Search results for ""Author Leonard"

The book features chapters on Jean Ross and Christopher Isherwood ä the real people behind the singular characters of Sally Bowles and Clifford Bradshaw/Brian Roberts ä and includes background information on the original source material Isherwood's ÊGoodbye to BerlinÊ stories and the first time Sally Bowles as portrayed by Julie Harris appeared onstage and on the big screen in John Van Druten's ÊI Am a CameraÊ. It also explores the stories behind the figure of the outlandish Emcee as well as the actors who played him from Joel Grey to Alan Cumming. And it studies the famous musical score by John Kander and Fred Ebb and looks into the burlesque roots of director Bob Fosse in his native Chicago. Throughout the book the author makes connections and associations to ÊCabaretÊ by looking at such diverse topics as the first cabarets in Paris Cabaret Voltaire and Dada early Berlin cabarets during the Weimar Republic German expressionism the Bauhaus Marlene Dietrich and ÊThe Blue AngelÊ David Bowie's many German influences and the present and future of modern cabaret. ÊCabaret FAQÊ is the definitive guide for all fans of the Broadway musical and movie as well as for fans of the art form known as cabaret.

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Metallica: The $24.95 Book features an in-depth look at Metallica's cultural significance with chapters devoted to each member, each album, touring, fashion, books, film, influences, fandom, and more, exploring the band's politics and religion along the way. With over 125 million records sold worldwide, Metallica is the biggest metal band of all time. Four decades into their unparalleled career, Metallica is a massive cultural force who drastically changed the sound of popular music by creating their own rules. Yet for all their popularity, Metallica can seem impenetrable. They’ve built the unexpected into their music and career, raising more questions and inspiring more discourse as their mythos grows. Metallica questions run deeper than what people find on the internet. Metallica questions deserve a book. Metallica, by dedicated fan and music journalist Ben Apatoff (including a foreword by What Are You Doing Here? author Laina Dawes), is that book, honoring Metallica’s history of fighting retail price gouging in the title. Metallica provides an in-depth look at the band and their music that both die-hard fans and Metallica beginners can enjoy.

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THE FIVE STAR MUSIC MAKEOVER: THE INDEPENDENT ARTIST'S GUIDE FOR SINGERS SONGWRITERS

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ABLETON GROOVES: PROGRAMMING BASIC AND ADVANCED DRUM GROOVES WITH ABLETON LIVE

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TIPBOOK: MUSIC ON PAPER

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TIPBOOK - KEYBOARD & DIGITAL PIANO

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Lauded by Verdi Debussy and other music legends the celebrated conductor Arturo Toscanini raised the standards of orchestral and operatic performance over an astonishing 69 years on the podium. But as he did so he acquired a reputation as something of a tyrant who unleashed an explosive temper at musicians if rehearsals did not meet his expectations.ÞIn ÊThe Real ToscaniniÊ Cesare Civetta presents an intriguing collection of vivid one-of-a-kind interviews with artists who performed with Toscanini. A portrait of the inner workings of the maestro emerges through these extensive conversations conducted by the author over a period of 20 years together with other firsthand recollections. These accounts clarify Toscanini's philosophy musical style and techniques. They depict a man tormented by inner demons of anger and depression which were easily triggered by his frustration at being unable to produce the musical ideal in his mind's ear.ÞToscanini is also revealed as a vehement anti-Fascist and an unequivocal opponent of totalitarianism and racism ä he defied Mussolini and publically opposed Hitler. The book includes a comprehensive account of his 1936 inauguration of what is now known as the Israel Philharmonic in solidarity with Jewish refugee musicians.ÞToscanini comes through in this book as a tortured but deeply humane individual who strove to constantly improve ä a sincere and humble musician who was nevertheless the preeminent maestro of the 20th century.

