Book picks similar to
The Beatles: An Illustrated Record by Roy Carr
music
beatles
non-fiction
biography
Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981-1991
Michael Azerrad - 2001
This sweeping chronicle of music, politics, drugs, fear, loathing, and faith has been recognized as an indie rock classic in its own right. Among the bands profiled: Mission of Burma, Butthole Surfers, The Minutemen, Sonic Youth, Black Flag, Big Black, Hüsker Dü, Fugazi, Minor Threat, Mudhoney, The Replacements, Beat Happening, and Dinosaur Jr.
Ticket to Ride: Inside the Beatles' 1964 and 1965 Tours That Changed the World
Larry Kane - 2004
? Includes a CD featuring an hour of Kane?s rare interviews with the Beatles ? Features a foreword by Dick Clark
Joy Division: Piece by Piece
Paul Morley - 2007
He not only wrote extensively and evocatively of the “mood, atmosphere and ephemeral terror” that enveloped the group and their doomed front man, Ian Curtis, but he was present when Curtis suffered his life-changing epileptic seizure following a London concert in April 1980 and was the only journalist permitted to view Curtis’ corpse. Joy Division: Piece By Piece encompasses his complete writings on the group, both contemporary and retrospective. In addition to collecting all of Morley’s classic works about the band, the book includes his eloquent Ian Curtis obituary and hindsight pieces on the group’s significance, framed by an extensive retrospective essay, as well as his reviews of the films 24 Hour Party People and Control. Morley, who emerged from Manchester at the same time as Joy Division, effortlessly evokes that city’s zeitgeist and psycho-geography to tell the story of this uniquely intense group.
In Dreams: An Intimate Portrait of Roy Orbison: The Authorized Story
Alex Orbison - 2017
Roy Orbison died in 1988 but he's hardly forgotten. Raised in rural Texas, Orbison became one of the pioneers of rock and roll in the 1950s, sharing the famed Sun Records with Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash. He achieved superstar status in the 1960s, writing and releasing a series of smash singles, such as Oh, Pretty Woman, Only the Lonely, and Crying, plus many others that remain the most well-known songs of the era. IN DREAMS features rare memorabilia from Roy's career, much of it unseen for decades. This stunning biography, written by his sons along with Jeff Slate, tells the true story of their father's remarkable life, including his personal tragedies, reinventions, and untimely death.
Rock Albums Of The 70s: A Critical Guide
Robert Christgau - 1981
After that he could describe his cars for three [LP] sides and get away with it." Christgau on Carly Simon: "If a horse could sing in a monotone, the horse would sound like Carly Simon, only a horse wouldn't rhyme 'yacht,' 'apricot,' and 'gavotte.'" Christgau on Van Morrison: "This is a man who gets stoned on a drink of water and urges us to turn our radios all the way into the mystic. Visionary hooks his specialty." Christgau on Lou Reed: "Reed Sounds like he's imitating his worst enemy, himself." (Lou Reed on Robert Christgau: "What a moron! Studying rock and roll. I can't believe it!") An indispensable book, Christgau's Rock Albums the '70s is the definitive guide to nearly 3,000 albums of the decade that brought us progressive rock, country rock, glam rock, funk, disco, punk, heavy metal, and new wave.
The Beatles
Hunter Davies - 1968
As the only authorized biographer, Davies had full access to the Fab Four as well as their help and encouragement. He spent eighteen months with them when they were at the peak of their musical genius and at the pinnacle of their popularity, and he remained friends with each of the members as they went their separate ways. This updated edition addresses recent changes in the lives of the Beatles: Paul's marriage, George's death, and their new books and records.
