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This book from John Van der Kiste, the eminent historian of
European royalty, is an account of Queen Victoria's personal and
political relationships with the empires, or to be more exact, the
Kings and Queens, Emperors, Empresses and their families of France,
Germany, Austria and Russia. Victoria had close connections with
the royal houses of Germany long before the King of Prussia became
the German Emperor in 1871, and with the exiled former Emperor and
Empress of the French and their son, the Prince Imperial, after the
fall of the French Empire in 1870. Van der Kiste deftly weaves
together the various strands of the relationships-including the
close family marriage ties-to provide a fascinating picture of
European royalty in the last two thirds of the nineteenth century.
David Jacobs, Alan Freeman, John Peel, Tommy Vance and Roger Scott
were in their different ways five of the greatest pioneering
British disc jockeys of the last sixty years. All were accomplished
media personalities in their own right, and all were passionate and
well-informed about the music they presented on radio and sometimes
television. Jacobs, a much-respected broadcaster for over sixty
years, was the face of 'Juke Box Jury' and the maestro of easy
listening and songs from the shows; 'Fluff' Freeman the pop-picker,
who introduced the Top 20 rundown, later championing heavy and
progressive rock, followed by opera and the classics; Peel revelled
in the alternative music scene generally shunned by most daytime
presenters; Vance, 'the Music Vendor' the friend and lover of hard
rock and New Wave of British Heavy Metal; and Scott an eclectic mix
of genres in a career which sadly proved all too short. This book
examines the lives and careers of each.
ELO (The Electric Light Orchestra) were devised by Roy Wood and
Jeff Lynne of The Move as a fusion of rock and contemporary
classical-style music, combining orchestral instruments, guitars,
keyboards and drums in the same line-up. Their aim was to continue
from where The Beatles' 'I Am The Walrus' left off. After the
release of their debut eponymous album in 1971 and a few live dates
at home and in Europe, it became increasingly apparent that both
leaders' objectives were incompatible. Wood left Lynne in charge of
the group to refine their sound, and their ambitious progressive
rock epics gradually giving way to a more accessible style. With
keyboard player Richard Tandy and drummer Bev Bevan the only other
constant members in an ever-changing line-up, by the end of the
decade the group were rarely out of the British and American
charts. After disbanding in 1986, ELO Part II (minus Lynne)
returned for two albums, but Lynne reclaimed the name with an album
in 2001 and a long-awaited reappearance as Jeff Lynne's ELO in
2014. This book provides a comprehensive examination of all the
group's studio albums.
Of Queen Victoria's four sons, the eldest married a Danish
princess, one a Russian Grand Duchess, and the other two princesses
of German royal houses. The first to join the family of the
Grandmama of Europe' was Alexandra, eldest daughter of the prince
about to become King Christian IX of Denmark. Charming, ever
sympathetic and widely considered one of the most attractive royal
women of her time, she was prematurely deaf and suffered from a
limp which was made fashionable by court ladies due to her
popularity. Alexandra proved an ideal wife for the Prince of Wales,
later King Edward VII. Grand Duchess Marie, daughter of Tsar
Alexander II of Russia and wife of Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh and
later Saxe-Coburg Gotha, was cultured and intelligent, but dowdy,
haughty and, convinced of the Romanovs' superiority, resented
having to give precedence at court to her in-laws. Louise of
Prussia, a niece of William I, German Emperor, had the good fortune
to escape from a miserable family life in Berlin and marry Arthur,
Duke of Connaught, a dedicated army officer who was always the
Queen's favourite among her children. Finally, Helen of
Waldeck-Pyrmont, sister of Emma, Queen Consort of the Netherlands,
became the wife of the cultured Leopold, Duke of Albany, but he was
haemophiliac and their marriage was destined to be the briefest of
all, cut short by his sudden death less than three years later. All
four were very different personalities, proved themselves to be
supportive wives, mothers and daughters-in-law in their own way,
and dedicated workers for charity at home and abroad. Based partly
on previously unpublished material from the Royal Archives at
Windsor and Madrid, and the Leonie Leslie Papers, University of
Chicago, this is the first book to study all four as a family
group.
Throughout most of the twelve years between their formation and
disbanding after the death of drummer John Bonham, Led Zeppelin
were regarded as arguably the most influential group in popular
music since The Beatles. While seen as pioneers of British heavy
rock, their sound also embraced blues, psychedelia and folk music.
