Book picks similar to
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Duran Duran's Rio (33 1/3 Book 156)
Annie Zaleski - 2021
    No album represented this rip-it-up-and-start-again movement better than the act's breakthrough 1982 LP, Rio. A cohesive album with a retro-futuristic sound-influences include danceable disco, tangy funk, swaggering glam, and Roxy Music's art-rock-the full-length sold millions and spawned smashes such as "Hungry Like the Wolf" and the title track.However, Rio wasn't a success everywhere at first; in fact, the LP had to be buffed-up with remixes and reissued before it found an audience in America. The album was further buoyed by colorful music videos, which established Duran Duran as leaders of an MTV-driven second British Invasion, and the group's cutting-edge visual aesthetic. Via extensive new interviews with band members and other figures who helped Rio succeed, this book explores how and why Rio became a landmark pop-rock album, and examines how the LP was both a musical inspiration-and a reflection of a musical, cultural, and technology zeitgeist.
Grievous Angel: An Intimate Biography of Gram Parsons
Jessica Hundley - 2005
    At the thirty-year anniversary of his death, his sound, a mix of country and rock 'n' roll, is absolutely everywhere. Popular musicians of today trace their inspiration to pick up a guitar to when they first heard his music. His songs and his style have had a lasting effect on the music of our time. Now, together with Parsons's daughter, Polly, Jessica Hundley has created an intimate and extensive biography that brings together never-before-seen photos and illustrations, unpublished letters, and in-depth interviews with some of the many artists whose work was shaped by Parsons, including Keith Richards, Emmylou Harris, Wilco, and Ryan Adams, among many others. Grievous Angel is the tribute that the legions of Parsons fans have been waiting for—a book that brings to life the story of the Southern boy who revolutionized the way music sounds.
The Beatles and Me On Tour
Ivor Davis - 2014
    In this first-ever chronicling of that revolutionary tour from the inside, author Ivor Davis serves up the stories behind the stories as only an insider can.In the rowdy and riotous recollections of THE BEATLES AND ME ON TOUR, Ivor Davis, then a reporter for the London Daily Express, shares his unrestricted access to the Liverpool lads as a member of the Beatles entourage. From inside the band’s hotel suites to the concert arenas to the private jets, the madness and magic plays out through Davis’ personal accounts of hanging with the Beatles for thirty-four jam-packed days.Go behind the scenes for all-night Monopoly games with John Lennon, witness the Beatles’ legendary living-room jam with Elvis, and be there the night Bob Dylan introduces the band to pot. Roll up for this definitive account of the legendary band at a critical moment in the history of rock ’n’ roll.
Prince: Chapter and Verse—A Life in Photographs
Mobeen Azhar - 2016
    Prince was a legend of artistry and individuality, a man who lived for his music and positioned himself outside the confines of the recording industry. News of his untimely passing shocked and shattered his millions of fans. Filled with rare and carefully curated photos of Prince from all stages of his career, this visually stunning unofficial music biography tells Prince s story through conversations that journalist (and Prince fanatic) Mobeen Azhar had with the people who knew him best friends, musicians, artists, and members of his inner circle many speaking out about the great artist for the first time. These firsthand accounts paint a more personal picture of Prince than any seen before, and, along with the images, pay homage to the originality, musical genius, glamour, and sex appeal that Prince embodied."
The Book of Mac: Remembering Mac Miller
Donna-Claire Chesman - 2021
    He tried to look you right in the eyes to see how you were feeling about it.” —Will Kalson, friend and first manager Following Mac Miller’s tragic passing in 2018, Donna-Claire Chesman dedicated a year to chronicling his work through the unique lens of her relationship to the music and Mac’s singular relationship to his fans. Like many who’d been following him since he’d started releasing mixtapes at eighteen years old, she felt as if she’d come of age alongside the rapidly evolving artist, with his music being crucial to her personal development. “I want people to remember his humanity as they’re listening to the music, to realize how much bravery and courage it takes to be that honest, be that self-aware, and be that real about things going on internally. He let us witness that entire journey. He never hid that.” —Kehlani, friend and musician. The project evolved to include intimate interviews with many of Mac’s closest friends and collaborators, from his Most Dope Family in Pittsburgh to the producers and musicians who assisted him in making his everlasting music, including Big Jerm, Rex Arrow, Wiz Khalifa, Benjy Grinberg, Just Blaze, Josh Berg, Syd, Thundercat, and more. These voices, along with the author’s commentary, provide a vivid and poignant portrait of this astonishing artist—one who had just released a series of increasingly complex albums, demonstrating what a musical force he was and how heartbreaking it was to lose him. “As I’m reading the lyrics, it’s crazy. It’s him telling us that he hopes we can always respect him. I feel like this is a message from him, spiritually. A lot of the time, his music was like little letters and messages to his friends, family, and people he loved, to remind them of who he really was.” —Quentin Cuff, best friend and tour manager.
