Confessions of a Serial Songwriter

Confessions of a Serial Songwriter is an amusing and poignant memoir about songwriter Shelly Peiken's journey from young girl falling under the spell of magical songs to working professional songwriter writing hits of her own. It's about growing up, the creative process - the highs and the lows, the conflicts that arise between motherhood and career success, the divas and schemers, but also the talented and remarkable people she's found along the way. It's filled with stories and step-by-step advice about the songwriting process, especially collaboration. And it's about the challenge of staying relevant in a rapidly changing and youth-driven world. As Shelly so eloquentlystates in Confessions of a Serial Songwriter: If I had to come up with one X factor that I could cite as a characteristic most hit songs have in common (and this excludes hit songs that are put forth by an already well-oiled machine...that is, a recording artist who has so much notoriety and momentum that just about anything he or she releases, as long as it's 'pretty good,' will have a decent shot at succeeding), I would say it would be: A universal sentiment in a unique frame. Peiken has tapped the universal sentiment again and again; her songs have been recorded by such artists as Christina Aguilera, Natalie Cole, Selena Gomez, Celine Dion, the Pretenders, and others. In Confessions of a Serial Songwriter, she pulls the curtain back on the music business from the perspective of a behind-the-scenes hit creator and shares invaluable insight into the craft of songwriting.

Freddie Mercury : A Kind of Magic

Freddie Mercury was one of rock's most dazzling front men. When he died in 1991, the music world lost one of its most flamboyant characters, as well as a supremely talented writer and vocalist. Best known as the lead singer of Queen, his amazing four-octave voice was a distinctive element in the band's unique sound, which resulted in more than a dozen million-selling albums through the 1970s, '80s, and early '90s. Freddie Mercury: A Kind of Magic charts his extraordinary career in the context of the life he led in the glare of rock stardom. With expert understanding, Mark Blake traces Freddie's astonishing achievements from his childhood in Zanzibar and India to hisworld-conquering performance at Live Aid in 1985 and beyond. Published just ahead of what would have been Freddie's 70th birthday, this special book features a retrospective commentary on his studio and live albums, a complete discography, photographs, and memorabilia throughout. Freddie Mercury: A Kind of Magic is an essential tribute to a truly innovative recording artist and an irreplaceable performer who rocked the world.

A Perfect Union of Contrary Things

Here is the authorized biography of the one and only Maynard James Keenan. The book traces Keenan's journey from his Midwest childhood to his years in the Army to his time in art school, from his stint at a Boston pet shop to his place in the international spotlight and his influence on contemporary music and regional winemaking. A comprehensive portrayal of a versatile and dedicated artist, A Perfect Union of Contrary Things pays homage to the people and places that shaped the man and his art. Until now, Maynard's fans have had access to only an abridged version of his story. A Perfect Union of Contrary Things presents the outtakes, the scenes of disappointment and triumph, andthe events that led him to take one step after the next, to change direction, to explore sometimes surprising opportunities. Included are sidebars in his own words, often humorous anecdotes that illuminate the narrative, as well as commentary by his family members, friends, instructors, and industry colleagues. The book also features a foreword by Alex Grey, an American visionary artist and longtime friend of Keenan, who has designed Tool's album and stage art. Accompanying the text are photos of Keenan from childhood to the present, as well as reproductions of his early drawings and writings. Maynard's story is a metaphor for the reader's own evolution and an encouragement to follow one's dreams, hold fast to individual integrity, and work ceaselessly to fulfill our creative potential.

Michael Seth Starr: Ringo - With A Little Help

Ringo: With A Little Help is the first in-depth biography of Beatles drummer Ringo Starr, who kept the beat for an entire generation and who remains a rock icon over fifty years since the Beatles took the world by storm. With a Little Help traces the entire arc of Ringo's remarkable life and career, from his sickly childhood to his life as The World's Most Famous drummer to his triumphs, addictions, and emotional battles following the breakup of the Beatles as he comes to terms with his legacy. Born in 1940 as Richard Starkey in the Dingle, one of Liverpool's most gritty, rough-and-tumble neighborhoods, he rose from a hardscrabble childhood - marked by serious illnesses, long hospital stays, and little schooling - to emerge, against all odds, as a locally renowned drummer. Taking the stage name Ringo Starr, his big break with the Beatles rocketed him to the pinnacle of worldwide acclaim in a remarkably short time. He was the last member of the Beatles to join the group but also the most vulnerable, and his post-Beatles career was marked by chart-topping successes, a jet-setting life of excess and alcohol abuse, and, ultimately, his rebirth as one of rock's revered elder statesman.