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In Take a Sad Song: The Emotional Currency of "Hey Jude," James Campion dives deeply into the song's origins, recording, visual presentation, impact, and eventual influence, while also discovering what makes "Hey Jude" a classic musical expression of personal comfort and societal unity conceived by a master songwriter, Paul McCartney. Within its melodic brilliance and lyrical touchstones of empathy and nostalgia resides McCartney's personal and professional relationship with his childhood friend and songwriting partner, John Lennon, and their simultaneous pursuit of the women who would complete them. There are also clues to the growing turmoil within the Beatles and their splintering generation scarred by war, assassination, and virulent protest.Campion's journey into the song includes the insights of academic experts and professors in the field of musicology, sociology, philosophy, psychology, and history. Campion also reveals commentary from noted Beatles authors, biographers, music historians, and journalists and, finally, a peek into the craft of songwriting from a host of talented composers across several generations. Take a Sad Song is a tribute to how a song can define, inspire, and affect us in ways we do not always fully comprehend, as well as a celebration of a truly amazing track in the Beatles canon that reveals one band's genius and underscores its lasting voice in our cultural and musical landscape.

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For Trumpet and Piano.

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Ed critica di C Bacciagaluppi Riduzione per canto e pianoforte.

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MIXING AND MASTERING WITH CUBASE - QUICK PRO GUIDES SERIES

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Frank Zappa was an unremitting musical innovator and experimenter, always looking for ways to exploit the latest advances in technology. His working life coincided with the explosive development of music technology that ran from the 1960s through the following three decades. Without such inventions as the Marshall amplifier, the Gibson SG, the wah-wah pedal, and the Synclavier much of it modified to his requirements and used in ways for which they had never been designed Zappa s air sculptures, as his music has been described, would have had a significantly different shape and texture. Lavishly illustrated including over 180 unique photographs of Frank Zappa s guitars and equipment taken by the author at his UMRK studio in LA and featuring a foreword by Dweezil Zappa Zappa s Gear offers an unprecedented inside look at the machinery behind the legendary music. In addition to a detailed presentation of the equipment, Zappa s Gear also introduces some of the pioneering inventors, engineers, and entrepreneurs without whom the instruments would not exist. Zappa s Gear is an official Frank Zappa book produced and written with the full cooperation and endorsement of Gail Zappa and the Zappa Family Trust.

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ÊRush FAQÊ documents the amazing story of the world's greatest Canadian prog rock power trio from its origins in a church basement in Willowdale Ontario to its induction ceremony at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Covering 40 albums 10 DVDs thousands of mesmerizing live shows and millions of rock's most loyal fans the story of Rush is as epic and unique as its music. Rush has been maligned by the press for decades and misunderstood by a legion of mainstream rock fans and rock glitterati. And yet only the Beatles and Rolling Stones have earned more gold and platinum records. Few artists if any have been as influential as Rush's three virtuoso ä bassist-keyboardist-vocalist Geddy Lee guitarist Alex Lifeson and drummer-lyricist Neil Peart.ÞRush's focus has always been about its muse and its music. As such ÊRush FAQÊ studies the evolution of the band's sound from the early days of Zeppelin-esque blues-rock to complex synth-laden opuses to the return of concept-album bombast with the critically acclaimed ÊClockwork AngelsÊ.ÞWith wit humor and authority music industry veteran and unabashed Rush geek Max Mobley examines the music gear personalities and trials and tribulations of one of rock and roll's truly legendary acts. It is a story Rush fans will treasure and rock and roll fans will admire.

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In 1971 John McEuen was the force behind the gathering of legendary Nashville bluegrass musicians who joined with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, a Southern California country-rock-jug band to create Will the Circle Be Unbroken, which Rolling Stone magazine declared to be "the most important album to come out of Nashville." This landmark album celebrates its fiftieth year in March 2022, and McEuen tells the story of the making of the album, discusses each of its thirty-eight songs, and includes never-before-seen photos taken by the author and his brother Bill McEuen, who produced the album. After the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's cover of "Mr. Bojangles" became a surprise hit, McEuen asked Earl Scruggs if he would join the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band on an album. Scruggs said yes—as did Doc Watson, Merle Travis, Jimmy Martin, Vassar Clements, Roy Acuff, Mother Maybelle Carter, and other country stars. For six days in the summer of 1971, the musicians sat in a circle facing one another, recording country and bluegrass standards in East Nashville's Woodland Studios. From it came the triple-disc set, Will the Circle Be Unbroken—one of the most iconic albums in country music history. It has played a prominent role in what is now called Americana music. Now, after fifty years, John McEuen invites readers to sit next to him in the circle and listen to the music.