Postcards from the Boys
Ringo Starr - 2004
Now, for the first time, Ringo Starr is opening his private archive to share this delightful and very intimate correspondence. Whether it's John advising Ringo to record a "great & simple" song like Blondie's Heart of Glass, Paul and Jane Asher dropping a note from Rishikesh to report on their meditation lessons with the Maharishi, or George writing from the Great Barrier Reef to confirm plans for Christmas dinner, each postcard is a warm and personal snapshot of life in (and after) The Beatles. The 51 postcards -- many of which are covered in whimsical drawings -- are colorfully reproduced, both front and back. Ringo's droll commentary fills in the blanks, though he does confess that at times he had to consult the Internet for details! Often funny, occasionally bittersweet, and always revealing, Postcards from the Boys is a must for Beatles lovers.
The Beatles Are Here!: 50 Years after the Band Arrived in America, Writers, Musicians Other Fans Remember
Penelope Rowlands - 2014
Through the voices of those who witnessed it or were swept up in it indirectly, The Beatles Are Here! explores the emotional impact—some might call it hysteria—of the Fab Four’s February 1964 dramatic landing on our shores. Contributors, including Lisa See, Gay Talese, Renée Fleming, Roy Blount, Jr., and many others, describe in essays and interviews how they were inspired by the Beatles. This intimate and entertaining collection arose from writer Penelope Rowlands’s own Beatlemaniac phase: she was one of the screaming girls captured in an iconic photograph that has since been published around the world—and is displayed on the cover of this book. The stories of these girls, who found each other again almost 50 years later, are part of this volume as well. The Beatles Are Here! gets to the heart of why, half a century later, the Beatles still matter to us so deeply.
Midnight Riders: The Story of the Allman Brothers Band
Scott Freeman - 1995
This history includes the band's blues roots, their wild early days on the road and their recent resurgence.
Elvis Presley: A Life in Music — The Complete Recording Sessions
Ernst Jorgensen - 1998
With exclusive access to the RCA vaults, producer Ernst Jorgensen brings to intimate life every moment that Elvis spent in the studio--from the spontaneous joy of his early sessions to the intensely creative periods of his later career. At once the definitive recording session guide and a compellingly readable narrative, this is the ultimate companion to the singer and his songs.
Instamatic Karma: Photographs of John Lennon
May Pang - 2008
I didn't want to intrude on these moments, but John insisted. He felt that I captured him in ways that no one else did because of his comfort level with me...For years, only my closest friends got to see these photos--which were literally tucked away in a shoebox in my closet. They were surprised that these images did not convey the John that was portrayed in the press during our time together. In fact, they saw a side of John seldom seen."--From INSTAMATIC KARMAJohn Lennon is the most famously photographed Beatle--everyone from Iain MacMillian to Annie Lebowitz took iconic images of him--but there have never been pictures of him like these taken by May Pang, Lennon's girlfriend from 1973 to 1975. In INSTAMATIC KARMA, they're collected for the first time. With very few exceptions, these photos are that rare thing: never-before-seen images of an icon. The photos here show Lennon in a variety of settings: at work, at play, at home, and away. They show a playful Lennon, a casual, unguarded Lennon; they're the kind of photos one lover takes of another. May has written rich captions to accompany her photos--taken together, they tell a simple story of the time May and Lennon spent together; a time, according to legend, when Lennon was unhappy and unproductive, estranged from his family and bandmates. Pang's photos clearly tell another story--they show Lennon clowning around, working on his hit album "Walls and Bridges," embracing old friends and family, hanging out in their apartment on Manhattan's East 52nd Street, relaxing in the country in upstate New York or spending peaceful days swimming in the waters of Long Island.The photographs in INSTAMATIC KARMA are both color and black & white, casual Polaroids and more composed shots. Each one is an intimate glimpse into a fascinating time in John Lennon's life.
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.
No One Here Gets Out Alive
Danny Sugerman - 1980
With an afterword by Michael McClure.
The Day the Music Died: The Last Tour of Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper, and Ritchie Valens
Larry Lehmer - 1997
Drawing on new documentary information, the author recreates the often grueling conditions of an early rock and roll tour, and provides new facts about "the day the music died." With 50 photos.