Hold to a Dream : A Newgrass Odyssey by John Cowan with Jimmy Schwartz

Hold to a Dream – A Newgrass Odyssey by John Cowan with Jimmy Schwartz Hold to a Dream är en fascinerande musikalisk odyssé där John Cowan, känd för sin kraftfulla sångröst och sitt arbete med New Grass Revival, delar sin livshistoria och resa genom newgrass-genren – en progressiv utveckling av traditionell bluegrass. Om boken: Författare: John Cowan & Jimmy Schwartz Genre: Musikbiografi / Bluegrass & Newgrass-historia Fokus: John Cowans liv, karriär, newgrass-rörelsen och dess utveckling Denna bok ger en djupgående inblick i hur newgrass förändrade bluegrass-traditionen, genom att blanda den med influenser från rock, jazz, soul och blues. Cowan reflekterar över sina upplevelser, samarbeten och den musikaliska innovation som har format hans karriär. Perfekt för fans av bluegrass, newgrass och amerikansk folkmusik, samt för alla som vill förstå utvecklingen av en av de mest spännande genrerna inom modern akustisk musik!

George Jones : The Life and Times of a Honky Tonk Legend: Updated Edition

George Jones's nearly 60-year recording and performing career has had a profound influence on modern country music and influenced a younger generation of singers, including Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, Randy Travis, Tim McGraw, andTrace Adkins. As Merle Haggard said of Jones in Rolling Stone magazine, “His voice was like a Stradivarius violin: one of the greatest instruments ever made.”Jones's saga is a larger-than-life tale ofrags to riches and back to rags again. He was born into near poverty in a backwater patch of East Texas. His formal education ended early; by his early teens, he was singing on the streets of Beaumont, Texas, for tips. Afterbeginning to record in the mid-1950s Jones became, by sheer dint of his vocal prowess, one of Nashville's most celebrated honky-tonk singers. But from the start, Jones's life, as often reflected in his music, was shaped bymisdirection, chaos, turmoil, and emotional strife aggravated by a ferocious appetite for alcohol. Fame and adulation seemed to merely intensify his personal travails.Jones's story has a relatively happy ending. With thehelp of fourth wife Nancy during the final decade and a half of his life, he got clean and sober, was feted as a much-revered elder statesman for the music, and, by most accounts, found peace of mind at long last.

Sunburst: How The Gibson Les Paul Standard Became A Legendary Guitar

Through a series of interviews with players, collectors, guitar-makers and dealers, Sunburst: How The Gibson Les Paul Standard Became A Legendary Guitar reveals how the Gibson Les Paul Standard, known as 'the burst', became one of the most desirable electric Guitars of all time. Famously played by Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page, the Gibson Les Paul Standard was first produced, in a batch of around 1,400, at the end of the 1950s. This book examines those originals, as well as the various reissues over the years, looking at the latest efforts by Gibson to re-create these hallowed Guitars. Sunburst is the latest book in Tony Bacon's bestselling Guitar series, with a thoroughly researched story partnered by a gallery of full-colour pictures of great Guitars, rare memorabilia, and famous 'burst' players ? from Keith Richards to Joe Bonamassa and Jeff Beck to Billy Gibbons. Its reference section reveals production details and dating clues for this most enigmatic and revered instrument.

James Campion: Accidentally Like A Martyr - The Tortured Art Of Warren Zevon

Warren Zevon songs are like chapters in a great American novel. Its story lies in the heart of his – and our – psyche. The lines are blurred. We never seem to know if we are looking in a mirror or peering through a window; we only know that when we listen we see  something . The music sets the scene – his voice a striking baritone, its narrator our guide through a labyrinth of harrowing narratives. The plot unfolds without subtlety; each musical and lyrical arc awakens imagination. In  Accidentally Like a Martyr: The Tortured Art of Warren Zevon , music journalist James Campion presents 13 essays on seminal Zevon songs and albums that provide context to the themes, inspirations, and influence of one of America's most literate songwriters. In-depth interviews with Zevon's friends and colleagues provide first-person accounts of how the music was lived, composed, recorded, and performed. Longtime fans of this most uniquely tortured artist, as well as those who want to discover his work for the first time, will get inside the mind, talent, and legacy of the wildly passionate Excitable Boy.

