This superb new collection of photographs shows a fascinating variety of blues, folk and rock performers as they appeared at events across North America during the second half of the 20th century. The pictures were all taken by Herb Wise, a man who learned his craft from his friend David Gahr, the revered photographer of American folk music performers. Gradually Herb Wise too became a fixture at many of the leading music festivals and, over the years, his easy, unobtrusive style resulted in a wealth of revealing and affectionate photographs. Bob Dylan, Frank Zappa, David Bowie, Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, Joan Baez, Taj Mahal, John Lee Hooker, Ray Charles, Steve Winwood, Blondie and many more are all featured, performing or relaxing, onstage and off.

From "I Can't Explain" to "Tommy," from "Won't Get Fooled Again" to 2006's comeback studio album "Endless Wire," "The Who By Numbers" tells the story of The Who's extraordinary, electrifying career, track by track.

Alan G. Parker is the author of many rock books, including the best-selling Sid Vicious biography "No One Is Innocent."

Steve Grantley combines writing with the life of a professional drummer and currently plays with Stiff Little Fingers and The Alarm.

A pioneer of Chicano rock, Ruben Funkahuatl Guevara performed with Frank Zappa, Johnny Otis, Bo Diddley, Tina Turner, and Celia Cruz, though he is best known as the front man of the 1970s experimental rock band Ruben And The Jets. Here he recounts how his youthful experiences in the barrio La Veinte of Santa Monica in the 1940s prepared him for early success in music and how his triumphs and seductive brushes with stardom were met with tragedy and crushing disappointments. Brutally honest and open, Confessions of a Radical Chicano Doo-Wop Singer is an often hilarious and self-critical look inside the struggle of becoming an artist and a man. Recognizing racial identity as composite, contested, and complex, Guevara-an American artist of Mexican descent-embraces a Chicano identity of his own design, calling himself a Chicano "culture sculptor" who has worked to transform the aspirations, alienations, and indignities of the Mexican American people into an aesthetic experience that could point the way to liberation.

It's no exaggeration that without Sonic Youth vast sectors of the independent rock community would not exist. Before Sonic Youth signed to Geffen in 1990, 'alternative rock', Riot Grrrl, and MTV grunge didn't exist. Rock journalist, Stevie Chick draws upon his wealth of source material and exclusive interviews with both band-members and the people closest to Sonic Youth to give a fascinating insight into this most complex and fascinating of rock bands.

In the Spring of 2008 and following the model from the previously realized cycle dedicated to John Cage, the Casa Encendida presents The Limits of Composition?, a cycle dedicated to what is known as North American Minimalism in which reunites some of the most innovative contemporary compositors: Ferry Riley, Alvin Lucier, Alvin Curran, Gordon Mumma y Christian Wolf, together with the work of Cornelius Cardew. During one week, from the hands of these illustrious followers of the "Cagian" exposition, one was able to enjoy his compositions and interpretations, as well as share his reflections on the future of music and a look at what is presently projected over his respective trajectories.

By upbringing, family connections, and education, Felix Mendelssohn was ideally positioned to contribute to the historical legacies of the German people, who in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars discovered that they were a nation with a distinct culture. The number of cultural icons of German nationalism that Mendelssohn "discovered," promoted, or was asked to promote (by way of commissions) in his compositions is striking: Gutenberg and the invention of the printing press, Durer and Nuremberg, Luther and the Augsburg Confession as the manifesto of Protestantism, Bach and the St. Matthew Passion, Beethoven and his claims to universal brotherhood. The essays in this volume investigate from a variety of perspectives Mendelssohn's relationship to the music of the past, including the significance of Bach's music for the Mendelssohn family, the homages to Bach in Mendelssohn's organ compositions, the influence of Beethoven in the Reformation Symphony, and Mendelssohn's reception and use of Handel's oratorios. Together, the essays shed light on the construction of legacies that, in some cases, served to assert German cultural supremacy only two decades after the composer's death in 1847. Contributors: Celia Applegate, John Michael Cooper, Hans Davidsson, Wm. A. Little, Peter Mercer-Taylor, Siegwart Reichwald, Glenn Stanley, Russell Stinson, Benedict Taylor, Nicholas Thistlethwaite, Jurgen Thym, R. Larry Todd, Christoph Wolff Jurgen Thym is professor emeritus of musicology at the Eastman School of Music and editor of Of Poetry and Song: Approaches to the Nineteenth-Century Lied (University of Rochester Press, 2010).

