Music : Rock

Analyses the music of The Velvet Underground. This work examines the musical influences of the Velvets on punk, post-punk and subsequent rock movements, culminating in the group's reunion of 1993. It also indexes the variety of media constructions that the group endured through the years and how these affected Cale, Nico and Reed. more...

Price: $18.95

From the New York Times bestselling author, the complete story of the last rock supergroup— from their drugfueled blast-off in the 1980s to the turbulent life of legendary singer Axl Rose and his fifteen-year, multimilliondollar effort to make the perfect hardrock album. With 90 million of the band’s records sold worldwide since 1987, Guns N’ Roses prolonged rock music past its sell-by date with controversial albums and immense, often riotous world tours. But the band’s complete story has never been fully told—until now. In his sixth major rock biography, Stephen Davis details the riveting story of a band that originated in the gutters of Sunset Strip and went on to set attendance records on the biggest stadiums on the planet. Watch You Bleed documents the improbable story of W. Axl Rose, the biggest rock star of his generation. Taken from an abusive father in his infancy, he was raised as “Bill Bailey” in a strictly religious Indiana household by a stepfather who beat him for playing Led Zeppelin songs on the family piano. After quitting high school, and on the run from the police in his hometown, Axl arrived in Los Angeles in the midst of the street battles for supremacy among the top music genres of the eighties—post-punk, thrash, hair metal, and glam. The book also charts the backgrounds of every band member, especially Slash, a Hollywood street kid whose designer mother dated David Bowie. Davis brilliantly captures the birth of Guns’ raw power, which—despite rape charges, drug-induced rampages, and a general appetite for destruction— launched the band into the pantheon of rock gods such as Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones. With a wealth of detail, Davis looks at Axl’s unrelenting quest to release the long-awaited, mystery-shrouded Chinese Democracy album, as well as the further adventures of some of the Gunners under the banner of the hard-rocking band Velvet Revolver. For the first time, millions o more...

Price: $27.50

What it's like to make a living making music, from the people who know best: more than a hundred of the biggest names in rock, jazz and hip-hop. Life in the world of professional music requires incredible devotion but pays big rewards. Your body clock is skewed toward night-time; touring is an endless parade of sound checks, hotel rooms and road food; success for most is a long incremental climb. But you're doing what you love most in the whole world — and there's no substitute for the reception from a room full of people who love it too. Based on interviews with more than a hundred working musicians conducted over more than twenty years, this book covers every aspect of the music life: starting out, playing the first gig, making a record, living on the road, crafting the perfect set, writing great songs, and much more. Among the musicians who share their thoughts are: Harry Connick Jr., Gene Simmons, Tim Rice, Bruce Springsteen, Leo Kottke, Phil Everly, Jerry Garcia, Robbie Robertson, Paul Simon, Donald Fagen, John Lee Hooker, Jim Webb, Frank Zappa, Keith Richards, Carole King, Randy Newman, Neil Sedaka, Brenda Lee, John Sebastian, Bruce Hornsby, George Thorogood, Leonard Cohen, and many more. The result is a lifetime's worth of wisdom and experience that will open the eyes of fans and musicians alike. more...

Price: $12.95