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ÊAC/DC FAQÊ spans AC/DC's 40-year career starting from the band's inception in 1973. This book covers everything from their early days in Australia to their first tour of England and the United States. It also includes personal experiences stories conversations and interviews by author Susan Masino who has known the band since 1977.ÞFeaturing 37 chapters ÊAC/DC FAQÊ chronicles the personal history of each of the band members all their albums tours and various anecdotes. Rebounding from the tragic loss of their singer Bon Scott in 1980 AC/DC hired Brian Johnson and went on to record ÊBack in BlackÊ which is now one of the top five biggest-selling albums in music history. Taking a seven-year break after their album ÊStiff Upper LipÊ the band came back in the fall of 2008 with a new album ÊBlack IceÊ and a tour that ran from 2008 through the summer of 2010. Once again breaking records AC/DC saw the ÊBlack Ice TourÊ become the second-highest-grossing tour in history. True rockers from the very beginning AC/DC will continue to be heralded as one of the greatest rock and roll bands of all time.

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ÊDracula FAQÊ unearths little-known facts about both the historical and literary Dracula. The 15th-century warlord Vlad III known as Vlad the Impaler and Dracula (son of the Dragon) became a legendary figure in his native Wallachia. Four hundred years later Irish author Bram Stoker appropriated Dracula's name for a vampire novel he spent seven years researching and writing.ÞConsidered one of the great classics of Gothic literature ÊDraculaÊ went on to inspire numerous stage plays musicals movies and TV adaptations ä with actors as diverse as Bela Lugosi John Carradine Christopher Lee Jack Palance Frank Langella Louis Jourdan Gary Oldman and Gerard Butler taking on the role of the vampire king. And with Dracula proving the popularity of vampires other bloodsuckers rose from their graves to terrify book movie and TV audiences ä from Barnabas Collins of ÊDark ShadowsÊ to ÊThe Night StalkerÊ to the vampires of ÊTrue BloodÊ on the small screen and ÊInterview with the VampireÊ and ÊTwilightÊ on the big screen. More recently Dracula has been resurrected for a TV series starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers and a feature film starring Luke Evans. ÊDracula FAQÊ covers all of these and more including the amazing stories of real-life vampires!

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Under Their Thumb:How a Nice Boy from Brooklyn Got Mixed Up with the Rolling Stones (and Lived to Tell About It) tells the story of Bill German's unlikely friendship with the Rolling Stones. He first met them on the streets of New York when he was a seventeen-year-old aspiring journalist. After handing them a copy of his amateur fanzine, they took the author under their wing and hired him as their official historian. They turned his little rag into their official newsletter and advertised it in one of their albums.Soon after, he began traveling the world with them and staying at their homes. German went from being a teenage fan who wanted to know everything about his favorite band to suddenly knowing too much! He was privy to their private jams and recording sessions as well as to their parties, peccadilloes, and in-fights. Yet, through it all, he maintained his identity as that nice boy from Brooklyn. Despite Keith's observation—or edict?—that "people only leave the Stones in a casket or handcuffs," he was one of the few to leave their orbit on his own terms.This updated edition of Under Their Thumb includes new stories about German's relationship to the Stones and twenty never-before-seen images.

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Ni! Peng! Nee-wom! Applause Theatre & Cinema Books revered and august publisher of weighty tomes on all things histrionic is proud to present ÊMonty Python FAQ: All That's Left to Know About Spam Grails Spam Nudging Bruces and SpamÊ the only 127% unauthorized guide to the greatest comedy troupe to ever feature Graham Chapman John Cleese Terry Gilliam Eric Idle Terry Jones and Michael Palin to what is doubtlessly an astute and discerning global audience! Written in Applause's popular FAQ format this behemoth pack a broad range of historical trivia trivial history illicit paraphernalia and sophomoric overeducation into a tastefully apportioned ranged of eminently readable silly-walk-accessible chapters sure to delight Python newcomers and veterans alike.ÞRather than offering narrow analyses of the quintet's work ÊMonty Python FAQÊ ganders at the big picture tracing the Pythons across space time and media format. This noble quest for meaning leaves no turn unstoned from the Pythons' time immersed in the sketch comedy scene they grew out of to their boundary-breaking undefinable anarchic new style from their comedic influences to biographical info on each of the individual Pythons (including an examination of their lives and work post-Python) from the book's front cover to its reverse and from the beginning of this sentence to its mawkish and merciful end. Much like the troupe itself the writers of ÊMonty Python FAQÊ stuff their work with allusions to canonical literature and philosophy but never forgot that sometimes it's just as funny to see somebody get slapped in the face with a fish. DUCK!ÞOther selling points include:ÞÛ 60% more fish-slapping than any other Monty Python book on or slightly underneath the market!ÞÛ No joke names but plenty of bad Latin!ÞÛ In-depth cogent and rapier-witted insights (not to mention naughty limericks and highly questionable assertions)!ÞÛ Not one not two but THREE authors: Chris Barsanti Jeff Massey Brian Cogan!ÞÛ Candid commentary ... nudge nudge wink wink know what we mean?

