Book picks similar to
Carmen: Opera Explained by Thomson Smillie
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The Endless Journey: 50 Years of Pink Floyd
Mick Wall - 2014
Earlier this year he published the Kindle-only No.1 bestseller, Paranoid, a dark, twisted and frequently hilarious memoir of his time working at the heavy end of the music business in the 1970s and 80s.Now comes his sensational Kindle-only biography of Pink Floyd, The Endless Journey: 50 Years Of Pink Floyd. Timed to coincide with The Endless River, the first all-new Pink Floyd album for 20 years, this is the book Wall describes as “The one I’ve been waiting all my life to write.”As the book explains, ‘Spread across four sides of music The Endless River is very much a Pink Floyd album in the historic, legendary sense. One meant to be listened to as one, long continuous, flowing piece.’As David Gilmour comments on the official Pink Floyd website, “I think the way the three of us, me, Nick and Rick have something when we play together, that has a magic that is louder than words.”This book is a tribute to that magic. The story of Pink Floyd, then and now, ebbing and flowing, like the tides of the moon, across time and space, to bring you to now.
Deathconsciousness
Have a Nice Life - 2008
Whosoever lives, so shall they die; and may they die a drowning death, with all of Life inside their mouths, and naught but stones inside their lungs, like David with the skull, dwelling upon it in every second, the impossible trials of ceasing, stopping, ending..."Have a Nice Life's album Deathconsciousness is accompanied by a 75-page booklet detailing the dark and forgotten history of the Antiochean cult. Blurring the lines between novella, liner notes, and academic text, the zine itself presents an engrossing narrative.- This is Deathconsciousness -and it begs the question - "What is the point?"
Maestros and Their Music: The Art and Alchemy of Conducting
John Mauceri - 2017
With candor and humor, Mauceri makes clear that conducting is itself a composition: of legacy and tradition, techniques handed down from master to apprentice--and more than a trace of ineffable magic. He reveals how conductors approach a piece of music (a calculated combination of personal interpretation, imagination, and insight into the composer's intent); what it takes to communicate solely through gesture, with sometimes hundreds of performers at once; and the occasionally glamorous, often challenging life of the itinerant maestro. Mauceri, who worked closely with Leonard Bernstein for eighteen years, studied with Leopold Stokowski, and was on the faculty of Yale University for fifteen years, is the perfect guide to the allure and theater, passion and drudgery, rivalries and relationships of the conducting life.
The Pentagon Papers
Neil Sheehan - 1971
'The Washington Post' called them "the most significant material in American history" and they remain relevant today as a reminder of the importance of a free press and First Amendment rights. 'THE PENTAGON PAPERS' demonstrated that the government had systemically lied to both the public and to Congress.THIS INCOMPARABLE VOLUME INCLUDES:• The Truman and Eisenhower Years: 1945-1960 by Fox Butterfield• Origins of the insurgency in South Vietnam by Fox Butterfield• The Kennedy Years: 1961-1963 by Hedrick Smith• The Overthrow of Ngo Dinh Diem: May-November, 1963 by Hedrick Smith• The Covert War and Tonkin Gulf: February-August, 1964 by Neil Sheehan• The Consensus to Bomb North Vietnam: August, 1964-February, 1965 by Neil Sheehan• The Launching of the Ground War: March-July, 1965 by Neil Sheehan• The Buildup: July, 1965-September, 1966 by Fox Butterfield• Disenchantment: October, 1966-May, 1967 by Hedrick Smith• The Tet Offensive and the Turnaround by E.W. Kenworthy• Analysis and Comment• Court Records• Biographies of Key FiguresWith a brand-new foreword by James L. Greenfield, this edition of the Pulitzer Prize-winning story is sure to provoke discussion about free press and government deception, and shed some light on issues in the past and the present so that we can better understand and improve the futureRUNNING TIME ⇒ 37hrs.©2018 Neil Sheehan, E.W. Kenworthy, Fox Butterfield, Hendrick Smith (P)2018 Brilliance Audio, Inc., all rights reserved.
Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad
M.T. Anderson - 2015
T. Anderson delivers an account of the Siege of Leningrad and the role played by Russian composer Shostakovich and his Leningrad Symphony.In September 1941, Adolf Hitler’s Wehrmacht surrounded Leningrad in what was to become one of the longest and most destructive sieges in Western history—almost three years of bombardment and starvation that culminated in the harsh winter of 1943–1944. More than a million citizens perished. Survivors recall corpses littering the frozen streets, their relatives having neither the means nor the strength to bury them. Residents burned books, furniture, and floorboards to keep warm; they ate family pets and—eventually—one another to stay alive. Trapped between the Nazi invading force and the Soviet government itself was composer Dmitri Shostakovich, who would write a symphony that roused, rallied, eulogized, and commemorated his fellow citizens—the Leningrad Symphony, which came to occupy a surprising place of prominence in the eventual Allied victory.This is the true story of a city under siege: the triumph of bravery and defiance in the face of terrifying odds. It is also a look at the power—and layered meaning—of music in beleaguered lives.
