A brilliant new biography of the extraordinary, outrageous performer who helped open the floodgates of Rock'n'Roll

In June, 2007, Little Richard's 1955 Specialty Records single, "Tutti Frutti," topped Mojo "magazine's list of "100 Records That Changed the World." But back in the early 1950s, nobody gave Little Richard a second glance. It was a time in America where the black and white worlds had co-existed separately for nearly two centuries. After "Tutti Frutti," Little Richard began garnering fans from both sides of the civil rights divide. He brought black and white youngsters together on the dance floor and even helped to transform race relations.

Little Richard: The Birth of Rock 'n' Roll "begins by grounding the reader in the fertile soil from which Little Richard's music sprang. In Macon, Georgia, David Kirby interviews relatives and local characters, who knew Little Richard way back when, citing church and family as his true inspiration. His antics began as early as grade school, performing for his classmates every time the teacher would leave the room, connecting to an age-old American show biz tradition of charade and flummery. On the road, Little Richard faced competition from his peers, honing his stage show and making it, too, an act that could not be counterfeited.

Kirby sees Little Richard as a foxy warrior, fighting with skill and cunning to take his place among the greats. In the words of Keith Richards (on hearing "Tutti Frutti" for the first time), "it was as though the world changed suddenly from monochrome to Technicolor." Those sentiments have consistently been echoed by the music-listening world, and the time is ripe for a reassessment of Little Richard's genius and legacy.

'Shadowman is an emotional and powerful read, deeply honest and very personal, and at times made bearable only by Johnny Daukes' ability to find comedy in horrific circumstances. An astonishing piece of work' - David Quantick This is no ordinary autobiography. In 2003 Johnny Daukes acknowledged to himself and confessed to his younger brother that he had been sexually abused as a child. This was by a man in charge of a boys' club in Oxford, run by the Catholic organisation Opus Dei. In 1984 the abuser married their older sister and the couple went on to have ten children. In 1992 Johnny formed the band FIN and they released records, toured extensively and received a great deal of press and national airplay. He also went on to become a successful voice-over artist, screenwriter and director. Later in life Johnny came to realise that these projects his lyrics, sketches and scripts were in fact the documents, or records, of a life that had been corrupted. Shadowman is an extraordinary memoir about childhood abuse and one man's unwitting attempt to examine and understand the past through creativity and art. 'What a unique book Johnny Daukes' Shadowman is. On the surface it's memoir but at its heart it's a book that wrestles with big questions about pain, art, memory and love' - Mat Osman 'Johnny Daukes' compelling memoir navigates both darkness and exhilaration with intensity and painful candour but also joy and wit. This is a book that is often melancholy but never mawkish and at its heart is an affirming appetite for life.' - Stuart Maconie AUTHOR: Johnny Daukes is a writer, musician, film editor, voice artist. He was the singer/songwriter of 90s indie-band FIN, became a comedy writer with sketch shows on BBCR4 (Radio9 & The Scanner), BBC3TV (The Message) and voiced 16 series of C4's Eurotrash. He wrote and directed the 2011 feature film Acts of Godfrey (starring Simon Callow), released solo albums including Promise that was album of the week in The Sunday Times and Rough Trade. His sitcom Cracking Up ran for two series on BBCR4 and he has latterly cut feature films including Finding Your Feet, Fisherman's Friends and Settlers.

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.

Julian Cope's highly acclaimed autobiography and its long-awaited sequel in one extraordinary volume. Contents: * Julian Cope shot to fame with eighties band 'Teardrop Explodes' during the Punk era. Hailed as a visionary by those people who recognise his genius and a madman by those who find him perplexing, he has become a cult figure in the music world. * Head-On has previously only been available via 'Head Heritage' Julian's own company. Repossesed picks up in 1983 where Head On ends and continues up until 1989. Written in Cope's inimitable style it is set to provoke the same kind of media excitement. * When Julian Cope published 'Head On' in 1994 he received astounding reviews: Visceral, ballsy, bitchy, brutal, beautifully written. Book of the year. Made my heart burst. -- The Observer ...an enthralling saga of bitchiness, betrayal and unrepentent debauchery. -- The Sunday Times (Books of the Year) As a glimpse of the essentially pathetic but amusing whims and eccentricities that lie behind the screwed down hairdos of rock musicians, it's equally essential reading. And as a genital -warts-and -all diary of madmen, it is simply supreme entertainment. -- N.M.E Cope never portrays himself as anything less than a self-serving, childish, whinging half-assed failure. He's wrong, of course, but it makes for insanely funny reading. -- Select

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.

The Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Popular Music Volume 7 is one of five volumes within the 'Locations' strand of the series. This volume discusses the popular music of Europe in a historical, geographical, demographical, political, economic, and cultural context. It also examines the genres associated with the region, significant venues such as theatres, dance halls, clubs and bars, and notable performers and other practitioners such as producers, engineers, and technological innovators. The volume consists of over 100 entries written by more than 60 leading popular music scholars and practitioners, including Paolo Prato on Italy and Alf Bjoernberg on Sweden. This and all other volumes of the Encyclopedia are now available through an online version of the Encyclopedia: https://www.bloomsburypopularmusic.com/encyclopedia-work?docid=BPM_reference_EPMOW. A general search function for the whole Encyclopedia is also available on this site. A subscription is required to access individual entries. Please see: https://www.bloomsburypopularmusic.com/for-librarians.

Few styles of popular music have generated as much controversy as progressive rock, a musical genre best remembered today for its gargantuan stage shows, its fascination with epic subject matter drawn from science fiction, mythology, and fantasy literature, and above all for its attempts to combine classical music's sense of space and monumental scope with rock's raw power and energy. Its dazzling virtuosity and spectacular live concerts made it hugely popular with fans during the 1970s, who saw bands such as King Crimson, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Yes, Genesis, Pink Floyd, and Jethro Tull bring a new level of depth and sophistication to rock. On the other hand, critics branded the elaborate concerts of these bands as self- indulgent and materialistic. They viewed progressive rock's classical/rock fusion attempts as elitist, a betrayal of rock's populist origins.
In Rocking the Classics, the first comprehensive study of progressive rock history, Edward Macan draws together cultural theory, musicology, and music criticism, illuminating how progressive rock served as a vital expression of the counterculture of the late 1960s and 1970s. Beginning with a description of the cultural conditions which gave birth to the progressive rock style, he examines how the hippies' fondness for hallucinogens, their contempt for Establishment-approved pop music, and their fascination with the music, art, and literature of high culture contributed to this exciting new genre. Covering a decade of music, Macan traces progressive rock's development from the mid- to late-sixties, when psychedelic bands such as the Moody Blues, Procol Harum, the Nice, and Pink Floyd laid the foundation of the progressive rock style, and proceeds to the emergence of the mature progressive rock style marked by the 1969 release of King Crimson's album In the Court of the Crimson King. This "golden age" reached its artistic and commercial zenith between 1970 and 1975 in the music of bands such as Jethro Tull, Yes, Genesis, ELP, Gentle Giant, Van der Graaf Generator, and Curved Air.
In turn, Macan explores the conventions that govern progressive rock, including the visual dimensions of album cover art and concerts, lyrics and conceptual themes, and the importance of combining music, visual motif, and verbal expression to convey a coherent artistic vision. He examines the cultural history of progressive rock, considering its roots in a bohemian English subculture and its meteoric rise in popularity among a legion of fans in North America and continental Europe. Finally, he addresses issues of critical reception, arguing that the critics' largely negative reaction to progressive rock says far more about their own ambivalence to the legacy of the counterculture than it does about the music itself.
An exciting tour through an era of extravagant, mind-bending, and culturally explosive music, Rocking the Classics sheds new light on the largely misunderstood genre of progressive rock.

The Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Popular Music Volume 6 is one of five volumes within the 'Locations' strand of the series. This volume discusses the popular music of African and the Middle East in a historical, geographical, demographical, political, economic, and cultural context. It also examines the genres associated with the region, significant venues such as theatres, dance halls, clubs and bars, and notable performers and other practitioners such as producers, engineers, and technological innovators. The volume consists of over 100 entries written by more than 60 leading popular music scholars and practitioners, including John Collins on Ghana, Moya Aliya Malamusi on Malawi, and, Motti Regev on Israel. This and all other volumes of the Encyclopedia are now available through an online version of the Encyclopedia: https://www.bloomsburypopularmusic.com/encyclopedia-work?docid=BPM_reference_EPMOW. A general search function for the whole Encyclopedia is also available on this site. A subscription is required to access individual entries. Please see: https://www.bloomsburypopularmusic.com/for-librarians.

Providing a fresh reevaluation of a specific era in popular music, this book contextualizes the era in terms of both radio history and cultural analysis. "Early '70s Radio" focuses on the emergence of commercial music radio "formats", which refer to distinct musical genres aimed toward specific audiences. This formatting revolution took place in a period rife with heated politics, identity anxiety, large-scale disappointments and seemingly insoluble social problems. As industry professionals worked overtime to understand audiences and to generate formats, they also laid the groundwork for market segmentation. Audiences, meanwhile, approached these formats as safe havens wherein they could reimagine and redefine key issues of identity. A fresh and accessible exercise in audience interpretation, "Early '70s Radio" is organized according to the era's five prominent formats and analyzes each of these in relation to their targeted demographics, including Top 40, "Soft rock", Album-oriented rock, Soul and Country. The book closes by making a case for the significance of early '70s formatting in light of commercial radio today.

