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best rock and roll books 2016: Madonnaland Alina Simone, 2016-03-01 When Alina Simone agreed to write a book about Madonna, she thought it might provide an interesting excuse to indulge her own eighties nostalgia. Wrong. What Simone discovered instead was a tidal wave of already published information about Madonna—and her own ambivalence about, maybe even jealousy of, the Material Girl’s overwhelming commercial success. With the straight-ahead course stymied, Simone set off on a quirky detour through the backroads of celebrity and fandom and the people who love or loathe Madonna. In this witty, sometimes acerbic, always perceptive chronicle, Simone begins by trying to understand why Madonna’s birthplace, Bay City, Michigan, won’t even put up a sign to celebrate its most famous citizen, and ends by asking why local bands who make music that’s authentic and true can disappear with barely a trace. In between, she ranges from Madonna fans who cover themselves with tattoos of the singer’s face and try to make fortunes off selling her used bustiers and dresses, to Question Mark and the Mysterians—one-hit wonders best known for “96 Tears”—and Flying Wedge, a Detroit band that dropped off an amazing two-track record in the office of CREEM magazine in 1972 and vanished, until Simone tracked it down. Filled with fresh insights about the music business, fandom, and what it takes to become a superstar, Madonnaland is as much a book for people who, like Simone, prefer “dark rooms, coffee, and state-subsidized European films filled with existential despair” as it is for people who can’t get enough of Madonna. |
best rock and roll books 2016: The Rock And Roll Book Of The Dead David Comfort, 2009-08-25 Once you're dead, you're made for life. --Jimi Hendrix Hendrix. Janis. Morrison. Elvis. Lennon. Cobain. Garcia. Their reckless brilliance held the key to their self-destruction. Their deaths had much in common--and, surprisingly, so did their lives. From lonely childhoods marred by loss to groundbreaking music and turbulent careers that ended tragically and suspiciously, David Comfort explodes the myths as he probes: • The sinister roles of Hendrix's manager and girlfriend in his death and subsequent cover-up • The bizarre odyssey of Jim Morrison's corpse • Why Kurt Cobain was worth more dead than alive to Courtney Love • The twisted motives that caused John Lennon to sail through the Devil's Triangle to Bermuda--nearly going down in a storm--shortly before he was fatally shot • The crippling disease and miracle drug that drove Elvis to suicide Charismatic and gifted, but also isolated and conflicted, these are not the rock icons you thought you knew. Here are their larger-than-life stories of turmoil and excess that led to their early deaths and ultimate immortality. It's a wild ride to the other side of fame. Fame is the soul eater. --Jerry Garcia Everybody loves you when you're six foot in the ground. --John Lennon Includes Rare Photos David Comfort is the author of three bestselling nonfiction books. His short fiction has appeared in numerous magazines, including Eclectic Literary Forum, Pacific Review, Coe Review, and Belletrist Review. He has been the recipient of several literary prizes and a finalist for such prestigious awards as the Nelson Algren Award and America's Best. A former rock musician, he has spent over 30 years studying rock music, particularly the revolutionary and fatalistic pioneers of the 1960s. He lives in Santa Rosa, California. |
best rock and roll books 2016: Shock and Awe Simon Reynolds, 2016-10-11 “Tawdry, ridiculous, pretentious, and crass, glam produced some of the most sublime pop music of its era. Now it has a history worthy of it.” —Los Angeles Review of Books NPR Great Read of 2016 Spearheaded by David Bowie, Alice Cooper, T. Rex, and Roxy Music, glam rock reveled in artifice and spectacle. Reacting against the hairy, denim-clad rock bands of the late Sixties, glam was the first true teenage rampage of the new decade. In Shock and Awe, renowned music critic Simon Reynolds takes you on a wild cultural tour through the early Seventies, a period packed with glitzy costumes and alien make-up, thrilling music and larger-than-life personas. Shock and Awe offers a fresh, in-depth look at the glam and glitter phenomenon, placing it in the wider Seventies context of social upheaval and political disillusion. It explores how artists like Lou Reed, New York Dolls, and Queen broke with the hippie generation, celebrating illusion and artifice over truth and authenticity. Probing the genre’s major themes—stardom, androgyny, image, decadence, fandom, apocalypse—Reynolds tracks glam’s legacy as it unfolded in subsequent decades, from Eighties art-pop icons like Kate Bush through to twenty-first century idols of outrage such as Lady Gaga. Shock and Awe shows how the original glam artists’ obsessions with fame, extreme fashion, and theatrical excess continue to reverberate through contemporary pop culture. “Giddy and wonderful . . . Shock and Awe is hard to rein in because it’s about more than glam rock. It’s about the magic of the popular (important word: popular) arts at their most inventive and curious, about adventure dressed up and turned up, brazenly changing the world.” —The Guardian |