Who Killed Epstein? Prince Andrew or Bill Clinton (War On Drugs Book 5)
Shaun Attwood - 2021
What Am I Bid?: How One of Television's Favourite Auctioneers Went From Counting Sheep to Selling Silver
Philip Serrell - 2021
How wrong he was. In What Am I Bid? he tells of life after the events he described in his previous memoirs, An Auctioneer's Lot and Sold to the Man with the Tin Leg, to bring his story up to date. From dodgy cars to fakes in the sales room; angry livestock, mangled silverware and tortuous--not to mention muddy--experiences in local markets and farm sales, Serrell has been there, done that, and got the hoof prints on his suit to prove it.
Ignore the Fear: One woman's paddleboarding adventure, 800 miles from Land's End to John O'Groats with a fear of the sea
Fiona Quinn - 2019
Yet as a complete beginner, and a terrified one at that, in April 2018 Fiona set out to see if she could stand up paddleboard up the west coast of Britain, 800 miles from Land’s End to John O’Groats (LEJOG). Having walked and cycled LEJOG the year before, something inexplicably compelled her to see if she could turn her previous adventures into a length of Britain triathlon and set three new world records. Along the way Fiona was joined by dolphins, paddled 40 miles across the Irish Sea, and battled past whirlpools. This inspiring and gripping account shows that no matter what the odds, if you dare to start before you’re ready, anything is possible. "Fiona’s stand up paddleboard adventure certainly tested her to the limits. Having had a bad experience in water when she was a child, and then to put herself in a situation that pushes on that fear, week after week, is no mean feat. Along the way she lost sight of shore to paddle across the Irish Sea, becoming the first woman to do so. Through all of the challenges she faced, it was her belief in herself and those around her that enabled her to keep moving forwards." - Sean Conway Fiona Quinn is a keynote speaker, endurance adventurer and entrepreneur. Sharing stories with everyone from school children to business executives, she enthusiastically invites you to change your view of what’s possible.
Making Records: The Scenes Behind the Music
Phil Ramone - 2007
Streisand. Dylan. Pavarotti. McCartney. Sting. Madonna. What do these musicians have in common besides their super-stardom? They have all worked with legendary music producer Phil Ramone. For almost five decades, Phil Ramone has been a force in the music industry. He has produced records and collaborated with almost every major talent in the business. There is a craft to making records, and Phil has spent his life mastering it. For the first time ever, he shares the secrets of his trade.Making Records is a fascinating look "behind the glass" of a recording studio. From Phil's exhilarating early days recording jazz and commercial jingles at A&R, to his first studio, and eventual legendary producer status, Phil allows you to sit in on the sessions that created some of the most memorable music of the 20th century -- including Frank Sinatra's Duets album, Bob Dylan's Blood on the Tracks, Ray Charles's Genius Loves Company and Paul Simon's Still Crazy After All These Years. In addition to being a ringside seat for contemporary popular music history, Making Records is an unprecedented tutorial on the magic behind what music producers and engineers do. In these pages, Phil offers a rare peek inside the way music is made . . . illuminating the creative thought processes behind some of the most influential sessions in music history. This is a book about the art that is making records -- the way it began, the way it is now, and everything in between.
Crowded House: Something So Strong
Chris Bourke - 1997
When "Don't Dream It's Over" and "Something So Strong" exploded in the US charts, worldwide success looked inevitable. Critics compared them musically to the Beatles and fans adored them for their warmth and humour on stage. Four brilliant albums later, their roller-coaster ride of achievements and disappointments came to an end on the steps of the Sydney Opera House, in front of one of the largest audiences in Australian history. The dream was over, the band broken up, their enormous promise only partly fulfilled. In this definitive account, New Zealand journalist Chris Bourke has written the true story of Crowded House. With unparalleled access to all band members, their families, friends, musical collaborators, managers, and record company personanel, he has captured their essence. It is a unique tale of musical chemistry, family bonds and the personal costs of pursuing an artistic vision. From the manic energy of the recording studio to the machinations of the record industry, this riveting account is a book for every Crowded House fan.
