By the band’s side from the very beginning, he beheld the inception and growth of the most extraordinary musical phenomenon of the last century. But he was also there when things started to go wrong—when George Harrison quit the band at the height of their success and when it all started to spiral out of control. And he reveals for the first time exactly what caused their break-up. As Brian Epstein’s right-hand man, Alistair Taylor was with the charismatic manager when he first saw The Beatles perform at The Cavern. Taylor later became the band’s ever-present Mr. Fix-it. He bought islands, handled paternity cases, and became a close and trusted friend. It was he who found Epstein’s body after his suicide and, in the reorganization that followed, Taylor went on to become General Manager of Apple, The Beatles’ record company.

    With Paul's blessing and access to friends, family, band mates and musical collaborators, Coupe shows Paul's evolution from a young man who only really picked up a guitar in his late teens, to an Australian music icon.Through hundreds of interviews, Coupe details the way Paul juggled the demands, temptations and excesses of rock'n'roll with real life. Revealing Paul Kelly's personal relationships, his friendships, his generosity and support of other artists, such as Archie Roach, Kasey Chambers, Kev Carmody, Vika and Linda Bull and Courtney Barnett, the force of Kelly's powerful storytelling, his musical creativity, his activism and his work ethic also shines through.PAUL KELLY: THE MAN, THE MUSIC AND THE LIFE IN BETWEEN is honest, revealing and a must-read for anyone interested in one of Australia's greatest artists.

    the real Hugh Hefner BOY GEORGE Tony created the concept of the boutique hotel. PAUL OAKENFOLD Roguish and very appealing. I like ebullient, charming characters. GRACE JONES I found extraordinary peace at Pikes, and Tony Pike is the best host... the number one ! JOAN BAEZ There's no place like Pikes. You arrive... then a few days later you come round again without fully knowing quite what happened... but you know it was great. KYLE SIMMONS (BASTILLE) I have never seen a man so happy in a leopard skin thong as Tony ! SHIRLEY KEMP (WHAM) Thanks for a fab time, Tony FREDDIE MERCURY

    Glen Campbell's boy-next-door persona belied his hedonistic, near-fatal lifestyle. It all started like a dream - the rise from ruthless poverty as one of twelve children in a small Arkansas town and the against-all struggle for stardom, first as a brilliant studio musician (behind artists such as Sinatra, Elvis, Ray Charles, and Nat King Cole), then as a solo performer who in the sixties and seventies sold some 45 million records (including the timeless classics "Wichita Lineman, " "Gentle on My Mind, " "By the Time I Get to Phoenix, " and, of course, "Rhinestone Cowboy") and hosted his own top-rated TV show. Too quickly, though, the dream became a nightmare of mad spending, multiple marriages, and abusive and all-too-public affairs, as well as wildly escalating alcohol and cocaine dependencies that threatened not only his career but his very existence. Now a Christian and in recovery, he has stepped back into the spotlight a whole man at last. With the help of bestselling author Tom Carter, Glen Campbell has given us a book that is both a star-studded show-biz memoir and a spiritual testimony that radiates great faith and emotion. Rhinestone Cowboy is his personal gift of thanks to the millions who have supported him through decades of good times and bad - and to the vast new audience who have grown to know him through his frequent appearances on cable television's 700Club and other Christian TV shows. "A lot of people are going to be surprised by my story, and I hope that a lot are going to be inspired, " Campbell declares. "All I know for sure is that it's time to tell it. And as honestly as I can, that's just what I've gone and done."

    Crucial to his cross-cultural appeal is the mass of contradictions that defined his complex personality: the macho rapper who glorified the “thug life”; the erudite and sensitive young man who hoped for a political and spiritual awakening among his peers; the sexually insatiable star who served a prison term for the abuse of a female fan; the prison-born son of a Black Panther who recorded a moving tribute to all women. Divided into five sections, this extensively illustrated book explores Tupac’s troubled childhood in Oakland and his relationship with his mother; his recording career and growing fame; his burgeoning film career, including reviews from all of his major film appearances and a rare selection of stills; his still-unsolved 1996 murder and the welter of conspiracy theories that emerged in the aftermath; and the ever-growing Cult of Tupac: his legacy, posthumous releases, and enduring influence on the rap soundscape.

    Sometimes funny, sometimes poignant, this is the story of a young woman's accidental career as a cocktail lounge piano player, and the adventures and encounters that follow.

    Written in an engaging, conversational style, the individual essays outline the elements of intelligent, creative teaching. Duke effectively explains how teachers can meet the needs of individual students from a wide range of abilities by understanding more deeply how people learn. Teachers and interested parents alike will benefit from this informative and highly readable book.