Dick Weissman: Talkin' 'Bout A Revolution - Music And Social Change In America

Talkin' 'Bout A Revolution is a comprehensive guide to the relationship between American music and politics. Music expert Dick Weissman opens with the dawn of American history, then moves to the book's key focus: 20th century music - songs by and about Native Americans, African-Americans, Women, Spanish-speaking groups, and more.Unprecedented in its approach, the book offers a multidisciplinary discussion that is broad and diverse, and illuminates how social events impact music as well as how music impacts social events. Weissman delves deep, covering everything from current Native American music to 'music of hate' - racist and neo-Nazi music - to the music of the Gulf wars, union songs, patriotic and antiwar songs, and beyond. A powerful tool for professors teaching classes about politics and music and a stimulating, accessible read for all kinds of appreciators, from casual music fans to social science lovers and devout music history buffs.

Bruce Springsteen - Like a Killer in the Sun : Selected Lyrics 1972-2017

Bruce Springsteen - Like a Killer in the Sun, originally published in Italian, is the definitive book on the work of Bruce Springsteen, showing his unique narrative talent and offering an accurate critical examination of his poetics. It presents 117 among his best lyrics, expounded and annotated with the philological care used for the classics of literature. In his introduction, Leonardo Colombati draws the attention to the fact that Springsteen is an author grafted on the line that goes from Whitman to Steinbeck, from Flannery O'Connor to Raymond Carver. The book also contains Springsteen's biography and discography, plus an exclusive interview with Bruce Springsteen. Withforewords by Academy Award-winner Ennio Morricone and music critic Dave Marsh, a committee member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Springsteen's biographer. Like a Killer in the Sun is a book for anyone who wants to listen to a powerful and inspired voice coming from the heart of America.

Adrian Ashton: The Bass Handbook - A Complete Guide For Mastering The Bass Guitar

This indispensable handbook helps players of all levels produce better, more creative, and more varied bass lines. Divided into two sections - Playing Your Bass and Knowing Your Bass - it covers everything from tuning, reading music, scales and chords, and advanced techniques to tips on buying and upgrading a budget bass and troubleshooting. Along with a list of suggested listening and a reference guide, this book provides an unrivaled digest of bass information that might otherwise take an entire career to amass.

The Savvy Studio Owner - A Complete Guide To Setting Up And Running Your Own Recording Studio

This book covers all aspects of starting and running a professional sound recording studio, from smaller project-style facilities to million dollar majors. For the first time, here is one guide that combines serious business planning, studio design, and audio engineering as interconnected aspects of starting and running a studio.Numerous practical examples and applications throw light on the daily workings of a recording studio, including recording, marketing, sales, employees, and taxes. Readers with no business or sound recording experience will find what they need to start and succeed in creating a sound recording studio.

The Ukulele : A Visual History

From its birthplace in Portugal to its famous Hawaiian home, the “jumping flea” has left its mark on popular music and pop culture worldwide. This book traces the uke's evolution with colorful whimsy. Readers will meetsome of the world's greatest ukulele players through profiles, photos, and a list of recordings. Splendid color photos show more than 100 of the finest and most unique ukes and vintage catalog illustrations, fanciful sheet musiccovers, and witty ads that capture the craze of the 1920s and '30s.

Kickstart My Heart : A Mötley Crüe Day-by-Day

Kickstart My Heart: A Mötley Crüe Day-by-Day is an exciting chronology that celebrates in innovative form - through the use of day-by-day entries and supporting band quotes mostly collected firsthand by the author, as well as memorabilia shots and photography - the crazy lives lived by Vince, Mick, Nikki, and Tommy at the booze-drenched apex of the rock-'n'-roll food chain. Augmented with entries that help place the band in a wider rock context, Popoff presents a swift-moving, action-packed symphony of text and visuals that reprises his collaboration with Backbeat on similarly structured titles about Iron Maiden and Ozzy Osbourne. With very few Mötley Crüe-related books on themarket, Kickstart My Heart will likely serve for years to come as the most complete - and completely party-hardy - celebration of this band now 35 years on and in the midst of completing its final tour ever.

Al Kooper: Backstage Passes And Backstabbing Bastards - Memoirs Of A Rock 'N' Roll Survivor

A rock 'n roll classic, back in print, updated and revised.One of the funniest rock memoirs ever, Al Kooper's legendary Backstage Passes is available again! Al's quirkly life, from would'be teenage rocker, to crashing Bob Dylan's recording session and playing the organ on Highway 61, to forming Blood, Sweat, and Tears and masterminding the Super Sessions, it's all here... Plus, in this updated version, Al rides with us all the way back to the end of the 20th century. There has never been a more wickedly humorous and honest book by a man who has made such rock history.

