Showing titles in History & Criticism

More of The Beatles' musical mirth, magic and mayhem from the pages of The Beatles Show...and Casey Piotrowski.

Released in 1974, Sweet Home Alabama has become synonymous with Southern rock. From its opening guitar riff, it is instantly recognizable, a raucous, irreverent defense of a Deep South state and its segregationist governor against the jabs of Neil Young. But the roots of Lynyrd Skynyrd's best-selling anthem go much deeper than regional pride or resentment of a fellow rocker.

Inside the chapters of Behind the Boards: Nashville by award-winning music biographer Jake Brown, country music fans for the first time ever are given a front-row seat inside Music Row's most famous recording studios on tours narrated by the town's biggest record producers.

The central experience of the Ramones and their music is of being an outsider, an outcast, a person who’s somehow defective, and the revolt against shame and self-loathing. The fans, argues Donna Gaines, got it right away, from their own experience of alienation at home, at school, on the streets, and from themselves. This sense of estrangement and marginality permeates everything the Ramones still offer us as artists, and as people. Why the Ramones Matter compellingly makes the case that the Ramones gave us everything.

This is the fascinating story of music. How it started with a song and became one of our most beloved arts. Learn how early composers added modal rhythm to religious chants and turned them into something greater. Discover how the printing press standardized music and helped it spread across the globe. Witness the birth of musical theater, opera, and classical music and the explosion of popular freeform music such as rhapsodies and preludes.

From his school days in Stoke -on-Trent to his years in Take That, his battle with drink and drugs and the song that 'saved his life', this is the most intimate and well balanced portrait of this excitingly unpredictable showman to date. This Sunday Times bestseller has become the definitive account of Robbie Williams life.

While music has always been an integral part of the lives of the people of the British Isles and the diaspora around the world, an exploration of why this is so has seldom been explored. Celtic Song will take listeners on a journey to the past through a medium that uplifts the spirit and speaks to the heart.

The life-changing, transformative power of classical music, as told in powerful and moving personal experiences of composers, artists, amateurs, students, teachers, critics, audience. 38 chapters. With special contributors: James Kent, director, CHOPIN SAVED MY LIFE Rachel Barton Pine, violinist Len Mullenger, founder, Music Web International Nicholas Reed, producer, THE LADY IN NO. 6 (Academy Award, Best Documentary, Short Subject). Professional cellist, author and program annotator writes: "Extraordinary! You have beautifully introduced these meaningful stories, all of which should be ...

Dal primo nucleo di quelli che diventeranno i Rolling Stones, all'arrivo di Brian Jones, che ne sarà l'anima per qualche tempo, fino alla costituzione della vera "fabbrica" Jagger/Richards. Questo audioBook è un viaggio avventuroso e a volte impietoso lungo le tappe di una delle carriere più "granitiche" del rock: quella delle Pietre per eccellenza, i Rolling Stones. Un disco dopo l'altro per raccontare l'avventura della band più longeva della musica senza dimenticare qualche aneddoto curioso e, soprattutto, dando il giusto spazio a quello che più conta.

Keith Hatschek tells the story of three determined artists: Louis Armstrong, Dave Brubeck, and Iola Brubeck and the stand they took against segregation by writing and performing a jazz musical titled The Real Ambassadors. First conceived by the Brubecks in 1956, the musical's journey to the stage for its 1962 premiere tracks extraordinary twists and turns across the backdrop of the civil rights movement.

Introducing The Journey Of Pearl Jam, the definitive guide to one of the most iconic bands of the past three decades. With an in-depth look at the band's formation, history, impact on music, and social activism, this book offers a comprehensive exploration of Pearl Jam's journey.

From Nathan Rabin, the original head writer of the A.V Club, coiner of the phrase "Manic Pixie Dream Girl" and the author of Weird Al: The Book (with Al Yankovic), comes 7 Days in Ohio, the riveting concluding entry in the "Trilogy of Psychological Terror." The tragicomic, pop-culture-crazed trilogy began with 2009's The Big Rewind (which The New York Times hailed as "full of caustic wit") and continued with 2013's You Don't Know Me But You Don't Like Me, which was named by Rolling Stone and Slate as one of the best books of the year. The "If We Make It Through November expanded edition" ...

Rock Stars on the Record is a collection of firsthand tales by artists of all ages, backgrounds, and musical influences, remembering the meaning behind the records that mattered most to them. From Laura Jane Grace to Ian MacKaye, Don McLean to Cherie Currie, Alice Bag to Mac DeMarco, and many more, best-selling author Eric Spitznagel talks to rock stars across the sonic spectrum about the albums that changed them in ways only music can change someone.

A lightning rod for powerful emotions, Thomas Schippers began his escalation to fame at nineteen continuing with performances in many renowned venues in the world. Here his career is traced through the accounts of those who knew or performed with him, redressing the astonishing lack of information about him which could be of interest to music historians and performers of today. "The brilliant young conductor, Thomas Schippers, is tall, with the face and body of a Greek god at a time when Greek gods are hard to find." (Life magazine, December 6, 1963). Admired by many for his classic ...

Power Chord is the story of one man’s epic pilgrimage to gain rock enlightenment from the gods and guitar heroes of the Golden Age of heavy metal. Author Scott McKenzie set off to make contact with the legendary metal superstars he worshipped in his rural Kentucky youth - men like George Lynch of Dokken, Glen Tipton of Judas Priest, and Ace Frehley of KISS - hoping to gain wisdom and a better understanding of the electric guitar mystique.

1959 saw Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, and the other members of Miles's sextet come together to record the seminal jazz album of all time Kind of Blue. 3 Shades of Blue is a magnificent blended biography on the meandering paths which led Miles, Coltrane and Evans to the mountaintop of 1959 and the aftermath. It's a book about music, business, race, addiction and the cities that gave jazz its home; from New York and LA to Philadelphia, Chicago and Kansas City. Kaplan meditates on creativity and the great forebears of this golden age who would take the music down strange new paths.

In The Pied Pipers of Rock 'n' Roll, Wes Smith examines the phenomenon of the AM deejays who captivated a generation and helped define the counterculture that has forever changed the landscape of American youth. Smith takes a close look at nine of the men who made this happen and explores the reasons for their influence and its lasting effects on the generation whose lives still unfold to the soundtrack laid down by these platter-spinners of their youth.

"Wonderful compilation" -- Henry Fogel, Dean, Chicago College of Performing Arts, Roosevelt University; former president, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, American Symphony Orchestra League "An enjoyable read, and a great conversation starter." -- James McCarthy, Limelight magazine, Australia "...for those seeking to shake up their listening habits and explore musical rarities -- Opera America A sequel, volume two. Some 90 composers profiled. Special chapter by pianist, conductor, Sir Andras Schiff. The author writes: I will let you in on a little secret. The classical world is prejudiced. If ...

Ace Collins helps you uncover the background of 32 favorite Christmas songs. Learn the surprising tale of how each song was created. Explore specific times and places that gave birth to each message. Hear these familiar melodies with new understanding as their stories find their way into your heart.

For better or worse, Wagner is the most widely influential figure in the history of music. Around 1900, the phenomenon known as Wagnerism saturated European and American culture. A mighty procession of writers, artists and thinkers felt his impact. Anarchists, occultists, feminists and gay-rights pioneers saw him as a kindred spirit. Then Adolf Hitler incorporated Wagner into the soundtrack of Nazi Germany and the composer came to be defined by his ferocious anti-Semitism. Neither apologia nor condemnation, Wagnerism is a work of intellectual passion.