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Countless great songs are based on riffs—catchy guitar phrases that repeat until they’re seared into your brain forever—or snappy chord sequences as memorable as any melody. Riffs get people excited, whether they are musicians or listeners. Advertising agencies use riffs on television, internet videos, and cinema trailers. Riffs sell concert tickets, guitars, and downloads. Youtube is full of guitarists playing riffs.This book now in its third and updated edition digs deep into the world of the guitar riff, identifying 30 distinct types and illustrating them with reference to 150 examples: from Howlin Wolf to Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Chuck Berry to Limp Bizkit, the Kinks to the Strokes, Black Sabbath to the White Stripes, Coldplay and Kings of Leon. The book includes 56 tracks of audio, illustrating all types of riffs covered, plus notation and TAB for 40 original example riffs composed by the author. In the book you can trace the connections between riff types and the scales, modes, or chords from which they’re drawn learn the guitar tips and arranging techniques to get the best from your riffs read an exclusive interview with Led Zeppelin and Them Crooked Vultures bassist John Paul Jones, a multi-instrumentalist, writer, and arranger with 50 years experience in riff-based music.

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Countless stories have been written about Tito Puente's percussive musical abilities but never before have his talent and intuition as well as the mishaps and controversies surrounding him been presented with such vivacity and love chronicling the popular and combative King of Latin rhythm who climbed from El Barrio to international fame and recognition influencing multiple generations of jazzers and Latin rockers from Dizzy Gillespie to Santana.ÞTito Puente was more than a flamboyant percussionist; he was a multi-instrumentalist and gifted composer. Despite the importance and popularity of Tito's music his contributions are too often ignored ä witness Ken Burns' television documentary about jazz which he virtually ignores Afro-Cuban jazz ä this book reclaims Tito's rightful place in the history of music.ÞAuthor Joe Conzo was Tito's confidant and chronicler for nearly 40 years ä no one was closer to Tito or knew him better. Joe tells the story of Tito's intensity for perfection and describes Tito's musical brilliance in a manner that is as exciting a rapid-fire explosion on the timbales as it is deeply personal.ÞÊMambo DiabloÊ is like no book before it a must-read for all music fans and for anyone who loves New York. Famed author and journalist Pete Hamill sets the stage for the journey with a loving preface.

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Revered and massively influential the Smiths have been called the most important band of the fertile U.K. 1980s music scene. While the group was only active for five years (1982 to 1987) the cult of the Manchester-reared foursome has ballooned in the three decades since its dissolution.ÞDespite a $75 million offer to reunite for a two month tour in 2007 Morrissey and Johnny Marr the group's principals refused opting to leave their legend untainted. The Smiths have since influenced a who's who of alternative music including Death Cab for Cutie Radiohead the Killers Jeff Buckley Pete Yorn the Decemberists and Oasis.ÞFeaturing a foreword by guitarist and Fifth Smith who played with the band in 1986 ÊThe Smiths FAQÊ traces the band's history with clarity and detail illuminating such questions as Who were the Nosebleeds? Why did Morrissey shun the Ramones? Who were the Paris Valentinos? What was Cult guitarist Billy Duffy's connection to the band? How was Morrissey injured during the group's U.S. debut performance? What Smiths single paid homage to T. Rex?. John D. Luerssen (author of FAQ series titles about U2 Bruce Springsteen and Nirvana) gathers the indispensable early facts the legendary stories and inimitable anecdotes that make this a must-own tome for all fans.