Peter Blecha: Taboo Tunes - A History Of Banned Bands And Censored Songs

In this extensively researched ode to scandal, Peter Blecha recounts the travails of musicians who have dared to air unacceptable topics. Filled with several centuries' worth of raunchy sex ditties, morbid murder ballads, satanic songs, paeans to intoxication and radical political anthems, this book lays the censors' stories bare, and casts a much-needed spotlight on civil liberties and artistic freedom in our post-9/11 world.Highlights the work of hundreds of controversial musicians, including: The Beatles, Ray Charles, the Dixie Chicks, Dylan, Eminem, Billie Holiday, Nirvana, Elvis, Public Enemy, Sex Pistols, Springsteen, Zappa and others. "Blecha tells a story of how free we aren't. It's a story every music fan needs to know." - Dave Marsh 6 x 9, 214 pages

Stranded in the Jungle : Jerry Nolan's Wild Ride - A Tale of Drugs, Fashion, the New York Dolls, and Punk Rock

Here is the story of an often overlooked, one-of-a-kind rock 'n' roll musician and the historic times he lived in. In spite of numerous opportunities for success, he became a tragedy. Jerry Nolan came out of New York in the 1970s as part of two of the most influential and infamous bands of the time, the proto-punk New York Dolls and Johnny Thunders' Heartbreakers. Jerry had what it took to be a star, but his battles with heroin continually stymied his career and ultimately ended his life. Despite this, he is remembered as a cross between a Martin Scorsese film character and jazz legend Gene Krupa: a stylish, urban, wisecracking, trendsetting raconteur, who was also a powerhousedrummer. Stranded in the Jungle: Jerry Nolan's Wild Ride - A Tale of Drugs, Fashion, the New York Dolls, and Punk Rock tells Jerry's story through extensive research and interviews with those closest to him: bandmates, friends, lovers, and family members, including new interviews with members of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame bands the Sex Pistols, the Ramones, Talking Heads, and Blondie. It gives firsthand accounts of not only Jerry's life and struggles but the earliest history of punk rock in both New York and London, highlighting his notorious and incendiary musical partner, Johnny Thunders.

Robin Meloy Goldsby: Piano Girl - A Memoir (Softcover)

This is the story of one woman's accidental career as a cocktail lounge piano player. Connecting the people she has met with the places she has played and the pianos she has known, Robin Meloy Goldsby discovers the human side, for better or worse, of her audiences ? mobsters and moguls, the down-and-out, the downright scary, and ordinary people dealing with life in extraordinary ways.

She's a Badass : Women in Rock Shaping Feminism

She’s a Badass – Women in Rock Shaping Feminism She’s a Badass utforskar historien om kvinnor inom rockmusiken, deras kamp för jämlikhet och den revolutionära inverkan de har haft på både musikbranschen och feminismen. Sedan 1960-talet har kvinnliga rockmusiker trotsat normer och tagit kontroll över sin musik, sitt budskap och sin image – en kamp lika viktig som vilken protest som helst. Om boken: Författare: Katherine Yeske Taylor Innehåll: Intervjuer med 20 betydelsefulla kvinnor inom rock Genre: Musikbiografi / Feminism / Rockhistoria Fokus: De unika utmaningar som kvinnor i rock mött, hur de har övervunnit dem och vad som fortfarande behöver förändras Intervjuer med bl.a.: Ann Wilson (Heart), Suzi Quatro, Gina Schock (The Go-Go’s), Suzanne Vega, Amy Ray (Indigo Girls), Amanda Palmer, Orianthi, Joan Osborne, Lydia Lunch och många fler. Denna bok ger en ärlig och inspirerande inblick i de hinder dessa kvinnor har brutit ner och hur de fortsätter att forma musik och feminism. Ett måste för musikälskare och alla som är intresserade av kvinnors roll i rockhistorien!