The first volume in Alan Walker's magisterial biography of Franz Liszt.

"You can't help but keep turning the pages, wondering how it will all turn out: and Walker's accumulated readings of Liszt's music have to be taken seriously indeed." D. Kern Holoman, New York Review of Books

"A conscientious scholar passionate about his subject. Mr. Walker makes the man and his age come to life. These three volumes will be the definitive work to which all subsequent Liszt biographies will aspire." Harold C. Schonberg, Wall Street Journal

"What distinguishes Walker from Liszt's dozens of earlier biographers is that he is equally strong on the music and the life. A formidable musicologist with a lively polemical style, he discusses the composer's works with greater understanding and clarity than any previous biographer. And whereas many have recycled the same erroneous, often damaging information, Walker has relied on his own prodigious, globe-trotting research, a project spanning twenty-five years. The result is a textured portrait of Liszt and his times without rival." Elliot Ravetz, Time

"The prose is so lively that the reader is often swept along by the narrative. . . . This three-part work . . . is now the definitive work on Liszt in English and belongs in all music collections." Library Journal"

Franz Liszt: A Research and Information Guide is an annotated bibliography concerning both the nature of primary sources related to the composer and the scope and significance of the secondary sources which deal with him, his compositions, and his influence as a composer and performer. The second edition includes research published since the publication of the first edition and provide electronic resources.

A unique collection of the best writing and interviews on the Beatles - from the last 40 years - by journalists, biographers, the Beatles and their friends.

Over 7 million viewers watched as Jodie Prenger was crowned the people's winner of "I'd Do Anything" and achieved her dream of starring in a West End musical. Now you can read Jodie's inspirational life story, as she describes her childhood as a plump little girl, who hid behind her wide smile even as she piled on the pounds, and her early career as a singer touring working men's clubs, appearing in regional theatre and as support for comedians including Ken Dodd, Ricky Tomlinson and Frank Carson.Yet it was Jodie's appearance on "The Biggest Loser" which changed her life forever, as she lost over 8 stone and shrank to a size ten. Feeling like she had a new lease of life and determined to pursue her dream, less than two years later she entered "I'd Do Anything" - and the rest is history. As Jodie stands ready to embark on her sellout West End debut, she tells her story with her trademark down-to-earth charm, and heart-rending honesty, featuring her personal and professional highs and lows alongside delicious back stage gossip. Jodie's life is the stuff of dreams and an inspiration to aspiring singers and dieters alike.

When he died suddenly at the age of twenty-six, Otis Redding (1941-1967) was the conscience of a new kind of soul music. Berry Gordy built the first black-owned music empire at Motown but Redding was doing something as historic: mainstreaming black music within the whitest bastions of the post-Confederate south. As a result, the Redding story-still largely untold-is one of great conquest but grand tragedy. Now, in this transformative work, Mark Ribowsky contextualises Redding's life within the larger cultural movements of his era. What emerges in Dreams to Remember is not only a triumph of music history but also a reclamation of a visionary who would come to define an entire era.

Focusing on key elements surrounding a group that stands alongside legends such as Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, and Led Zeppelin, this book reveals the phenomenon that is AC/DC. Covering past and present members, songs, gigs, events, albums, bootlegs, producers, and numerous other subjects, this exhaustive overview spans an extraordinary 35-year musical career--from the very earliest incarnations of the band prior to Bon Scott's arrival, through the era in which he fronted the band and his untimely death, to the wildly successful landmark record "Back in Black," all the way to their 2003 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and beyond. Detailing a group that has sold an estimated 150 million albums worldwide, this is the definitive reference of one of music history's most notable pioneers of hard rock.

