Booked On Rock

Called by Record Collector “the most accomplished critical overview yet” of progressive rock and one of their 2011 books of the year, “Beyond and Before” moves away from the limited consensus that prog rock is exclusively English in origin and that it was destroyed by the advent of punk in 1976. Instead, by tracing its multiple origins and complex transitions, it argues for the integration of jazz...

Arriving in California as a young boy in the early 1960s, Edward Van Halen and his brother Alex were ripe for the coming musical revolution. The sons of a Dutch, saxophone-playing father, the brothers discovered the Beatles, Cream and others, and once Eddie switched from drums to guitar it started to become apparent where the future of both brothers lay. From the moment their hugely influential 19...

Co de Kloet and Frank Zappa were friends for many years, and during that time Co recorded nearly every conversation the two men had. They also corresponded frequently—about life, music, politics, and much more besides—and this book offers a unique chronicle of their friendship, from their first meeting in 1977 to Zappa’s death in 1993. Co is renowned as an expert on Zappa’s music, but this book is...

If you’ve never heard of Nick Panaseiko, that’s entirely understandable. He was a backstage guy, making sure that the act onstage is playing to a full house, making sure their records were on the radio and in record stores. He was a promo man. Kelly Jay of Crowbar referred to the Canadian music industry of the era as a matter of ‘six degrees of Nick Panaseiko’. Taking off from a popular Panasonic...

The ELO story is one of continued success for over 50 years. From inauspicious beginnings in 1971, where live audiences barely reached double figures, ELO would become one of the most popular bands in the world by the end of the decade, thanks largely to the songwriting and production talents of Jeff Lynne. There were hits such as “Evil Woman”, “Mr. Blue Sky” and “Don’t Bring Me Down”; multi-plati...

"Aerosmith On Tour" focuses on the touring history of one of rock’s legendary bands based on local reviews of the shows and the contemporaneous critical perception of the band. This first volume of "Aerosmith On Tour" covers the band's early grind, as they sought to establish themselves on the rock 'n' roll landscape, through the successes and internal turmoil, ending with the successful 1984 reun...

1970 was a year of change in pop and rock music, with divisions between both becoming ever more blurred. More ambitiously constructed epics, heavy rock numbers and contemporary folk songs competed with the mainstream and easy listening fare on Top of the Pops and in the Top 30 singles, while progressive and jazz-rock took their first bows in the album charts. There were live albums, notably from T...

In the early 1980s two bands dominated the independent charts: the Smiths and the Sisters of Mercy. They have proved to be equally influential. In every city in the world you will find people dressed like they have just walked offstage from playing a gig with the Sisters of Mercy in 1983. “Paint My Name in Black and Gold” tells the story of their rise – how against the odds and all reasonable expe...

When Yes ran into problems recording their tenth album in Paris at the end of 1979, it was almost the end. Yet in the 80s the band rallied, firstly as part of an unlikely collaboration with a new wave duo, then with 90125, the most successful album of their career, which spawned a number one hit in the USA with ‘Owner Of A Lonely Heart’. The band failed to capitalize on this success, however, ling...

Think about Led Zeppelin and the image coming to mind would be of them straddling the world as the archetypal 'rock gods', defining the 1970s like no other artist did. Dig deeper though, and there's a lot more to Zeppelin than hard rock and bluster, with folk and blues strongly threading through their catalogue from the very beginning. “Led Zeppelin: Every Album, Every Song” digs into every Led Ze...

From 1983 until 1991, Glam Metal was the sound of American culture. This was the world stalked by bands like Bon Jovi, Kiss, W.A.S.P., Skid Row, Dokken, Motley Crue, Cinderella, Ratt and many more. Big hair, massive amplifiers, drugs, alcohol, piles of money and life-threatening pyrotechnics. Armed with hairspray, spandex and strangely shaped guitars, they marked the last great era of supersize ba...

Renowned British photographer Bill Zygmant and Beatles historian and author David Bedford have released a new book entitled “Where Did You Get That Shirt?”, featuring three decades’ worth of Zygmant’s film and rock photos. Zygmant’s Beatles photos are considered so important that the Hard Day’s Night Hotel in Liverpool displays them within a suite named after him. This brand-new book, designed by...

This is the songwriting class you always wish you'd taken, taught by the professor you always wish you'd had. "Music, Lyrics, and Life: A Field Guide For The Advancing Songwriter" takes a deep dive into the heart of questions asked by songwriters of all levels, from how to begin journaling to when you know that a song is finished. With humor and empathy, Mike Errico unravels both the mystery of so...

