Paul McCartney and John Lennon described him as the Beatles' "favorite group," and yet no figure in popular music is as much of a paradox as Harry Nilsson. A major celebrity at a time when stadium rock was in its infancy and huge concerts and festivals were becoming the norm, Nilsson's instrument was the studio, his stage the dubbing booth, his greatest technical triumphs were masterful examples of studio craft, and he studiously avoided live performance. He was a gifted composer of songs for a wide variety of performers, having created vivid flights of imagination for the Ronettes, the Yardbirds and the Monkees, yet Nilsson's own biggest hits were almost all written, ironically, by other composers and lyricists. He won two Grammies, had two top ten singles, and numerous album successes. Once described by his producer Richard Perry as "the finest white male singer on the planet," near the end of his life, his career was marked by voice-damaging substance abuse and the infamous deaths of both Keith Moon and Mama Cass in his London flat. His music remains prevalent today, through the 1995 tribute album For the Love of Harry: Everybody Sings Nilsson (featuring performances of Nilsson's hits by Ringo Starr, Stevie Nicks, Fred Schneider and others) and recent covers, such as Aimee Mann's recording of "One" (popularized as the main track on the Magnolia soundtrack) and Neko Case's arrangement of "Don't Forget Me" on her album, Middle Cyclone. In this first ever full-length biography of Nilsson, author Alyn Shipton traces Nilsson's life from his Brooklyn childhood to his Los Angeles adolescence, and charts his gradual move into the spotlight as a talented songwriter. With interviews from Nilsson's friends, family and associates, and material drawn from an unfinished draft autobiography Nilsson was writing prior to his death, Shipton probes beneath the enigma and the paradox to discover the real Harry Nilsson, and thereby reveals one of the most creative talents in 20th century popular music.

Gerald Finzi (1901-1956) was a British composer, editor, author, and outdoorsman/agrarian. Many of his works (a body of fewer than 50) are choral or solo vocal in nature. At the heart of his musical contributions is a unique blend of the metaphysical and mystical with a true love for everything English. Typical of many of the volumes in the Greenwood Press series, this work serves as an awareness tool, introducing an important 20th-century composer labeled variously as a miniaturist, a pastoral composer, and a minor Edwardian musician--but with a singular style that differed from his contemporaries' yet reflected in part the English tradition of Elgar, Parry, and Vaughan Williams in particular. Growing up with the music of these composers as models, Finzi quickly succeeded in the art of writing songs. His work is just now beginning to receive wider publicity through recordings and public performance. A set of 15 anecdotes contributed by major artists is assembled in this work, containing the artists' reactions to Finzi and his compositions.

The Sibelius Companion represents in its collected chapters the most advanced research in the field of Sibelius studies today. Since mid-century, so much new information has come to light that our understanding of both the man and his music has changed profoundly. These changes are fully represented in the present volume. Some of the topics examined, particularly the vocal music, including Luonnotar^, which is here given a brilliant and provocative analysis, have previously been neglected. Other chapters deal with more familiar works, such as the Second and the Seventh Symphonies, which are approached in the light of recent scholarship and fresh perspective. Readers will find new light on Sibelius's biography, the first English-language investigation ever done of Sibelius and Karelianism, pioneering sketch studies, new analytical methods for understanding the music, studies in reception history, an assessment of the state of Sibelious research with a rich bibliography, the most complete chronological catalogue of works available, and a full Register of Names that identifies in considerable detail over 100 individuals and organizations important in Sibelius's creative life. Written in an accessible style, newly researched and fully documented, ^IThe Sibelius Companion^R will interest scholars, students, and music enthusiasts alike.

Darkthrone's A Blaze in the Northern Sky (1992) is a foundational keystone of the musical and aesthetic vision of the notorious Norwegian black metal scene and one of the most beloved albums of the genre. Its mysterious artwork and raw sound continue to captivate and inspire black metal fans and musicians worldwide. This book explores the album in the context of exoticism and musical geography, examining how black metal music has come to conjure images of untamed Nordic wildernesses for fans worldwide. In doing so, it analyzes aspects of musical style and production that created the distinctly "grim" sound of Darkthrone and Norwegian black metal.

A true icon of American popular culture, songwriter and entertainer Bob Dylan was a catalyst for changing social currents in the 1960s. His songs of the 60s, such as "Blowin' in the Wind," immediately conjure up an era even for those too young to have witnessed it. Although he often shuns the public eye and has dropped out of sight for long periods in his career, Dylan continues to write and perform and remains influential on the popular music scene. Unswerving in his antiwar stance, he shocked audiences of the February 1991 Grammy Awards ceremony, at which he was honored with a lifetime achievement award, by singing his "Masters of War" during Operation Desert Storm.

