Rock and Roll Will Save Your Life

Rock and Roll Will Save Your Life

Author: Steve Almond

Publisher: Random House

Published: 2010-04-13

Total Pages: 241

ISBN-13: 0679603654

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Drooling fanatic, n. 1. One who drools in the presence of beloved rock stars. 2. Any of a genus of rock-and-roll wannabes/geeks who walk around with songs constantly ringing in their ears, own more than 3,000 albums, and fall in love with at least one record per week. With a life that’s spanned the phonographic era and the digital age, Steve Almond lives to Rawk. Like you, he’s secretly longed to live the life of a rock star, complete with insane talent, famous friends, and hotel rooms to be trashed. Also like you, he’s content (sort of) to live the life of a rabid fan, one who has converted his unrequited desires into a (sort of) noble obsession. Rock and Roll Will Save Your Life traces Almond’s passion from his earliest (and most wretched) rock criticism to his eventual discovery of a music-crazed soul mate and their subsequent production of two little superfans. Along the way, Almond reflects on the delusional power of songs, the awkward mating habits of drooling fanatics, and why Depression Songs actually make us feel so much better. The book also includes: • sometimes drunken interviews with America’s finest songwriters • a recap of the author’s terrifying visit to Graceland while stoned • a vigorous and credibility-shattering endorsement of Styx’s Paradise Theater • recommendations you will often choose to ignore • a reluctant exegesis of the Toto song “Africa” • obnoxious lists sure to piss off rock critics But wait, there’s more. Readers will also be able to listen to a special free mix designed by the author, available online at www.stevenalmond.com, for the express purpose of eliciting your drool. For those about to rock—we salute you!


Petty

Petty

Author: Warren Zanes

Publisher: Henry Holt and Company

Published: 2015-11-10

Total Pages: 337

ISBN-13: 0805099697

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The New York Times Bestseller *One of Rolling Stone's 10 Best Music Books of 2015* An exhilarating and intimate account of the life of music legend Tom Petty, by an accomplished writer and musician who toured with Petty. No one other than Warren Zanes, rocker and writer and friend, could author a book about Tom Petty that is as honest and evocative of Petty's music and the remarkable rock and roll history he and his band helped to write. Born in Gainesville, Florida, with more than a little hillbilly in his blood, Tom Petty was a Southern shit kicker, a kid without a whole lot of promise. Rock and roll made it otherwise. From meeting Elvis, to seeing the Beatles on Ed Sullivan, to producing Del Shannon, backing Bob Dylan, putting together a band with George Harrison, Dylan, Roy Orbison, and Jeff Lynne, making records with Johnny Cash, and sending well more than a dozen of his own celebrated recordings high onto the charts, Tom Petty's story has all the drama of a rock and roll epic. In his last years, Petty, known for his reclusive style, shared with Warren Zanes his insights and arguments, his regrets and lasting ambitions, and the details of his life on and off the stage. This is a book for those who know and love the songs, from "American Girl" and "Refugee" to "Free Fallin'" and "Mary Jane's Last Dance," and for those who want to see the classic rock and roll era embodied in one man's remarkable story. Dark and mysterious, Petty managed to come back, again and again, showing us what the music can do and where it can take us.


Just Around Midnight

Just Around Midnight

Author: Jack Hamilton

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2016-09-26

Total Pages: 351

ISBN-13: 0674416597

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By the time Jimi Hendrix died in 1970, the idea of a black man playing lead guitar in a rock band seemed exotic. Yet a mere ten years earlier, Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley had stood among the most influential rock and roll performers. Why did rock and roll become “white”? Just around Midnight reveals the interplay of popular music and racial thought that was responsible for this shift within the music industry and in the minds of fans. Rooted in rhythm-and-blues pioneered by black musicians, 1950s rock and roll was racially inclusive and attracted listeners and performers across the color line. In the 1960s, however, rock and roll gave way to rock: a new musical ideal regarded as more serious, more artistic—and the province of white musicians. Decoding the racial discourses that have distorted standard histories of rock music, Jack Hamilton underscores how ideas of “authenticity” have blinded us to rock’s inextricably interracial artistic enterprise. According to the standard storyline, the authentic white musician was guided by an individual creative vision, whereas black musicians were deemed authentic only when they stayed true to black tradition. Serious rock became white because only white musicians could be original without being accused of betraying their race. Juxtaposing Sam Cooke and Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin and Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and the Rolling Stones, and many others, Hamilton challenges the racial categories that oversimplified the sixties revolution and provides a deeper appreciation of the twists and turns that kept the music alive.