Willin': The Story of Little Feat
Ben Fong-Torres - 2013
    Formed in 1969 by ex-members of Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention, Little Feat created groove-heavy music that was an irresistible mix of rock, blues, R&B, country, jazz, soul, and funk.Fronted by the charismatic but doomed vocalist and brilliant slide guitarist Lowell George, the band recorded such classic studio albums as Sailin’ Shoes and Dixie Chicken, as well as Waiting for Columbus, which many consider to be one of the best live albums of all time.Acclaimed journalist Ben Fong-Torres—working with Little Feat’s surviving members, their friends, and associates—wrote Willin’ based on hours of brand new interviews with the key players. The result? The first definitive biography of this beloved rock ’n’ roll institution.
24 Hour Revenge Therapy (33 1/3, #130)
Ronen Givony - 2018
    If anything, today, the cult of Jawbreaker-in their own words, "the little band that could but would probably rather not"-is now many times greater than it was when they broke up in 1996. Like the best work of Fugazi, The Clash, and Operation Ivy, the album is now is a rite of passage and a beloved classic among partisans of intelligent, committed, literary punk music and poetry.Why, when a thousand other artists came and went in that confounding decade of the 90s, did Jawbreaker somehow come to seem like more than just another band? Why do they persist, today, in meaning so much to so many people? And how did it happen that, two years after releasing their masterpiece, the band that was somehow more than just a band to its fans-closer to equipment for living-was no longer?Ronen Givony's 24 Hour Revenge Therapy is an extended tribute in the spirit of Nicholson Baker's U & I a passionate, highly personal, and occasionally obsessive study of one of the great confessional rock albums of the 90s. At the same time, it offers a quizzical look back to the toxic authenticity battles of the decade, ponders what happened to the question of "selling out," and asks whether we today are enriched or impoverished by that debate becoming obsolete.
Midnight Mover: The True Story of the Greatest Soul Singer in the World
Bobby Womack - 2007
    A protege of Sam Cooke, Womack wrote classics that include "Lookin' for a Love" and "It's All Over Now" (a smash-hit for the Rolling Stones). Their success helped make him a star, but ongoing battles with drugs and the record industry nearly destroyed him. Behind his music lies a life scorched by tragedy, beginning with his impoverished childhood in Cleveland, to his years touring and recording with the greats--including James Brown, Jimi Hendrix, Sam Cooke, Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Eric Clapton, and Elvis Presley--and through the years of drugs, partying, and riotous abuse, this is the authentic voice of a major soul artist.
The Mothers' Board: Mothers Know Best
Lashaunda K. Jackson-Williams - 2016
     But hold everything! The Mothers’ Board has been quiet for too long, and they refuse to lay down after seeing their beloved pastor vanish. What follows is a rollicking adventure with the mothers sticking their noses in plenty of people’s business and causing a fuss wherever they go—whether it’s breaking and entering a house to search for clues … or investigating the seemingly psycho church secretary. Along the way, the mothers show a heap of God’s love to some hurting folks—and put the smack-down on the devil every chance they get. It’s their church, after all, and mothers know best!
Still Can't Trust Her
Kyoshi - 2014
    Zacari and his crew are on a mission to paint the streets of Virginia red to get them back. Miss Ty is still in a coma and not showing any signs of improvement. Skye's mother Marisol also has a few secrets of her own. Moriah is starting to have regrets about her involvement. Who is Mister and why is he so hell bent on revenge? Will Miss Ty make it? Ride along with Skye, Zacari, Jamari, Rick, Mark, Falan, Marisol, James, Moriah and Mister and find out if all can be forgiven or if she Still Can’t Be Trusted.
