The official illustrated history of Blue Note, the most influential and important brand in jazz. Blue Note is not only known as the purveyor of extraordinary jazz but is also famous as an arbiter of cool. The superb photography of co-founder Francis Wolff and the cover designs of Reid Miles were integral to the label's success and this highly illustrated publication - featuring the very best photographs, covers and ephemera from the archives, including never-before-published material - commemorates Blue Note's momentous contribution to jazz, to art and design, and to the music business. Tracing the evolution of jazz from the boogie-woogie and swing of the 1930s, through bebop, funk and fusion, to the eclectic mix Blue Note releases today, the book also narrates a complex social history from the persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany to the developments in music and technology in the late 20th century. Celebrating over eight decades of extraordinary music, this book demonstrates how Blue Note has stayed true to its founders' commitment to 'Uncompromising Expression'.

Be there again! The Christmas present that brings back the sixties. From their first TV appearance on Thank Your Lucky Stars!, buttoned up in matching hounds-tooth suits at manager Andrew Loog Oldham's insistence, to the louche rockers who appeared on stage for the televised free concert in London's Hyde Park in 1969, this book looks back at their career-defining broadcasts, remembering the music, the clothes, the fans, the rivals and friends, and the world at large around them, divided by generation between broad-sheet moral panic and hysterical teen riots. Featuring previously unseen facsimile documents from the BBC and commercial TV and radio archives and many stunning unseen images, this is history as it happened, in context, immediate and vivid, offering new insights and a fresh unexplored perspective on the story of one of the greatest great rock 'n' roll bands the world has ever seen.

reciter ri'saite(r) n. a slim yet comprehensive tome pertaining to a particular subject. A cornucopia of the vital and the inconsequential containing stories and anecdotes, facts and lists in an un-put-downable melange of the trivial and the profound. Suitable for whiling away the odd spare hour or plundering as the source material for an after-dinner speaking engagement, to enhance your reputation as a raconteur or simply to impress them down the pub. Mike Read's unrivalled knowledge of the world's greatest pop music is brought together in this cornucopia of anecdotes, amazing tales and extraordinary facts. The former Radio 1 DJ and 'I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here' contestant looks at the strange, unexpected and sometimes alarming side of the music business. Enquire within to find out which top-selling magazine predicted a flop for George Michael's Faith, why Black Sabbath through it would be a great idea to incorporate a model of Stonehenge and a dwarf in their stage show, and who Keith Richards described as an 'overrated midget'.

Recounts the literary critic's final years at his home in upstate New York, and his views on literature, politics, and life in general.