The King and I: The Uncensored Tale of Luciano Pavarotti's Rise to Fame by His Manager, Friend and Sometime Adversary


Herbert Breslin - 2004
    All.The King and I is the story of the thirty-six-year-old business relationship between Luciano Pavarotti and his manager, Herbert Breslin, during which Breslin guided what he calls, justifiably, “the greatest career in classical music.” During that career, Breslin moved Pavarotti out of the opera house and onto the concert (and the world) stage and into the arms of a huge mass public. How he and Pavarotti changed the landscape of opera is one of the most significant and entertaining stories in the history of classical music, and Herbert Breslin relates the tale in a brash, candid, witty fashion that is often bitingly frank and profane. He also provides a portrait of his friend and client—“a beautiful, simple, lovely guy who turned into a very determined, aggressive, and somewhat unhappy superstar”—that is by turns affectionate and satirical and full of hilarious details and tales out of school, with Pavarotti emerging as something like the ultimate Italian male. The book is also enlivened by the voices of other players in the soap opera drama that was Pavarotti’s career, and they are no less uncensored than Herbert Breslin. The last word, in fact, comes from none other than Luciano Pavarotti himself!The King and I is the ultimate backstage book about the greatest opera star of the past century—and it’s a delight to read as well.

R. D. Burman: The Man, The Music


Anirudha Bhattacharjee - 2012
    RD revolutionized Hindi film music in the 1970s, and with his emphasis on rhythm and beats, this Pied Piper of Hindi film music had young India swinging to his tunes. At the same time, this genius proved his many detractors who criticized him for corrupting popular taste wrong by composing some of the most influential raga-based songs in Hindi cinema and showing an immense comfort with all kinds of music, including Indian folk. RD: The Man, The Music looks at the phenomenon called R.D. Burman and how he changed the way Indians perceived Hindi film music. Through anecdotes and trivia that went into the making of Pancham’s music – the many innovations he introduced, like mixed rhythm patterns, piquant chords and sound mixing – and through interactions with the musicians who were part of RD’s team, the authors create a fascinating portrait of a man who, through his music, continues to thrive, even fifteen years after his death.

Patti Smith: Dream of Life


Steven Sebring - 2008
    Except for this month's Patti Smith: Dream of Life, which isn't so much a glossy centerpiece as it is an addictive pictorial of the godmother of punk's life as a poet, activist, mother, style icon, and all-around kick-ass front woman." ~Elle "With the Rizzoli imprint, we have come to expect certain things: perfect printing, the highest quality papers, flawless binding, superior layouts and type. This historic book is no different." ~SoHo Journal

Whole Lotta Led Zeppelin: The Illustrated History of the Heaviest Band of All Time


Jon Bream - 2008
    More than 450 rare concert posters, backstage passes, tickets, LPs and singles, t-shirts, buttons, and more illustrate the book. A discography and tour itinerary complete the package, making a book as epic as the band it documents.Created from the ashes of the Yardbirds by guitarist and session wizard Jimmy Page, Led Zeppelin featured virtuoso bass player John Paul Jones, gonzo drummer John Bonham, and Robert Plant, a vocalist like no other before him. The band single-handedly defined what rock 'n' roll could be, leaving in their wake tales as tall or as real as we wanted them to be.All of that, plus exclusive commentary from Ray Davies of the Kinks, Steve Earle, Kid Rock, Ace Frehley of Kiss, Rob Thomas of Matchbox Twenty, Chris Robinson of the Black Crowes, Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora, Lenny Kravitz, Dolly Parton, and many more make this book one that no fan of Led Zeppelin will want to miss!

Crazy Making


Justin Furstenfeld - 2009
    This amazing package includes Justin's first book spanning over 100 pages and including all lyrics from The Answers through Approaching Normal, and Justin's own thoughts on the how, why and when many of these songs came to life. The perfect companion piece to listen through all of the albums. This is a high quality hard cover, full color book.

Greetings from E Street: The Story of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band


Robert Santelli - 2006
    Written with their cooperation, this fully illustrated informal biography combines rare photographs with 30 removable facsimiles of E Street memorabilia, including Bruce Springsteen's first business card and hand-written set list, and even two fabulous posters. Longtime band intimate Robert Santelli captures the ecstatic highs and devastating lows on the E Street Band's roller coaster ride to stardom. He follows the band from the early days in Asbury Park, New Jersey, to the critical acclaim of Born to Run, the mania of Born in the U.S.A. and international touring, and each member's unique projects. Throughout, the band's signature combination of friendship, humor, and stellar musicianship is revealed in stories, snapshots, and the ephemera of life of the road. Warm and personal, Greetings from E Street is a postcard from the most famous address in rock and roll.

Paula, Michael and Bob: Everything You Know Is Wrong


Gerry Agar - 2003
    When their lives collided, the events that unfolded were too bizarre even for fiction; the very public seduction and intense love affair, the fights, the drugs bust, heartbreaking custody battles, financial deals and the deaths of Paula and Michael were front-page news for months. But the vital facts of the web the lovers wove together were kept secret, and the reasons for their deaths were never clear, even to their family and friends.Only one person was there to witness every aspect of the story - Gerry Agar. A former publicist and Paula's long-term friend, Gerry's life, both personal and professional, became inextricably tied to those of the star-crossed lovers, and to the one who would be left behind.This is the stuff of modern legend; a red-blooded tragedy played out in the merciless glare of the media spotlight. Here are the facts, divulged in painful and deeply moving detail, and told with an intimacy that could only be disclosed by one caught in the centre of the storm. This is Gerry Agar's story of Paula, Michael & Bob.

The Piano Man


Marcia Preston - 2006
    The Piano Man by Marcia Preston released on Mar 28, 2006 is available now for purchase.

Dead Kennedys: Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables: The Early Years


Alex Ogg - 2014
    Their sound was inventive and tetchy, and front man Jello Biafra’s lyrics were incisive and often scathing. This chronicle—the first in-depth book written about Dead Kennedys—uses dozens of firsthand interviews, photos, and original artwork to offer a new perspective on a group that was mired in controversy almost from its inception. It examines and applauds the band’s key role in transforming punk rhetoric, both polemical and musical, into something genuinely threatening and enormously funny. Author Alex Ogg puts the local and global trajectory of punk into context and, while not flinching from the wildly differing takes the individual band members have on the evolution of the band, attempts to be celebratory—if not uncritical.

Wicked and Weird: The Amazing Tales of Buck 65


Rich Terfry - 2015
    Born in a small town in Nova Scotia to a mother who begins yelling at him the moment he is born and a father who keeps his own counsel, Buck imbibes fear and insecurity like other kids guzzle milk. Hobbled by his fears and demons, Buck almost disappears into the “evil in the woods” that lurks just beyond the town's border . . . until he is saved by three gifts: baseball, romantic love and music. His epic journey­­—full of diversions, coincidences, and larger-than-life characters—out of the darkness of his suicide-plagued childhood and into the bright wide world begins with a killer pitching arm (Buck almost makes it to the pros) and continues with his transformation into hip hop artist Buck 65. Along the way, Buck develops into a hopeless romantic and an obsessively creative, shape-shifting man who both fears life and dives into it with abandon. Wicked and Weird is a lively, sometimes shocking portrait of a life lived on the edge, by turns funny and heartbreaking.