The very first biography of Peter Tosh, rude boy, founder member of The Wailers and a compelling recording artist in his own right.Tosh was Jamaicas most controversial reggae star. A fiery advocate of Rastafari and African nationalism as well as the legalisation of marijuana, his uncompromising political stance won him a reputation as Jamaicas Malcolm X.Now revered second only to Bob Marley among reggae audiences worldwide, Tosh was awarded the Order of Merit, Jamaicas third highest honour...

The music that developed as rocksteady and early reggae gave birth to deejays, dub, rockers, lovers rock, early dancehall and 2 Tone was by turns brutal and revelatory. Including an extensive analysis of the decade’s major singles and albums, Pressure Drop includes eyewitness accounts and experiences of the decade from the likes of Burning Spear, Chris Blackwell, Gregory Isaacs, Bunny Wailer, Jimmy Cliff, Black Uhuru, U-Roy, Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, Augustus Pablo, Toots and the Maytals, Desmo...

This full-blooded story of The Wailers puts the life, music and death of the legendary Bob Marley into a razor-sharp new perspective.The Wailers played with Marley on all of the hit singles and albums that made him a legend, yet their story since his death is a little-known saga of betrayal, greed and murder that is told here in its entirety for the first time.Written in collaboration with Aston 'Family Man' Barrett and other surviving band members, the book explores Marley...

The very first and definitive biography of Peter Tosh, rude boy, founder member of the Wailers and a compelling recording artist in his own right >Tosh was Jamaica’s most controversial reggae star.For the Mystic Man, music was the message. A fiery advocate of Rastafari and African nationalism as well as the legalization of marijuana, his uncompromising political stance has won him a reputation as Jamaica’s Malcolm X. One of reggae’s most extraordin...

This full-blooded story of The Wailers puts the life, music and death of the legendary Bob Marley into a razor-sharp new perspective.The Wailers played with Marley on all of the hit singles and albums that made him a legend, yet their story since his death is a little-known saga of betrayal, greed and murder that is told here in its entirety for the first time.Written in collaboration with Aston 'Family Man' Barrett and other surviving band members, the book explores Marley...

A searing portrait of Bob Marley and the making of Exodus, Time’s best album of the twentieth century—and an acutely perceptive appreciation of his musical and spiritual legacy“Finely reported, vividly written, and politically astute, Vivien Goldman travels with Bob Marley on the intimate journey that led him to become the voice of the Exodus.” —Mariane Pearl, author of A Mighty Heart: The Brave Life and Death of My Husband, Danny Pearl

“Reggae’s chief eyewitness, dropping testimony on reggae’s chief prophet with truth, blood, and fire.” —Marlon James, Man Booker Prize–winning authorRenowned reggae historian Roger Steffens’s riveting oral history of Bob Marley’s life draws on four decades of intimate interviews with band members, family, lovers, and confidants—many speaking publicly for the first time. Hailed by the New York Times Book Review as a “crucial voice” in the documentation of M...

A revealing memoir of Jamaican reggae singer Bob Marley from the woman who knew him better than anyone—his wife.Rita Marley met Bob Marley in a recording studio in Trench Town, Jamaica when she was eighteen. A year later, they were married. The two of them set the world on fire. But life with Bob was not easy.Written with author Hettie Jones, No Woman No Cry is an honest account of Bob and Rita’s life together, including never-before-told details o...

In 1962 Mick Jagger was a bright, well-scrubbed boy (planning a career in the civil service), while Keith Richards was learning how to smoke and to swivel a six-shooter. Add the mercurial Brian Jones (who'd been effectively run out of Cheltenham for theft, multiple impregnations and playing blues guitar) and the wryly opinionated Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts, and the potential was obvious.During the 1960s and 70s the Rolling Stones were the polarising figures in Britain, admired in...

John Farnham is nothing less than an Aussie icon. In a career spanning almost five decades, the likeable, charismatic star has entertained countless Australians of every generation, selling millions of records along the way. But his extraordinary story is as much about tackling adversity as it is about topping the charts.In the mid-1980s, without a recording contract, more or less penniless, and seemingly destined to be remembered mainly as the chirpy teenager whose debut single ‘S...

From the bestselling author of The Psychopath Test comes a characteristically humorous story of a musician on the margins. In Frank: The True Story that Inspired the Movie, Jon Ronson reflects on his days playing keyboard for the Frank Sidebottom Oh Blimey Big Band. Frank Sidebottom, best known for performing with a big fake head with a cartoon face painted on it, was a cult favorite in the United Kingdom and is the subject of the new movie Frank, co-written by R...

The first major account of the history of reggae, black music journalist Lloyd Bradley describes its origins and development in Jamaica, from ska to rock-steady to dub and then to reggae itself, a local music which conquered the world. There are many extraordinary stories about characters like Prince Buster, King Tubby and Bob Marley. But this is more than a book of music history: it relates the story of reggae to the whole history of Jamaica, from colonial island to troubled independence,...