best rock and roll books 2016: AC/DC: Maximum Rock & Roll Murray Engleheart, Arnaud Durieux, 2009-10-13 Over three decades and more than 150 million albums, AC/DC has established itself as much more than just a great rock band. For millions of fans spanning several generations across the world, they are an ear-bleedingly loud, sweat-soaked religion, courtesy of such classic albums as Highway to Hell and Back in Black. Now, in a book of astonishing breadth and scope, comes, for the very first time, the complete story of AC/DC. Everything you ever wanted to know and plenty more you never dreamt of is all here, the ultimate balls-out adventure, laced with sex, drunken escapades and brawls. It's a journey that started in the suburban Sydney, Australia, bedrooms of brothers Malcolm and Angus Young, boys who could wreak havoc with their guitars. Over their power chords were the lyrics and voice of Bon Scott, who would lead them higher and higher—until his tragic death in 1980. The bittersweet irony after his death was that not only did the Youngs manage to hold together without him, but the band's fortunes and status skyrocketed with his replacement, Brian Johnson, and the album Back in Black. Five long years in the making, AC/DC: Maximum Rock & Roll is sourced from more than 1,300 interviews the band has given over the past thirty years combined with in excess of 75 of the authors' own interviews with those who worked with AC/DC both in the studio and on the road—many of whom have never spoken about the band publicly. It's topped off with stunning, never-before-seen photos to create the ultimate portrait of the ultimate rock band. |
best rock and roll books 2016: Twilight of the Gods Steven Hyden, 2018-05-08 National Bestseller * Named one of Rolling Stone's Best Music Books of 2018 * One of Newsweek's 50 Best Books of 2018 * A Billboard Best of 2018 * A New York Times Book Review New and Noteworthy selection The author of the critically acclaimed Your Favorite Band is Killing Me offers an eye-opening exploration of the state of classic rock, its past and future, the impact it has had, and what its loss would mean to an industry, a culture, and a way of life. Since the late 1960s, a legendary cadre of artists—including the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen, Fleetwood Mac, the Eagles, Black Sabbath, and the Who—has revolutionized popular culture and the sounds of our lives. While their songs still get airtime and some of these bands continue to tour, its idols are leaving the stage permanently. Can classic rock remain relevant as these legends die off, or will this major musical subculture fade away as many have before, Steven Hyden asks. In this mix of personal memoir, criticism, and journalism, Hyden stands witness as classic rock reaches the precipice. Traveling to the eclectic places where geriatric rockers are still making music, he talks to the artists and fans who have aged with them, explores the ways that classic rock has changed the culture, investigates the rise and fall of classic rock radio, and turns to live bootlegs, tell-all rock biographies, and even the liner notes of rock’s greatest masterpieces to tell the story of what this music meant, and how it will be remembered, for fans like himself. Twilight of the Gods is also Hyden’s story. Celebrating his love of this incredible music that has taken him from adolescence to fatherhood, he ponders two essential questions: Is it time to give up on his childhood heroes, or can this music teach him about growing old with his hopes and dreams intact? And what can we all learn from rock gods and their music—are they ephemeral or eternal? |
best rock and roll books 2016: Stone Alone Bill Wyman, Ray Coleman, 1990 An autobiography, by the bass player, of the Rolling Stones band describing the band's early years and success. |
best rock and roll books 2016: Icons of Rock - In Their Own Words Dr Jenny Boyd, 2013-09-02 'I was amazed at how many people have shared an experience I though was so rare' - Eric ClaptonIn this exciting and inspiring book, 75 of the world's most iconic musicians reveal - many for the first time - their thoughts on creating music. Psychologist Jenny Boyd has probed the minds and souls of these artists and has delved into the drive to create, the importance of nurturing creativity, the role of unconscious influences and the effects of chemicals and drugs on the creative process.Music legends who contributed exclusive interviews include: ERIC CLAPTON - GEORGE HARRISON - JULIAN LENNON - JACKSON BROWNE - DAVID CROSBY - STEPHEN STILLS - GRAHAM NASH - DON HENLEY - HANK MARVIN - KEITH RICHARDS - RAVI SHANKAR - RINGO STARR - STEVE WINWOOD - MICK FLEETWOOD - STEVIE NICKS - JONI MITCHELLWith candid photographs and in-depth analysis of what makes great musicians tick, this is the ultimate book for any music fan. |
best rock and roll books 2016: Slash , 2019 |
best rock and roll books 2016: The History of Rock & Roll, Volume 1 Ed Ward, 2016-11-15 An Epic Journey through the Golden Era of Rock & Roll Embark on a thrilling musical voyage with The History of Rock & Roll, Volume 1. The book traces the evolution of rock and roll from its humble origins in the 1920s, culminating in the seismic shift ushered in by the Beatles in the 1960s. This rollercoaster ride through the decades invites you to tap your feet to the music of vaudeville and minstrel acts, rhythm and blues, and the unmistakable sounds that defined post-World War II America. Our guide through this iconic era is none other than celebrated writer Ed Ward. With his definitive narrative style enriched by a profound knowledge of music, Ward spotlights lesser-known heroes and big-name legends alike. Uncover the fascinating stories of Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, and Ray Charles. Delve into the unsung tales of pioneers such as the Burnette brothers, the “5” Royales, and Marion Keisker. For all music lovers and rock & roll fans, Ward spins story after story of some of the most unforgettable and groundbreaking moments in rock history, introducing us to the musicians, DJs, record executives, and producers who were at the forefront of the genre and had a hand in creating the music we all know and love today. |
