Top music writer Steve Turner traces the biography of 'Amazing Grace', the world's most recorded song. Versions of this hymn have been performed by artists as diverse as Elvis Presley, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Johnny Cash, Rod Stewart and Destiny's Child. The book begins with the dramatic story of John Newton and his participation in the African slave trade through to his writing of 'Amazing Grace' and his campaigning against slavery. The second part of the book - picking up the thread in the years following Newton's death - tells the story of the song itself as it has spread and developed over the past 280 years and its recordings by artists from a wide variety of musical backgrounds. This includes the aftermath of September 11th when the hymn became an international anthem of hope and solidarity.

Ten silly Santas At the north North Pole One Santa cracked the ice And fell down through a hole. Find out what happened to the nine other silly Santas in this brand-new, fun-filled collection of Christmas poems for children. Written by one of the nation's favourite children's poets, Ten Silly Santas captures both the joy and the angst of the Christmas season - making you laugh out loud while also prompting you to quietly reflect on the mystery that lies at the heart of it all.

Whacky poems that take a roller-coaster ride from the crazy corners of dreams to the big questions of life. Steve Turners first collection of poetry for children is regularly in the best-seller lists. The poems make an instant impact on children, and the themes and ideas in them give lots of food for thought.

Can Christian artists tough it out in the real world? Or can Christian art only survive when unchallenged, in the cordoned off enclave of the Christian subculture? If our music, writing, theatre, painting, artistic expression is insipid and uninspiring, how great is the God who allows it to represent him? How exciting is the life that seems to prefer drabness to colour, shallowness to complexity, security to risk? The world of the arts and media is where ideas are rehearsed and values are tested. And yet the Christian presence in that world is insignificant, and the church has not always been supportive. Are we fearful of opening ourselves to its influence, or are Christian artists too often swallowed up by the world where they seek to be salt and light? Steve Turner urges us to develop ways of being out there, of thinking rigorously but christianly, of finding a voice, of achieving an integrity in our artistic expression while maintaining a true spiritual integrity. Only then can our art naturally and inevitably speak of the hope that we have.

A down-and-dirty chronicle of the birth and evolution of the Seattle grunge scene—from amateur skate parks and underground hardcore clubs to worldwide phenomenon—as told by one of its founding fathers and lead guitarist of legendary alternative rock band, Mudhoney. In the late 80s and early 90s, Steve Turned and his friends—Seattle skate punks, hardcore kids, and assorted misfits—started forming bands in each other’s basements and accidentally created a unique sound that spread far beyond their once-sleepy city. Mud Ride offers an inside look at the tight-knit grunge scene, the musical influences and experiments that shaped the grunge sound, and the story of Turner's bands, Green River and Mudhoney, which went from underground flophouse shows to selling out stadiums with Nirvana and Pearl Jam. Including stories about the key moments, musicians, and albums from grunge's beginnings to its come-down from the highs of global success and stardom, this is the first account of the musical phenomenon that took over the world from someone who was there for it all. Written by Steve Turner, lead guitarist of Mudhoney, a foundational grunge band that inspired musical icons from Kurt Cobain to Sonic Youth, Mud Ride features a foreword by Pearl Jam's Stone Gossard and never-before-seen photographs and grunge memorabilia throughout. Take a seat and ride through the messy and muddy grunge scene that grew from the basements of the Northwest and went on to circle the globe.

As always, Steve Turner's poems present a fresh and quirky view on life. Many of the poems in this collection are about childhood: school and holidays, dreams and monsters, food, friends... Witty cartoons reflect the mood of the poems. Steve Turner is the award-winning author of 'The Day I Fell Down the Toilet'

Whacky poems that take a roller-coaster ride from the crazy corners of dreams to the big questions of life. Steve Turners first collection of poetry for children is regularly in the best-seller lists. The poems make an instant impact on children, and the themes and ideas in them give lots of food for thought.

A riveting look at the transformative year in the lives and careers of the legendary group whose groundbreaking legacy would forever change music and popular culture. They started off as hysteria-inducing pop stars playing to audiences of screaming teenage fans and ended up as musical sages considered responsible for ushering in a new era. The year that changed everything for the Beatles was 1966-the year of their last concert and their first album, Revolver, that was created to be listened to rather than performed. This was the year the Beatles risked their popularity by retiring from live performances, recording songs that explored alternative states of consciousness, experimenting with avant-garde ideas, and speaking their minds on issues of politics, war, and religion. It was the year their records were burned in America after John's explosive claim that the group was "more popular than Jesus," the year they were hounded out of the Philippines for "snubbing" its First Lady, the year John met Yoko Ono, and the year Paul conceived the idea for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. On the fiftieth anniversary of this seminal year, music journalist and Beatles expert Steve Turner slows down the action to investigate in detail the enormous changes that took place in the Beatles' lives and work during 1966. He looks at the historical events that had an impact on the group, the music they made that in turn profoundly affected the culture around them, and the vision that allowed four young men from Liverpool to transform popular music and serve as pioneers for artists from Coldplay to David Bowie, Jay-Z to U2. By talking to those close to the group and by drawing on his past interviews with key figures such as George Martin, Timothy Leary, and Ravi Shankar-and the Beatles themselves-Turner gives us the compelling, definitive account of the twelve months that contained everything the Beatles had been and anticipated everything they would still become.

