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Books : Entertainment : Music : Composers & Musicians
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*Includes a Suggested Playlist of 20 of Lennon's Greatest Songs.
*Includes detailed descriptions of the origins and recording of some of Lennon's timeless classics, including Tomorrow Never Knows, Strawberry Fields Forever, and A Day in the Life.
*Includes pictures of Lennon and important people, places, and events in his life.
*Includes a Bibliography for further reading.
In 1964, girls all across the United States filled venues, almost literally screamed their heads off, and fainted en masse. Almost from the second they played the first note, The Beatles would be hit with the resounding screams, which made it impossible for them to even hear themselves sing. When they made their American debut on The Ed Sullivan Show in early 1964, they were greeted by young fans who whipped themselves up into such a frenzy that some of them fainted. Beatlemania had struck North America, creating a musical and pop culture phenomenon unlike anything the world had ever seen.
At the center of it all was John Lennon, the man who founded The Beatles and was instrumental in creating the soundtrack of the 1960s, while producing some of the world’s most timeless classics. Together with Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, Lennon became one of the world’s most famous men, and he was also one of the world’s most interesting and outspoken men, a complex figure who survived a turbulent upbringing, addictions to drugs, and unstable relationships, only to be tragically killed just as he was settling into a serene, comfortable life. His loss is still widely felt today like it was in December 1980, as people remain in awe of his music and continue to grapple with the contradictory nature of his life and work, which at any given moment could oscillate from his notoriously acerbic wit to the endless optimism of Imagine.
The incredible highs and lows of Lennon’s life, as well as his untimely death, are all a well known narrative across the universe, but what made one of the world’s most revered musicians and peace activists tick? Legends of Music: The Life and Legacy of John Lennon details Lennon’s life and career while analyzing his lasting legacy, but it also humanizes the rebellious hellion who struggled in school, did well with women, and ultimately became one of rock’s most enduring icons. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events in his life, you will learn about John Lennon like you never have before, in no time at all.
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Did you know that Frank Sinatra had an unknown daughter? A girl whose true identity was hidden for 53 years?
Under My Skin is the compelling story of that girl, Julie Sinatra, in her own words. It reveals a woman's search for identity, the unraveling of a Hollywood mystery, and the flowering a daughter's love.
Includes over 50 photos.
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"With her large aqua-coloured eyes, there's no denying Frank Sinatra's alleged lovechild bears a striking resemblance to him. But Julie Sinatra didn't find out that Ol' Blue Eyes was her father until she was well into middle age.... She has now released her autobiography, Under My Skin, as an e-book in honour of her father's birthday [December 12, 2011]." --The Daily Mail (London)
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Carole King takes us from her early beginnings in Brooklyn, to her remarkable success as one of the world's most acclaimed songwriting and performing talents of all time. A NATURAL WOMAN chronicles King's extraordinary life, drawing readers into her musical world, including her phenomenally successful #1 album Tapestry, and into her journey as a performer, mother, wife and present-day activist. Deeply personal, King's long-awaited memoir offers readers a front-row seat to the woman behind the legend. The book will include dozens of photos from King's childhood, her own family, and behind-the-scenes images from her performances.
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Freestyle music is the new sound of the City, and recording artist Solo Cortes, is the voice. Until New York's Finest pays him a visit during the most important performance of his life...
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The son of a classical pianist straight out of the Bronx of old Archie comics, Steven Tyler was born to be a rock star. Weaned on Cole Porter, Nat King Cole, Mick—and his beloved Janis Joplin—Tyler began tearing up the streets and the stage as a teenager before finally meeting his "mutant twin" and legendary partner Joe Perry. In this addictively readable memoir, told in the playful, poetic voice that is uniquely his own, Tyler unabashedly recounts the meteoric rise, fall, and rise of Aerosmith over the last three decades and riffs on the music that gives it all meaning.
Tyler tells what it's like to be a living legend and the frontman of one of the world's most revered and infamous bands—the debauchery, the money, the notoriety, the fights, the motels and hotels, the elevators, limos, buses and jets, the rehab. He reveals the spiritual side that "gets lost behind the stereotype of the Sex Guy, the Drug Guy, the Demon of Screamin', the Terror of the Tropicana." And he talks about his epic romantic life and his relationship with his four children. As dazzling, bold, and out-on-the-edge as the man himself, Does the Noise in My Head Bother You? is an all-access backstage pass into this extraordinary showman's life.