best rock and roll books 2016: Sex, Drums, Rock 'n' Roll! Kenny Aronoff, 2016-10-01 (Book). Foreword by Neil Peart. Talent, energy, dedication, discipline, passion, innovation, education, drive, mind, body, spirit, vision, honor, truth, and drums make the man: Kenny Aronoff. Voted by Rolling Stone magazine as one of the greatest drummers of all time, Aronoff is arguably the most sought-after recording and touring beat master ever. Ignited by the Beatles' appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, Aronoff's passion for drumming fervently grew and carried him from the kit in his childhood living room in the Berkshires to Bernstein at Tanglewood to Mellencamp, Etheridge, Fogerty, Smashing Pumpkins, the Rolling Stones, the Beatles his heroes and beyond. But none of this would have been possible without his fierce work ethic and unique approach to drumming an integration of all parts of his being, along with meticulous attention to note-for-note detail, feel, and what the song needs . Both a leader and a team player in the mission to realize a greater good an unforgettable recording, a riveting show Aronoff brings it every time. Through any setbacks heartaches, failures, injuries, or plain fatigue from the rigors of the biz Aronoff has stayed the arduous and wild rock 'n' roll course. His tale of what is possible with unrelenting dedication to one's bliss is an inspiration to all. Sex, Drums, Rock 'n' Roll! details Aronoff's youth in the Berkshires and the Midwest, from his early inspirations to his serious classical and jazz study, which gave him the foundation to be able to play anything. The failure of a first rock band in his early twenties had a silver lining: it freed him up for an audition that would change his life John Mellencamp. His work with Mellencamp catapulted Aronoff to the top of the charts with such hits as Hurt So Good, Little Pink Houses, and Jack and Diane and paved the way for session and recording work with droves of remarkable artists: Melissa Etheridge, John Fogerty, Bon Jovi, Stevie Nicks, Smashing Pumpkins, the BoDeans, Paul Westerberg, Celine Dion, Iggy Pop, Elton John, Bob Dylan, Alice Cooper, Brian Wilson, Meat Loaf, Joe Cocker, and countless others. In addition to his work as a world-famous recording and touring drummer, Aronoff finds time to be a dedicated teacher and has shared his expertise with students all over the world, teaching clinics for Tama and Zildjian. Heading into his fourth decade of rocking hard, Aronoff shows no signs of slowing down. Featuring rare photos, testimonials from major artists and from those who know him best, a chronology of live performances, a discography, and a foreword by Neil Peart, this book is the story of one of the greatest musicians of all time. |
best rock and roll books 2016: Just around Midnight Jack Hamilton, 2016-09-26 When Jimi Hendrix died, the idea of a black man playing lead guitar in a rock band seemed exotic. Yet ten years earlier, Chuck Berry had stood among the most influential rock and roll performers. Why did rock and roll become white? Jack Hamilton challenges the racial categories that distort standard histories of rock music and the 60s revolution. |
best rock and roll books 2016: The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock & Roll Anthony ed DeCurtis, James Henke, Holly George-Warren, 1992 Discusses the evolution of rock music from its earliest origins to today's most influential musical styles and performers |
best rock and roll books 2016: The Little Book of Rock and Roll Wisdom Mike Katz, Crispin Kott, 2018-10-01 When the singing is over and the talking starts, that’s when the true, unvarnished wisdom of rock ‘n’ roll comes out. Built on first-hand experience, the gorgeous, illustrated Little Book of Rock ‘n’ Roll Wisdom offers the wise words of stars past and present on a variety of topics like love, breakups, rebellion, success, feeling good, being down-and-out, and even death to offer the big-picture view of rock ‘n’ roll. Rock stars can be outrageous, funny, in your face, and sometimes even oddly humanitarian. This collection includes wisdom from such icons as Elvis, Bowie, Jimi, Dylan, Bruce, Mick, Keith, Prince, Lennon, Ozzy, Clapton, Bono, Janis, and more. |
best rock and roll books 2016: Tunes Vincent Brunner, 2010 Tunes is an eclectic anthology of work by celebrated graphic artists that together present a definitive history of rock and roll through that most rebellious of illustrated media, the comic strip.--Back cover flap. |
best rock and roll books 2016: Beatles vs. Stones John McMillian, 2013-10-29 In the 1960s an epic battle was waged between the two biggest bands in the world—the clean-cut, mop-topped Beatles and the badboy Rolling Stones. Both groups liked to maintain that they weren’t really “rivals”—that was just a media myth, they politely said—and yet they plainly competed for commercial success and aesthetic credibility. On both sides of the Atlantic, fans often aligned themselves with one group or the other. In Beatles vs. Stones, John McMillian gets to the truth behind the ultimate rock and roll debate. Painting an eye-opening portrait of a generation dragged into an ideological battle between Flower Power and New Left militance, McMillian reveals how the Beatles-Stones rivalry was created by music managers intent on engineering a moneymaking empire. He describes how the Beatles were marketed as cute and amiable, when in fact they came from hardscrabble backgrounds in Liverpool. By contrast, the Stones were cast as an edgy, dangerous group, even though they mostly hailed from the chic London suburbs. For many years, writers and historians have associated the Beatles with the gauzy idealism of the “good” sixties, placing the Stones as representatives of the dangerous and nihilistic “bad” sixties. Beatles vs. Stones explodes that split, ultimately revealing unseen realities about America’s most turbulent decade through its most potent personalities and its most unforgettable music. |
best rock and roll books 2016: Rock and Roll Highway Sebastian Robertson, 2014-10-21 Canadian guitarist and songwriter Robbie Robertson is known mainly for his central role in the musical group the Band. But how did he become one of Rolling Stone's top 100 guitarists of all time? Written by his son, Sebastian, this is the story of a rock-and-roll legend's journey through music, beginning when he was taught to play guitar at nine years old on a Native American reservation. Rock and Roll Highway is the story of a young person's passion, drive, and determination to follow his dream. |
