Search results for ""author peter guralnick""

One of the most influential singers and songwriters of all time, Sam Cooke was among the first to blend gospel music and secular themes--the early foundation of soul music. He was the opposite of Elvis: a black performer who appealed to white audiences, who wrote his own songs, who controlled his own business destiny. No biography has previously been written that fully captures Sam Cooke's accomplishments, the importance of his contribution to American music, the drama that accompanied his rise in the early days of the civil rights movement, and the mystery that surrounds his death. Bestselling author Peter Guralnick tells this moving and significant story, from Cooke's childhood as a choirboy to an adulthood when he was anything but. With appearances by Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, James Brown, Harry Belafonte, Aretha Franklin, Fidel Castro, The Beatles, Sonny and Cher, Bob Dylan, and other central figures of this explosive era, DREAM BOOGIE is a compelling depiction of one man striving to achieve his vision despite all obstacles--and an epic portrait of America during the turbulent and hopeful 1950s and 1960s. The triumph of the book is the vividness with which Peter Guralnick conveys the astonishing richness of the black America of this era-the drama, force, and feeling of the story.

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Available in this new hardback edition for the first time in decades, Sweet Soul Music was hailed by Newsweek on publication as ''a stunning chronicle.... a panoramic survey of a lost world [and] one of the best books ever written on American popular music''.Since then it has acquired the status of a classic. Pitchfork included it among its ''50 Favourite Music Books of All Time,'' the Daily Beast placed it on their ''Essential Civil Rights Reading List,'' David Bowie named it one of his ''100 Must-Read books'', while noted author Ta Nehisi Coates, whose work chronicles the contemporary racial divide, called it ''one of the ten books I couldn''t live without.''A gripping narrative that captures the tumult and sweep of a music that will forever be linked to the Civil Rights Movement which inspired it, (think of Sam Cooke''s ''A Change Is Gonna Come'') Sweet Soul Music provides intimate portraits of performers like Cooke, Ray Charles, James Brown, Solomon

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Essential reading for anyone who loved Baz Luhrmann's biopic Elvis, starring Austin Butler and Tom HanksLast Train to Memphis, the first part of Guralnick's two-volume life of Elvis Presley, received unprecedented accolades. This concluding volume recounts the second half of Elvis's life in rich and previously unimagined detail, and confirms Guralnick's status as one of the great biographers of our time. Beginning with Presley's army service in Germany in 1958 and ending with his death in Memphis in 1977, Careless Love chronicles the unraveling of the dream that once shone so brightly, homing in on the complex playing-out of Elvis's relationship with his Machiavellian manager, Colonel Tom Parker. It's a breathtaking drama that places the events of a too often mistold tale in a fresh, believable, and understandable context. This is the quintessential American story, encompassing race, class, wealth, sex, music, religion, and personal transformation. Written with grace, sensitivity, and passion, Careless Love is a unique contribution to our understanding of American popular culture and the nature of success, giving us true insight at last into one of the most misunderstood public figures of our times.

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It covers old ground from new perspectives, offering deeply felt, masterful, and strikingly personal portraits of creative artists, both musicians and writers, at the height of their powers."You put the book down feeling that its sweep is vast, that you have read of giants who walked among us," rock critic Lester Bangs wrote of Guralnick's earlier work in words that could just as easily be applied to this new one. And yet, for all of the encomiums that Guralnick's books have earned for their remarkable insights and depth of feeling, Looking to Get Lost is his most personal book yet. For readers who have grown up on Guralnick's unique vision of the vast sweep of the American musical landscape, who have imbibed his loving and lively portraits and biographies of such titanic figures as Elvis Presley, Sam Cooke, and Sam Phillips, there are multiple surprises and delights here, carrying on and extending all the themes, fascinations, and passions of his groundbreaking earlier work.One of NPR's Best Books of 2020One of Kirkus Review/Rolling Stone's Top Music Books of 2020One of No Depression's Best Books of 2020