Sophisticated Giant presents the life and legacy of tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon (1923-1990), one of the major innovators of modern jazz. In a context of biography, history, and memoir, Maxine Gordon has completed the book that her late husband began, weaving his "solo" turns with her voice and a chorus of voices from past and present. Reading like a jazz composition, the blend of research, anecdote, and a selection of Dexter's personal letters reflects his colorful life and legendary times. It is clear why the celebrated trumpet genius Dizzy Gillespie said to Dexter, "Man, you ought to leave your karma to science." Dexter Gordon the icon is the Dexter beloved and celebrated on albums, on film, and in jazz lore--even in a street named for him in Copenhagen. But this image of the cool jazzman fails to come to terms with the multidimensional man full of humor and wisdom, a figure who struggled to reconcile being both a creative outsider who broke the rules and a comforting insider who was a son, father, husband, and world citizen. This essential book is an attempt to fill in the gaps created by our misperceptions as well as the gaps left by Dexter himself.

It was the summer Coltrane died, the summer of love and riots, and the summer when a chance encounter in Brooklyn led two young people on a path of art, devotion, and initiation.

Patti Smith would evolve as a poet and performer, and Robert Mapplethorpe would direct his highly provocative style toward photography. Bound in innocence and enthusiasm, they traversed the city from Coney Island to Forty-second Street, and eventually to the celebrated round table of Max's Kansas City, where the Andy Warhol contingent held court. In 1969, the pair set up camp at the Hotel Chelsea and soon entered a community of the famous and infamous--the influential artists of the day and the colorful fringe. It was a time of heightened awareness, when the worlds of poetry, rock and roll, art, and sexual politics were colliding and exploding. In this milieu, two kids made a pact to take care of each other. Scrappy, romantic, committed to create, and fueled by their mutual dreams and drives, they would prod and provide for one another during the hungry years.

Just Kids begins as a love story and ends as an elegy. It serves as a salute to New York City during the late sixties and seventies and to its rich and poor, its hustlers and hellions. A true fable, it is a portrait of two young artists' ascent, a prelude to fame.

The BBC's Jazz Book of the Year for 2008. Few jazz musicians have had the lasting influence or attracted as much scholarly study as John Coltrane. Yet, despite dozens of books, hundreds of articles, and his own recorded legacy, the "facts" about Coltrane's life and work have never been definitely established. Well-known Coltrane biographer and jazz educator Lewis Porter has assembled an international team of scholars to write The John Coltrane Reference, an indispensable guide to the life and music of John Coltrane. The John Coltrane Reference features a a day-by-day chronology, which extends from 1926-1967, detailing Coltrane's early years and every live performance given by Coltrane as either a sideman or leader, and a discography offering full session information from the first year of recordings, 1946, to the last, 1967. The appendices list every film and television appearance, as well as every recorded interview. Richly illustrated with over 250 album covers and photos from the collection of Yasuhiro Fujioka, The John Coltrane Reference will find a place in every major library supporting a jazz studies program, as well as John Coltrane enthusiasts.

George Michael is the single most played artist on UK radio for the last two decades. He has sold 100 million albums world-wide and had seven UK number one singles and albums. This updated biography tells his story from the formation of Wham! in the early 1980s with friend Andrew Ridgley. Their success with hits including Young Guns (Go For It), and Club Tropicana and their split in 1986. His success as a solo artist with albums including Faith and Listen Without Prejudice. His legal battle with Sony which cost him millions of his own money. His personal life including his secret boyfriend Anselmo Feleppo who died in 1993, his former muse Kathy Jeung and art dealer Kenny Goss. Careless Whisper is the final word on a true original.

The extraordinary story of Malcolm Williamson is one of rare musical talent combined with outrageous behaviour. An Australian, Williamson was the first non-Briton to hold the post of Master of the Queen's Music. He was appointed in 1975 and looked set to embellish his already illustrious career as a composer. By the time of his death in 2003 he was unproductive and largely forgotten. Authors Anthony Meredith and Paul Harris tell his bizarre story unflinchingly, sifting fact from fiction and offering a strong case for re-evaluating this flawed man and multi-talented musician. An investigation of the myths, rumours and half truths surrounding this controversial and misunderstood figure. The authors reveal the rift between Williamson and the Royal family. He was pointedly not invited to contribute to several high profile occasions including the wedding of Charles and Diana. They discuss if his failed marriage and open bisexuality was deemed beyond the pale at the Palace.