best rock and roll books 2016: Classic Rock Stories Tim Morse, 1998-07-15 The first time on the open road with Dad's beat-up clunker and a brand-new driver's lecense. That first kiss. Practicing Steve Tyler moves in the garage. Lazy summer days with nothing to do but hang out with a group of friends and the radio. Classic Rock. In Classic Rock Stories, classic rockers reveal the sometimes painful, sometimes accidental, and often hilarious process of creating the songs that you can still sing aloud. In their own words, rockers like Pete Townshend, John Lennon, Stevie Nicks, Elton John, and Keith Richards tell about the drugs, the pain, the love gone bad, and the accidents that resulted in the hits. |
best rock and roll books 2016: Let's Rock! Richard Aquila, 2017 Based on years of research and interviews, this book offers new information and fresh perspectives about the rise of rock & roll and 1950s America, arguing that rather than rebellion and liberalism, the musical craze supported centrist politics, traditional values, and mainstr... |
best rock and roll books 2016: Your Band Sucks Jon Fine, 2015-05-19 • A New York Times Summer Reading List selection • A Publishers Weekly Best Summer Book of 2015 • A Business Insider Best Summer Read • An Esquire Father’s Day Book selection • A New York Observer Best Music Book of 2015 • A memoir charting thirty years of the American independent rock underground by a musician who knows it intimately Jon Fine spent nearly thirty years performing and recording with bands that played various forms of aggressive and challenging underground rock music, and, as he writes in this memoir, at no point were any of those bands “ever threatened, even distantly, by actual fame.” Yet when members of his first band, Bitch Magnet, reunited after twenty-one years to tour Europe, Asia, and America, diehard longtime fans traveled from far and wide to attend those shows, despite creeping middle-age obligations of parenthood and 9-to-5 jobs, testament to the remarkable staying power of the indie culture that the bands predating the likes of Bitch Magnet--among them Black Flag, Mission of Burma, and Sonic Youth --willed into existence through sheer determination and a shared disdain for the mediocrity of contemporary popular music. In indie rock’s pre-Internet glory days of the 1980s, such defiant bands attracted fans only through samizdat networks that encompassed word of mouth, college radio, tiny record stores and ‘zines. Eschewing the superficiality of performers who gained fame through MTV, indie bands instead found glory in all-night recording sessions, shoestring van tours and endless appearances in grimy clubs. Some bands with a foot in this scene, like REM and Nirvana, eventually attained mainstream success. Many others, like Bitch Magnet, were beloved only by the most obsessed fans of this time. Like Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential, Your Band Sucks is an insider’s look at a fascinating and ferociously loved subculture. In it, Fine tracks how the indie-rock underground emerged and evolved, how it grappled with the mainstream and vice versa, and how it led many bands to an odd rebirth in the 21 st Century in which they reunited, briefly and bittersweetly, after being broken up for decades. Like Patti Smith’s Just Kids, Your Band Sucks is a unique evocation of a particular aesthetic moment. With backstage access to many key characters in the scene—and plenty of wit and sharply-worded opinion—Fine delivers a memoir that affectionately yet critically portrays an important, heady moment in music history. |
best rock and roll books 2016: Rock and Roll Never Forgets Barbara S. Stewart, 2012-08-01 Beth Morgan is a young woman who's just been given the 'once in a lifetime' opportunity to meet her favorite band, Traveler. That meeting leads to a chance encounter with her idol, the band's lead singer, Andy Stevens. What follows is a love story. A journey through the peaks, valleys and trials of a relationship lived in the public eye; the miles they traveled together through his career in the music business, and her struggles to stay obscure in a world she never really settled into comfortably. In the end it's all about love, fate, and what the heart can't hold back. |
best rock and roll books 2016: Bobby Whitlock Bobby Whitlock, Marc Roberty, 2014-01-10 From early childhood singing in church to the rock 'n' roll limelight of Derek and the Dominos, Bobby Whitlock launched a musical journey still going to this day. Whitlock's life story does more than share rock gossip about stars like Keith Moon, George Harrison, and Eric Clapton, however. Whitlock candidly discusses his abusive childhood, his experiences with Delaney and Bonnie, failed marriages, and drug addiction, and how the star-studded lifestyle evolved into a peaceful partnership with his wife and musical partner. |
best rock and roll books 2016: Sex, Drugs & Rock n Roll Zoe Cormier, 2014-08-07 How can wordless collections of sounds send shivers down our spines and tickle ancient parts of our brains we share with reptiles? How did a chemist's quest to create a drug to ease the pain of childbirth result in the creation of LSD? Why do goats partake in oral sex, and how can a horse (or even a table) make us weak in the knees? And how on earth could the revered 'father of anatomy' not know where the clitoris was? From tortoiseshell condoms to superstar athletes on hallucinogens, these burning questions are explored and dissected, mixed with insights from some of the world's bravest, cleverest and downright weirdest scientist experimenting on the edge - and themselves. It's a sharp shocker, an eye opener, asking the big questions about what it means to be human, about consciousness and happiness. It'll pull you in and gross out. Exuberantly curious and shamelessly exuberant, Guerilla Science's Zoe Cormier reinvents popular science for a new generation by breaking all the rules. Let's rock. |
