Best of
Rock-N-Roll

2010

Joan Jett


Todd Oldham - 2010
    She started her first band, The Runaways, at age fifteen and has blazed a trail that has inspired and thrilled her fans to this day. AMMO Books is proud to release this authorized, loving tribute conceived and authored by designer Todd Oldham. The book chronicles all aspects of her career and passions through images—from forming The Runaways, to her years of touring with her band, Joan Jett and The Blackhearts. JOAN JETT features many never-before-seen photos, ephemera, and excerpts from thirty years worth of interviews, carefully curated with Joan herself, covering the multi-decade career of a real rock-and-roll icon. A thoughtful introduction written by renown indie rocker and Riot Grrrl Kathleen Hanna brings context to this exciting title.Joan Jett is a revered songwriter, musician, and American icon. In keeping with her pioneering spirit, she went on to be the first woman to start her own independent rock label, Blackheart Records. Joan Jett and The Blackhearts Greatest Hits compilation released in March 2010, and the film based on The Runaways starring Dakota Fanning, and Kristen Stewart as Joan Jett, released on March 19, 2010.Now available in this popularly priced, flexi-cover edition.

The White Stripes: Under Great White Northern Lights


Autumn de Wilde - 2010
    Photographer Autumn de Wilde traveled with the band into town and over tundra, capturing the beauty of the landscape, the exhilarating power of the live shows, the band's intense connection with their fans, and Jack and Meg White's on- and offstage lives, all with rare and candid access. In nearly 300 color and black-and-white images, this remarkable book documents an epic journey and an amazing band.

The Ultimate Metallica


Ross Halfin - 2010
    The Ultimate Metallica collects the best of Halfin's amazing images, taken over the years with access granted exclusively to him as the band's main lensman. His candid photographs--taken on stage, backstage, on and off tour--are supplemented by text from many people close to the band, including managers and music writers, plus some colorful personal observations from Halfin himself."Ross Halfin's mark is often imprinted when I access the Metallica memory bank, located deep in the bowels of my thick Danish skull." --Lars Ulrich

American Junkie


Tom Hansen - 2010
    It's a story that maps his heroin addiction, from the promise of a young life to the prison of a mattress, from budding musician to broken down junkie, drowning in syringes and cigarette butts, shooting heroin into wounds the size of softballs, and ultimately, a ride to a hospital for a six-month stay and a painful self-discovery that cuts down to the bone. Through it all he never really loses his step, never lets go of his smarts, and always projects quintessential American reason, humor, and hope to make a story not only about drugs, but a compelling study of vulnerability and toughness.

Rolling Stone: The Beatles 100 Greatest Songs


Rolling Stone Magazine - 2010
    

The England's Dreaming Tapes: The Essential Companion to England's Dreaming, the Seminal History of Punk


Jon Savage - 2010
    In researching England's Dreaming, Savage conducted hundreds of hours of interviews of which only a fraction made it into the finished book. Now, in The England's Dreaming Tapes, Savage makes available for the first time the full, uncut, sensational story behind the cultural moment that was punk. Here is the story of a generation that changed the world in just a few months in 1976, as told by the scene's major figures: all four original Sex Pistols as well as Joe Strummer, Chrissie Hynde, Jordan, Siouxsie Sioux, Viv Albertine, Adam Ant, Lee Black Childers, Howard Devoto, Pete Shelley, Syl Sylvain, Debbie Wilson, Tony Wilson, Jah Wobble, and many others. Together, they offer a sweeping history of the late 1960s and the 1970s-not just the era's music, but also its radical politics, social issues, fashion, and culture. An invaluable source of information about a movement that has become obscured by myth, these vivid, unvarnished interviews were conducted when punk was only a decade old. In many cases, this was the first time that the subjects had talked about the period. The interviews describe the founding of the Sex Pistols; 430 King's Road, site of the legendary boutique Sex, which helped establish the punk aesthetic; punk rock New York; the cultural landscapes of London and its suburbs; the writers who covered punk; and the Manchester music scene centered around Factory Records. With The England's Dreaming Tapes, Savage gives us the first and final word on the music, fashion, and attitude that defined this influential and incendiary era.

Exposed: The Faces of Rock N' Roll


Mick Rock - 2010
    Since then Mick's become a legend himself, shooting a who's who of rock, punk, and pop icons and capturing the images of stars right as they became part of the pop firmament. Exposed collects 200 of his best photos across nearly 40 years, including unforgettable images of Syd Barrett, Lou Reed, Blondie, Queen, Iggy Pop, the Sex Pistols, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the Killers, Lady Gaga, U2, and many more. Featuring a revealing introduction, narrative captions, and an illuminating foreword by playwright Tom Stoppard, Exposed is a gorgeous visual celebration for music fans.

Astrid Kirchherr: A Retrospective


Matthew H. Clough - 2010
    Less well-known are her other photographs, and Astrid Kirchherr: A Retrospective seeks to place Kirchherr's photography in a wider context. The book charts her life as an art student in Hamburg through new interviews with Kirchherr and the people who knew her personally at that time. Klaus Voormann, Kirchherr's close friend at art college, provides unique insight into their life in the city in the late 1950s, with fascinating details of the time and place. Further detail is provided by Gibson Kemp, Kirchherr's ex-husband, and Ulf Kruger, her close friend and manager. It was in a studio created in Kirchherr's mother's attic that Stuart Sutcliffe made his famous Hamburg series of abstract expressionist canvases—and where historic photographs of the Beatles were made. The editors, working closely with Kirchherr, have unparalleled access to her photographic archives, and the essays are complemented with a wealth of black-and-white and color plates of key photographs, and by numerous additional images of Kirchherr and her contemporaries, including the Beatles. Many of these photos are previously unpublished and many more appear here for the first time uncropped.

Syd Barrett: A Very Irregular Head


Rob Chapman - 2010
    During his brief time with the band (1966-68), he was the driving force behind the unit. After he left the band he made just two further solo albums which were both released in 1970, before withdrawing from public view to lead a quiet, and occasionally troubled life in Cambridge, the town of his birth. Rob Chapman's book will be the first authoritative and exhaustively researched biography of Syd Barrett that fully celebrates his life and legacy as a musician, lyricist and artist, and which highlights the influence that he continues to have over contemporary bands and music fans alike.

Metallica: All That Matters


Paul Stenning - 2010
    These metal titans have maintained their vaunted status for over two decades through musical prowess, constant touring, and resilience in the face of personal tragedy. Now, their personal stories are documented in this comprehensive biography — from the tragic death of guitarist Cliff Burton in 1986 to alcoholism, divorce, departed band members, and the conflicts that drove band members to pursue group therapy and rehab. Charting their skyrocketing careers from childhood to sales of over 100 million albums, this is the ultimate guide for fans of every generation.