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ÊThe Beat Generation FAQÊ is an informative and entertaining look at the enigmatic authors and cutting-edge works that shaped this fascinating cultural and literary movement. Disillusioned with the repression and conformity encompassing post-World War II life in the United States the Beat writers sought creative alternatives to the mind-numbing banality of modern culture.ÞBeat Generation writers were no strangers to controversy: Both Allen Ginsberg's prophetic William Blakean-style poem Howl (1956) and William S. Burroughs' groundbreaking novel ÊNaked LunchÊ (1959) led to obscenity trials while Jack Kerouac's highly influential novel ÊOn the RoadÊ (1957) was blamed by the establishment for corrupting the nation's youth and continues to this day to serve as a beacon of hipster culture and the bohemian lifestyle.ÞThe Beat writers shared a vision for a new type of literature one that escaped the boundaries of academia and employed an organic use of language inspired by the spontaneity and improvisational nature of jazz music and abstract expressionism (Kerouac coined this writing style spontaneous prose ). In search of deeper meaning Beat Generation writers experimented not only with language but also with spirituality art drugs sexuality and unconventional lifestyles. Although the movement as a whole flamed out quickly in the early 1960s replaced by the onset of the hippie counterculture the Beats made an indelible mark on the nation's consciousness and left a long-lasting influence on its art and culture. This book details the movement ä its works creative forces and its legacy.

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Founded by guitarist Mick Jones and fronted by the legendary Joe Strummer the Clash had the charisma of Elvis the integrity of the Beatles and the swagger of the Rolling Stones. Through a series of influential singles and stirring concerts the Clash not only outlasted their rivals the Sex Pistols but also prospered and broke through in the US of A a feat matched by no other UK punk-rock band.ÞWith the classic ÊLondon CallingÊ and revolutionary triple album ÊSandinista!Ê the Clash helped popularize both reggae and hip-hop thereby indoctrinating the record buying public to world music. By 1982 members of the Clash found themselves not only with a hit album (ÊCombat RockÊ) but also playing opening sets during the Who's first retirement tour. It appeared the Clash would fill this gap. It was not to be. A series of self-inflicted wounds led to a legendary downfall mere months after appearing in front on their largest audience ever at the U.S. Festival in 1983. Strummer and bassist Paul Simonon soldiered on with the underrated Clash Round Two but eventually disintegrated under the weight of their manager's mind games.ÞIn ÊThe Clash FAQÊ author Gary J. Jucha covers the band's inception and emergence in the early British punk scene all of the studio albums as well as bootlegs the band's success in the U.S. the lineup shifts tours and more. Fresh in its approach and broad in scope this an essential volume for every fan.

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It is often assumed that successful artists have “made it” forever when they are “discovered” by a producer, director, or agent, but the reality is that a freelance career in the arts takes research, careful planning, networking, financial prowess, thoughtful specificity, and dedication to creating a career with longevity.I’m Talented . . . Now What? is a 16-week workbook suitable for arts courses that helps aspiring performing artists do just that—make actionable plans to pursue a successful, financially stable career. Using dozens exercises throughout, author Michelle Loucadoux fosters creativity, specificity, and practicality and shows creatives how to create a marketing plan, present a brand specific to goals, and build a network of industry-related contacts, all with an eye toward remaining financially stable. Actors, singers, dancers, musicians, and other creatives will find this book useful in becoming entrepreneurial in their approaches.The first part walk readers through specific brainstorming and goal-setting exercises to define their ideal career and trajectory. The second part takes those specific goals and divides them into exercises that focus on networking, skill building, branding, and marketing. The Coin Calculator helps gauge what to expect from future careers and actively plan to make futures financially sustainable. The exercises are repeatable and can be revisited intermittently throughout an artist’s long (and profitable) career any time an artist chooses to pivot into another media.