Adele: To Make You Feel Her Love
Neil Simpson - 2012
Her album 21 is the biggest selling record of the century so far clocking up an incredible 24 million sales globally. From a cramped flat in London to the Grammys in Los Angeles, Adele's golden voice, her catchy hits, and her irrepressible personality have taken the world by storm. But who is the woman behind the songs? What struggles and heartbreaks inspired the music that moved the world to tears - and bought it to its feet? And now that she seems to have finally found happiness with her new partner, and with the baby boy she gave birth to in October 2012, can she still find the passion that made her the artist who conquered the entertainment industry?In this brilliant, insightful biography Neil Simpson takes the reader inside Adele's world. He details her childhood, her early attempts to break into the music business, the tempestuous relationships that inspired some of her greatest songs and the months of painstaking work that went into the albums the defined her. This is the real Adele - unvarnished and close-up. And the book has been updated to include the birth of her baby boy - and to examine what kind of mother Adele will be, and what impact it will have on her incredible creativity. 'Adele: To Make You Feel Her Love' is the one book every Adele fan will want to read. 'I adore Adele’s voice and I adored this book. Neil Simpson’s account of Adele’s amazing career, from her childhood days to mega-stardom, captivated me right from the start.' - Emma Lee-Potter, best-selling author of 'School Ties'. Endeavour Press is the UK's leading independent publisher of digital books.
Words Without Music: A Memoir
Philip Glass - 2015
Yet in Words Without Music, his critically acclaimed memoir, he creates an entirely new and unexpected voice, that of a born storyteller and an acutely insightful chronicler, whose behind-the-scenes recollections allow readers to experience those moments of creative fusion when life so magically merged with art. From his childhood in Baltimore to his student days in Chicago and at Juilliard, to his first journey to Paris and a life-changing trip to India, Glass movingly recalls his early mentors, while reconstructing the places that helped shape his creative consciousness. Whether describing working as an unlicensed plumber in gritty 1970s New York or composing Satyagraha, Glass breaks across genres and re-creates, here in words, the thrill that results from artistic creation.Words Without Music ultimately affirms the power of music to change the world.
Dancer
Colum McCann - 2003
Spanning four decades and many worlds, from the horrors of the Second World War to the wild abandon of New York in the eighties, Dancer is peopled by a large cast of characters, obscure and famous: doormen and shoemakers, nurses and translators, Margot Fonteyn, Eric Bruhn and John Lennon. And at the heart of the spectacle stands the artist himself, willful, lustful, and driven by a never-to-be-met need for perfection.
Resistance: A Songwriter's Story of Hope, Change, and Courage
Tori Amos - 2020
From her unnerving depiction of sexual assault in "Me and a Gun" to her post-9/11 album Scarlet's Walk to her latest album Native Invader, her work has never shied away from intermingling the personal with the political.Amos began playing piano as a teenager for the politically powerful at hotel bars in Washington, D.C., during the formative years of the post-Goldwater and then Koch-led Libertarian and Reaganite movements. The story continues to her time as a hungry artist in L.A. to the subsequent three decades of her formidable music career. Amos explains how she managed to create meaningful, politically resonant work against patriarchal power structures-and how her proud declarations of feminism and her fight for the marginalized always proved to be her guiding light. She teaches readers to engage with intention in this tumultuous global climate and speaks directly to supporters of #MeToo and #TimesUp, as well as young people fighting for their rights and visibility in the world.Filled with compassionate guidance and actionable advice-and using some of the most powerful, political songs in Amos's canon-this book is for readers determined to steer the world back in the right direction.
Glastonbury 50: The Official Story of Glastonbury Festival
Emily Eavis - 2019
the perfect festival experience' THE SUNDAY TIMESGlastonbury 50 is the authorised, behind-the-scenes, inside story of the music festival that has become a true global phenomenon.The story begins in 1970. The day after Jimi Hendrix's death... dairy farmer Michael Eavis invites revellers to his field in Somerset to attend a 'Pop, Folk & Blues' festival. Tickets are £1 each, enticing more than a thousand customers with the promise of music, dance, poetry, theatre, lights and spontaneous entertainment - as well as free milk from his own Worthy Farm cows.Fast forward through five tumultuous decades and the Eavis's vision now encompasses a gigantic 'city in the fields', with a total annual population nearing a quarter of a million. Tickets sell out within minutes, the show is beamed live to more than 40 countries around the globe, and over 3 million people are registered to attend. Meanwhile, the bill has expanded to include big name performers, artists and designers from every branch of the creative arts. Glastonbury Festival is now the largest outdoor green fields event in the world.In their own words, Michael and Emily Eavis reveal the stories behind the headlines, and celebrate 50 years of history in the Vale of Avalon. They're joined by a host of big-name contributors from the world of music - among them Adele, JAY-Z, Dolly Parton, Chris Martin, Noel Gallagher, Lars Ulrich and Guy Garvey. They're joined by artists - Stanley Donwood, Kurt Jackson and many more. Writers - Caitlin Moran, Lauren Laverne, Billy Bragg - and by a host of photographers, from Seventies icon Brian Walker to rock and roll legends Jill Furmanovsky and Greg Williams.Together they bring you the magic that makes Glastonbury, Glastonbury.