best rock and roll books 2016: History of Rock 'n' Roll in Ten Songs Greil Marcus, 2014-09-02 The legendary critic and author of Mystery Train “ingeniously retells the tale of rock and roll” (Publishers Weekly, starred review). Unlike previous versions of rock ’n’ roll history, this book omits almost every iconic performer and ignores the storied events and turning points everyone knows. Instead, in a daring stroke, Greil Marcus selects ten songs and dramatizes how each embodies rock ’n’ roll as a thing in itself, in the story it tells, inhabits, and acts out—a new language, something new under the sun. “Transmission” by Joy Division. “All I Could Do Was Cry” by Etta James and then Beyoncé. “To Know Him Is to Love Him,” first by the Teddy Bears and almost half a century later by Amy Winehouse. In Marcus’s hands these and other songs tell the story of the music, which is, at bottom, the story of the desire for freedom in all its unruly and liberating glory. Slipping the constraints of chronology, Marcus braids together past and present, holding up to the light the ways that these striking songs fall through time and circumstance, gaining momentum and meaning, astonishing us by upending our presumptions and prejudices. This book, by a founder of contemporary rock criticism—and its most gifted and incisive practitioner—is destined to become an enduring classic. “One of the epic figures in rock writing.”—The New York Times Book Review “Marcus is our greatest cultural critic, not only because of what he says but also, as with rock-and-roll itself, how he says it.”—The Washington Post Winner of the Deems Taylor Virgil Thomson Award in Music Criticism, given by the American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers |
best rock and roll books 2016: The Wrecking Crew Kent Hartman, 2012-02-14 Winner of the Oregon Book Award for General Nonfiction and Los Angeles Times bestseller It makes good music sound better.-Janet Maslin in The New York Times A fascinating look into the West Coast recording studio scene of the '60s and the inside story of the music you heard on the radio. If you always assumed the musicians you listened to were the same people you saw onstage, you are in for a big surprise!-Dusty Street, host of Classic Vinyl on Sirius XM Satellite Radio If you were a fan of popular music in the 1960s and early '70s, you were a fan of the Wrecking Crew-whether you knew it or not. On hit record after hit record by everyone from the Byrds, the Beach Boys, and the Monkees to the Grass Roots, the 5th Dimension, Sonny & Cher, and Simon & Garfunkel, this collection of West Coast studio musicians from diverse backgrounds established themselves in Los Angeles, California as the driving sound of pop music-sometimes over the objection of actual band members forced to make way for Wrecking Crew members. Industry insider Kent Hartman tells the dramatic, definitive story of the musicians who forged a reputation throughout the business as the secret weapons behind the top recording stars. Mining invaluable interviews, the author follows the careers of such session masters as drummer Hal Blaine and keyboardist Larry Knechtel, as well as trailblazing bassist Carol Kaye-the only female in the bunch-who went on to play in thousands of recording sessions in this rock history. Readers will discover the Wrecking Crew members who would forge careers in their own right, including Glen Campbell and Leon Russell, and learn of the relationship between the Crew and such legends as Phil Spector and Jimmy Webb. Hartman also takes us inside the studio for the legendary sessions that gave us Pet Sounds, Bridge Over Troubled Water, and the rock classic Layla, which Wrecking Crew drummer Jim Gordon cowrote with Eric Clapton for Derek and the Dominos. And the author recounts priceless scenes such as Mike Nesmith of the Monkees facing off with studio head Don Kirshner, Grass Roots lead guitarist (and future star of The Office) Creed Bratton getting fired from the group, and Michel Rubini unseating Frank Sinatra's pianist for the session in which the iconic singer improvised the hit-making ending to Strangers in the Night. The Wrecking Crew tells the collective, behind-the-scenes stories of the artists who dominated Top 40 radio during the most exciting time in American popular culture. |
best rock and roll books 2016: Baby Loves to Rock! Wednesday Kirwan, 2013-01-29 Rock out with Baby in this playful board book that showcases various animals and their favorite musical styles! The skunk loves punk… The weasel likes to pop… But who loves to rock? Humorous text and colorful illustrations fill the jammin’ pages of Baby Loves to Rock! Rife with funny puns and rhymes about a variety of comical animals enjoying different genres of music, this board book is sure to delight music fans of all ages. |
best rock and roll books 2016: Corn Flakes with John Lennon Robert Hilburn, 2010-10-12 Robert Hilburn's storied career as a rock critic has allowed him a behind-the-scenes look at the lives of some of the most iconic figures of our time. He was the only music critic to visit Folsom Prison with Johnny Cash. He met John Lennon during his lost weekend period in Los Angeles and they became friends. Bob Dylan granted him his only interviews during his born-again period and the occasion of his 50th birthday. Michael Jackson invited Hilburn to watch cartoons with him in his bedroom. When Springsteen took to playing only old hits, Hilburn scolded him for turning his legendary concerts into oldies revues, and Springsteen changed his set list. In this totally unique account of the symbiotic relationship between critic and musical artist, Hilburn reflects on the ways in which he has changed and been changed by the subjects he’s covered; Bono weighs in with an introduction about how Hilburn’s criticism influenced and altered his own development as a musician. Corn Flakes with John Lennon is more than about one man’s adventures in rock and roll: It’s the gripping and untold story of how popular music reshapes the way we think about the world and helps to define the modern American character. |