BOOK OF THE YEAR 2017 - MOJO MAGAZINE & UNCUT MAGAZINE "In early '77 I asked Grant if he'd form a band with me. `No,' was his blunt reply." Grant McLennan didn't want to be in a band. He couldn't play an instrument; Charlie Chaplin was his hero du jour. And yet, when Robert Forster wrote Hemingway, Genet, Chandler and Joyce into his lyrics, McLennan couldn't resist a second invitation to become 80s indie sensation The Go Betweens. The friends would collaborate for three decades, until Grant's premature death in 2006. Beautifully written - like lyrics, like prose - Grant & I is a rock memoir akin to no other. Part `making of', part music industry expose, part buddy-book, this is a delicate and perceptive celebration of creative endeavour. With wit and candour, Robert Forster pays tribute to a band who found huge success in the margins, having friendship at its heart.

With fans recalling memories of the earliest Yardbirds and Zeppelin shows at UK and European clubs right through until the O2 Ahmet Ertegun Tribute Concert in 2007. With personal photographs, memorabilia, fascinating anecdotes, and fan stories that have never been published before. Led Zeppelin has been credited with a major impact on the nature of the music business, particularly in the development of album-orientated rock and stadium rock. The biggest band of the Seventies saw each of their nine studio albums placed in the top 10 of the Billboard album chart and six reached the number-one spot.

Johann Sebastian Bach's legacy is undeniably one of the richest in the history of music, with a vast influence on posterity that has only grown since his rediscovery in the early nineteenth century. In this latest addition to his long list of Bach studies, renowned Bach scholar Russell Stinson examines how four of the greatest composers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries - Felix Mendelssohn, Robert Schumann, Richard Wagner, and Edward Elgar - engaged with Bach's legacy, not only as composers per se, but also as performers, conductors, scholars, critics, and all-around musical ambassadors. Detailed analyses of both musical and epistolary sources shed light on how these later masters heard and received Bach's music within their musical circles, while colorful anecdotes about their Bach reception help humanize them, reconstructing the intimate social circumstances in which they performed and discussed Bach's music. Stinson focuses on Mendelssohn's and Schumann's reception of Bach's organ works, Schumann's encounter with the St. Matthew and St. John Passions, Wagner's musings on the Well-Tempered Clavier, and Elgar's (resoundingly negative) thoughts on Bach as a vocal composer. Engagingly written, copiously annotated, and thoroughly up to date, Bach's Legacy traces the historical afterlife of Bach's music and offers fascinating insights into how these later masters defined it for their audiences and beyond.

The punk band D.O.A., established in 1978, is considered one of the founders of hardcore punk, alongside such other seminal groups as Black Flag and Minor Threat. Their raw, melodic sound, which drew comparisons to The Clash and The Ramones, has always been matched by the band's acute political sensibility. Known for its uncompromising and outspoken anarchist viewpoints, D.O.A. has been active on behalf of many issues, including anti-racism, anti-globalization, freedom of speech, women's rights, and the environment. Its slogan, "Talk - Action = 0," refers to the importance of artists and others who need to "walk the walk" when it comes to their politics.

After more than thirty years, D.O.A. remains as active as ever, touring internationally (including a trip to China, the first punk band to do so) and recording regularly (their thirteenth studio album was released in 2010); their fan base now spans three generations. This large-format book is a sprawling visual history of the group by lead singer and guitarist Joe Keithley--made up of vintage photographs, posters, handwritten lyrics, and other various ephemera--that offers a visceral glimpse into the hardcore life of one of the hardest-working punk bands in the business.

Joe Keithley is the founder of D.O.A. His autobiography "I, Shithead: A Life in Punk" was published by Arsenal Pulp Press in 2003; now in its third printing, it has been translated into French, German, and Italian.

Series Information:
Studies in Contemporary Music and Culture