Composers Musicians category: 3267 books

A candid, compelling, and rollicking portrait of the pirate captain of Margaritaville—Jimmy Buffett. In Jimmy Buffett: A Good Life All the Way, acclaimed music critic Ryan White has crafted the first definitive account of Buffett’s rise from singing songs for beer to his emergence as a...

Hans von Bülow (1830-1894) is a towering figure of late 19th-century music. In his early years, he was crucial to championing Franz Liszt's instrumental works. He would also conduct the premières of Richard Wagner's musical dramas Tristan and Isolde and The Mastersingers and become the first to...

"If you tried to give rock and roll another name, you might call it 'Chuck Berry'."- John LennonChuck Berry was among the first musicians to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on its opening in 1986; for having "laid the groundwork for not only a rock and roll sound but...

There are techniques to DJ and to become a music producer. There are also methods to organize music events and to promote them. But, few people ever wrote about what truly makes everything awesome, or which criteria an artist should follow to gain success and reach the level of the most famous. Even...

Sequel to Grammy-nominated bestseller Under the Big Black Sun, continuing the up-close and personal account of the L.A. punk scene, with 50 rare photos Picking up where Under the Big Black Sun left off, More Fun in the New World explores the years 1982 to 1987, covering the dizzying pinnacle...

This is a short biography of Tinker Carlen, a guitarist and singer in the world-famous Cricket band. It is a story of the origin of the Crickets and Tinker's involvement from the very beginning when Tinker, Buddy Holley, and other young musicians got together to "make music and entertain."It...

Scott, Clint, Dave and Bob--the Moffatts. They're brothers, friends, and talented musicians. Hailing from Victoria, British Columbia, these four cuties (three of them are triplets!) sing pop music for a new generation. It's a toe-tapping, pop-rock combo that'll knock you off your feet--and keep you...

Louisiana Fiddlers shines light on sixty-two of the bayou state's most accomplished fiddlers of the twentieth century. Author Ron Yule outlines the lives and times of these performers, who represent a multitude of fiddling styles including Cajun, country, western swing, zydeco, bluegrass, Irish, contest...

If Memphis is the birthplace of rock ’n’ roll, it certainly spent its adolescence along U.S. Highway 67. Known today as Rock ’n’ Roll Highway 67, it runs from Newport, Arkansas, to the Missouri border. It is here that the first rock ’n’ rollers honed their skills, playing the small towns...

During the 1940s, country music was rapidly evolving from traditional songs and string band styles to honky-tonk, western swing, and bluegrass, via radio, records, and film. The Blue Sky Boys, brothers Bill (1917-2008) and Earl (1919-1998) Bolick, resisted the trend, preferring to perform folk and...

The story of the Ink Spots is a rags-to-riches story beloved in American mythology. The success of the Ink Spots inspired many others to attempt (some merely mimicking) their popular and musical success. They were, without question, the most influential black vocal group of the 1940s, and one of the...

An all-access pass to what goes on backstage, onstage, and on the way to the stage. What's a tour bus like? What are the band members saying to each other on stage? Exactly how much sex, how many drugs, how much rock 'n' roll are we talking here? The Musician's Guide to the Road answers all these...

Philip Lynott was one of Ireland’s original rock stars. He emerged onto the Dublin beat scene in the 1960s, first as a member of The Black Eagles and subsequently, in turn, with Skid Row, Orphanage and, as the bass guitarist, singer and chief songwriter, with the legendary Thin Lizzy. Lizzy...

Songwriter Bobby Gosh's memoir Confessions of a Marijuana Eater is part biography, popular music history, personal philosophy, and of course, public acknowledgement of his career-spanning use of marijuana/cannabis. By 1952, when Gosh started touring, using marijuana was not something one publicized....