best rock and roll books 2016: 1001 Bizarre Rock 'n' Roll Stories Robert Lodge, 2013 Which rock star died twice in a day? What rock legend's friends decided to steal his body? Which bands were considered cursed? With everything from sex, drugs, and death to fights, feuds, and fallouts, 1001 Bizarre Rock 'n' Roll Stories is the ultimate expos of what rock's most infamous names got up to offstage. Celebrated journalist Robert Lodge chronicles outrageous antics from the birth of jazz through heavy-metal hell-raising and into twenty-first century pop. |
best rock and roll books 2016: Juke Box Hero Lou Gramm, Scott Pitoniak, 2019-09-24 The son of a sheet-metal worker who led a big band on weekends, Lou Gramm rose from humble, working-class roots in Rochester, New York, to become one of rock 'n' roll's most distinctive and popular voices. With the aid of best-selling author Scott Pitoniak, Gramm poignantly recounts how he realized his dream as the lead singer and co-songwriter of the iconic band Foreigner as well as his own band and overcame a drug and alcohol addiction--along with a life-threatening brain tumor--on his path to the Songwriters Hall of Fame. |
best rock and roll books 2016: Sam Phillips Peter Guralnick, 2015-11-12 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. |
best rock and roll books 2016: Every Song Ever Ben Ratliff, 2016-02-09 What is music in the age of the cloud? Today, we can listen to nearly anything, at any time. It is possible to flit instantly across genres and generations, from 1980s Detroit techno to 1890s Viennese neo-romanticism. This new age of listening brings with it astonishing new possibilities--as well as dangers. In Every Song Ever, the veteran New York Times music critic Ben Ratliff reimagines the very idea of music appreciation for our times. In the age of the cloud, the genre of the recording and the intention of the composer matter less and less. Instead, we can savor our own listening experience more directly, taking stock of qualities like repetition, speed, density, or loudness. The result is a new mode of listening that can lead to unexpected connections. When we listen for slowness, we may detect surprising affinities between the drone metal of Sunn O))), the mixtape manipulations of DJ Screw, and the final works of Shostakovich. And if we listen for more elusive qualities like closeness, we might notice how the tight harmonies of bluegrass vocals illuminate the virtuosic synchrony of John Coltrane's quartet. Encompassing the sounds of five continents and several centuries, Ratliff's book is a definitive field guide to our musical habitat, and a foundation for the new aesthetics our age demands. |
best rock and roll books 2016: Brian Jones Paul Trynka, 2015-11-03 First published in Great Britain as Sympathy of the Devil: The Birth of the Rolling Stones and the Death of Brian Jones by Bantam Press. |
best rock and roll books 2016: Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings Steve Sullivan, 2017-05-17 This masterful survey covers all genres of popular music, from pop, rock, soul, and country to jazz, blues, classic vocals, hip-hop, folk, gospel, and ethnic/world music. Collectors will find detailed discographical data while music lovers will appreciate the detailed commentaries and deep research on the songs, their recording, and the artists. |
best rock and roll books 2016: Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll Editors Rolling Stone, 2001-11-08 Completely updated with new entries and extensive revisions of the previous 1,800, The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia Of Rock & Roll is the authoritative volume on the world's music makers—from the one-hit wonders to the megastars. In 1983, Rolling Stone Press introduced its first Rock & Roll Encyclopedia. Almost two decades later, it has become the premier guide to the history of rock & roll, and has been selected by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame & Museum as its official source of information. Giving full coverage to all aspects of the rock scene, it tells the story of rock & roll in a clear and easy reference format, including complete discographies, personnel changes for every band, and backstage information like date and place of birth, from Elvis Presley to Eminem. Since the last edition, the music scene has exploded in every area, from boy-bands to hip-hop, electronica to indie rock. Here, the Encyclopedia explores them all—'NSync, Notorious B.I.G., Ricky Martin, Radiohead, Britney Spears, Blink-182, Sean “Puffy” Combs, Portishead, Fatboy Slim, Fiona Apple, Lil' Kim, Limp Bizkit, Oasis, Outkast, Yo La Tengo, TLC, and many, many more. The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll, Third Edition includes all the facts, phenomena, and flukes that make up the history of rock. Accompanying the biographical and discographical information on the nearly 2,000 artists included in this edition are incisive essays that reveal the performers' musical influences, first breaks, and critical and commercial hits and misses, as well as evaluations of their place in rock history. Filled with hundreds of historical photos, The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia is more than just a reference book, it is the bible of rock & roll. |
best rock and roll books 2016: Rocks Joe Perry, 2014-10-23 In this riveting inside account of his life in rock-and-roll band Aerosmith, Joe Perry opens up for the first time to tell the story of his wild, unbridled life as the band's lead guitarist. He delves deep into his volatile, profound, and enduring relationship with singer Steve Tyler, and reveals the real people behind the larger-than-life rock-gods on stage. It's an intimate account of nearly five decades of mega highs and heartbreaking lows. The story of Aerosmith is not your average rock-and-roll tale. It's an epic saga, at once a study in brotherhood and solitude that plays out on the killing fields of rock and roll. With record-making hits and colossal album sales that compete with legends such as U2 and Frank Sinatra, Aerosmith has earned their place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. But with a sweeping comeback in the late 80s, one can see there is a bigger story here: to come back that high, you have to have plummeted pretty low. Aerosmith's game with fame is one of success, failure, rebirth, re-destruction, even the post-destructive rebirth, but here they are today, in their 60s and still on top. ROCKS is ultimately a story of endurance, and it starts almost half a century ago with young Perry, the misanthrope whose loving parents practically begged him to assimilate, but who quits school because he doesn't want to cut his hair. He meets Tyler in a restaurant in Boston, sways him from pop music to the darker side, rock-and-roll, and it doesn't take long for the Toxic Twins to skyrocket into a world of fame, drugs, and utter excess. Perry takes fora personal look into the two stars behind Aerosmith, the people who enabled them, the ones who controlled them, and the ones who changed them. |
