Showing titles in Composers & Musicians

Bob Dylan is one of the most influential and celebrated musicians of all time, and as he turns 80 years old, his legacy and impact on the music industry are as strong as ever. Throughout his long and storied career, Dylan has made significant contributions to music and popular culture that have earned him a place among the greatest artists of the 20th and 21st centuries.

John Bindon was a modern legend. A powerful figure in London's underworld, his film-star looks, charm and talent brought him worldwide exposure. His story unfolds like the plot of a movie in which Big John himself might have landed a part. Usually typecast in tough-guy roles, his on-screen persona was chillingly close to the real-life one. Big John's good looks and charisma led to encounters with stunning women, most famously Princess Margaret, and numerous high profile relationships. But most of all, Big John was a warm-hearted, complex man, utterly devoted to those who gave him respect.

The 1971 Allman Brothers Band album At Fillmore East was a musical manifesto years in the making. Bob Beatty dives deep into the motivations of band founder Duane Allman to tell the story of what made this album one of the most important live rock albums in history.

Originally published in 1978 as The Beach Boys and the California Myth, this groundbreaking study was both the first full-length book on the band and the first to recognize Brian Wilson as one of the most significant and influential artists of the twentieth century. Covering the turbulent family strife and internal conflicts as well as giving proper attention to the remarkable music, the book was an instant classic.

Stevie Salas was one of many boys coming of age in the 1980s—when the American dream was rock superstardom. As lead guitarist for a San Diego band, Salas played backyard parties and school dances and even scored the music for the cult classic Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure. When he auditioned for Rod Stewart—where he was the youngest band member by a decade—Salas’s life truly hit a turning point.

In 1990, Sinéad O’Connor’s video for “Nothing Compares 2 U” turned her into a superstar. Two years later, an appearance on Saturday Night Live turned her into a scandal. For many people—including, for years, the author—what they knew of O’Connor stopped there. Allyson McCabe believes it’s time to reassess our old judgments about Sinéad O’Connor and to expose the machinery that built her up and knocked her down.

A Guardian Guide Cultural Book of the Year 2023 An Irish Times Music Book of the Year 2023 'A deep, engrossing history' The Observer 'A fascinating deep dive' Jeremy Deller From the illicit reggae blues dances and acid-rock free festivals of the 1970s, through the ecstasy-fuelled Second Summer...

Jenny Boyd's extraordinary life is the stuff of movies and novels, a story of incredible people and places experienced at a pivotal time in the 20th century. As an up-and-coming young model, Jenny found herself at the heart of Carnaby Street in London, immersed in the fashion and pop culture of the Swinging 60s. With boyfriend Mick Fleetwood, sister Pattie, George Harrison and the rest of the Beatles, she lived the London scene. But as a natural Flower Child, Jenny soon became part of the counter-culture in San Francisco during the Flower Power era.

The story of one of the most controversial figures in all of hip-hop history, Dummy Boy tells the tale of Tekashi 6ix9ine and his meteoric rise to fame. In tracing Danny "Tekashi 6ix9ine" Hernandez's life from Bushwick to the heights of the rap scene, Complex reporter Shawn Setaro illuminates the story of the young rapper who forged an alliance with a notorious street gang to bolster his image and boost his internet clout.

In this revealing autobiography, Canada’s first lady of song, for the first time, tells the whole story of her astonishing 40-year career in show biz. It is a candid retrospective of the extraordinary success achieved, and the prices that had to be paid. “After ‘Snowbird’ hit, I was...

When blues master Robert Johnson's recordings were rereleased to great fanfare in the 1960s, little was known about his life, giving rise to legends that he gained success by selling his soul to the devil. Biography of a Phantom is musicologist Mack McCormick's search, from the late 1960s until McCormick's death in 2015, to uncover Johnson's life story. McCormick spent decades reconstructing Johnson's mysterious life and developing theories about his untimely death at the age of 27, but never made public his discoveries. Biography of a Phantom publishes his compelling work for the first time.