Dave Burrluck: The PRS Electric Guitar Book: A Complete History Of Paul Reed Smith Electrics

PRS guitars today appeal to a growing number of musicians, from Carlos Santana to Al Di Meola, from Zach Myers to Mark Tremonti. This book examines every part of PRS history, with an in-depth story, beautiful photographs, and detailed collector's info. Paul Reed Smith set up his first PRS factory in 1985 in Maryland and has devised guitars from the regular Custom and McCarty models, through the outrageously decorated Dragon specials and the controversial Singlecut, and on to recent achievements such as the Mira, Dave Grissom DGT, JA-15, and the S2 models. Dozens of guitars are pictured inside along with players, ads, catalogs, and rare memorabilia. A detailed reference section helps musicians and collectors identify and date PRS instruments, making this revised and updated edition of The PRS Electric Guitar Book a must for all Guitar fans.

Quincy McCoy: No Static - A Guide To Creative Radio Programming

Now in softcover, No Static shows why success in today's corporate-controlled world of radio depends on putting personality and fun back on the air - and how to build the creative team to do it.This inspirational handbook by Quincy McCoy offers radio pros and aspiring broadcasters proven strategies for restoring the craft of creative programming. Practical techniques and exercises help develop leadership skills that encourage creativity, motivate staff, increase flexibility and nurture teamwork.Writing in a personal style, McCoy guides you and your radio station toward more focused branding, stronger programming, more personable DJs, and - ultimately - higher ratings leading to higher revenue.

The Bass Book : A Complete Illustrated History of Bass Guitars Updated Edition

In California in the early '50s, the Fender company introduced the world's first electric bass guitar. They couldn't have known known it then, but the Precision Bass would start a revolution in the sound of popular music. This book explains how that revolution happened and how its reverberations are still felt today. The two-guitars-bass-and-drums lineup that would define pop music found its heart with the Fender bass. In the coming decades, the bass guitar provided the solid foundation upon which much modern music is still built. The Bass Book is the first to study its story, with the full lowdown of the most important bass players and bass makers. Brands featured in the bookinclude Alembic, Danelectro, Epiphone, Fender, Fodera, Gibson, Hofner, Ibanez, Lakland, Line 6, Music Man, Peavey, Rickenbacker, Sadowsky, Spector, Squier, Steinberger, Wal, Warwick, and Yamaha. Original interviews with makers of bass guitars from the past and present illuminate the book, with the popular establishment of the bass during the '60s and '70s examined in detail, along with more recent developments such as the popularity of the five-string bass. There is an exclusive interview with Paul McCartney and other bassists who feature in the story, including Stanley Clarke, Flea, James Jamerson, Jaco Pastorius, and Robert Trujillo. Dozens of unusual, desirable, and rarely seen basses are presented in high-quality photos. A reference section provides a wealth of information on the key makers. The Bass Book has all you need to know about the story of the bass guitar in one stylish, readable volume, and this revised and refreshed third edition brings the story right up to date.

George Gruhn/Walter Carter: Electric Guitars And Basses - A Photographic History

Electric Guitars and Basses tells the story in full colour of one of the most influential forces on American culture in the 20th century - the Electric Guitar.From the earliest 'lap steels' that reshaped the sound of Hawaiian music, the the 'Spanish-neck' models that created a new voice in the Jazz world and powered the early rock and rollers, and on to the solid body models that shattered conventional ideas of Guitar design and Guitar music, all of the classic and historically important models are displayed and discussed by Guitar experts George Gruhn and Walter Carter.This new edition features an additional 16 pages of important instruments and newly discovered information.

Confessions of a Record Producer : How to Survive the Scams and Shams of the Music Business 5th Edition - Revised and Updated

For more than 15 years, Confessions of a Record Producer has exposed the inner workings of the music business and empowered artists to protect their interests. With inside knowledge and hard numbers, Moses Avalon reveals the truth of how the industry functions (or dysfunctions), showing what artists actually make from their hits and how producers, labels, managers, and even the artists' own lawyers conspire to rip them off. This is the only music business trade book that: · Intimately analyzes the differences between ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC · Compares different types of record deals using real-world math and dollar figures · Speaks critically about relationships between big industryentities and how they can hurt artists · Gives the reasoning behind major industry trends and decisions, particularly recent deals with Spotify, Apple, etc. Since the first edition's release in 1998, Confessions has grown from an underground favorite to a widely read staple, evolving along the way to address Internet-age realities and the pitfalls coming with rapidly changing technologies. This new, fifth edition tackles the complexities of music streaming and how the diminishing revenue it provides is becoming the new normal for an industry that has shrunk by half in less than two decades. Fully updated with recent industry developments and the latest scams, Confessions of a Record Producer remains a must for artists who want to survive, thrive, and get their fair share.

A Perfect Union of Contrary Things