Best of
Music

1980

Woody Guthrie


Joe Klein - 1980
    In "Woody Guthrie: A Life", Klein's signature style of insightful narrative nonfiction brings to life a vivid chapter in the history of American culture.In 1998, the Woody Guthrie Foundation made public for the first time more than 10,000 of his papers, letters, song lyrics, and artworks, sparking renewed interest in the life of an American folk legend who influenced generations of musicians to come. The New York Times, reporting on the phenomenon, described Guthrie's appeal and legacy succinctly: "(Woody Guthrie was) one of the most influential cultural figures of the century. Guthrie inspired Bob Dylan and virtually created the modern folk tradition and singer-songwriter genre, and his music remains as vital today as when he was performing".Born in Oklahoma in 1912, Guthrie spent his early years among the farmers and migrant workers of the dust bowl. As a young man during the Great Depression, he traveled across the country by boxcar with his guitar, composing the indelible folk ballads that made him a leader of the politically vital folk movement of the pre-war era. Tragically, the onset of Huntington's disease, gradually diminished his mind, body, and work, and led to his untimely death at the age of 55. Still, Guthrie's life and music have inspired every important folk and folk rock artist since, from Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, and Joan Baez to Bruce Springsteen, Billy Bragg, and Ani DiFranco.

Straight Life: The Story Of Art Pepper


Art Pepper - 1980
    Not for the faint-hearted, Art Pepper's autobiography is painfully honest as the great saxophonist describes a life of drugs, alcohol and the occasional foray into crime, having spent five of his best years incarcerated in San Quentin.

Improvisation: Its Nature And Practice In Music


Derek Bailey - 1980
    By drawing on conversations with some of today's seminal improvisers--including John Zorn, Jerry Garcia, Steve Howe, Steve Lacy, Lionel Salter, Earle Brown, Paco Peña, Max Roach, Evan Parker, and Ronnie Scott--Bailey offers a clear-eyed view of the breathtaking spectrum of possibilities inherent in improvisational practice, while underpinning its importance as the basis for all music-making.

The Clash: Before and After


Pennie Smith - 1980
    The Clash survived the stereotypes of punk to become one of the world’s most successful acts of the 1980s. That heady period is captured in Pennie Smith’s raw photographs and the witty accompanying captions by members of the band. Smith’s moody monochrome images showcase dynamic stage performances and include many pictures from the 1979 breakthrough American tour. Smith’s camera also recorded the Clash’s downtime offstage — their comic antics and reflective moments. This absorbing survey of a seminal group’s heyday lets the reader revisit not only the Clash but one of modern music’s golden eras in all its glory.

Sonata Forms


Charles Rosen - 1980
    Charles Rosen says of sonata form#58; "[It] is not a definite form like a minuet, a da capo aria, or a French overture; it is, like the fugue, a way of writing, a feeling for proportion, direction, and texture rather than a pattern."

I, Me, Mine


George Harrison - 1980
    The closest we will come to George Harrison's autobiography, it features George in conversation with The Beatles' spokesperson Derek Taylor, discussing everything from early Beatlemania to his love of gardening. The lyrics to over 80 of his songs, many in his own hand, are accompanied by his uniquely intimate and humorous commentary. Fifty archival photographs of George with The Beatles and solo capture a journey of creative and spiritual transformation. Brimming with the wit, warmth, and grace that characterized his life, and with an introduction by his wife, Olivia, I, Me, Mine is a treasured portrait of George Harrison and his music.

Mademoiselle: Conversations With Nadia Boulanger


Bruno Monsaingeon - 1980
    

Hal Leonard Guitar Method Complete Edition


Will Schmid - 1980
    It is based on years of teaching guitar students of all ages, and reflects some of the best teaching ideas from around the world. This super-convenient Complete Edition features the new and improved method books 1, 2 and 3 spiral-bound together, available as a book only (00699040) or book with three CDs (00697342)

Genesis: I Know What I Like


Armando Gallo - 1980
    Nice to see once again shots of Peter in the famed fox's head of 'Foxtrot' days, and with the batwings and glowing eyes used for 'Watcher of the Skies'...Complete with a discography and personal portraits of each member, this story of one of Britain's best bands, certainly does them justice and will bring back a lot of memories for die-hard fans..." (Melody Maker, London)"Without attempting any grandiose analyses Italian born Armando Gallo has come to grips with this very English band very successfully..." (Sounds, London)"The phenomenon of the rock era is Genesis and with it the phenomenon of rock books is Armando Gallo's 'GENESIS The Evolution of a Rock Band'." (Symphonic Credo, Holland)"An excellent biography of Genesis...one cannot know Genesis without having a copy of this book, the true bible for all fans of the band." (Pop Rock, Montreal)

