The emergence of Thatcherism around 1980, which ushered in a period of neo-liberalism in British politics that still resonates today, led musicians, like other artists, to respond to their context of production. This book uses the early work of one of these musicians, Elvis Costello, to explore the relationship between popular music and politics in one historical period. It is not a biography but an exploration of the interaction between a creative musician's works and their context of con...

The New York Times bestseller and the definitive portrait of Kurt Cobain--as relevant as ever, as we remember the impact of Cobain on our culture twenty-five years after his death--now with a new preface and an additional final chapter from acclaimed author Charles R. Cross.It has been twenty-five years since Kurt Cobain died by his own hand in April 1994; it was an act of will that typified his short, angry, inspired life. Veteran music journalist Charles ...

The intimate and long-awaited autobiography of a legendary Carlos Santana, tracing youth in Mexico and early days as a promising guitarist through his influential collaborations with fellow Latin stars.In 1967 in San Francisco, just a few weeks after the Summer of Love, a young Mexican guitarist took the stage at the Fillmore Auditorium and played a blistering solo that announced the arrival of a prodigious musical talent. Two years later—after he played a historic...

New York Times Bestseller: The oral history of the legendary rockers written with the band's participation.Foreword by Butch TrucksAfterword by JaimoeWith New Material—Behind the Scenes of The Allman Brothers' Final DaysFor more than two decades, Alan Paul has covered and written about The Allman Brothers Band, conducting hundreds of interviews, riding the buses wi...

Published in autumn 2001 Have Not Been the Same became the first book to comprehensively document the rise of Canadian underground rock between the years 1985 and 1995. It was a tumultuous decade that saw the arrival of Blue Rodeo The Tragically Hip Sarah McLachlan Sloan Barenaked Ladies Daniel Lanois and many others who made an indelible mark not only on Canadian culture but on the global stage as well. Have Not Been the Same tells all of their stories in rich detail through extensive fir...

The Cure emerged in the post-punk 70s and defied all expectations to launch a marathon career marked by hit records and a string of sell-out arena shows. Never Enough traces The Cure's roots in middle-class Crawley, Sussex, and tracks their gradual rise, revealing how their first major album Pornography, almost ended the band well before their multi-platinum career began. Also documents Robert Smith's escape into the Siouxie & The Banshees camp during the 80s, and his experimentation with ...

Smile has become one of the most unavoidable legends of rock'n'roll folklore, and in this searching examination Domenic Priore presents the true story behind the album's 40-year conception.Work on Smile began hot on the heels of the ground-breaking Pet Sounds, when Brian Wilson collaborated with Van Dyke Parks to create a 'musical story of America'. However, production would famously collapse under a tide of internal fighting, record business chicanery and Brian's own health proble...

Roy Orbison had one of the best voices in pop music. It was a forceful, almost operatic bel canto tenor that is unlike anyone else in music. When you hear a Roy Orbison song, you almost immediately know who it is. Roy had a wonderful career that was cut short at what could be called, the prime of his life. In a career that had its ups and downs, he was just approaching the part of the cycle which would take him up again, when he died of a heart attack at the age of 52.Roy Orbison h...

The essential playlist of great writing about the music that rocked America, with fifty landmark pieces on Otis Redding, Janis Joplin, Lez Zepplin, and other rock n’ roll legendsJonathan Lethem and Kevin Dettmar's Shake It Up invites the reader into the tumult and excitement of the rock revolution through fifty landmark pieces by a supergroup of writers on rock in all its variety, from heavy metal to disco, punk to hip-hop. Stanley Booth describes a record...

Unexpurgated recent personal journals and tour diaries documenting the turbulent life and misadventures of Libertines and Babyshambles frontman, Peter Doherty. The book hit headlines upon release in July 2014, not least because of entries about the rock star's famous, often tragic, friends including Peaches Geldof, Amy Winehouse and a certain supermodel.Truthful, provocative and sensitive, 'From Albion to Shangri-La' chronicles six tumultuous years (2008 - 2013) in the life of Pete...

David Bowie: The Music and The Changes is the ultimate guide to the music of the genius, fashion icon and near-mythical rock god. Author, David Buckley, was awarded a PhD on David Bowie so is best placed to guide you through an album by album and track by track exploration of this incredible man's incredible music.The Music and The Changes kicks off with a timeline of Bowie's life, from his humble beginnings to his early albums to conquering the charts in the 1970...

Teach yourself how to play guitar with our easy rock guitar lessons for beginners.***Comes with online access to free audio demonstrating all examples. Hear how each one is played by a teacher, then play along with the backing band.***"A great buy! I bought a guitar a while ago, but never figured out how to play until I found this book. It covers quite an extensive amount of material. Highly recommended." - Jim O’Connor, Casper, WYProgressi...