Earlier in his career Jimmy Page had been one of the most highly
sought-after session guitarists, while John Paul Jones was a
versatile multi-instrumentalist and experienced arranger, and
Robert Plant was one of the most individual vocalists of the era. A
deal signed with Atlantic Records allowed them total musical
control, and a deliberate policy of not allowing any tracks to be
released as singles in Britain helped to ensure maximum demand for
their albums as well as huge ticket sales every time they toured.
Initially unpopular with critics, they were much loved by fans on
both sides of the Atlantic and indeed throughout much of the world.
This book provides a thorough examination of each track on all the
group's studio albums, additional songs on official live releases
and compilations of BBC sessions material.
Kate Bush began her career in 1978 at the age of 19 with the single
'Wuthering Heights', inspired by a film adaptation of the Emily
Bronte novel, the first No. 1 UK single to be written and sung by a
female artist, and the accompanying album 'The Kick Inside', both
of which established her as a highly individual talent. She has
always preferred the recording studio with live performances and
tours having been few and far between, and all her albums have been
very successful at home and abroad, her third, 'Never For Ever'
(1980), being the first by a female artist to enter the British
chart at No. 1. Her eclectic, experimental musical style with its
often literary and unconventional lyrical themes has defied easy
categorisation, and earned the lasting admiration of fans, fellow
performers and music critics alike, while an eclectic roster of
guest artists including Eric Clapton, Elton John, Prince and
Stephen Fry have appeared on her work,. This book provides a
thorough examination of the songs on all her singles, albums, and
occasional recorded collaborations with other artists.
Prince Alfred, who was created Duke of Edinburgh in 1866 and became
Duke of Saxe-Coburg Gotha in 1893, was the second son of Queen
Victoria and Prince Albert. A patron of the arts, pioneer
philatelist and amateur violinist, he joined the Royal Navy as a
boy and rose to become Admiral of the Fleet. At the age of 18 he
was elected King of Greece by overwhelming popular vote in a
plebiscite, although political agreements between the Great Powers
of Europe prevented him from accepting the vacant crown. The most
widely travelled member of his family, he had visited all five
continents by the age of 27, and while on a tour of Australia in
1868 he narrowly escaped assassination at the hands of a Fenian
sympathiser. Married to Grand Duchess Marie of Russia, the only
surviving daughter of Tsar Alexander II, at one stage he had to
face the possibility that he might be required to fight on behalf
of the British empire against that of his father-in-law. His last
years were overshadowed by marital difficulties, alcoholism and
ill-health, and the suicide of his only son and heir.
This latest book from John Van der Kiste, the eminent historian of
European royalty, is an account of Queen Victoria's personal and
political relationships with the empires, or to be more exact, the
Kings and Queens, Emperors, Empresses and their families of France,
Germany, Austria and Russia. Victoria had close connections with
the royal houses of Germany long before the King of Prussia became
the German Emperor in 1871, and with the exiled former Emperor and
Empress of the French and their son, the Prince Imperial, after the
fall of the French Empire in 1870. Van der Kiste deftly weaves
together the various strands of the relationships-including the
close family marriage ties-to provide a fascinating picture of
European royalty in the last two thirds of the nineteenth century.
In 1806, the Holy Roman Empire ceased to exist when Francis II
became Emperor of Austria. 112 years later, the Habsburg empire
collapsed after the First World War after surviving many
tribulations. During the year of revolutions in 1848 the much-loved
but incompetent Emperor Ferdinand had abdicated in favour of his
young nephew Francis Joseph. His long reign was marked by defeat in
several wars, family tragedies and scandals including the execution
of his brother Maximilian, Emperor of Mexico, the suicide of his
son Crown Prince Rudolf, and the assassinations of his wife Empress
Elizabeth, and nephew Francis Ferdinand. He was succeeded in 1916
by the succession of his great-nephew Charles, who abdicated in
1918 and died after two unsuccessful attempts to regain the throne
of Hungary, but his eldest son Otto remained head of the family and
Member of the European Parliament for twenty years. This book looks
at the final chapter of the Habsburgs, from the Napoleonic era to
the age of the dictators and post-war Europe.
Passionate about music from childhood and much-respected as a
teenage guitarist in his native Birmingham, Jeff Lynne rose through
the ranks of various semi-professional local groups to become the
frontman of the critically acclaimed Idle Race in the late '60s.