Music Notation in the Twentieth Century: A Practical Guidebook


Kurt Stone - 1980
    He not only describes and recommends new methods for notating modern music, thereby establishing standard procedures for the present and future, but integrates them with traditional practices still in use. The result is a guide to all forms of notation used in serious music today. Stone is undoubtedly one of the world's leading authorities on contemporary music notation and its problems. As head of the Index of New Musical Notation, he collected and categorized the myriad new devices appearing in published music of this century. In collaboration with professional performers and conductors, he evaluated these devices in order to determine their effectiveness in practical application. At the International Conference on New Music Notation 1974, a consensus was sought from the eighty participating musicians from eighteen different countries. The results have been incorporated into this volume in the clearest and most direct way. Traditional notation is given detailed treatment, constituting, as it does, the basis for many of the innovative devices. The book is organized to facilitate the location of specific information and for easy reference. A minutely detailed index is provided as an additional and indispensable tool.

Norton Anthology of Western Music


Claude V. Palisca - 1980
    Revised and enlivened commentaries closely examine the scores to clarify their historical significance.

Music, Society, Education


Christopher Small - 1980
    Christopher Small sets out to examine the social implications of Western classical music, effects that until recently have been largely ignored or dismissed by most musicologists. He strives to view the Western musical tradition "through the mirror of these other musics [Balinese and African] as it were from the outside, and in so doing to learn something of the inner unspoken nature of Western culture as a whole."As series co-editor Robert Walser writes, "By pointing to the complicity of Western culture with Western imperialism, Small challenges us to create a future that is more humane than the past. And by writing a book that enables us to rethink so fundamentally our involvements with music, he teaches us how we might get there."

Shanties from the Seven Seas (Maritime)


Stan Hugill - 1980
    This book contains not only more than 400 sea shanties but as much of their history as Stan Hugill could collect in his extraordinary career as sailor, scholar, author, artist and inspiration to new generations of sea-music enthusiasts and performers.

Elvis Costello: A Singing Dictionary


Elvis Costello - 1980
    Songs include: Blame It on Cain * Alison * No Action * Little Triggers * Accidents Will Happen * Chemistry Class * Love for Tender * Motel Matches * Girls Talk * Radio Sweetheart * Just a Memory * Sunday's Best and more.

Complete Preludes and Etudes for Solo Piano


Frédéric Chopin - 1980
    The Preludes and Etudes are exquisitely beautiful examples of his genius. Features 52 pieces in all, including 25 Preludes -- Op. 28, Nos. 1-24; Prelude in C-sharp Minor, Op. 45. 27 Etudes -- Op. 10, Nos. 1-12; Op. 25, Nos. 1-12; and Trois Nouvelles Etudes.

The Beach Boys: The Definitive Diary of America's Greatest Band on Stage and in the Studio


Keith Badman - 1980
    Beginning their career as a popular surf band, The Beach Boys had emerged by 1966 as America's preeminent pop group, the only act able to challenge the success of The Beatles with both mainstream listeners and the critical community. This book reconstructs their evolution to one of the best-produced groups of the '60s, and also profiles Brian Wilson, one of the most gifted songwriters, producers, and arrangers in popular music. The book's easy-to-browse, day-by-day format details their entire concert history, all known recording sessions, their broadcast history, and all records issued in the U.S. and the U.K.

Art of Classical Guitar Playing


Charles Duncan - 1980
    Not a method in the traditional sense, this book explains what happens in the finest classical guitar playing and what in turn the student can do to mold his or her playing to that ideal.

My Many Years


Arthur Rubinstein - 1980
    This work covers the year 1917 to 1980. It opens with an account of his South American tour, then goes on to tell of his brief time in New York. It then gives much space to his years in Paris in the 1920's and 1930's. It goes on to tell of his meeting his future wife Nela, their feeling the Gestapo in France and settling in Hollywood. As in Paris Rubinstein rapidly establishes himself as desired social figure and mingles with the social elite.Above all of course Rubinstein is a great master pianist. And he has much to say about the way an artist must use the gift which he has been given. This is a rich work and one most highly recommended.

Harmonic Mechanisms for Guitar, Volume 1


George Van EPS - 1980
    Leads to total mastery of harmonic and technical aspects of the guitar. The material in this landmark series of 3 massive volumes address virtually every aspect of playing jazz guitar representing the fruits of years of the author's investigation of harmony and fingerboard mobility. This series of books leads to total mastery of the harmonic and technical aspects of the guitar. In notation only.