    In Never Said Nothing, the latest in Audible’s Words + Music series, Phair charts her unlikely journey from making her first record—one that’s now ensconced on Rolling Stone’s "500 Greatest Albums of All Time"—to a trial by fire (she’d never set foot on stage before its release), to even more improbably, a second and a third, maybe fourth act, depending on how one counts these things.In this honest and disarming look inside her unique career, Phair talks of how her meteoric rise was accompanied by an equally intense case of the dreaded imposter syndrome, discovering music’s strange magic, and her possibly unique ability to chart her future through songs. Although she includes herself in the class of ‘ordinary people doing extraordinary things,’ listening to Never Said Nothing, along with her performances—which include "‘6’1," "Polyester Bride," and "Stars and Planets,"—one can’t help but feel that ‘fearless person doing extraordinary things’ is the better description.

    This reader for lovers of the piano distils his musical and linguistic eloquence and vast knowledge, and will prove invaluable to anyone with an interest in the technique, history and repertoire of the piano. Erudite, witty, enlightening and deeply personal, A Pianist's A to Z is the ideal book for all piano lovers, musicians and music aficionados: rarely has the instrument been described in such an entertaining and intelligent fashion.

    Includes a "How-To" CD.

    Many of those are thanks to Muscle Shoals Sound Studio and the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, dubbed "the Swampers."Some of the greatest names in rock, R&B and blues laid tracks in the original, iconic concrete-block building--the likes of Cher, Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Rolling Stones and the Black Keys. The National Register of Historic Places now recognizes that building, where Lynyrd Skynyrd recorded the original version of "Free Bird" and the Rolling Stones wrote "Brown Sugar" and "Wild Horses." By combing through decades of articles and music reviews related to Muscle Shoals Sound, music writer Carla Jean Whitley reconstructs the fascinating history of how the Alabama studio created a sound that reverberates across generations.

    This irreverent and hilarious guide to all that's loud, vulgar, fast, violent, pissed-off, and adolescent in the music of the last forty years—the first book to prefigure the emerging "alternative" culture of the 1990s—has now been updated with the hundred best metal albums of the decade.

    Since his band Van Halen burst onto the scene with their self-titled debut album in 1978, Eddie had been hailed as an icon not only to fans of rock music and heavy metal, but to performers across all genres and around the world. Van Halen’s debut sounded unlike anything that listeners had heard before and remains a quintessential rock album of the era. Over the course of more than four decades, Eddie gained renown for his innovative guitar playing, and particularly for popularizing the tapping guitar solo technique. Unfortunately for Eddie and his legions of fans, he died before he was ever able to put his life down to paper in his own words, and much of his compelling backstory has remained elusive—until now. In Eruption, music journalists Brad Tolinski and Chris Gill share with fans, new and old alike, a candid, compulsively readable, and definitive oral history of the most influential rock guitarist since Jimi Hendrix. It is based on more than 50+ hours of unreleased interviews they recorded with Eddie Van Halen over the years, most of them conducted at the legendary 5150 studios at  Ed’s home in Los Angeles. The heart of Eruption is drawn from these intimate and wide-ranging talks, as well as conversations with family, friends, and colleagues. In addition to discussing his greatest triumphs as a groundbreaking musician, including an unprecedented dive into Van Halen’s masterpiece 1984, the book also takes an unflinching look at Edward’s early struggles as young Dutch immigrant unable to speak the English language, which resulted in lifelong issues with social anxiety and substance abuse. Eruption: Conversations with Eddie Van Halen also examines his brilliance as an inventor who changed the face of guitar manufacturing.As entertaining as it is revealing, Eruption is the closest readers will ever get to hearing Eddie’s side of the story when it comes to his extraordinary life.

    A fascinating combination of photograph album, scrapbook, and biography, Simple Plan's exclusive material consists of hundreds of pictures from tours all over the world and the band members' own memories and personal archives. Journalist Kathleen Lavoie has followed the band's career since their beginnings a decade ago. She has written a lively account of the fi ve young Quebecers' fl ourishing career, covering multiple facets of their life from their stage performances to their recording session and tours, on the road and by air. Her look at the personal lives of the band members and their life as a group allows readers to step into their world. This abundantly illustrated book will interest and please Simple Plan fans and music lovers in general. It is the story of an inspiring journey that proves, contrary to popular belief, that even happy stories deserve to be told.

    There they were to suffer brutal beatings and little care or love – they survived as best they could, looking out for each other, until the terrible morning when Terry couldn’t wake Dennis.In a time when the country was united by war and struggle, this landmark case shocked the nation and made headlines around the world. Terry, a small figure in the courtroom, captured the hearts of mothers and families everywhere, and the public outcry against the foster services led to the instigation of the first provisions to protect other vulnerable children from neglect and cruelty.This is the remarkable true story of a boy who couldn’t save his brother, but whose actions have gone to save many other children from the same fate.