From there he joined the ever-popular Move, then helped form the
groundbreaking Electric Light Orchestra. After co-founder Roy Wood
left in 1972, Lynne turned what had been a struggling rock and
classical fusion into one of Britain's most consistently successful
and popular acts. Following a run of hit singles, albums, and
sell-out concerts throughout the world, he laid the group to rest
in 1986 and combined a solo career as an artist and producer with
membership of the ultimate supergroup, the Traveling Wilburys. His
production credits include Roy Orbison, Tom Petty, Del Shannon,
George Harrison, and even the Beatles on their two final singles in
the mid-'90s. Jeff Lynne: The Electric Light Orchestra, Before and
After is the first-ever biography of one of the most prolific and
highly regarded performers of the last fifty years.Rich in
backstage anecdotes of overheated orchestras, frontmen rivalries,
tour mishaps, cross-group partnerships, unlikely collaborations,
and self-imposed exile from the stage in the quest for inspiration,
this book will leave fans and general readers delighted and
inspired by a career at the epicentre of twentieth-century rock.
Born in Birmingham, Steve Winwood was already a semi-professional
musician, playing keyboards and guitar, while still at school. As
lead vocalist with The Spencer Davis Group, he had had two
chart-topping singles by the time he was aged eighteen. In 1967 he
formed Traffic, long noted as one of the major British psychedelic
groups whose music also borrowed from jazz and folk influences as
well as rock and pop. A brief hiatus saw him join forces with Eric
Clapton in the short-lived Blind Faith, thereafter returning to
Traffic until they disbanded in 1974 (and briefly reformed twenty
years later). Throughout his subsequent solo career, he has been
much respected on both sides of the Atlantic as a vocalist,
all-round musician and regular collaborator with or session player
for other artists. This is the first biography for nearly thirty
years.
Free were formed in 1968 towards the end of the British blues boom.
After two critically acclaimed albums, the release of 'All Right
Now' and the album Fire and Water in 1970 brought them major
success. Musical and personal differences took their toll and they
split after the comparative failure of their next album and single.
After starting new bands that never took off they reformed, but
following further dissension and guitarist Paul Kossoff's drug
problems they disbanded for good in 1973. Vocalist Paul Rodgers and
drummer Simon Kirke then formed Bad Company, who became one of the
hottest bands on both sides of the Atlantic, maintaining a stable
line-up with ex-Mott The Hoople guitarist Mick Ralphs and ex-King
Crimson bassist Boz Burrell for the rest of the decade. Each member
later pursued outside ventures, although they regrouped at
intervals, recruiting new members after Ralphs' retirement and
Burrell's death. This book examines both bands' work and career
from 1968 to 1980, plus the Kossoff, Kirke, Tetsu, Rabbit album,
Kossoff's solo work and Back Street Crawler, with a chapter on
their later history, notably Rodgers' three years with Queen.
When Hereford group Silence teamed up with songwriter Ian Hunter in
1969 to form a group that aimed to be a cross between Bob Dylan,
the Rolling Stones and Procol Harum, they rapidly became one of
Britain's most popular live acts, but a major hit single and album
initially proved elusive. In 1972, disillusioned and exhausted,
they split before being encouraged to reform by David Bowie and
finding immediate chart success with a song he gave them, 'All the
Young Dudes'. After two years of hits and internal conflicts Ian
left and enjoyed a chequered solo career that has lasted to this
day, initially in partnership with guitarist Mick Ronson until his
death in 1993. The rest of the group subsequently shortened their
name to Mott and then British Lions, the latter a collaboration
with former Medicine Head front man John Fiddler, although they
failed to re-establish themselves despite several solid months of
touring on both sides of the Atlantic. As Ian wrote, 'Rock'n'roll's
a loser's game'. They won, they lost, but during the 1970s released
some inspired, highly individual music, that went on to inspire and
be championed by several other acts, notably Queen, the Clash and
Def Leppard.
Kaiser Friedrich III and his consort Victoria, Princess Royal of
Great Britain, had six children who lived to maturity, the eldest
being Kaiser Wilhelm II. The three younger sisters, Victoria,
Sophie and Margaret, were particularly supportive of their mother
during her widowhood and remained close throughout their lives.
Like their parents, they would know much sorrow as adults.
Victoria's romance with Alexander of Battenberg, Prince of
Bulgaria, was thwarted by Bismarck for political reasons and she
married twice, firstly to a minor German prince and secondly to a
young Russian adventurer who left her to die in poverty. Sophie
married the future King Constantine of Greece, whose ill-starred
reign saw them forced to leave their throne not once but twice,
both dying in exile. Margaret married a prince of Hesse-Cassel,
both became members of the Nazi party, and she lived to see her
family and house become victims of theft on a major scale at the
hands of occupying forces at the end of the Second World War. Using
previously unpublished sources, this is the first biography to tell
the lives of all three princesses.