Instrumentation and Orchestration (Casebound)


Alfred Blatter - 1980
    Clear explanations, vivid descriptions of various instruments, expert advice, and numerous musical examples to maximize the student's understanding of concepts being presented. A valuable resource and reference for students in their future professional endeavors, this text maximizes its usefulness beyond the classroom.

Time Functioning Patterns


Gary Chaffee - 1980
    Covering a wide range of materials, the books can be used in any order, or in any combination with one another. They are a must for developing the kinds of skills necessary for drum set performance. Time-Functioning Patterns includes materials dealing with rock cymbal ostinatos, jazz independence, and the new linear phrasing concept that Gary developed.

Chambers: Scores by Alvin Lucier


Alvin Lucier - 1980
    Each score is written in prose and may be read by musicians as instructions for performance or by general readers as descriptions of imaginary musical activities. In response to Simon's searching questions, Lucier expands on each composition, not only explaining its genesis and development but also revealing its importance to the vigorously experimental American tradition to which Alvin Lucier belongs.Many of his compositions jolt conventional notions of the role of composer, performer, and listener, and the spaces in which they play and listen. His works are scored for an astonishing range of instruments: seashells, subway stations, toy crickets, sonar guns, violins, synthesizers, bird calls, and Bunsen burners. All are unique explorations of acoustic phenomena - echoes, brain waves, room resonances - and radically transform the idea of music as metaphor into that of music as physical fact.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music


Michael Kennedy - 1980
    A valuable resource for over thirty years, the Dictionary features diagrams, illustrativepassages of notation, an up-to-date explanation of musical terminology, and lists of composers' works.

Norton Anthology of Western Music


Claude V. Palisca - 1980
    Revised and enlivened commentaries closely examine the scores to clarify their historical significance.

Gustav Mahler: An Introduction to His Music


Deryck Cooke - 1980
    Following Cooke's death, the manuscript was prepared by Colin and David Matthews who updated the text, taking into account recent Mahler research, and incorporating Cook's later writings on Mahler.

Musical Applications of Microprocessors


Hal Chamberlin - 1980
    Standard linear techniques for microprocessor applications are discussed. Also covered musical applications for the newer and more powerful 16-bit microprocessors are explained, and all phases of waveform shaping and filtering as applied by digital devices to electronic music generation.

The History of the Viola


Maurice W. Riley - 1980
    

A Guide to Orchestral Music: The Handbook for Non-Musicians


Ethan Mordden - 1980
    The book begins with a general introduction to the symphony and short pieces on the orchestra and musical styles. Mordden goes on to describe, chronologically, over 700 pieces--from Vivaldi to twentieth-century composers. Further aids to the reader include two lists of repertory builders and a glossary of musical terms. Easy and pleasurable to read...a genuinely useful guide for the music lover who has not had a musical education but loves concert music.--John Barkham Reviews

My Favorite Comedies in Music


Victor Borge - 1980
    Here Borge examines the lives of such musical geniuses as Schubert, Mendelsohn, and Brahms with hilarious results.

Through Music to the Self


Peter Michael Hamel - 1980
    

Boogie-Woogie Hanon


Leo Alfassy - 1980
    Modeled after the popular standard Hanon technique, here are authentic progressive exercises and etudes to enable the contemporary piano student to master the art of playing in the boogie-woogie style.

Beethoven's Concertos: History, Style, Performance


Leon Plantinga - 1980
    The composer regared the piano concertos, which he himself premiered, as very personal expressions of his musical thought and perfomance style.

The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians


George Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians Grove - 1980
    Its 20 volumes embrace the entire world of musical knowledge, offering over 22,500 alphabetically arranged articles, by 2,300 contributors from over 70 different countries.

Pink Floyd: The Visual Documentary


Barry Miles - 1980
    The first major book on Pink Floyd and still the nearest thing to an official illustrated biography on the legendary British group.

The Hal Leonard Pocket Music Dictionary


Hal Leonard Corporation - 1980
    Here's the most contemporary music dictionary on the market! Conveniently divided into three main sections: The Dictionary of Music Terms defines over 2,000 music terms concisely, including notation and theory terms, instruments and terms used in pop music, electronic music and the music business; The Dictionary of Musicians provides more than 400 capsule biographies of composers and other musicians; and Reference Charts give instant, at-a-glance summaries of the essentials of music, encompassing instrumental and vocal ranges, notation signs and symbols, and scales, modes and key signatures.

Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, K. 525


Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - 1980
    Now reproduced from an authoritative edition in a convenient, low-cost volume that will appeal to students and music lovers alike.

Advanced Funk Studies: Creative Patterns for the Advanced Drummer in the Styles of Today's Leading Funk Drummers [With CD (Audio)]


Rick Latham - 1980
    With author and renowned drummer Rick Latham as your guide, you'll learn hi-hat, funk, and fill patterns. Many of the ideas in this book are derived from some of the most famous and proficient funk drummers. The accompanying audio CDs provide examples of the exercises.

The Rock Yearbook, 1981


Michael Gross - 1980
    

Jackson Browne -- Deluxe Anthology: Piano/Vocal/Chords


Jackson Browne - 1980
    Titles: Before the Deluge * Cocaine * For a Dancer * Looking into You * Nothing but Time * Ready or Not * Rock Me on the Water * Running on Empty * Stay * Take It Easy * These Days * Walking Slow * You Love the Thunder * Your Bright Baby Blues and more.

Selected Letters


Hector Berlioz - 1980
    From that extraordinary output Hugh Macdonald has gathered some 500 letters that span the composer's life and chart the course of his artistic career. The first letter, written by a brash fifteen-year-old Berlioz to a group of music publishers, suggests that they bring out his work at their own expense. The last letter, in which Berlioz begs his brother-in-law for money, reveals the once-prodigious composer and writer reduced to a pathetic state of poverty. Dipped into or read straight through, Selected Letters of Berlioz is entertaining and informative reading for any music lover. Translated aptly and colorfully by Roger Nichols, Berlioz's letters blend personal sentiment with deep insight into nineteenth-century thought, providing an entrancing portrait of one of the century's leading artistic figures.

The People's Past: Scottish Folk Scottish History (Living memory)


Edward J. Cowan - 1980
    

Henry in Shadowland


Laszlo Varvasovszky - 1980
    When Henry makes a shadow box with cutouts of a dragon and other characters, he becomes part of the action.

The 101 Best Jazz Albums: A History of Jazz on Records


Len Lyons - 1980
    

The Life of Music in North India: The Organization of an Artistic Tradition


Daniel M. Neuman - 1980
    Neuman offers an account of North Indian Hindustani music culture and the changing social context of which it is part, as expressed in the thoughts and actions of its professional musicians. Drawing primarily from fieldwork performed in Delhi in 1969-71—from interviewing musicians, learning and performing on the Indian fiddle, and speaking with music connoisseurs—Neuman examines the cultural and social matrix in which Hindustani music is nurtured, listened and attended to, cultivated, and consumed in contemporary India. Through his interpretation of the impact that modern media, educational institutions, and public performances exert on the music and musicians, Neuman highlights the drama of a great musical tradition engaging a changing world, and presents the adaptive strategies its practitioners employ to practice their art. His work has gained the distinction of introducing a new approach to research on Indian music, and appears in this edition with a new preface by the author.

Paperback Writer


Mark Shipper - 1980
    A novel by Mark Shipper - The Life and Times of the Beatles: The spurious Chronicle of Their Rise to Stardom, Their Triumphs & Disasters Plus the Amazing Story of Their Ultimate Reunion.

The Paderewski Memoirs


Ignacy Jan Paderewski - 1980
    

The International Book of Christmas Carols


Walter Ehret - 1980
    This special collection also includes historical background information on the observance of Christmas through the years and notes about specific carols to give added understanding. Songs are included from England, Italy, Latin America, Spain, Scandinavia, Poland, Czech Republic, and more. Available: Unison/2-Part.

Unsung: A History of Women in American Music


Christine Ammer - 1980
    In this edition of the classic text in the field, Christine Ammer surveys a full 200 years of women active in American music. From the earliest organists to contemporary innovators in jazz, succinct biographical sketches show the influences of and influences on hundreds of musicians. Adding significantly to the list, Ammer now chronicles important strides women musicians have made in the last 20 years.

Blues Hanon


Leo Alfassy - 1980
    While building the necessary skills, this book provides extensive musical and stylistic insight to the blues style of piano playing. It includes harmonic patterns, tempos, syncopation, blue notes, grace notes, and compound meters.

The Guinness Book Of Hits Of The 70's


Jo Rice - 1980
    Hits are listed by artist, showing the date of chart entry, title, label and number, highest position reached and the number of weeks on the chart. There is also a title index. Additional material includes a review of each year of the decade, with statistical summaries, intriguing and amusing facts and numerous illustrations of the great (and less great) chart acts.