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Rock 'n' roll was born in rural Alabama, 1923, in the form of Sam Phillips, the youngest son of a large family living in a remote colony called the Lovelace Community. His father had a gift for farming, which was brought to an end by the Depression. His mother picked guitar and showed the kind of forbearance that allowed her to name her son after the doctor who delivered him drunk and then had to be put to bed himself. And yet from these unprepossessing origins, in 1951 Phillips made what is widely considered to be the first rock 'n' roll record, Ike Turner and Jackie Brenston's 'Rocket 88'. Just two years later a shy eighteen-year-old kid with sideburns, fresh out of high school, wandered into his recording studio to make a record 'for his mother', secretly hoping that it might somehow get him noticed. His name was Elvis Presley. Elvis's success, and the subsequent triumph of rock 'n' roll, was initially propelled to an almost astonishing degree by a limited number of releases by Carl 'Blue Suede Shoes' Perkins, Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis - all from this tiny, one-man label. An engaging mix of biography and anecdote, Peter Guralnick's book brilliantly recreates one shining moment in the history of popular culture. And Sam Phillips was the man who brought it all about.

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This is the first of two volumes that make up what is arguably the definitive Elvis biography. Rich in documentary and interview material, this volume charts Elvis' early years and his rise to fame, taking us up to his departure for Germany in 1958. Of all the biographies of Elvis - this is the one you will keep coming back to.

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Wie ein Mann Howlin' Wolf, Ike Turner, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash und Elvis Presley entdeckte, und sein winziges Label Sun Records aus Memphis die Welt auf den Kopf stellte! Der Autor der von Kritikern gefeierten Elvis-Presley-Biografie Last Train to Memphis bringt uns das Leben von Sam Phillips, dem visionaren Genie, das im Alleingang den revolutionaren Weg von Sun Records lenkte. Die Musik, die er in seinem winzigen Studio im Memphis formen wurde mit so unterschiedlichen Kunstlern wie Elvis Presley, Ike Turner, Howlin Wolf, Jerry Lee Lewis und Johnny Cash -, brachte einen Sound hervor, den man so noch nie zuvor gehoert hatte. Phillips brachte eine einzigartige Mischung aus schwarzen und wei en Stimmen hervor, die voller Leidenschaft die Vitalitat der einheimischen, amerikanischen Tradition verkundeten und gleichzeitig ein fur alle Mal eine neue, integrierte Musikwelt proklamierten. Mit umfangreichen Interviews und persoenlichen Beobachtungen aus erster Hand, die sich uber einen Zeitraum von 25 Jahren mit Phillips erstreckten, sowie umfassenden Interviews mit fast allen legendaren Kunstlern von Sun Records, liefert Guralnick ein leidenschaftliches, vorbehaltloses Portrat eines amerikanischen Originals.

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In his first collection of essays, Peter Guralnick dives deep into question at the heart of his body of work: What is the source of creativity? Spanning his decades-long career as America's foremost music scholar, this book brings us into the minds of the artists who inspire him.Looking to Get Lost brings the reader into Guralnick's one-of-a-kind relationships with his subjects, and we peek into how he was able to engage with musicians, writers, and creators as only he can: as a fan, a student, a peer, and in many cases as a friend.

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THE ILLUSTRATED STORY OF SUN RECORDS AND THE 70 RECORDINGS THAT CHANGED THE WORLD Sun Records: the company that launched Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, and Carl Perkins. This is where Rock 'n Roll was born. Written by two of the most acclaimed music writers of our time, The Birth of Rock n' Roll: 70 Years of Sun Records looks at this history of this legendary label through the lens of 70 of its most iconic recordings. Accompanying the recordings is the label's origin story and a look at the mission of the label today, as well as fascinating dives into subjects such as the legendary Million Dollar Quartet, and how the song "Harper Valley, PTA" funded the purchase of the label. Featuring hundreds of rare images from the Sun archives as well as a foreword by music legend Jerry Lee Lewis, this is a one-of-a-kind book for anyone who wants to know where it all started.

