MusesChapter 6. Mystery of an Immortal BelovedChapter 7. Marriage to Natalia SatinaChapter 8. Rachmaninoff’s AestheticsChapter 9. Rachmaninoff’s ReligiosityChapter 10. TransitionsChapter 11. The Legendary Virtuoso PianistChapter 12. Rachmaninoff as HumanitarianChapter 13. Paradise Regained: The Villa SenarChapter 14. The Last Bow: Rachmaninoff and AmericaAfterword: Rachmaninoff’s Legacy in the Twenty-First CenturyAppendix I: Twists and Turns of a MysteryAppendix II: List of Works

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Book SynopsisThe Lost Tradition of Dvořák’s Operas: Myth, Music, and Nationalism examines Antonín Dvořák’s operas, specifically Jakobín and Rusalka, from a critical standpoint, focusing on such criteria as tonal structures, thematic material and motives, subject matter, Czech folklore and musical influences, textual language, nationalism, characters, compositional history, performance history, and reception. This research vindicates and validates Dvořák as an opera composer and shows him to be an overlooked master in nineteenth century opera and the bridge between the Verdi and Wagner traditions. Table of ContentsTable of ContentsList of FiguresAcknowledgements Chapter One: IntroductionChapter Two: The Evolution of Opera in Post-Napoleonic EuropeChapter Three: The Birth of Czech Opera and the National TheatreChapter Four: Dvořák’s Life and TravelsChapter Five: A Microcosm of Dvořák’s Opera; Analysis of Jakobín and RusalkaChapter Six: The Performance History of the OperasChapter Seven: Returning Dvořák’s Voice to the Operatic StageBibliographyAppendix: Further Reading and Listening

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Book SynopsisPrince Rogers Nelson aka Prince was a complete artist, all at once author, composer, performer, multi-instrumentalist and producer. A real showman on stage, songs like “ 1999” or “ Purple Rain,” made him an international star. With his tormented life, sulfurous relationships, sex and drugs, he was above all a genius artist with a very distinctive original style who sold more than 80 million records around the world.Here is his extraordinary destiny in a mix of colorfully illustrated articles and comics!Table of Contents* 1960s SO FAR TO THE NORTH… * 1970s ANDRE AND ME* 1975 – 1978THE GIFT OF MUSIC* 1977 – 1978 THE ART OF IMPOSING ONESELF* 1979 – 1980 A STAR IS BORN* 1980 – 1983 SEX, ETC.* 1984 PURPLE RAIN REVOLUTION* 1985 – 1989 JAMMIN’ WITH SHEILA * 1986 – 1987 PAISLEY PARK* 1987 – 1988 CONSECRATION: SIGN O’ THE TIMES* 1989 PRINCE AND THE MOVIES: BATMAN* 1991 PEARLS AND DIAMONDS… * 1992 – 1997 TURBULENCE… * 1998 – 2000 … AND REBIRTH* 2001 – 2002 GOD IS MY WITNESS… * 2004 – 2006BACKFIRE* 2007 THE BIGGEST SHOW IN THE WORLD* 2009 PRINCE PRODUCER* 2013 – 2015 3RDEYEGIRL* 2016 THE END OF ALL SONGS

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Book SynopsisElvis Presley spoke to a whole generation of people through his music. Whether it was a ballad, a gospel hymn, or pure rock'n'roll, when he sang, people listened. However, there was more to Elvis than his music and movies. Throughout his career he was questioned by mobs of adoring fans and interviewed by thousands of inquisitive reporters. Repeatedly he was asked personal questions about his life, ranging from love and marriage to his musical style, from his religious beliefs to his family. He answered them all in a polite and forthright way. Elvis Speaks is a collection of Elvis's words—what he said on a variety of topics such as loneliness, performing in front of live audiences, how he felt about his fans, how he felt about being drafted into the army, music, love, and religion. The words are pure Elvis. They come from the heart and reflect the man behind the entertainer and beyond the gates of Graceland, the Cadillacs, the gold records, and the money. Elvis Speaks tells of a man who loved to entertain people and found heartache and happiness in a career that spanned nearly three decades.