Elusive to biographers, Dylan has inspired relatively few substantive accounts, although much has been written about his music. The present study presents an accurate summary of his life and an analysis of his pivotal role in popular music. His more than 400 songs and other writings, recordings, concert tours, and film and television appearances are all fully documented, as are bootleg recordings and recordings of his music by other singers. Presented in a lively manner with much anecdotal material, the facts and the myths about Dylan and the strengths and weaknesses of writings about him are carefully assessed in this one-volume source on the man and his work.

This book examines formal organization in Haydn's symphonies. The structure of individual movements as well as the relationships between them are analysed in detail. All common instrumental forms of the Classical era (sonata, rondo, variations, and so forth) are discussed. The author reconstructs Haydn's principles of formal thought and explains how these principles governed his compositional choices.

When Don Nix began his career in Memphis, he was still in high school. Over time, his first band, the Mar-Keys, evolved into Booker T. and the MGs. As a producer and musician, Nix worked with Freddie King, Furry Lewis, Albert King, Delaney and Bonnie, the Staple Singers, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Leon Russell, and many others. He was asked by Beatle George Harrison to help organize the 1971 Bangladesh Concert at Madison Square Garden. Nix's stories of living at George Harrison's mansion in England make for especially good reading. Included in this memoir are dozens of revealing photographs taken by Nix of the extraordinary musicians with whom he worked.

This book is about how music "in a key" is composed. Further, it is about how such music was composed when it was no longer compulsory to do so, starting a few years before the First World War. In an eclectic journey through the history of compositional technique, Daniel Harrison contends that the tonal system did not simply die out with the dawn of twentieth century, but continued to supplement newer techniques as a compelling means of musical organization, even into current times. Well-known art music composers such as Bartok, Hindemith, Prokofiev, and Messiaen are represented alongside composers whose work moves outside the standard boundaries of art music: Leonard Bernstein, Murice Durufle, Frank Martin, Xiaoyong Chen. Along the way, the book attends to military bugle calls, a trailer before a movie feature, a recomposition of a famous piece by Arnold Schoenberg, and the music of Neil Diamond, David Shire, and Brian Wilson. A celebration of the awesome variety of musical expressions encompassed in what is called tonal music, Pieces of Tradition is a book for composers seeking ideas and effects, music theorists interested in its innovations, and all those who practice the analysis of composition in all its modern and traditional variations.

Despite just a three-year tenure with the band, co-founder Syd Barrett’s influence on Pink Floyd was profound and long-lasting. If his guitar gave the early Pink Floyd a distinctive hallucinatory sound, his often obscure and surreal lyrics were perhaps even more intoxicating. The complete lyrics of Syd Barrett – 52 songs written for Pink Floyd and during his subsequent solo career – are presented together for the first time, along with rare photos and artwork, to form this beautifully illustrated book. Compiled in collaboration with the Syd Barrett estate, and featuring a foreword from former Pink Floyd manager Peter Jenner and a comprehensive introduction by biographer Rob Chapman, The Lyrics of Syd Barrett delves deep into one of rock’n’roll’s most imaginative and searing minds.

A favorite country music artist, Eddy Arnold has been recording since 1944. This work details each recording session, as well as the records on which each song appeared, and includes 104 songs that were never released. An appendix lists basic biographical information. Of interest to music historians, discographers, and fans, this is the most comprehensive discography available on Eddy Arnold, whose career spans six decades.

This reference work details Frank Sinatra's extensive creative accomplishments and includes biographical information as it relates to his art. A valuable tool for researchers and fans, this book provides access to extensive data, collected from disparate sources, including the first published listing of Internet resources. The information is divided into three parts, each arranged alphabetically, and covers his music, film, radio, and television appearances, and his concerts and humanitarian contributions. A thorough bibliography provides important information on locating additional resources. The only American performer to span seven decades of recording (1930s-1990s), Sinatra is regarded as an American icon. The wealth of information in this reference attests to Sinatra's well-earned reputation as an American musical legend. This reference aptly includes information not only about his creative endeavors but about his humanitarian efforts as well. Because Sinatra is recognized and admired for his musical talent, a large portion of this reference is devoted to his songs and recordings. The alphabetical arrangements of song entries includes information on the songs, record labels, arrangers, and recording dates. Three appendices at the end of the volume provide additional information about the recordings. The encyclopedia concludes with the many awards and honors bestowed upon Sinatra.