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In ÊToo Fast to Live Too Young to DieÊ readers take an evocative journey with author Keith Elliot Greenberg as he pieces together the puzzle of James Dean's final day and its everlasting impact. Greenberg travels to Dean's hometown to talk with folks who knew the star and all the way to the California roads that underlay the tires of the actor's infamous Porsche Spyder. Taking the story back and forth in time Greenberg gives insight into what drove Dean to live on the edge ä the early loss of his mother his relentless drive to explore for the sake of his craft. Dean once said Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today. He lived to experience and the one love that compared to his love of acting was his love of racing cars. Greenberg puts the event in historical context reflecting on the world Dean lived in at the time an era after World War II the end of the Korean War the advent of rock and roll with the sixties coming down the pike. The star's too-soon departure froze him as a symbol of American Cool and as proven by the 20 000 people who return to Dean's grave each year to pay homage a major influence on youth culture for myriad generations. With fresh interviews with insiders riveting storytelling and acute attention to details ä from vehicle specs to Dean's stops along the way (including for an ominous speeding ticket) to how the news reached the world ä Greenberg delivers a thoughtful look at this historical moment.

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Watch Blake Shelton's career begin and flourish from the viewpoint of a lifelong friend who moved the award-winning musician to Nashville when he was seventeen and has been with him every step of the way. In Blake Shelton: Happy Anywhere, Carol Cash Large takes you backstage for personal and unique insight into the life of the young singer. Large starts at the beginning, when Shelton worked with producer Bobby Braddock, recorded his #1 song "Austin," and performed on the Grand Ole Opry. She shares his victories and the rise in fame when he started garnering nominations at award shows and then recorded seventeen consecutive #1 songs. Large's favorite stories come from Shelton's time as host and entertainment on Saturday Night Live and his induction into the Grand Ole Opry. But, she says, landing a gig as a coach of the NBC hit, The Voice, had the biggest impact on his career. Along with his music career success and fame, Large delves into his personal life, showing his penchant for entertaining and bringing smiles to his friends and family. She also recounts stories about Shelton's marriages to Kaynette Williams and Miranda Lambert, and the joy he has found with Gwen Stefani. With fifty personal photos from the author's collection and a close connection to Blake Shelton, Carol Cash Large presents a warm, detailed account of one of country music's biggest stars of all time.

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In the early months of 1966, a handsome, hardworking thirty-five-year-old Canadian-born actor named William Shatner was cast as Captain Kirk in Star Trek, a troubled, low-budget science-fiction television series set to premiere that fall on NBC. Star Trek struggled for viewers and lasted only three seasons, but it found a huge, rabidly dedicated audience when it premiered in syndication following its cancellation—turning Shatner into a pop-culture icon and launching him on a career path he never could have imagined after graduating from McGill University with an economics degree twenty years earlier. As he approaches his ninetieth year, he's still working at a furious pace as a man of boundless contradictions: by turns one of the most dissected, disliked, revered, respected, mocked, imitated, and beloved stars in the show business firmament. Shatner takes a comprehensive look at this singular performer, using archival sources and information culled from interviews with friends and colleagues to transport readers through William Shatner's remarkably bumpy career: his spectacular failures and triumphs; tragedies, including the shocking death of his third wife, Nerine; and, ultimately, the resilience Shatner has shown, time and again, in the face of overwhelming odds. Author Michael Seth Starr unravels the mystery of William Shatner, stripping away the many myths associated with his personal life and his relationships with fellow actors, presenting a no-holds-barred, unvarnished look at the unique career of an inimitable performer.

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Sympathy for the Drummer: Why Charlie Watts Matters is both a gonzo rush—capturing the bristling energy of the Rolling Stones and the times in which they lived—and a wide-eyed reflection on why the Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Band in the World needed the world's greatest rock 'n' roll drummer. Across five decades, Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts has had the best seat in the house. Charlie Watts, the anti-rock star—an urbane jazz fan with a dry wit and little taste for the limelight—was witness to the most savage years in rock history, and emerged a hero, a warrior poet. With his easy swing and often loping, uneven fills, he found nuance in a music that often had little room for it, and along with his greatest ally, Keith Richards, he gave the Stones their swaggering beat. While others battled their drums, Charlie played his modest kit with finesse and humility, and yet his relentless grooves on the nastiest hard-rock numbers of the era ("Gimme Shelter," "Street Fighting Man," "Brown Sugar," "Jumpin' Jack Flash," etc.) delivered a dangerous authenticity to a band that on their best nights should have been put in jail. Author Mike Edison, himself a notorious raconteur and accomplished drummer, tells a tale of respect and satisfaction that goes far beyond drums, drumming, and the Rolling Stones, ripping apart the history of rock'n'roll, and celebrating sixty years of cultural upheaval. He tears the sheets off of the myths of music making, shredding the phonies and the frauds, and unifies the frayed edges of disco, punk, blues, country, soul, jazz, and R&B—the soundtrack of our lives.Highly opinionated, fearless, and often hilarious, Sympathy is as an unexpected treat for music fans and pop culture mavens, as edgy and ribald as the Rolling Stones at their finest, never losing sight of the sex and magic that puts the roll in the rock —the beat, that crazy beat!—and the man who drove the band, their true engine, the utterly irreplaceable Charlie Watts.