The International Who's Who in Popular Music 2023 gives biographical information and contact details for some of the most talented and influential artists and individuals from the world of popular music. Now in its twenty-fourth edition, there are over 7,000 biographies charting the careers and achievements of artists in pop, rock, folk, jazz, dance, world, country music and much more. Key Features: - each entry includes full biographical information: principal career details, recordings and compositions, honours and contact information where available - each entrant is given the opportunity to update his or her information - spans the full range of the popular music industry, from rock to jazz and dance to country - provides information on established names as well as up-and-coming artists - a directory section provides details of music festivals, awards, organizations within the industry, and digital music sources - for ease of reference, the book includes an index of music group members. In one accessible volume this title offers users a vast collection of information on the most famous and influential people in the popular music industry.

Essays in this volume explore the popular cultural effects of rock culture on high literary production in Spain in the 1990s.

The Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Popular Music Volume 4 is one of five volumes within the 'Locations' strand of the series. This volume discusses the popular music of North America in a historical, geographical, demographical, political, economic, and cultural context. It also examines the genres associated with the region, significant venues such as theatres, dance halls, clubs and bars, and notable performers and other practitioners such as producers, engineers, and technological innovators. The volume consists of over 90 entries written by more than 60 leading popular music scholars and practitioners, including Richard Peterson on Nashville, Amy Ku'uleialoha Stillman on Hawai'I, and David Laing on Los Angeles. This and all other volumes of the Encyclopedia are now available through an online version of the Encyclopedia: https://www.bloomsburypopularmusic.com/encyclopedia-work?docid=BPM_reference_EPMOW. A general search function for the whole Encyclopedia is also available on this site. A subscription is required to access individual entries. Please see: https://www.bloomsburypopularmusic.com/for-librarians.

The Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Popular Music Volume 3 is one of five volumes within the 'Locations' strand of the series. This volume discusses popular music of the Caribbean and Latin America in a historical, geographical, demographical, political, economic, and cultural context. It also examines the genres associated with the region, significant venues such as theatres, dance halls, clubs and bars, and notable performers and other practitioners such as producers, engineers, and technological innovators. The volume consists of over 90 entries written by more than 60 leading popular music scholars and practitioners, including Jose de Menezes Bastos on Brazil and Peter Manuel on India and the Caribbean Islands. This and all other volumes of the Encyclopedia are now available through an online version of the Encyclopedia: https://www.bloomsburypopularmusic.com/encyclopedia-work?docid=BPM_reference_EPMOW. A general search function for the whole Encyclopedia is also available on this site. A subscription is required to access individual entries. Please see: https://www.bloomsburypopularmusic.com/for-librarians.

From the dankest rat hole basements to flash arenas, here is a wild ride through Rock 'n' Roll's nightmare -moments. Rife with hellfire confessionals straight from the bruised lips and shaky hands of jobbing bands, "Gigs from Hell "strips the mythology and starry-eyed allure of life on the road to its barest essentials-puke, sodomy, rip-offs, come-downs, and the odd stab at glory.

Collected and translated from drunken rock-speak by speedball music writer Sleazegrinder, "Gigs From Hell "is a rare glimpse into what it's really liketo tour, record, and survive in the cutthroat world of the -music industry-no holds barred, full speed ahead, the most cringe-worthy moments fully intact.

Foreword by Vadge Moore, drummer for the Dwarves.

Sting has successfully established himself as one of the most important singer-songwriters in Western popular music over the past twenty years. His affinity for collaborative work and disparate musical styles has pushed his music into an astonishing array of contexts, but no matter what the style or who the collaborator, Sting's voice always remains distinct, and this fact has earned him success amongst a correspondingly broad audience. Songs from his period with The Police, such as "Roxanne," "Don't Stand So Close to Me," "Every Breath You Take," and "King of Pain," helped establish his reputation as a sophisticated craftsman; however, it is in his solo career that he has truly come into his own as a songwriter, and several of his solo works, including "Fragile," "All This Time," "Fields of Gold," "Desert Rose," and "Moon Over Bourbon Street," are modern classics. Aside from his commercial success, Sting is also interesting for the use of recurring themes in his lyrics (such as family relationships, love, war, spirituality, and work) and for his use of jazz and world music to illustrate or work against the "meaning" of a song. Sting's life also sheds light on his music, as his working-class roots in Newcastle, England are never far removed from his international superstardom. Throughout his life, he has been musically open-minded and inquisitive, always seeking out new styles and often incorporating them into his compositions. The Words and Music of Sting subdivides Sting's life and works into rough periods of creative activity and offers a fantastic opportunity to view Sting's many stylistic changes within a coherent general framework. After analyzing Sting's musical output album byalbum and song by song, author Christopher Gable sums up Sting's accomplishments and places him on the continuum of influential singer-songwriters, showing how he differs from and relates to other artists of the same period. A discography, filmography, and bibliography conclude the work.