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Book SynopsisBecause Johnny Cash cut his classic singles at Sun Records in Memphis and reigned for years as country royalty from his Nashville-area mansion, people tend to associate the Man in Black with Tennessee. But some of Cash’s best songs—including classics like “Pickin’ Time,” “Big River,” and “Five Feet High and Rising”—sprang from his youth in the sweltering cotton fields of Mississippi County in northeastern Arkansas.In Country Boy, Colin Woodward combines biography, history, and music criticism to illustrate how Cash’s experiences in Arkansas shaped his life and work. The grip of the Great Depression on Arkansas’s small farmers, the comforts and tragedies of family, and a bedrock of faith all lent his music the power and authenticity that so appealed to millions. Though Cash left Arkansas as an eighteen-year-old, he often returned to his home state, playing some of his most memorable and personal concerts on his native soil, where, to use Cash’s phrase, he could touch his roots again. Drawing upon the country legend’s songs and writings, as well as the accounts of family, fellow musicians, and chroniclers, Woodward reveals how the profound sincerity and empathy so central to Cash’s music depended on his maintaining a deep connection to his native Arkansas—a place that never left his soul.Trade Review“Johnny Cash comes alive in Arkansas, and it in him. Though his fabulous career took him far afield, as Colin Woodward tells us in this important book, all roads led back to the piney woods and gumbo soil of his fateful home state.”—Michael Streissguth, Johnny Cash: The Biography“Country Boy is a welcome addition to all things Cash, focusing directly on his home state of Arkansas and the influence it had on shaping his values and nurturing his creativity. Colin Woodward peels away myths and legends, including some perpetuated by Cash himself, and replaces them with facts and absorbing scenarios of how the fictions came about.”—Ruth Hawkins, Emeritus director, Arkansas State University Heritage Sites, and founding director, Johnny Cash Boyhood Home.“Colin Woodward has scraped away any romanticism that might obscure the reality of Cash’s roots: the hardscrabble existence along with nobility, faith, and the best of the human condition. We know where Johnny Cash ended up. This inspiring book tells us how he got there.”—Mark Stielper, music historian “It would be hard to overstate the role of Johnny Cash’s Arkansas upbringing, through Depression and wartime, in shaping the artist and citizen he later became. Country Boy puts Cash in proper historical and geographic context in this vital contribution to our understanding of the Man in Black.”—Michael Stewart Foley, author of Citizen Cash: The Political Life and Times of Johnny Cash“In Country Boy: The Roots of Johnny Cash, Colin Edward Woodward argues that the connection between Cash and his native Arkansas deserves far more scholarly attention than it has received in the past. He contends that Arkansas germinated the seed of Cash’s genius and served as a lifelong anchor as he navigated the twists and turns of an iconic career. … Woodward grounds Cash firmly within scholarly sources and wider historical contexts, focusing on Cash’s humanity, his failures and successes as a husband and father, his drug abuse, and his important contributions to prison reform and Native American social justice. Throughout, Woodward keeps Cash grounded as he surveys the artist’s recording career in Memphis, his move to California, and his life on the outskirts of Nashville. Woodward’s musical analysis is particularly strong throughout the book. … The book is accessible and well-researched, and a welcome addition to southern history. Woodward’s command of Cash historiography is clear, and his careful use of contemporary newspaper coverage, family remembrances, and Cash’s own words renders a compelling argument worthy of recommendation.”—Brian Dempsey, Journal of Southern History, August 2023

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Book SynopsisBroadcasting the Ozarks explores the vibrant country music scene that emerged in Springfield, Missouri, in the 1930s and thrived for half a century. Central to this history is the Ozark Jubilee (1955–60), the first regularly broadcast live country music show on network television. Dubbed the “king of the televised barn dances,” the show introduced the Ozarks region to viewers across America and put Springfield in the running with Nashville for dominance of the country music industry—with the Jubilee’s producer, Si Siman, at the helm. Siman’s life story is almost as remarkable as the show he produced. He was booking Tommy Dorsey, Ella Fitzgerald, and Glenn Miller during the mid-1930s while still a high school student and produced nationally syndicated country music radio shows in the decades that followed. Siman was a promotional genius with an ear for talent, a persuasive gift for gab, and the energy and persistence to make things happen for many future Country Music Hall of Famers, including Chet Atkins, Porter Wagoner, the Browns, and Brenda Lee. Following the Jubilee’s five-year run, Siman had a hand in some of the greatest hits of the twentieth century as a music publisher, collaborating with such songwriters as rockabilly legend and fellow Springfieldian Ronnie Self, who wrote Brenda Lee’s signature hit, “I’m Sorry,” and Wayne Carson, who wrote Willie Nelson’s “Always on My Mind.” Although Siman had numerous opportunities to find success in bigger cities, he chose to do it all from his home in the Ozarks.