Sicka Than Your Average: A Good Girl Turned Savage
Mz Toni - 2016
    The only problem she didn't factor in was the distance Harvard would put between her and her nine year old sister. When you have a mother who can't let go of her youth, and a father too busy trying to make ends meat to provide for his family Charm has no choice but to pick up the slack. Charm makes the hard decision to attend college to build a future for her little sister when tragedy strikes leaving Charm to question her purpose in life.
Runaway Soul
Tiffani Quarles-Sanders - 2017
    Only months before her retirement, new mandatory background checks threaten to expose Jackie’s darkest secrets, secrets she’s kept buried for nearly fifty years. As Jackie pleads with her husband Peter for help, her carefully hidden past unfolds.Alabama, 1961- As an ambitious student, Jackie is looking forward to her senior year, with hopes for college. However, on Homecoming morning, her father’s infidelity causes her world to change suddenly and irrevocably. In the year that follows, Jackie and her sister are increasingly trapped by poverty, Jim Crow, and ongoing violence and abuse—and Jackie is ultimately forced to protect herself in ways she never imagined. Ways which now, fifty years later, may prove to be her undoing.
"Hands up if you like Jill": Memoirs of growing up with an alcoholic mother and an abusive stepfather - How I survived
Jill Kathryn Barnes - 2020
    He was a jealous man, who beat her up repeatedly; even when she was pregnant with Jill. She was only nineteen and a half when Jill was born. By the time Jill was two and a half, the marriage had ended. When Jill was around four years old, a much worse man had entered both of their lives; only this time, it was Jill who was the one being beaten. It meant nothing to her stepfather to beat her up around three times a week. He killed several beloved pets and made them eat one and also a neighbour’s pet that was found in their garden. Jill always had felt that she was loved and wanted by her mother, who had been an alcoholic since she had left school. However, when her stepfather sexually abused Jill, that was all to change. After some years of festering her rage and two breakdowns, Jill’s mother’s hate became far worse than what her stepfather had dished out. Jill became the family slave and was told daily how much her mother despised her for actually ‘allowing’ herself to be abused. Her mother also started asking the family who liked who, round the dinner table. They all cheered each other but when Jill’s name was called out, they all booed. That hurt Jill more than all of the beatings put together; though she knew her brother and sister did love her deep down and often told her so. It was just their own survival that made them join in. Jill takes you through her life, step by step, as she seeks emotional healing. She had a faith that helped but that got changed to almost unrecognisable over time. In fact, the beliefs that she once held dear, along with her very difficult upbringing, eventually drove her over the edge to a very nasty breakdown. Only when she had hit rock bottom though, did she find the solace she had long been searching for and the healing that came with it. This is not a bitter tale; in fact, it might surprise you how understanding Jill actually is. There are many good times, as well as bad in this book. You will find certain parts quite amusing, as she focuses on those happier times, as well as the bad. That makes this book quite a refreshing and even an uplifting read. Jill has a special knack of explaining things, that you can almost feel as if you are right there with her. Note: Some names have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals.
No Love in His Heart: Part One
B. Love - 2018
    In her youth, she was okay with not having children or getting married, but now that she’s close to thirty her desires have changed. With only two choices, Blue must choose between staying with Messiah or leaving and starting a new life and love with someone willing to give her every desire of her heart – including marriage and children. For Kiylee, the bad boys are no good and the good guys are no fun. Settling for no commitment and the occasional bed buddy has gotten her through most of her adulthood until she meets Bianco and Indie. Bianco, a classic street hoodlum, vies for her attention just as strongly as Indie, the good guy you’d want to bring home to your mother. In this love triangle, Kiylee’s heart is pulling her in one direction while her mind tugs her in another. Tamara spent most of her late teenaged years seeking the attention of Alante. She wanted his sight, even if she wasn’t the woman in his vision. After finally winning him, Tamara realizes just how big of a mistake it was to pursue a man instead of waiting on the one that was truly meant for her. Each of these women are left with a choice, and although the answers seem easy at first… the consequences are hard enough to have them all changing their minds and the love within their hearts. Please note: The characters in this series were first introduced in “No Love in his Heart: The Preface”