The only sourcebook that provides information necessary to make "Gospel Hymns Nos. 1 to 6 Complete" a useful research tool and an aid to the study of popular culture in the United States during the last half of the 19th century. For the first time, students and scholars will have access, in a single source, to biographical, historical, and bibliographical data concerning the writers of the hymn texts, the composers of the hymn tunes, and the various routes by which the hymns found their way onto the pages of that large collection of gospel and traditional hymnody. DEGREES"Gospel Hymns Nos. 1 to 6 Complete" contains 739 songs gathered from a series of six earlier published works.

The data in this volume will add to the breadth and depth of "Gospel Hymns Nos. 1 to 6 Complete" and thus, for the first time, identify the significance of its contributions to the history of American culture. A strong introduction establishes the historical significance of the collection of gospel hymns and songs. The entries for both the authors of the words and the composers of the music are arranged alphabetically, followed by the dates of birth and death (if known), a biographical sketch, and references to the number of the hymn, its title, first line, and accompanying tune. Dates of composition and initial publication are included where possible.

On the back of his published diary Brian Eno describes himself variously as: a mammal, a father, an artist, a celebrity, a pragmatist, a computer-user, an interviewee, and a 'drifting clarifier'. To this list we might add rock star (on the first two Roxy Music albums); the creator of lastingly influential music (Another Green World; Music for Airports); a trusted producer (for Talking Heads, U2, Coldplay and a host of other artists); the maker of large-scale video and installation artworks; a maker of apps and interactive software; and so on. All in all, he is one of the most feted and most influential musical figures of the past forty years even though he himself has consistently downplayed his musical abilities, describing himself as a non-musician on more than one occasion. This volume examines Eno's work as a musician, as a theoretician, as a collaborator, and as a producer. Brian Eno is one of the most influential figures in popular music; an updated examination of his work on this scale is long overdue.

As the turbulent 60's began to fade into the calmer 70's, a coterie of young singers, songwriters, musicians, artists, and poets began to congregate, musically on the stage of The New Bijou Theater - the Springfield, Missouri nightclub that would become the loose-knit group's home. What started as an informal weekly gathering, quickly morphed into a formal band. Dubbed the Family Tree, they became a favorite of the local counter-culture, as well as a continuation of the tradition-rich, Springfield music scene - which, until recently, included the Ozark Jubilee (the nation's first televised country music show). Though unprofitable at the time, they stuck to their guns and their original songs. When a rough tape of an early Bijou gig caught the ear of music mogul, John Hammond, it culminated in a 26-song studio demo, which caught the ear of A&M executive, David Anderle. The group signed with the label, changed their name to its present moniker, and whisked off to London to record their debut album under the tutelage of Glyn Johns. The album contained "If You Want to Get to Heaven." Their subsequent album, recorded in rural Missouri, contained "Jackie Blue." Both songs remain staples on 'classic rock' radio. By the early 80's, the Ozark Mountain Daredevils found themselves right where the Family Tree had stood a decade before - in Springfield with no record deal. They did, though, find themselves with legions of loyal fans around the world. Amidst personnel changes, personal turmoils and a cornucopia of tales from the rock-n-roll highway, the next twenty years were spent 'on the road'. Though continuing to write, they could garner little interest among the rapidly modernizing music industry - a situation many long-haired, long-named hippie bands of the 70's find themselves in. Their music, though, lives in the hearts of their fans.

If, as Robert Craft remarked, 'religious beliefs were at the core of Stravinsky's life and work', why have they not figured more prominently in discussions of his works? Stravinsky's coordination of the listener with time is central to the unity of his compositional style. This ground-breaking study looks at his background in Russian Orthodoxy, at less well-known writings of Arthur Lourie and Pierre Souvtchinsky and at the Catholic philosophy of Jacques Maritain, that shed light on the crucial link between Stravinsky's spirituality and his restoration of time in music. Recent neuroscience research supports Stravinsky's eventual adoption of serialism as the natural and logical outcome of his spiritual and musical quest.

The series of biographical sketches published by "Brainard's Musical World" between 1877 and 1889 is notable for the diversity of the musicians profiled and for the entertaining personal information provided. This period witnessed the establishment of musical institutions and attitudes toward music that have shaped American music to the present day. The biographies present a cross-section of American musicians in the late 19th century, including singers, instrumentalists, writers, teachers, and composers. Among the musicians included are some of America's most prominent conductors, such as Theodore Thomas and Leopold Damrosch; composers, such as John Knowles Paine and George F. Root; writers, such as John S. Dwight and Amy Fay; teachers, such as William Mason and Erminia Rudersdorff; and performers, such as Emma Abbott and Maud Powell. Scores of less familiar musicians who were also instrumental in shaping America's music are included as well. Originally intended for general readers, the biographical sketches not only shed light on musical topics but also include personal information that is seldom found in a traditional dictionary and which speaks to the attitudes and concerns of the late 19th century society.