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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 Synopsis2020 IBPA Awards Winner! Alex Lifeson, Geddy Lee, and Neil Peart performed together for the first time to an audience of 11,000 people in 1974. Forty years later, their last tour sold over 442,000 tickets. This is the story of everything in between. This is the story of Rush. Fondly known as the Holy Triumvirate, Rush is one of the top bands to shine through rock-and-roll history. Wandering the Face of the Earth covers Rush’s storied touring career, from their humble beginnings as a Toronto-area bar band playing middle school gymnasiums to their rise as one of the world’s most sought-after live acts, selling out massive arenas around the globe. This book includes every setlist, every opening act, and every noteworthy moment meticulously researched and vetted by the band themselves. Along with spectacular, never-before-seen imagery, this is THE must-have tour compendium for Rush fans. —In Loving Memory, Neil Ellwood Peart 1952-2020

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Book SynopsisFrom Cleveland to Cincinnati and everywhere in between, Ohio rocks. Rebels and Underdogs: The Story of Ohio Rock and Roll takes readers behind the scenes to the birth and rise of musical legends like the Black Keys, Nine Inch Nails, Devo, the Breeders, Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders, and many others who started in garages and bars across Ohio. Through candid first-hand interviews, Garin Pirnia captures new, unheard stories from national legends like the Black Keys and slow-burn local bands like Wussy from Cincinnati. Discover why Greenhornes' members Patrick Keeler and Brian Olive almost killed each other on stage one night, what happened to the pink guitar Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails gave to band member Richard Patrick, why Devo loved the dissonance when they were booed by 400,000 music lovers in England, and so much more! Entertaining, inspiring, and revolutionary, Rebels and Underdogs is the untold story of the bands, the state, and rock itself.Trade Review"Jerry Casale (DEVO) probably sums it up best in this book: 'In Ohio, nobody gave a shit.' But around that inversely proud axiom, Garin Pirnia gives it a fine archaeologist's try to plop meat all over the bones of one of rock'n'roll's unsung if inarguably most important locales, just as the genre is looking like a skeleton of its former fame."—Eric Davidson, singer in New Bomb Turks and author of We Never Learn: The Gunk Punk Undergut"Ohio's rock 'n' roll has always sounded like it was made by teenagers stranded in the wasteland, obsessing about music they'd never actually heard, then trying to make it themselves, which is why the best bands—Devo, Afghan Whigs, Guided by Voices, Nine Inch Nails—are so hard to pin down. But Garin Pirnia has done just that in this exceptional book, an account satisfyingly comprehensive, but driven by the instincts and ardor of a true devotee."—David Giffels, author of 'Furnishing Eternity' and coauthor of 'Are We Not Men? We Are Devo!'Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction1. Akron/Kent2. Cincinnati3. Cleveland4. Columbus5. Dayton

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Book SynopsisFrom Cleveland to Cincinnati and everywhere in between, Ohio rocks. Rebels and Underdogs: The Story of Ohio Rock and Roll takes readers behind the scenes to the birth and rise of musical legends like the Black Keys, Nine Inch Nails, Devo, the Breeders, Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders, and many others who started in garages and bars across Ohio. Through candid first-hand interviews, Garin Pirnia captures new, unheard stories from national legends like the Black Keys and slow-burn local bands like Wussy from Cincinnati. Discover why Greenhornes' members Patrick Keeler and Brian Olive almost killed each other on stage one night, what happened to the pink guitar Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails gave to band member Richard Patrick, why Devo loved the dissonance when they were booed by 400,000 music lovers in England, and so much more! Entertaining, inspiring, and revolutionary, Rebels and Underdogs is the untold story of the bands, the state, and rock itself.Trade Review"Jerry Casale (DEVO) probably sums it up best in this book: 'In Ohio, nobody gave a shit.' But around that inversely proud axiom, Garin Pirnia gives it a fine archaeologist's try to plop meat all over the bones of one of rock'n'roll's unsung if inarguably most important locales, just as the genre is looking like a skeleton of its former fame."—Eric Davidson, singer in New Bomb Turks and author of We Never Learn: The Gunk Punk Undergut"Ohio's rock 'n' roll has always sounded like it was made by teenagers stranded in the wasteland, obsessing about music they'd never actually heard, then trying to make it themselves, which is why the best bands—Devo, Afghan Whigs, Guided by Voices, Nine Inch Nails—are so hard to pin down. But Garin Pirnia has done just that in this exceptional book, an account satisfyingly comprehensive, but driven by the instincts and ardor of a true devotee."—David Giffels, author of 'Furnishing Eternity' and coauthor of 'Are We Not Men? We Are Devo!'Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction1. Akron/Kent2. Cincinnati3. Cleveland4. Columbus5. Dayton

