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Author
Language
English
Description
Believing that every great song has a fascinating backstory, Myers brings to life five decades of music through oral histories of forty-five transformative songs woven from interviews with the artists who created them. From "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" by Lloyd Price to "Losing my religion" by R.E.M., leading artists reveal the emotions, inspirations, and techniques behind their influential works. The result is a love letter to the songs that have defined...
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English
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Description
"The definitive tale of the birthplace of rock and roll, Memphis Mayhem weaves the tale of the racial collision that led to a cultural, sociological, and musical revolution. Beginning with the 1870s yellow fever epidemics that created racial imbalance as wealthy whites fled his hometown, David Less moves beyond W.C. Handy's codification of the blues in 1909 to the mid-century advent of interracial music, the birth of punk, and finally to the growth...
Author
Pub. Date
2020.
Language
English
Description
The definitive account of pop music in the mid-eighties, from Prince and Madonna to the underground hiphop, indie rock, and club scenes. Everybody knows the hits of 1984--pop music's greatest year. From "Thriller" to "Purple Rain," "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" to "Like a Virgin," "Hello" to "Against All Odds," "Sister Christian" to "Love Is a Battlefield," "What's Love Got to Do with It" to "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go," they continue to dominate...
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Language
English
Description
Elvis's 1969 opening night in Vegas was his first time back on a live stage in more than eight years. His career had gone sour--bad movies, and mediocre pop songs that no longer made the charts. He'd been dismissed by most critics as over the hill. But in Vegas he played the biggest showroom in the biggest hotel in the city, drawing more people for his four-week engagement than any other show in Vegas history. His performance got rave reviews, "Suspicious...
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English
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Description
With the advent of recording technology, LGBT messages were for the first time brought to the forefront of popular music. Bullock covers the history of recorded music by and for the LGBT community, and shows how those records influenced the evolution of the music we listen to today. He discusses how gay, lesbian, and bisexual performers influenced jazz and blues; examines the almost forgotten Pansy Craze in the years between the two World Wars; chronicles...
Author
Language
English
Description
"In 2010--long before the release of Lemonade--Professor Allred created the university course 'Politicizing Beyonc©♭' to both wide acclaim and controversy. He outlines his pedagogical philosophy in Ain't I a diva?, exploring the process of teaching Beyonc©♭ and what it means to use a superstar to blow up the canon. Examining the entertainer's career alongside the work of Black feminist thinkers, Allred shows how pop culture is so much more than...
Author
Pub. Date
2022.
Language
English
Formats
Description
"From one of the preeminent cultural critics of her generation, a radiant weave of memoir, criticism, and biography that tells the story of black women in music--from the Dixie Cups to Gladys Knight to Janet, Whitney, and Mariah-- as the foundational story of American pop"--Provided by publisher.
A weave of biography, criticism, and memoir, Shine Bright is Danyel Smith's intimate history of Black women's music as the foundational story of American...
Language
English
Description
Join The Beach Boys' Brian Wilson on an intimate journey through his legendary career as he reminisces with Rolling Stone editor and longtime friend, Jason Fine. Featuring a new song written and performed by Wilson and interviews with Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Nick Jonas, Linda Perry, Jim James, Gustavo Dudamel, Al Jardine and others.
Author
Pub. Date
2022.
Language
English
Formats
Description
"Following his 2016 smash hit Anatomy of a Song, acclaimed music journalist Marc Myers collects fifty-five new oral histories of iconic songs from his popular Wall Street Journal column. Songs that sell the most copies become hits, but some of those hits become something more-iconic recordings that not only inspire a generation but also change the direction of music. In Anatomy of 55 More Songs, based on his column for the Wall Street Journal, music...
Author
Pub. Date
2022.
Language
English
Formats
Description
"Chris Blackwell, like the paradigm-shifting artists he came to support over his sixty-plus years in the music business, never took the conventional route. He grew up between Jamaica and London, crossing paths with Ian Fleming, Noel Coward, and Errol Flynn. After being expelled from an elite British school for rebellious behavior in 1954 at age seventeen, he moved back to Jamaica, and within five years, founded Island Records--the company that would...
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Language
English
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Description
"From the creator of the popular website covermesongs.com comes the perfect book for music fans: the inside stories behind 20 iconic cover songs and the artists who turned them into classics. A great cover only makes a song stronger. Jimi Hendrix's version of Bob Dylan's 'All Along the Watchtower.' The Beatles rocking out with 'Twist and Shout.' Aretha Franklin demanding 'Respect.' Without covers, the world would have lost many unforgettable performances....
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English
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Description
From the age of song sheets in the late nineteenth century to the contemporary era of digital streaming, pop music has been our most influential laboratory for social and aesthetic experimentation, changing the world three minutes at a time. Hajdu shows how pop has done much more than peddle fantasies of love and sex to teenagers. Exhaustively researched and rich with fresh insights, Love for Sale details pop music from Eva Tanguay, who upended Victorian...
Author
Pub. Date
[2019]
Language
English
Description
"A fascinating account of the music and epic social change of 1973, a defining year for David Bowie, Bruce Springsteen, Pink Floyd, Elton John, the Rolling Stones, Eagles, Elvis Presley, and the former members of The Beatles. 1973 was the year rock hit its peak while splintering-just like the rest of the world. Ziggy Stardust travelled to America in David Bowie's Aladdin Sane. The Dark Side of the Moon began its epic run on the Billboard charts, inspired...
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English
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Description
"In Rise Up and Sing!, Andrea Warner explores how music has contributed to the fight for social justice. Across eight areas of activism--the climate emergency, Indigenous rights, civil rights, disability rights, 2SLGBTQIA+ rights, gender equality, the peace/anti-war movement, and human rights--Warner introduces some of the artists, past and present, who have made a difference both on stage and off. Through ground-breaking artists and iconic moments,...
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Language
English
Formats
Description
From the Dust Jacket: The second of two volumes, this companion to every song that Bob Dylan ever wrote is the most comprehensive book on the words of America's greatest songwriter. Here you'll find not just opinionated commentary or literary interpretation, but facts, first and foremost. Clinton Heylin is the world's leading Dylan biographer and expert, and he has arranged the songs-including a number that have never been performed-in a continually...
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