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Now in paperback, the New York Times bestseller by one of rock's most provocative figuresScar Tissue is Anthony Kiedis's searingly honest memoir of a life spent in the fast lane. In 1983, four self-described "knuckleheads" burst out of the mosh-pitted mosaic of the neo-punk rock scene in L.A. with their own unique brand of cosmic hardcore mayhem funk. Over twenty years later, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, against all odds, have become one of the most successful bands in the world. Though the band has gone through many incarnations, Anthony Kiedis, the group's lyricist and dynamic lead singer, has been there for the whole roller-coaster ride.
Whether he's recollecting the influence of the beautiful, strong women who have been his muses, or retracing a journey that has included appearances as diverse as a performance before half a million people at Woodstock or an audience of one at the humble compound of the exiled Dalai Lama, Kiedis shares a compelling story about the price of success and excess. Scar Tissue is a story of dedication and debauchery, of intrigue and integrity, of recklessness and redemption -- a story that could only have come out of the world of rock.
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According to Eric Clapton, John Mayer, and the late Stevie Ray Vaughn, Buddy Guy is the greatest blues guitarist of all time. An enormous influence on these musicians as well as Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, and Jeff Beck, he is the living embodiment of Chicago blues.Guy’s epic story stands at the absolute nexus of modern blues. He came to Chicago from rural Louisiana in the fiftiesthe very moment when urban blues were electrifying our culture. He was a regular session player at Chess Records. Willie Dixon was his mentor. He was a sideman in the bands of Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf. He and Junior Wells formed a band of their own. In the sixties, he became a recording star in his own right.
When I Left Home tells Guy’s picaresque story in his own unique voice, that of a storyteller who remembers everything, including blues masters in their prime and the exploding, evolving culture of music that happened all around him.
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Zhu Xiao-Mei was born to middle-class parents in post-war China, and her musical proficiency became clear at an early age. Taught to play the piano by her mother, she developed quickly into a prodigy, immersing herself in the work of classical masters like Bach and Brahms. She was just ten years old when she began a rigorous course of study at the Beijing Conservatory, laying the groundwork for what was sure to be an extraordinary career. But in 1966, when Xiao-Mei was seventeen, the Cultural Revolution began, and life as she knew it changed forever. One by one, her family members were scattered, sentenced to prison or labor camps. By 1969, the art schools had closed, and Xiao-Mei was on her way to a work camp in Mongolia, where she would spend the next five years. Life in the camp was nearly unbearable, thanks to horrific living conditions and intensive brainwashing campaigns. Yet through it all Xiao-Mei clung to her passion for music and her sense of humor. And when the Revolution ended, it was the piano that helped her to heal. Heartbreaking and heartwarming, The Secret Piano is the incredible true story of one woman’s survival in the face of unbelievable odds—and in pursuit of a powerful dream.
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In one of the most unique memoirs of addiction ever published, MÖtley CrÜe's Nikki Sixx shares mesmerizing diary entries from the year he spiraled out of control in a haze of heroin and cocaine, presented alongside riveting commentary from people who were there at the time, and from Nikki himself.When MÖtley CrÜe was at the height of its fame, there wasn't any drug Nikki Sixx wouldn't do. He spent days -- sometimes alone, sometimes with other addicts, friends, and lovers -- in a coke and heroin-fueled daze. The highs were high, and Nikki's journal entries reveal some euphoria and joy. But the lows were lower, often ending with Nikki in his closet, surrounded by drug paraphernalia and wrapped in paranoid delusions.
Here, Nikki shares those diary entries -- some poetic, some scatterbrained, some bizarre -- and reflects on that time. Joining him are Tommy Lee, Vince Neil, Mick Mars, Slash, Rick Nielsen, Bob Rock, and a host of ex-managers, ex-lovers, and more.
Brutally honest, utterly riveting, and shockingly moving, The Heroin Diaries follows Nikki during the year he plunged to rock bottom -- and his courageous decision to pick himself up and start living again.
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Ordinary Girl is legendary singer-songwriter Donna Summer’s delightfully candid memoir about her journey from singing in a Boston church to her unexpected reign as the Queen of Disco—and the tragedy and spiritual rebirth that followed.
Donna Summer was born on New Year’s Eve in Boston. Her childhood was filled with music. Inspired by Mahalia Jackson, she began singing in church choirs at the age of ten. A few years later she joined a Boston rock group, and by the end of the 1960s she was living the life of an artist in New York City’s Greenwich Village.
Soon after, Donna left the United States to join the German cast of Hair. She was still in her teens, a shy, ordinary girl who was suddenly feeling the jolt of the sexual revolution. She lived in Germany for seven and a half years, modeling, acting, falling in love, getting married, and giving birth to a daughter. She met a producer named Giorgio Moroder, and together they created a song called “Love to Love You Baby.” It became one of the world’s premier disco hits.