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Musician, nightlife impresario, record label executive, photographer, and author, Michael Alago takes readers through this amazing journey that is his life. Alago grew up in Brooklyn, New York, in a large, spirited, and devoted Puerto Rican family. Through his early passion for music, art, theater, and photography, he soon found himself rubbing elbows with many downtown NYC scene makers, from Stiv Bators to Jean Michel Basquiat, Cherry Vanilla and Wayne County to Deborah Harry and Robert Mapplethorpe. As an underage teenager going to Max's Kansas City, CBGB, and various art galleries, Alago also began running The Dead Boys fan club. A few years later, he became the assistant music director for legendary nightclubs the Ritz and the Red Parrot. At age twenty-four, he began a storied career as an A&R executive at Elektra Records that started with signing Metallica in the summer of 1984, changing the entire landscape of rock 'n' roll and heavy metal. Alago continued to work in A&R for both Palm Pictures and Geffen Records. He was thrilled to executive-produce albums by Cyndi Lauper, Public Image Ltd, White Zombie, and Nina Simone. In the late 1980s, he was diagnosed with HIV, which manifested into full-blown AIDS ten years later. He survived to continue his music career, but in 2005, he left music to pursue his other love: photography. Alago went on to publish three bestselling books: Rough Gods, Brutal Truth, and Beautiful Imperfections with German-based publisher Bruno Gmünder. He has since overcome his longtime addiction to drugs and alcohol. In his clean and sober life, he has reconnected with his family, continues to be a working photographer as well as record producer, and only through the grace of his 12-Step program is he able to live this big, beautiful life. In 2017, a documentary directed by Drew Stone and produced by Michael Alex on Alago's wildly successful career in music was released in theaters and on Netflix, entitled Who the Fuck Is That Guy? The Fabulous Journey of Michael Alago.

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Features interviews with Bill Bruford, Peter Giles, Gordon Haskell, Judy Dyble and more . . . In 1969 five young Englishmen calling themselves King Crimson altered the course of rock music, and despite a revolving-door lineup, the band has continued to innovate and inspire for more than fifty years. Fifty Shades of Crimson tells the story of this legendary band and of the unique English guitarist Robert Fripp it revolves around. With a deep passion for the music, author Pete Tomsett celebrates the achievements of Fripp and the array of incredible talent that has passed through Crimson, while not shying away from the many behind-the-scenes difficulties. Getting signed after supporting The Rolling Stones at Hyde Park, Crimson shot to fame with their debut album, In the Court of the Crimson King, becoming one of the most influential bands of that era and triggering the rise of prog rock. While going through countless personnel, including Greg Lake, Bill Bruford and John Wetton, rejecting Elton John and Bryan Ferry along the way, they have put out many highly acclaimed albums and to this day maintain a big international following. In their early years Fripp's band reached the same commercial heights as the likes of David Bowie and Pink Floyd. However, as an intellectual who despised the practices of the music business, Fripp preferred innovation over chasing big sales. In 1974 he withdrew from mainstream music, becoming involved with the Fourth Way philosophy, but was eventually tempted back and reformed Crimson to much acclaim in the eighties. As well as also having collaborations with Brian Eno, Andy Summers and others, Fripp has created new forms of instrumental music, run his own idiosyncratic guitar courses and set up an ethical record company. Both genius and 'a special sort of awkward', Fripp has never been afraid to take his music where no one has gone before, and Crimson have been a powerful influence on everyone from Genesis and Yes to Roxy Music and Radiohead, creating a legacy that will live on for decades more!

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