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Book SynopsisDespite the nearly universal fame of the Beatles, many people only know the fairytale version of the iconic group's rise to fame. Drawing on his extensive knowledge of Liverpool, Francis Kenny reveals the real John Lennon who preceded the legend, showing how his childhood shaped his personality, creative process, and path to success, and how it also destroyed his mental health, leading to the downfall of one of the most confident and brilliant musicians of the past century.The Making of John Lennon is a must-read for any Beatles fan. It explains how Lennon's turbulent family background affected his relationships, why the true inspiration for "Strawberry Fields" could not be revealed, how Pete Best's college connection led to his removal from the group, and why class backgrounds were the real reason for the breakup of the legendary band. Offering a complex portrait of Lennon's early life, The Making of John Lennon tells the true story behind the rise of the legendary icon.Trade ReviewThis isn't a roller-coaster ride, skipping through John Lennon's life, but a carefully prepared examination of his early years, slowly examining the general picture that surrounded John's life, rather than focusing on one specific aspect, wrapping the surroundings of the city, the family, the friends, the music and the events which forged the young man who became a 20th century icon, into a whole. -- Bill Harry, author of The John Lennon EncyclopediaThe author focuses on the question of what might have caused the downfall of one of the most brilliant musicians of the past century. Kenny emphasizes three main influences which helped shape Lennon's creative process and stayed with him throughout his life: his strong roots in his hometown of Liverpool; his troubled mental health; and a turbulent family background. * Huffington Post *Table of ContentsMilestones in The Making of John LennonIntroduction1. 1800s: City of Outsiders2. 1900s: Toxteth Park3. 1940-45: Salvation Army Hospital4. 1946-50: Wandsworth Jail5. 1950-55: Gladstone Hall6. 1955-57: Town and Country7. 1957-60: Hope Street8. 1960-61: The Wyvern Club9. 1961-62: Great Charlotte Street10. 1961-62: The Grapes11. 1963-64: Liverpool Town Hall12. 1964: Hansel and Gretel House13. 1965: Perugia Way14. 1965-66: Candlestick Park15. 1966-67: Cavendish Avenue16. 1967-68: Foothills of the Himalayas17. 1968: Abbey Road18. 1969: Savile Row19. 1969 (Part 2): Tittenhurst20. 1970-71: Dakota BuildingEpilogueEndnote ReferencesBibliographyInterviewsUseful Websites

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Book SynopsisBOB DYLAN: MIXING UP THE MEDICINE is an unprecedented glimpse into the creative life of one of America’s most groundbreaking, influential and enduring artists. 'If there is anything new to be discovered about Bob Dylan, you can probably find it in The Bob Dylan Centre… Now the Bob Dylan Centre is publishing its first book, essentially the archive in miniature: Bob Dylan: Mixing up the Medicine. It is a 608-page tome examining over 1000 images and objects culled from the collection by archivists and curators Mark Davidson and Parker Fishel.' - The Telegraph Several years ago, a treasure trove containing some 6,000 original Bob Dylan manuscripts was revealed to exist. Their destination? Tulsa, Oklahoma. The documents, as essential as they are intriguing—draft lyrics, notebooks, and diverse ephemera— comprise one of the most important cultural archives in the modern world. Along with countless still and moving images and thousands of hours of riveting studio and live recordings, this priceless collection now resides at The Bob Dylan Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, just steps away from the archival home of Dylan’s early hero, Woody Guthrie. Nearly all the materials preserved at The Bob Dylan Center are unique, previously unavailable, and, in many cases, even previously unknown. As the official publication of The Bob Dylan Center, BOB DYLAN: MIXING UP THE MEDICINE is the first wide-angle look at the Dylan archive, a book that promises to be of vast interest to both the Nobel Laureate’s many musical fans as well as a broader cultural audience. Edited by Mark Davidson and Parker Fishel, BOB DYLAN: MIXING UP THE MEDICINE focuses a close look at the full scope of Dylan’s working life, particularly from the dynamic perspective of his ongoing and shifting creative processes—his earliest home recordings in the mid-1950s right up through Rough and Rowdy Ways (2020), his most recent studio recording, and into the present day. The centerpiece of BOB DYLAN: MIXING UP THE MEDICINE is a carefully curated selection of over 600 images including never-before-circulated draft lyrics, writings, photographs, drawings and other ephemera from the Dylan archive. With an introductory essay by Sean Wilentz and epilogue by Douglas Brinkley, the book features a surprising range of distinguished writers, artists and musicians, including Joy Harjo, Greil Marcus, Michael Ondaatje, Gregory Pardlo, Amanda Petrusich, Tom Piazza, Lee Ranaldo, Alex Ross, Ed Ruscha, Lucy Sante, Greg Tate and many others. After experiencing the collection firsthand in Tulsa, each of the authors was asked to select a single item that beguiled or inspired them. The resulting essays, written specifically for this volume, shed new light on not only Dylan’s creative process, but also their own. BOB DYLAN: MIXING UP THE MEDICINE is the magnum opus every Bob Dylan fan has been waiting for since the 60s and will be a landmark publication for the ages.Table of ContentsPreface Introduction 1941–1960: An Accident of Geography 1961–1964: A Way of Life 1965–1966: The Sound of the Streets 1967–1973: Everybody’s Song 1974–1978: The Constant State of Becoming 1979–1987: Surviving in a Ruthless World 1988–2000: As Natural as Breathing 2001–2013: Themes, Dreams, and Schemes 2014–Present: The Here and Now Epilogue Contributors Acknowledgements Source Credits Index

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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 Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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