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A major figure in American blues and folk music, Big Bill Broonzy (1903-58) left his Arkansas Delta home after World War I, headed north, and became the leading Chicago blues-man of the 1930s. His success came as he fused traditional rural blues with the electrified sound that was beginning to emerge in Chicago. This, however, was just one step in his remarkable journey: Big Bill was constantly reinventing himself, both in reality and in his retellings of it. Bob Riesman's groundbreaking biography tells the compelling life story of a lost figure from the annals of music history. "I Feel So Good" traces Big Bill's career from his rise as a nationally prominent blues star, including his historic 1938 appearance at Carnegie Hall, to his influential role in the post-World War II folk revival, when he sang about racial injustice alongside Pete Seeger and Studs Terkel. Riesman's account brings the reader into the jazz clubs and concert halls of Europe, as Big Bill's overseas tours in the 1950s ignited the British blues-rock explosion of the 1960s. Interviews with Eric Clapton, Pete Townshend, and Ray Davies reveal Broonzy's profound impact on the British rockers who would follow him and change the course of popular music. Along the way, Riesman details Big Bill's complicated and poignant personal saga: he was married three times and became a father at the very end of his life to a child half a world away. He also brings to light Big Bill's final years, when he lost first his voice, then his life, to cancer, just as his international reputation was reaching its peak. Featuring many rarely seen photos, "I Feel So Good" will be the definitive account of Big Bill Broonzy's life and music.

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A major figure in American blues and folk music, Big Bill Broonzy (1903-58) left his Arkansas Delta home after World War I, headed north, and became the leading Chicago bluesman of the 1930s. His success came as he fused traditional rural blues with the electrified sound that was beginning to emerge in Chicago. This, however, was just one step in his remarkable journey: Big Bill was constantly reinventing himself, both in reality and in his retellings of it. Bob Riesman's groundbreaking biography tells the compelling life story of a lost figure from the annals of music history. "I Feel So Good" traces Big Bill's career from his rise as a nationally prominent blues star, including his historic 1938 appearance at Carnegie Hall, to his influential role in the post-World War II folk revival, when he sang about racial injustice alongside Pete Seeger and Studs Terkel. Riesman's account brings the reader into the jazz clubs and concert halls of Europe, as Big Bill's overseas tours in the 1950s ignited the British blues-rock explosion of the 1960s. Interviews with Eric Clapton, Pete Townshend, and Ray Davies reveal Broonzy's profound impact on the British rockers who would follow him and change the course of popular music. Along the way, Riesman details Big Bill's complicated and poignant personal saga: he was married three times and became a father at the very end of his life to a child half a world away. He also brings to light Big Bill's final years, when he lost first his voice, then his life, to cancer, just as his international reputation was reaching its peak. Featuring many rarely seen photos, as well as a foreword by the celebrated music writer and historian Peter Guralnick, "I Feel So Good" will be the definitive account of Big Bill Broonzy's life and music.

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A fascinating look at the history of Sun Records, the label that started Rock n’ Roll, told through 70 of its iconic recordings.In Memphis, Tennessee, in the 1950s, there was hard-edged blues playing on Beale Street, and hillbilly boogie on the outskirts of town. But at Sam Phillips’ Sun Records studio on Union Avenue, there was something different going on – a whole lotta shakin’, rockin’, and rollin’. This is where rock ’n’ roll was born. Sun Records: the company that launched Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, and Carl Perkins. The label that brought the world, “Blue Suede Shoes,” “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On,” “Breathless,” “I Walk the Line,” “Mystery Train,” “Good Rockin’ Tonight.” The Birth of Rock ’n’ Roll: 70 Years of Sun Records is the official history of this legendary label, and looks at its story in a unique way: through the lens of 70 of its most iconic recordings. From the early days with primal blues artists like Howlin’ Wolf and B.B. King to long nights in the studio with Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis, you will see how the label was shaped and how it redefined American music. Accompanying the recordings is the label’s origin story and a look at the mission of the label today, as well as “Sun Spot” sidebars—a fascinating dive into subjects such as how the iconic logo was created, the legendary Million Dollar Quartet sessions, and how the song “Harper Valley, PTA” funded the purchase of the label. Written by two of the most acclaimed music writers of our time, Peter Guralnick and Colin Escott, and featuring hundreds of rare images from the Sun archives as well as a foreword by music legend Jerry Lee Lewis, this is a one-of-a-kind book for anyone who wants to know where it all started.

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