Dusty: An Intimate Portrait of a Musical Legend


Karen Bartlett - 2014
    Never one to be shy of the spotlight, Dusty broke the mould as the first female entertainer to publicly admit she was bisexual, and was famously deported from South Africa for refusing to play to segregated audiences during apartheid in 1964, just a year after the launch of her solo career. Combining brand-new material, meticulous research and frank interviews with friends, lovers, employees and confidants, journalist Karen Bartlett reveals sensational new details about the soul diva’s unconventional upbringing, tumultuous relationships and unbridled addictions, including a lifelong struggle to come to terms with her sexuality. Named one of the Sunday Times’s best musical biographies of 2014, this is the intimate portrait of an immensely complicated and talented woman – the definitive account of one of music’s most legendary figures.

Conversations With The Dead: The Grateful Dead Interview Book


David Gans - 1991
    David Gans, a self-professed Deadhead and host of "The Grateful Dead Hour," asked Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, and the rest of the band the questions their fans would have asked if given the chance. And Gans reaches far beyond the musicians, talking with such often-overlooked key players as the recording engineer, sound man, and road crew—those who have had the coveted opportunity to witness the Dead's decades of music-making. This updated and expanded edition includes a rare, never-before-published interview with Seastones composer Ned Lagin and a new introduction by the author. With a readable combination of intensity, inquisitiveness, and candor, Gans has created an unprecedented portrait of a band who, after more than thirty years of music-making, has earned a unique place in American culture.

America


Ralph Steadman - 1974
    Thompson collaborator Ralph Steadman delivers a heaping helping of anti-American vitriol with trademarked bombast, based on his travels throughout the Land of the Free and Home of the Brave.

Soul Mining: A Musical Life


Daniel Lanois - 2010
    A French-speaking kid from Canada, Lanois was driven by his innate curiosity and intense love of music to transcend his small-town origins and become one of the world’s most prolific and successful record producers, as well as a brilliant musician in his own right. Lanois takes us through his childhood, from being one of four kids raised by a single mother on a hairdresser’s salary, to his discovery by Brian Eno, to his work on albums such as U2’s The Joshua Tree, Bob Dylan’s Time Out of Mind, and Emmylou Harris’s Wrecking Ball. Revealing for the first time ever his unique recording secrets and innovations, Lanois delves into the ongoing evolution of technology, discussing his earliest sonic experiments with reel-to-reel decks, the birth of the microchip, the death of discrete circuitry, and the arrival of the download era. Part technological treatise, part philosophical manifesto on the nature of artistic excellence and the overwhelming need for music, Soul Mining brings the reader viscerally inside the recording studio, where the surrounding forces have always been just as important as the resulting albums. Beyond skill, beyond record budgets, beyond image and ego, Lanois’s work and music show the value of dedication and soul. His lifelong quest to find the perfect mixture of tradition and innovation is inimitable and unforgettable.

Arlott, Swanton and the Soul of English Cricket


Stephen Fay - 2018
    John Arlott and E.W. ('Jim') Swanton transformed the broadcasting of the nation's summer game into a national institution. For any cricket follower in his fifties or older, just the mention of their names immediately evokes a flood of memories.Swanton was born into a middle-class family and privately educated; Arlott was the son of a working-class council employee, educated at state schools until he left at the age of sixteen. Because of their strong personalities and distinctive voices – Swanton's crisp and upper-class, Arlott's with its Hampshire burr – each had a loyal following in the post-war years, when England's class system had a slot for almost everyone. Within a few minutes of the start of a conversation, it would be possible to identify the speaker as an Arlott or a Swanton man.Arlott and Swanton never grew to like each other, but both typified the contrasting aspects of post-war Britain and the way both it and the game they loved was to change. As England moved from a class-based to a more egalitarian society, nothing stayed the same – including professional cricket. Wise, lively and filled with rich social and sporting history, Arlott, Swanton and the Soul of English Cricket shows how these two very different men battled to save the soul of the game as it entered a new era.

No Slam Dancing, No Stage Diving, No Spikes: An Oral History of the Legendary City Gardens