U2 planted the seeds for 'The Joshua Tree' during an existential journey through America. As Irishmen in the 1970s, the band grew up with the belief that America was a place of freedom and prosperity, a symbol of hope and a refuge for all people. However, global politics of the 1980s undermined that impression and fostered hypocritical policies that manipulated Americans and devastated people arou...

The Doors remain one of the most original acts in the history of Rock and Roll. However, their actual music is sometimes overshadowed by the cult of Jim Morrison. Those with long memories will recall a point in the 1980s when he went from lead singer of an old band to a signifier of cool known as ‘Morrison.’ His image appeared everywhere on t-shirts, posters, and in the film The Lost Boys, adornin...

"Neil Young on Neil Young: Interviews and Encounters" is a revealing anthology of Young's most significant, fascinating, and entertaining discussions, declarations, and dreams, chronicling fifty years of conversations, feature stories, and press conferences. With many interviews widely available for the first time—including new transcriptions and first-time translations into English—the book spans...

Los Angeles in the 1960s gave the world some of the greatest music in rock 'n' roll history: "California Dreamin'" by the Mamas and the Papas, "Mr. Tambourine Man" by the Byrds, and "Good Vibrations" by the Beach Boys, a song that magnificently summarized the joy and beauty of the era in three and a half minutes. But there was a dark flip side to the fun fun fun of the music, a nexus between naïve...

Over fifty years after his death, Jimi Hendrix (1942–1970) is celebrated as the greatest rock guitarist of all time. But before he was setting guitars and the world aflame, James Marshall Hendrix was a shy kid in Seattle, plucking at a broken ukulele and in fear of a father who would hit him for playing left-handed. Bringing Jimi’s story to vivid life against the backdrop of midcentury rock, and w...

Come the late '70s, the rock music landscape was littered with the bloated carcasses of bands who partied too hard, burned out, or became complacent in success. The door was open for something fresh, wild, and enrapturing. Enter Van Halen. Made up of two Dutch-born brothers, one on drums and the other whose guitar was an extension of his very being, a bass player with a golden throat, and a frontm...

"Haunted Rock & Roll: Ghostly Tales Of Musical Legends" - From Rock & Roll’s pioneers to its contemporary rebels, the greatest names live on after death - in unexpected and frightening ways. Discover thrilling stories of Michael Jackson, Jim Morrison, Led Zeppelin, the Beatles, Amy Winehouse, and many more rockers who’ve been seen haunting their favorite bars, clubs, and homes. "Haunted Rock and R...

You’ve probably read about Led Zeppelin’s success in their famous biography "Hammer of the Gods". You watched Queen take over the world in "Bohemian Rhapsody". And although you probably won’t admit it to your friends, you enjoyed the crazy TV ride in Motley Crüe’s "The Dirt". Rock bios are all the rage. Lead singers, guitarists, managers, roadies, groupies, even drummers have told their tales and...

Decades after the rise of rock music in the 1950s, the rock concert retains its allure and its power as a unifying experience—and as an influential multi-billion-dollar industry. In "Rock Concert", acclaimed interviewer Marc Myers sets out to uncover the history of this compelling phenomenon, weaving together ground-breaking accounts from the people who were there. Myers combines the tales of icon...

"Searching For Jimmy Page" is the fictional story of Luna Kane. The unraveling of eighteen-year-old Luna’s haunted past begins in the winter of 1988, when her dying great-grandfather, a self-proclaimed faith healer, claims he hears phantom owls crying in the night. “Them owls, like music. Can you hear the music?” he implores her in his final moments, triggering Luna’s repressed memory of her dead...

Written with S.E. Feinberg, Alan Walden’s "Southern Man" is the memoir of a life in music during one of the most racially turbulent times in American history. It presents the voice of Alan Walden—a remarkable, sensitive, humble, and brilliant man; a boy from the country who, serendipitously, along with his brother Phil and best friend Otis Redding, helped to nurture a musical renaissance. It is th...

Of all of the 'classic' British rockers who came to prominence in the 1960s, only a very few have achieved significant, sustained success through to the present day. A list that comprises Paul McCartney and The Rolling Stones should also include Eric Clapton. His critical and commercial accomplishments with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Cream, Blind Faith and his first solo album between 1965 and 1...