You may have to Search all our reviewed books and magazines, click the sign up button below to create a free account.
The Bee Gees’ music and image have long been synonymous with the 1970s, and the career trajectory of brothers Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb in those ten years meanders between dizzying highs and devastating lows. In 1970, the band was bitterly split after succumbing to the pressures and excesses of their first wave of international fame in the latter part of the 1960s, but by 1979 they were one of the most successful music acts on the planet. In between, the brothers crafted timeless works that defied genre, transcended societal boundaries, and permeated generations of listeners. The Bee Gees would go on to sell over 200 million records, making them among the best-selling music artists of...
A 672 page, award-winning biography of country music singer Jim Reeves based on hundreds of interviews and Jim's private diaries. Virtually a day by day account of the life of this internationally renowned star.
From 1972 to 1976, Hollywood made an unprecedented number of films targeted at black audiences. But following this era known as “blaxploitation,” the momentum suddenly reversed for black filmmakers, and a large void separates the end of blaxploitation from the black film explosion that followed the arrival of Spike Lee’s She's Gotta Have It in 1986. Illuminating an overlooked era in African American film history, Trying to Get Over is the first in-depth study of black directors working during the decade between 1977 and 1986. Keith Corson provides a fresh definition of blaxploitation, lays out a concrete reason for its end, and explains the major gap in African American representation ...
This book details the origins of the names of 240 musical acts, focusing on the most popular groups (and a few individual performers) from the 1960s through today. Even casual music fans will recognize almost all of the acts discussed. A few one-hit wonders are included simply because their name is so unusual (Mungo Jerry, for example) that they warrant a place in the study. Each entry focuses on the meaning and/or origin of the act's name, what it had been called previously, and any other names that were considered and rejected during the naming process. Also included are facts and figures about the act's history and place in the rock music pantheon, the year the act was formed, the names of original members and later members of note and the act's best known hit. The book lists bands alphabetically to give the casual reader the opportunity to open it to any page and read at leisure, the historian the ability to easily pinpoint the subject of his or her research, or the die-hard rock fan the chance to learn from A to Z the name origins of the biggest acts in rock and pop music history.
Bruce Springsteen called him ‘one of the great, great American songwriters’, Jackson Browne hailed him as ‘the first and foremost proponent of song noir’ and Stephen King once said that if he could write like Zevon, he ‘would be a happy guy’. The list of artists that lined up to appear on his records include Springsteen, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Dave Gilmour and Emmylou Harris. So how is it that most people, if they have heard of Warren Zevon at all, know him only as ‘that werewolves guy’? This book goes beyond that solitary hit single to examine all aspects of Zevon’s multifaceted, five-decade career, from his beginnings in the slightly psychedelic folk duo lyme and cybelle,...
Best known for his unique musical style and blindingly fast hybrid picking technique, English guitarist Albert Lee is often referred to within the music industry as the "guitar player's guitar player," renowned for his work across several genres of music and for the respect that he has garnered from other industry giants. This comprehensive biography tells the entire story of Lee's long career and personal experiences, beginning with his upbringing in south London and his early experimentations with skiffle music (the British equivalent of American rockabilly). It covers Lee's career in Chris Farlowe's Thunderbirds and the British rock and country group Heads, Hands, and Feet, his move to th...
The first book to analyse every Queen song - giving equal weight to album tracks alongside the hits . * Includes analysis of about 20 classic songs using the original 24 track master tapes. * Queen remain ever popular and active, and continue to tour despite the death of Freddie Mercury in 1991. This book examines Queen's music, album by album, track by track, in detail. Where possible, recourse to the original multi-track master tapes has provided extra insight. Those familiar hits are revisited, but those classic album cuts - like `Liar', `March of the Black Queen', `Death on Two Legs', and `Dragon Attack', `are given equal precedence. The book also examines the changes that these same fou...
The Byrds were just a little bit ahead of their time. By releasing six genre-defining albums in three years, their transformative powers took electric guitars to traditional folk music, brought jazz into psychedelic pop and helped introduce what we now know as Americana, being the first major rock band to embrace the sound of Nashville. They were heralded as the pioneers of folk rock, acid rock and country rock, not to mention space rock, abstract electronics and all the inter-genre crossover material that defines most of their albums. They influenced so many of the musical movements that followed as they constantly progressed, hungry to push the boundaries of popular music. This book examin...
Blue Öyster Cult On Track is a song-by-song analysis of the discography of Long Island’s greatest sons, the Blue Öyster Cult. Dubbed 'the thinking man’s heavy metal band' and celebrated by critics, fans and musicians since their debut album in 1972, the band carved a unique path in hard rock history by combining chops, humour, occultism, poetry, jazz chords and pop sensibilities. Best known for their FM radio hits '(Don’t Fear) The Reaper' and 'Burnin’ For You', Blue Öyster Cult’s discography is in fact a treasure trove of fascinating, ever-evolving music by a band that was never afraid to explore, and never had the slightest respect for genre boundaries. The band's influence st...
Formed in 1964 and still going strong in 2019, the Moody Blues are one of the most enduring bands in the history of rock. R&B, pop, psychedelic, symphonic, prog rock, folk rock, synth-pop, mainstream rock, they've experienced it all. 'Go Now', A number one single in 1965 was very nearly a postscript for the band had it not been for the pioneering 1967 album Days Of Future Passed. This set in motion a run of seven classic and hugely popular albums that put them at the forefront of symphonic rock in the early 1970s. A hiatus saw a flurry of solo projects before the band reconvened in 1977. Subsequent recordings were eagerly greeted by a loyal fan base and sell out concerts continue to this day. In 2018 they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame. This book examines each one of the band's studio albums and related recordings as well as tracing the band's long and diverse history. Solo projects and live recordings are also discussed making this the most comprehensive guide to the music of the Moody Blues yet published. Whether you are a loyal fan or someone who is curious to see what lies beyond `Nights in White Satin', this is essential reading.