Amy Yates Wuelfing - 2014
    And now, finally, the story is being brought to you by the people who lived it.During the ‘80s and into the mid-‘90s, City Gardens was a haven for the underground. Music, art, and a general sense of creative collectivism drove the imaginations of its patrons and performers alike, and the resulting memories have been captured and molded into a narrative that, while reminiscent of a larger history, is still uniquely Jersey.The doors of 1701 Calhoun St. closed some 20 years back, but in the minds of many, the “House That Randy Built” still casts its long shadow of influence. Whether you grew up there or you were just visiting, chances are City Gardens had some impact on you, and that impact probably informs and instructs the person you are today. Some of those stories are here; some of those stories still reek of pit-sweat and still glow with the exuberance of youth colored by nostalgia. In the pages of this book are war stories and friendship stories and the inspirational stories of lives realized and identities met. It is a story of life; the imperfect, often messy and sometimes brilliant moments of life. Its cast is as diverse as its moments, yet still uniform in one similar goal: the search for something different. Almost each and every person who participated in the world of City Gardens will echo, in some combination of description and passion, the desire to reject what was handed to them and, instead, find their own path. The universal sentiment is one of belonging; of a visceral impulse to connect to something larger and to find a safety in similarity. To find home.Know that when you read these stories that have been curated with great care; with almost a kind of religious reverence. They have been handled with loving, gloved hands; as one would handle a brittle old photo of a long-lost loved one. They have been chosen to represent the lives of so many people. Regardless of where you were from or how you came to City Gardens, your story is as valuable as any we’ve recorded. The sheer volume of lives intersecting with lives and history piled on top of history may have hindered the inclusion of all stories, but, hopefully, if you lived the life and you felt the joy and the strength of the music we all celebrate, you’ll recognize yourself in some of these words. You can order the book here:http://www.citygardensnj.com/?page_id=9

Teaching Genius: Dorothy Delay and the Making of a Musician


Barbara Lourie Sand - 2003
    For more than ten years, the author was granted access to DeLay's classes and lessons at Juilliard and the Aspen Music Festival and School, and this book reveals DeLay's deep intuition of each student's needs. An exploration of the mysteries of teaching and learning, it includes a feast of anecdotes about an extraordinary character.

Black Knight: Ritchie Blackmore


Jerry Bloom - 2006
    Dubbed the 'man in black', guitarist Ritchie Blackmore found fame with Seventies rock giants Deep Purple, then walked away from them to create Rainbow, only to abandon them and form another band in 1997 - Blackmore's Night.

I Killed Pink Floyd's Pig: Inside Stories of Sex, Drugs and Rock & Roll


Beau Phillips - 2014
    Never-been-told stories of sex, drugs and rock & roll. Plus exclusive photos! It's your all-access pass...a behind-the-scenes VIP tour of when rock was great. The author takes you backstage and inside bands' dressing rooms, hotel suites and private planes of Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, AC/DC, Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney and dozens more.

I'm Awesome: One Man's Triumphant Quest to Become the Sweetest Dude Ever


Jason Ellis - 2012
    Fans of The Jason Ellis Show and the MMA-meets-music festival "Ellismania" know Ellis as a fearless daredevil—and as the new voice of action sports in America. Now, fans can learn how he got to be the man he is: the struggles, the setbacks, and the fight he put up to make it through to something better. Fans of Griffin Forrest’s Got Fight and Tony Hawk’s Hawk won’t want to miss this unbelievable tell-all from a larger-than-life icon, and a fighter through and through.

Overwhelming Odds


Susan O'Leary - 2004
    The book unveils a truth of universal importance, namely, by helping others in need we can become their miracles.

Keith Richards: In His Own Words


Keith Richards - 1994
    Rhythm guitarist with The Rolling Stones for over 30 years, he is also famous in his own right as a solo artist.

21 Nights


Prince - 2008
    A stunning multi-media volume with gorgeous never-before-published images of, original words and new music by the artist known otherwise by one name—Prince.

Re-make/Re-model: Becoming Roxy Music


Michael Bracewell - 2007
    Here was a group that looked as though it came not only from another era, but from another planet - a band in which art, fashion and music would combine to create, in Bryan Ferry's words, 'above all, a state of mind'. Written with the assistance, for the first time, of all those involved, including Bryan Ferry, Brian Eno, Andy Mackay, and Phil Manzanera, Re-make/Re-model tells how Pop Art, the 1960s underground, and Swinging London were transformed into a unique sound and look - theatrical, arch, literate. clever, sexy, thrilling. In the tradition of Jean Stein and George Plimpton's Edie, Re-make/Re-model is the story of extraordinary individuals and exceptional creativity - and nothing less than the history of an era in music and pop culture.""Exquisitely written...as much a work of art as its subject." - The Observer"Innovative and intelligent." - Publishers Weekly"Michael Bracewell is the most adroitly gifted writer of his generation." - Morrissey

Crying With Laughter: My Life Story


Bob Monkhouse - 1993
    One of Britain's most enduring and famous comedians tells us in his own inimitable style the fascinating and often hilarious story of his life. From disclosures of very painful personal tragedies to extraordinary and outrageously funny anecdotes about the stars he knew, his confessions are blisteringly honest, touching - and often shocking. Crying With Laughter combines heartache with hilarity, sexy showbiz revelations with genuinely moving tales of the hard times, and typically funny jokes with sobering personal reflections, to create a passionate, witty and sparkling account of an extraordinary man's extraordinary life.