In der Wendenacht am 09. November 1989 erreichten sie endlich ihr Ziel: Platz 1 der DDR-Charts! Schade, dass es niemand mehr mitbekam... Sven Zimmermann beschreibt in seinen Geschichten ein Leben als Musiker östlich der Elbe. Er erzählt von skurrilen Show-Outfits, toten Karpfen in Damen- WCs, Geschlechtskrankheiten, Schweißfüßen, Atompilzfrisuren, Deutsch-Russischen Autolegenden, WC-Klavieren, illegalen Musiksendern... Komische, wahre und manchmal wirklich absurde Geschichten. Ein Ratgeber, wie man sich daran gewöhnt, wenn grundsätzlich nichts läuft, wie geplant.

Einmal im Jahr bricht Vaile Fuchs auf. Sie lässt den Alltag hinter sich und verbringt einige Wochen in der unberührten Natur. Zusammen mit ihren beiden Pferden durchstreift sie die Wälder Schwedens, sie schläft im Zelt und ernährt sich von Beeren und Pilzen. In dieser zeit lebt sie ein ursprüngliches und einsames Leben - voller Abenteuer und Herausforderungen. Und Vaile möchte nie mehr darauf verzichten, denn die Stärke und Ruhe, die sie in der Natur aufsaugt, geben ihr Kraft für ihren Alltag als Sängerin und Schauspielerin.

Che cos'è questo libro? Un romanzo? Una storia d'amore? La favola dell'amicizia? Un sogno? Senza dubbio una delle opere più creative che siano mai state scritte in Italia. Seguendo i suoi idoli Calvino e Céline, il grande Don Backy, tra i più noti cantautori della musica italiana, mandò nel 1967 il suo scritto a Feltrinelli e lo stesso Giangiacomo dopo aver valutato il manoscritto dichiarò "Fantastico. Lo pubblichiamo così com'è... senza cambiare una virgola...".

This original hour-long audio documentary will take you in the footsteps of the 19th century’s most beloved and most played piano composer in the world: Frederic Chopin. So here we are going to discuss a relatively undocumented musical event (rich in anecdotes): Frederic Chopin's concert at the Hotel de Ville in Rouen on the evening of March 12, 1838. Whether you are a music lover, passionate about history or simply of a curious temperament, I invite you to immerse yourself in this fascinating story, alone or with your family.

Vicky Hamilton became the top female record company executive and personal band manager. Appetite For Dysfunction is the first time Vicky candidly speaks out about the life she lived on the front lines, deep in the heartless world of the music business. Hamilton brings to this book her unbiased observations and shrewd glimpses about who these rock stars and executives are at the core of their beings, and about herself as well.

In this dynamic, hard-hitting audiobook, music biographer Geoffrey Giuliano examines the turbulent life and times of Elvis Presley. With an in-depth, insightful narration by the author as well as rare, archival, unheard interviews. Here is the perfect collection celebrating the king of rock for every dedicated fan, music historian, the media as well as all school, library, institutional, and university collections.

La facoltà dello stupore: è questo il nucleo attorno al quale orbita l'intera esperienza artistica di Franco Battiato, la matrice che accomuna tutti i brani della sua vastissima produzione. La sua musica è un dono, un invito a smarrirsi per poi ritrovarsi; è un'esortazione a sperimentare continue incursioni in un altrove sconosciuto, negli infiniti "mondi lontanissimi" che possono aprirsi lungo il cammino delle nostre vite.

Graeme Edge was born on 30th March 1941 in Rochester, Staffordshire. His mother was a pianist for the silent movies and his father, grandfather and great-grandfather were all music-hall singers. Edge trained as a draughtsman but soon went into music full time. He never started out to be a drummer; he was, in fact, the manager of a group called the Blue Rhythm Band. Graeme always watched the drummer in the group and fooled around on the drums, but never really drummed professionally until that drummer quit and he had to fill in. He then bought his first drum kit.

In this expansive collection, there are no journalists getting in the way of the purity of George’s expansive ideas and his carefully told personal history. Here is George Harrison truly in his own words, speaking across the waters of time to generations of dedicated fans still deeply moved by this simple man’s great music, philosophical importance, and well-deserved historical significance. Here is then the absolutely perfect collection of George Harrison’s finest thoughts, recollections, and untold Beatles tales important to the collection of every fan.