In this collection - Steve's fifth children's poetry book - he returns to much of the word play and wit of the best-selling The Day I Fell Down the Toilet. Using the alphabet as a framework he has written three poems for each letter (including X and Z!). This highly entertaining book will delight all Turner fans and teachers will appreciate the varied poetry forms (shape, limerick, nonsense, free, rhyming etc). The fun, witty poems - often written from a thought-provoking point of view - cover such diverse subjects as aardvarks, cars, sausages, love and yo-yos, so there's sure to be something to interest both boys and girls.

In The Complete Beatles Songs, Steve Turner shatters many well-worn myths and adds a new dimension to the Fab Four's rich legacy. This beautifully packaged book examines every Beatles-penned song and the inspiration behind them all; with fresh research and packed with new information, there are revelations aplenty. The book covers the Fab Four's entire output chapter by chapter and includes a complete set of printed lyrics to accompany each song, used with exclusive permission from the band's music publishers. Who was 'just seventeen' and made Paul's heart go 'boom'? Who was 'Lady Madonna'? Was there really an Eleanor Rigby? What inspired 'Happiness is a Warm Gun'? Why was Paul the 'walrus' and what inspired the lyrics to Ringo's 'Octopus's Garden'?

Whilst recovering from his addiction to alcohol and valium, Steve began to put his thoughts and feelings into writing, encouraged by "Ingrebourne," the psychotherapy centre at his disposal. Drama, arts, literature, sports and group therapy were all available as a means to rediscover himself and accept who he really was. For Steve and other residents of the centre it was the start of a very deep and painful journey of discovery. After spending nearly sixteen months at Ingrebourne Steve returned to his normal life and family ( who had thankfully stood by him ) still capturing his emotions, thoughts and experiences with the written word. Becoming a more giving person he was able to encourage and guide his children, be grateful that his sensitivity enabled him to be a creative and loving human being. Steve also discovered his spirituality ( though not in a way he would have imagined ) which allowed him to search deeper into his own psyche Having collected this wealth of material the book became inevitable, as with his words, Steve felt a need to ignite a spark inside those suffering from this emotionally crippling illness, and to find the courage to embark on their own inner journey, because someone once gave him that spark, making him realise that he wasn't so alone with this desperately lonely malaise. Now take that journey with Steve through his mind and recovery, as he tells it with inspirational poetry and prose.

Adams County, Washington, is home to farmlands on the Columbia Plateau that produce more crops than might be expected of its semiarid soils. But while unique in its geography and history, it also faces many of the problems confronting farmers throughout rural America.

Seasoned journalist Steve Turner, having spent time in Adams County as a young harvest hand, returned to the region to portray farm life and history in a land where change is a subtle but powerful constant. "Amber Waves and Undertow" interweaves family narratives, historical episodes, and Turner's own experiences to illuminate the transformation of rural America from the nineteenth to the twenty-first century.

Whether distilling the lore of wheat and potato agriculture or describing action at a combine demolition derby, Turner celebrates both the usual and the unusual among the local residents. He blends stories of pioneer settlers with vignettes of present-day life, introducing readers to the characters--the hardworking and the eccentric, the old-timers and the Latino newcomers--who populate this corner of America.

In the mode of John McPhee and Wendell Berry, Turner's lyrical prose conveys his affection for both the land and its inhabitants. "Amber Waves and Undertow" is a thoughtful depiction of an exceptional place that puts the difficulties of individual farmers in national and global contexts, showing us that only by understanding the past of rural America can we confront its future challenges.

This volume provides a child's-eye view of the changing scenes and events through the course of a day and night. The poems follow the framework of the 24 hour clock and feature some predictable and not so predictable subjects.

Behind our most beloved hymn is a fascinating story spanning continents, cultures, and centuries. Inspired by the way "Amazing Grace" continues to change and grow in popularity, acclaimed music writer Steve Turner embarks on a journey to trace the life of the hymn, from Olney, England, where it was written by former slave trader John Newton, to tiny Plantain Island off the coast of Africa, where Newton was held captive for almost a year, to the Kentucky-Tennessee border and other parts of the South, where the hymn first began to spread.

Newton had been rescued from Africa by a merchant ship when, during an eleven-hour storm on the Atlantic, he converted to Christianity. Years later, as a minister, he wrote the hymn for use among his congregation. Through the nineteenth century, "Amazing Grace" appeared in more and more hymn books, and in the twentieth century it rose to a gospel and folk standard before exploding into pop music. It has been recorded by artists as varied as Elvis Presley, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Tiny Tim, Al Green, Johnny Cash, Rod Stewart, Chet Baker, and Destiny's Child. Amazing Grace closely examines this modern history of the hymn through personal interviews with recording artists.

From John Newton's incredible life story to the hymn's role in American spirituality and culture, Amazing Grace is an illuminating, thorough, and unprecedented musical history.