This work will be of value to scholars and researchers of 19th-century American music and to those interested in the development of popular song. Entries are alphabetically arranged and include select bibliographies. A general bibliography and index are also included.

Rock-and-roll icon and three-time bestselling author Nikki Sixx tells his origin story: how Frank Feranna became Nikki Sixx, chronicling his fascinating journey from irrepressible Idaho farmboy to the man who formed the revolutionary rock group Mötley Crüe. Nikki Sixx is one of the most respected, recognizable, and entrepreneurial icons in the music industry. As the founder of Mötley Crüe, who is now in his twenty-first year of sobriety, Sixx is incredibly passionate about his craft and wonderfully open about his life in rock and roll, and as a person of the world. Born Franklin Carlton Feranna on December 11, 1958, young Frankie was abandoned by his father and partly raised by his mother, a woman who was ahead of her time but deeply troubled. Frankie ended up living with his grandparents, bouncing from farm to farm and state to state. He was an all-American kid—hunting, fishing, chasing girls, and playing football—but underneath it all, there was a burning desire for more, and that more was music. He eventually took a Greyhound bound for Hollywood. In Los Angeles, Frank lived with his aunt and his uncle—the president of Capitol Records—for a short time. But there was no easy path to the top. He was soon on his own. There were dead-end jobs: dipping circuit boards, clerking at liquor and record stores, selling used light bulbs, and hustling to survive. But at night, Frank honed his craft, joining Sister, a band formed by fellow hard-rock veteran Blackie Lawless, and formed a group of his own: London, the precursor of Mötley Crüe. Turning down an offer to join Randy Rhoads’s band, Frank changed his name to Nikki London, Nikki Nine, and, finally, Nikki Sixx. Like Huck Finn with a stolen guitar, he had a vision: a group that combined punk, glam, and hard rock into the biggest, most theatrical and irresistible package the world had ever seen. With hard work, passion, and some luck, the vision manifested in reality—and this is a profound true story finding identity, of how Frank Feranna became Nikki Sixx. It's also a road map to the ways you can overcome anything, and achieve all of your goals, if only you put your mind to it.

In an intentionally light-hearted style, Fritz Spiegl has researched the lives and loves of the great composers through the ages. In an alphabetically arranged panorama of biographical portraits, he humorously uncovers hitherto unknown aspects of the composers' personalities that are, at best, discreetly ignored by serious musical analysts or, at worst, have never made the history books at all. He also includes some of the female composers, such as Augusta Holmes and Maria Szymanowska, who are only just becoming appreciated for their contributions to music. Fritz Spiegl's treatment and disclosures, however, are not just idle gossip. His concise use of biographical details gives a clear picture of each composer's musical career, revealing how his emotional life came to influence his music and, in some cases, vice versa. This volume alo features a special section which contains Spiegl's extensive researches into some of the pets of the great composers.

The Real Singing Cowboys profiles contemporary cowboy--and cowgirl--singers and musicians who are, or have been, authentic working cowboys or ranchers, or involved in related occupations tied to ranching and cowboy culture. The book includes over fifty brief biographies and photos of the singers and musicians, including Glenn Ohrlin, Dave Stamey, Wylie Gustafson, and R.W. Hampton. The stories of traditional occupational songs of working cowboys and how that tradition continues in today's world provide context for the contemporary performers included in the book. These men, women, and children are, or have been, working cowboys, ranchers, packers, and horse trainers, or have deep roots in cowboy and ranching culture that have shaped and informed their music.

A practical guide for guitarists searching for new repertoire that includes women composers, this unique work lists musical works by instrumentation followed by biographies of each composer. The format first leads users to available pieces in possible ensembles and then to the biographical section, which introduces them to the composers, many of whom have been completely unknown in the guitar world. Appendixes list addresses for composers and publishers. Indexes cross reference composers with their works. Instrumentation entries include titles, composer names, publisher names, specific instruments, and length and description of the piece for indication of style. In the biographical entries, sources are given to guide the reader to more complete information about the composer. These features, combined with valuable appendixes, indexes, and cross-referencing capabilities from section to section, make this work easy to use.