They began as a little blues band in London, England, in 1967, named, rather bizarrely, after their tight rhythm section: Mick Fleetwood on drums and John McVie on bass. Fleetwood Mac. Fifty years later,they remain one of the biggest bands of all time - a position they have held since 1977 when, with the help of John's wife, Christine McVie, and two virtually unknown American musicians called Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, they released an LP titled Rumours that went on to become the world's best-selling album. That, in itself, is a remarkable story. Now consider the highs and lows, the successes and failures, the personal turmoil, tragedy and heartbreak through which this band has journeyed over the last 50 years ... and the story of Fleetwood Mac becomes one of pure drama. The greatest ever rock 'n' roll soap opera. In this independent, lavishly illustrated publication, music writer and journalist Pete Chrisp reveals the true story of how, over the last 50 years, despite all of those confrontations, pinnacles and all-time lows ... the chain of Fleetwood Mac remains unbroken. Now fully updated to include features on Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac and all the musicans and members that have made the band one of the ebst selling of all time.

In 1968, rock promoter Bill Graham launched the Fillmore East in New York City and the Fillmore West in San Francisco, changing music forever. For three years, every major rock band played the Fillmores, performing legendary shows: Jimi Hendrix, the Grateful Dead, Santana, Jefferson Airplane, Led Zeppelin, Cream, the Allman Brothers, and many more. Author John Glatt tells the story of the Fillmores through the lives of Bill Graham, Janis Joplin, Grace Slick, Carlos Santana, and an all-star supporting cast. Joplin opened the Fillmore East and delivered some of her greatest performances there and at its San Francisco twin. Carlos Santana grew up as a performer at the Fillmore West after being discovered by Graham on audition night. Always unpredicatable, Grace Slick's electrifying Jefferson Airplane was the de facto resident band at both Fillmores. Chronicling the East and West Coast cultures of the late '60s and early '70s-New York City with its speed, heroin, and the Velvet Underground versus San Francisco with the LSD-drenched Summer of Love-Glatt reveals how Graham the made it all possible . . . that is, until August 1969 when Woodstock changed everything and musicians suddenly realized their power. But why did Bill Graham shutter both Fillmores within weeks of each other in 1971, during the height of their popularity? Live at the Fillmore East and West reveals how Graham's claim that "The flowers wilted and the scene changed," was not quite the whole story.

Beast: John Bonham and the Rise of Led Zeppelin is the first-ever biography of the iconic John Bonham, considered by many to be one of the greatest (if not THE greatest) rock drummer of all time. Bonham first learned to play the drums at the age of five, and despite never taking formal lessons, began drumming for local bands immediately upon graduating from secondary school. By the late 1960s, Bonham was looking for a more solid gig in order to provide his growing family with a more regular income. Meanwhile, following the dissolution of the popular blues rock band The Yardbirds, lead guitarist Jimmy Page sought the company of new bandmates to help him record an album and tour Scandinavia as the New Yardbirds. A few months later, Bonham was recruited to join the band who would eventually become known as Led Zeppelin-and before the year was out, Bonham and his three bandmates would become the richest rock band in the world. In their first year, Led Zeppelin released two albums and completed four US and four UK concert tours. As their popularity exploded, they moved from ballrooms and smaller clubs to larger auditoriums, and eventually started selling out full arenas. Throughout the 1970s, Led Zeppelin reached new heights of commercial and critical success, making them one of the most influential groups of the era, both in musical style and in their approach towards the workings of the entertainment industry. They added extravagant lasers, light shows, and mirror balls to their performances; wore flamboyant and often glittering outfits; traveled in a private jet airliner and rented out entire sections of hotels; and soon become the subject of frequently repeated stories of debauchery and destruction while on tour. In 1977, the group performed what would be their final live appearance in the US, following months of rising fervor and rioting from their fandom. And in September of 1980, Bonham-plagued by alcoholism, anxiety, and the after-effects of years of excess-was found dead by his bandmates. To this day, Bonham is posthumously described as one of the most important, well-known, and influential drummers in rock, topping best of lists describing him as an inimitable, all-time great. As Adam Budofsky, managing editor of Modern Drummer, explained, "If the king of rock 'n' roll was Elvis Presley, then the king of rock drumming was certainly John Bonham."