best rock and roll books 2016: The Mammoth Book of the Rolling Stones Sean Egan, 2013-06-20 'The greatest rock 'n' roll band in the world!' This vainglorious introduction given to The Rolling Stones on stage by an excitable roadie was almost immediately accepted as a simple statement of fact. It was already evident that Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Co. were, as their first manager Andrew Loog Oldham had claimed, 'a way of life'. The Stones' defiance of convention made them the figureheads of a questioning new generation, and drove the Establishment to imprison them. This enduring rebel aura and the unmistakeable craft evident in classic records such as Satisfaction, Honky Tonk Women and Brown Sugar ensured subsequent generations of diehard fans, establishing the band as the biggest box office attraction the world has ever seen. The Mammoth Book of The Rolling Stones provides a comprehensive collection of reviews, analysis, interviews and exposés - both archive and contemporary, favourable and critical, concise and epic - of these extraordinary cultural icons as they pass the astonishing milestone of 50 years as rock's pre-eminent band. |
best rock and roll books 2016: History of Rock Mark Paytress, 2011-09 The History of Rock chronicles over six decades of key events in rock, punk, metal, and more. Featuring profiles of 100 groundbreaking artists from the rock music pantheon and special breakout sections on trends like Beatlemania, Disco Fever, and Motown, this book is the definitive guide to all things rock n' roll. It includes over 450 photographs and essays detailing each rock style, from R & B and Rockabilly to Trip Hop and Electronic. |
best rock and roll books 2016: David Bowie Nick Smart, 2024-11-21 Was Bowie an aloof and unavailable artist, or a 'Starman' who descended to bring good news to the masses...a chameleon? David Bowie: The Collector teases out the elements which Bowie used to build his success: his profound sense of artifice, his ability to tap into the zeitgeist of his times and his gift for gathering ideas and influences from a variety of sources and rearranging them to produce not only new perspectives but also brand-new ideas. Revealed by the testimony of his closest friends and partners we see Bowie with humour, grace and humility – a highly focused Bowie – borrowing and combining ideas from multiple sources and creating new visions. Praise for this book. 'A gripping read and a must for Bowie fans. Packed with intricate, well-researched and little-known detail on the multi-dimensional swirl around Bowie's creative genius.' Victoria Broackes, co-curator of 'David Bowie is' (V&A) 'There are scores of books about the legend that is David Bowie which investigates his life, body and soul, but this dives deep into the DNA of a polymath, a performer, a poet and a prophet whose story captivated generations and will continue to enchant for those yet to come.' Robin Morgan, Media Director. |
best rock and roll books 2016: Stick It! Carmine Appice, 2018-04 He ran with teenage gangs in Brooklyn, was managed by the mob, hung with Hendrix, trashed thousands of hotel rooms, and taught John Bonham a thing or two about drumming. He formed an all-blond hair metal band, became a megastar in Japan, got married five times-- and, along the way, became a rock legend by single-handedly reinventing hard rock and heavy metal drumming. And now Appice is telling his scarcely believable story, one of the most extraordinary and outrageous rock-and-roll biographies of our time. |
best rock and roll books 2016: Somebody to Love? Grace Slick, 2014-07-02 Candid autobiography of the great rock diva of Jefferson Airplane & Jefferson Starship revealing her wildly outlandish life in the Sixties & the Seventies. |
best rock and roll books 2016: Trouble Boys Bob Mehr, 2017-06-06 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Based on a decade of research and reporting--as well as access to the Replacements' key principals, Paul Westerberg and Tommy Stinson--author Bob Mehr has fashioned something far more compelling than a conventional band bio. Trouble Boys is a deeply intimate portrait, revealing the primal factors and forces that shaped one of the most brilliant and notoriously self-destructive rock 'n' roll bands of all time. Beginning with riveting revelations about the Replacements' troubled early years, Trouble Boys follows the group as they rise within the early '80s American underground. It uncovers the darker truths behind the band's legendary drinking, showing how their addictions first came to define them, and then nearly destroyed them. A roaring road adventure, a heartrending family drama, and a cautionary showbiz tale, Trouble Boys has deservedly been hailed as an instant classic of rock lit. |
difference - "What was best" vs "what was the best"? - English …
Oct 18, 2018 · On the linked page, best is used as an adverb, modifying the verb knew. In that context, the phrase the best can also be used as if it were an adverb. The meaning is …
adverbs - About "best" , "the best" , and "most" - English …
Oct 20, 2016 · I like you best. I like chocolate best, better than anything else. can be used when what one is choosing from is not specified. I like you the best. Between chocolate, vanilla, and …
articles - "it is best" vs. "it is the best" - English Language ...