The Eagles began as a backing group for Linda Ronstadt, then
realised they had the potential to strike out on their own. All
being accomplished vocalists, musicians and songwriters, they
jointly set themselves the goal of 'number one singles and albums,
great music, and a lot of money'. With guitarist Glenn Frey and
drummer Don Henley as the combined driving force, by 1975, they had
topped the singles and album charts at home, found major success in
Britain and across the world, and established themselves as
America's foremost band. The global success of Their Greatest Hits
1971-1975 and Hotel California, to this day the first and third
best-selling albums in America of all time, proved impossible to
surpass, and after line-up changes, they disbanded in 1980. A
'resumption' in 1994 was cemented with the live/studio album Hell
Freezes Over and their first studio album for 28 years, Long Road
out of Eden, followed in 2007. After Frey's death in 2016, they
recruited new members, with a live schedule lasting into the 2020s
post-pandemic era. This book recounts the rise, fall and rise
again, with a detailed look at every track on each studio and live
album, and an overview of original songs and cover versions
recorded but never officially released.
Having moved from jazz, Blues and R'n'B to out-and-out pop in his
various 1960s bands, keyboard player Manfred Mann went back to the
drawing board in 1971 with a new quartet, Manfred Mann's Earth
Band, and the intention of focusing on progressive rock. With a
repertoire that leant partly on radical rearrangements of songs by
Bob Dylan and then Bruce Springsteen, largely instrumental epics
that borrowed from Gustav Holst's The Planets suite, and
improvisations based around the interplay between Manfred's
newly-acquired moog synthesiser and the lead guitar of Mick Rogers,
who left in 1975 but later returned, they soon built up a
formidable live reputation throughout much of Europe (particularly
in Germany) and America. Apart from the Holst-inspired
'Joybringer', a top ten hit in 1973, British success was slow in
coming, until a cover version of Springsteen's 'Blinded by the
Light' and its parent album The Roaring Silence three years later
took their status to a new level on both sides of the Atlantic.
This book examines the nine albums, fluctuating fortunes and
various line-up changes from what was to be their best and most
prolific decade.
1970 was a year of change in pop and rock music, with divisions
between both becoming ever more blurred. More
ambitiously-constructed epics, heavy rock numbers and contemporary
folk songs competed with mainstream and easy listening fare on Top
of the Pops and in the Top 30 singles, while progressive and
jazz-rock took their bow in the album charts. Some acts disbanded,
notably The Beatles, all of whom relished their freedom and
launched solo careers, and Simon & Garfunkel, or else parted
company and partially regrouped under new names. Festivals came
into their own, particularly in Britain where the first Glastonbury
event was launched, as did live albums, notably from The Rolling
Stones and The Who, partly to combat the market in bootleg
recordings; several singer-songwriters found major acceptance; the
death of Jimi Hendrix was widely mourned; and the likes of Marc
Bolan, Elton John, Rod Stewart (as a soloist, and as front man of
The Faces), Lindisfarne and Hot Chocolate achieved their initial
successes. By the end of the year, many a critic and music fan
could look back on a 12-month period in which their landscape had
altered almost beyond recognition. This is the story of that year
and the key albums that helped define it.
In February 1685, James II succeeded his brother Charles II on the
English throne. His popularity had soared and fallen during his
brother's reign. During a period of less than forty years that had
seen the execution of their father, Charles I, the proclamation of
a republic, and restoration of the monarchy a few years later,
nothing could be taken for granted, but the omens for a reign of
stability seemed good. However, James was a deeply flawed character
who lacked his brother's pragmatism. Obstinate, arrogant,
alternately pious and debauched, he was little liked by most of
those who knew him well. Within three years, his efforts to promote
and advance Catholicism in a nation that had predominantly embraced
the Protestant faith had alienated and exhausted the patience of
his subjects, the aristocracy and the church, who jointly appealed
to William, Prince of Orange, his nephew and son-in-law, to
intervene and protect English liberties. James fled his kingdom,
and the 'Glorious Revolution', was swiftly achieved largely without
bloodshed. This book examines how the forces of Anglicanism and
Jacobitism collided, how a monarch came to forfeit so much goodwill
so quickly, and through his own folly aided the effortless victory
of the man and his wife, William and Mary (James's own daughter),
who replaced him on the throne and at last brought a period of calm
to a country that had only recently endured civil war and years of
upheaval.
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