How to Kill a Rock Star

How to Kill a Rock Star

Author: Tiffanie DeBartolo

Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc.

Published: 2005-09-01

Total Pages: 434

ISBN-13: 1402250398

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"Funny, tender, edgy. I wanted the love story to go on forever."—Joan Johnston, bestselling author of No Longer a Stranger Written in the wonderfully honest, edgy, and hilarious voice she perfected in God-Shaped Hole, Tiffanie DeBartolo shines in a passionate new story of music, love, and sacrifice. Eliza Caelum, a young music journalist, is finally getting her footing in New York when she meets Paul Hudson, a talented songwriter and lead singer of the band Bananafish. They soon realize they share more than a reverence for rock music and plunge headlong into love. When Bananafish is signed by a big corporate label, and Paul is on his way to becoming a major rock star, Eliza's past forces her to make a heartbreaking decision that might be the key to Paul's sudden disappearance. A layered and emotional look into the world of music, this raw summer read will resonate with readers who loved Daisy Jones & the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Praise for Tiffanie DeBartolo's God-Shaped Hole: "From highs to heartbreak, DeBartolo conjures an affair to remember."—People "Honest, raw, and engaging."—Booklist "This generation's Love Story."—Kirkus Reviews


Hitless Wonder

Hitless Wonder

Author: Joe Oestreich

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2012-06-05

Total Pages: 298

ISBN-13: 0762785950

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A classic underdog story about a local band that almost hits the big time. Everyone knows the price of fame. Hitless Wonder measures the price of obscurity. What happens when you chase a dream into middle age and, in doing so, risk losing the people you love?


The Advocate

The Advocate

Author:

Publisher:

Published: 2001-08-14

Total Pages: 96

ISBN-13:

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The Advocate is a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) monthly newsmagazine. Established in 1967, it is the oldest continuing LGBT publication in the United States.


Kiss

Kiss

Author: Gene Simmons

Publisher: Three Rivers Press (CA)

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 210

ISBN-13: 0609810286

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With over 150 photos--most of which are published here for the first time--Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley take readers on an intimate tour of the early days of KISS. Full color and b&w.


What are You Doing Here?

What are You Doing Here?

Author: Laina Dawes

Publisher: Bazillion Points LLC

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781935950059

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* Laina Dawes is not always the only black woman at metal shows and she's not always the only headbanger among her black female friends. In this book, she questions herself, her hardcore heroes and dozens of black punk, metal and hard-rock fans to answer a knee-jerk question she's heard a hundred times 'What are you doing here?'.


The Virgin Illustrated Encyclopedia of Pop & Rock

The Virgin Illustrated Encyclopedia of Pop & Rock

Author: Nic Oliver

Publisher: Virgin Books Limited

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 408

ISBN-13:

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Cut through the haze of rock reference with the updated second edition of this illustrated encyclopedia. There are over 1800 entries on the stars who have shaped rock history, whether they were destined to become icons or bygones, influential or infamous. Each entry provides essential facts and opinion on songwriters, musicians and producers and includes a sidebar of star-rated recommended albums. There are over 600 images to complement the text and a full album listing for each act at the back of the book.


New York Magazine

New York Magazine

Author:

Publisher:

Published: 1997-06-23

Total Pages: 178

ISBN-13:

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New York magazine was born in 1968 after a run as an insert of the New York Herald Tribune and quickly made a place for itself as the trusted resource for readers across the country. With award-winning writing and photography covering everything from politics and food to theater and fashion, the magazine's consistent mission has been to reflect back to its audience the energy and excitement of the city itself, while celebrating New York as both a place and an idea.