Donna Summer returned to America as a star, a “sex goddess” who bore little resemblance to her own sense of who she was. She describes what that personal transformation felt like from the white-hot center of the disco era, and how, over the next two decades, it contributed to a sometimes harrowing spiritual journey.
With heart and humor, Donna Summer relives the decadent days of disco and shows how she transcended them. This is the inspiring tale of an “ordinary girl” on an extraordinary journey.
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"Sweet Revenge" offers a detailed insider's account of entertainment mogul Simon Cowell's rise to meteoric fame and all of the controversial highs and lows along the way as he settles scores with rivals. The book will be packed with juicy details, hard-to-get interviews and never-before-revealed facts all written from an objective journalist's perspective. Just named one of Barbara Walter's "Most Fascinating People of 2011", Cowell continues to reign as a pop culture icon and media influencer.
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The Band, who backed Bob Dylan when he went electric in 1965 and then turned out a half-dozen albums of beautifully crafted, image-rich songs, is now regarded as one of the most influential rock groups of the '60s. But while their music evoked a Southern mythology, only their Arkansawyer drummer, Levon Helm, was the genuine article. From the cotton fields to Woodstock, from seeing Sonny Boy Williamson and Elvis Presley to playing for President Clinton, This Wheel’s on Fire replays the tumultuous history of our times in Levon’s own unforgettable folksy drawl. This edition is expanded with a new afterword by the authors.
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DEE’S NOT GONNA TAKE ITAs lead singer and songwriter of Twisted Sister, Dee Snider became the poster boy for heavy metal, hair bands, and the wild side of rock. Now, in his twisted new memoir, he reveals the real stories behind the crazy makeup, the big hair, and badass hits like “We’re Not Gonna Take It” and “I Wanna Rock.”
A classically trained countertenor who sang with his high school choir, Dee remembers the day he decided he was “not gonna take it” and stopped caring what people thought about him. Following in the footsteps of his idols Alice Cooper and Black Sabbath, Dee jumped from band to band before meeting Jay Jay French and Twisted Sister. But it wasn’t until he met his costume-designing soul-mate Suzette that they developed his unique style. Dee’s hard work finally paid off with an impressive resume that includes: a monster hit record; smash MTV videos; a long-running radio show, “The House of Hair”; appearances in film (Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, Howard Stern’s Private Parts, StrangeLand) and television (Growing Up Twisted, Celebrity Apprentice); and a starring role in Broadway’s Rock of Ages. He even authored a teenage survival guide that was required reading in Russia!
In his journey from every parent’s worst teenage nightmare to Renaissance man, Dee avoided the usual pitfalls associated with rock stars. But that didn’t stop Tipper Gore and the Parents Music Resource Center from targeting him—a fight that led him to testify before Congress with Frank Zappa. He may have been slapped with a Parental Advisory warning label, but, through it all, Dee stayed positive and focused on being the best he could be.
Filled with entertaining anecdotes and candid confessions, Shut Up and Give Me the Mic takes you through the good times and bad with a heavy metal star who worked as hard as he played, and who did it all for his wife, four kids, and millions of “SMF” (Sick Mother F******) fans
This story is mine.
I’m the guy that gave it all to beat the odds, left everything he had on the stage each night, didn’t screw around on his woman, took care of his kids, and was sober enough to remember it all and write about it . . . myself.
The one thing that has surprised and confused me, though, is my unlikely transformation into a “beloved public figure.” How did the unpopular kid, who grew up to be the angry young man, who became the ’80s poster boy for the evils of rock ’n’ roll, arrested for profanity and assault, and boycotted by parents and religious groups, become the likeable mensch he is today?
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From one of the greatest rock guitarists of our era comes a memoir that redefines sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll.
For the first time ever, Slash tells the tale that has yet to be told from the inside: how the legendary band Guns N' Roses came together, how they wrote the music that defined an era, how they survived insane, never-ending tours, how they survived themselves, and, ultimately, how it all fell apart. Slash is a window into the world of the notoriously private guitarist and a front seat on the roller-coaster ride that was one of history's greatest rock 'n' roll machines, always on the edge of self-destruction, even at the pinnacle of its success. Slash is everything Slash is: funny, honest, ingenious, inspiring, jaw-dropping . . . and, in a word, excessive.
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The stories of a true rock star and singer/guitarist for local Pittsburgh Rock Band The Krush.
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Are you the world’s biggest One Direction fan? Do you know everything there is to know about the world’s best-loved boy band? Then this is the book for you! In this easy-to-digest eBook are 101 facts about your favourite group - do you know all of them?
Test yourself and your friends with these handily-packaged facts easily organised into categories for maximum enjoyment. Show everyone that you are the master of One Direction mania!