Jan 2, 2016 · This is the best car in the garage. We use articles like the and a before nouns, like car. The word "best" is an adjective, and adjectives do not take articles by themselves. …
expressions - "it's best" - how should it be used? - English …
Dec 8, 2020 · 3 "It's best (if) he (not) buy it tomorrow." is not a subjunctive form, and some options do not work well. 3A It's best he buy it tomorrow. the verb tense is wrong with 3A. Better would …
word choice - "his best-seller book" or "his best-selling book ...
Jun 12, 2016 · @J.R. If something is a New York Times Best Seller, the whole five word string is the adjective in use to modify book, although why book is specified is beyond me; perhaps to …
Word choice - Way of / to / for - Way of / to / for - English …
Jun 16, 2020 · The best way to use "the best way" is to follow it with an infinitive. However, this is not the only way to use the phrase; "the best way" can also be followed by of with a gerund: …
plural forms - It's/I'm acting in your best interest/interests ...
Dec 17, 2014 · have someone's (best) interests at heart (=want to help them): He claims he has only my best interests at heart. be in someone's/something's (best) interest(s) (=bring an …
"Best regards" vs. "Best Regards" - English Language Learners …
Dec 28, 2013 · The rule for formal letters is that only the first word should be capitalized (i.e. "Best regards"). Emails are less formal, so some of the rules are relaxed. That's why you're seeing …
Would be or will be - English Language Learners Stack Exchange
Oct 1, 2019 · It indicates items that (with the best understanding) are going to happen. Would is a conditional verb form. It states that something happens based on something else. Sometimes …
What is the correct usage of "deems fit" phrase?
Nov 15, 2016 · This plan of creating an electoral college to select the president was expected to secure the choice by the best citizens of each state, in a tranquil and deliberate way, of the …
difference - "What was best" vs "what was the best"? - English …
Oct 18, 2018 · On the linked page, best is used as an adverb, modifying the verb knew. In that context, the phrase the best can also be used as if it were an adverb. The meaning is …
adverbs - About "best" , "the best" , and "most" - English …
Oct 20, 2016 · I like you best. I like chocolate best, better than anything else. can be used when what one is choosing from is not specified. I like you the best. Between chocolate, vanilla, and …
articles - "it is best" vs. "it is the best" - English Language ...
Jan 2, 2016 · This is the best car in the garage. We use articles like the and a before nouns, like car. The word "best" is an adjective, and adjectives do not take articles by themselves. …
expressions - "it's best" - how should it be used? - English …
Dec 8, 2020 · 3 "It's best (if) he (not) buy it tomorrow." is not a subjunctive form, and some options do not work well. 3A It's best he buy it tomorrow. the verb tense is wrong with 3A. Better would …
word choice - "his best-seller book" or "his best-selling book ...
Jun 12, 2016 · @J.R. If something is a New York Times Best Seller, the whole five word string is the adjective in use to modify book, although why book is specified is beyond me; perhaps to …
Word choice - Way of / to / for - Way of / to / for - English …
Jun 16, 2020 · The best way to use "the best way" is to follow it with an infinitive. However, this is not the only way to use the phrase; "the best way" can also be followed by of with a gerund: …
plural forms - It's/I'm acting in your best interest/interests ...
Dec 17, 2014 · have someone's (best) interests at heart (=want to help them): He claims he has only my best interests at heart. be in someone's/something's (best) interest(s) (=bring an …
"Best regards" vs. "Best Regards" - English Language Learners …
Dec 28, 2013 · The rule for formal letters is that only the first word should be capitalized (i.e. "Best regards"). Emails are less formal, so some of the rules are relaxed. That's why you're seeing …
Would be or will be - English Language Learners Stack Exchange
Oct 1, 2019 · It indicates items that (with the best understanding) are going to happen. Would is a conditional verb form. It states that something happens based on something else. Sometimes …
What is the correct usage of "deems fit" phrase?
Nov 15, 2016 · This plan of creating an electoral college to select the president was expected to secure the choice by the best citizens of each state, in a tranquil and deliberate way, of the …