Composers Musicians category: 3267 books

Based on lengthy interviews with Ellington's bandmates, family, and friends, Duke Ellington and His World offers a fresh look at this legendary composer. The first biography of the composer written by a fellow musician and African-American, the book traces Ellington's life and career in terms of the...

Ever wonder what goes into the creation of some of the best music ever recorded? Ever wonder how someone becomes an iconic professional who is universally admired and respected? Al Schmitt on the Record: The Magic Behind the Music reveals answers to those questions and more. In this memoir...

With every death of a great performer the conspiracy theorists soon come climbing out of the woodwork. Throughout my investigations for this book I have been faced with more crazy conspiracy theories than actual believable ones. I have heard everything from alien abductions to government cover ups....

Memoir by the cofounder and former lead guitarist of heavy metal giants Judas Priest Judas Priest formed in the industrial city of Birmingham, England, in 1969. With its distinctive twin-guitar sound, studs-and-leather image, and international sales of over 50 million records, Judas Priest...

‘Who gave the drugs to the Beatles? I didn’t invent those things. I bought it from someone who got it from somebody. We never invented the stuff.’ – John Lennon Riding So High charts the Beatles’ extraordinary odyssey from teenage drinking and pill-popping, to cannabis, LSD, the psychedelic...

Her iconic blonde looks, stunning voice and songs of loneliness and melancholy have endeared her to millions, yet Agnetha Faltskog remains an enigmatic and distant figure. From her success as a teenage singer and songwriter in Sweden in the late 1960 s to her years of global superstardom with pop...

Acclaimed composer Ned Rorem delights and provokes with a fearless collection of vivid memories, critiques, and musings on life, music, and his world Pulitzer Prize–winning American composer Ned Rorem has been lauded for his art songs, symphonies, operas, and other orchestral works. With...

Chrissy Amphlett is a true legend of Australian rock?n?roll. Here, the spellbinding performer who inspired and outraged as lead singer of the Divinyls tells her own amazing story. In this raw, gripping and searingly honest account, Chrissy spares no one ? least of all herself. She reveals how...

A new memoir from internationally renowned musician Liona Boyd. Few people’s lives are as romantic and adventurous as Liona Boyd’s has been. She has performed around the world, sold millions of albums, won five Juno awards, serenaded numerous heads of state, and, for eight years, dated...

The Grateful Dead's long, strange trip has been the subject of countless books-but none like So Many Roads. Drawing on new interviews with surviving members and people in their inner circle along with previously unknown details gleaned from the group's extensive archives, David Browne, acclaimed music...

Both a love story and a tribute to the entertainment mecca, this exploration shines a spotlight on one of the hottest acts in Las Vegas in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The illuminating depiction showcases the unlikely duo-a grizzled, veteran trumpeter and vocalist molded by Louis Armstrong and...

Living in the Woods in a Tree is an intimate glimpse into the turbulent life of Texas music legend Blaze Foley (1949--1989), seen through the eyes of Sybil Rosen, the woman for whom he wrote his most widely known song, "If I Could Only Fly." It captures the exuberance of their fleeting idyll...

The creator of the dancing bear logo and designer of the Wall of Sound for the Grateful Dead, Augustus Owsley Stanley III, better known by his nickname, Bear, was one of the most iconic figures in the cultural revolution that changed both America and the world during the 1960s. Owsley's high...

“Sympathetic . . . captivating . . . highly effective.” -Graham Robb, New York Review of Books   “Concise and gracefully written. . . . Burke surveys all [Piaf’s] mayhem with thoughtfulness and respect.” -James Gavin, New York Times Book Review   The iconic French singer comes to life in...