Rock Art

Since the late '70s, histories of rock music have either ignored or marginalized the progressive rock era. In part, this has occurred because rock music criticism has taken an almost completely sociological turn, with little or no interest in musical form itself. In Listening to the Future, Bill Martin argues that it is a musical and political mistake to ignore this period of tremendous creativity, a period that still finds resonance in rock music today.

The revealing backstory of the album with no name that spawned 'When the Levee Breaks', 'Black Dog,' 'Stairway to Heaven', and 'Rock 'n' Roll'. Four tracks each side; eight killers, no fillers. This is how they did it.

Of all the musical developments of rock in the 1960s, one in particular fundamentally changed the music's structure and listening experience: the incorporation of extended improvisation into live performances. While many bands—including Cream, Pink Floyd, and the Velvet Underground—stretched out their songs with improvisations, no band was more identified with the practice than the Grateful Dead. In Get Shown the Light Michael Kaler examines how the Dead's dedication to improvisation stemmed from their belief that playing in this manner enabled them to touch upon transcendence.

From behind the walls of a handful of well-hidden, unlikely recording studios in the Los Angeles area, legends-in-waiting created masterpiece albums. It was a time of astonishing creativity and unprecedented fame and fortune. It was also a time of unfettered excess that threatened to unravel everything along the way. With access that only a longtime music business insider can provide, Kent Hartman packs Goodnight, L.A. with never-before-told stories about the most prolific time and iconic place in rock 'n' roll history.

Mick Jagger, Jimmy Cliff, Roger Waters, Jimmy Page, Stevie Wonder, Bonnie Raitt, and many other leading artists reveal for the first time the emotions, inspirations, and techniques behind their influential works. Covering the history of rock, R&B, country, disco, soul, reggae, and pop, Anatomy of a Song is a love letter to the songs that have defined generations of listeners.

In The Pied Pipers of Rock 'n' Roll, Wes Smith examines the phenomenon of the AM deejays who captivated a generation and helped define the counterculture that has forever changed the landscape of American youth. Smith takes a close look at nine of the men who made this happen and explores the reasons for their influence and its lasting effects on the generation whose lives still unfold to the soundtrack laid down by these platter-spinners of their youth.

Allen Klein was like no one the music industry had seen before. The hard-nosed business manager became infamous for allegedly catalyzing the Beatles' breakup and robbing the Rolling Stones, but the truth is both more complex and more fascinating.

The Doctor and Lucie go glam when the Tardis makes an unexpected landing in 1974. Slade, The Sweet and Suzi Quatro are Top of the Pops - and brother-and-sister duo The Tomorrow Twins will soon be joining them, if the star-making Svengali Arnold Korns has his way. But will their dreams turn to dust at a service station somewhere on the M62, besieged by a pack of alien monsters?

The recording studio has long been referred to as "the lab" in record-producer slang, and the Scientists of Sound for the first time takes rock and roll fans of every genre and generation on a first-of-its-kind behind-the-scenes tour of the record-making process, from analog to the digital era. Many of the most famous hits of all time are chronicled here. Giving fans a front-row studio seat as they recount the stories behind the creation of these hits are 50 of the most legendary record producers of all time.

The untold story of Mick Mars, the driving force behind Motley Crue as told by his bandmate in their dues-paying era in the Hollywood rock scene of the mid- to late 1970s.

One of America's best-known rock and entertainment journalists describes his journey from his childhood, cooped up in the "rice room" of his family's restaurant in Oakland's Chinatown, where he did chores, to the major role he played as a writer and editor at Rolling Stone. It is a story of teen worship of Elvis, but also of Chinese customs and the tragic murder of his brother, and of the '60s scene in San Francisco, where he found freedom - and his career.

Mysteries in the Music: Case Closed examines some of the secrets, myths, legends, hoaxes, conspiracies, and wildly inexplicable events that are such an intriguing part of rock and roll history. Travel back to the 1950s to uncover "Who Really Discovered Elvis Presley?" Revisit the 1960s when a folk troubadour tried forming a supergroup with The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. Transport back to Jamaica 1976 to discover whether the CIA tried to assassinate reggae superstar Bob Marley. Discover whether The Beach Boys actually stole a song from cult leader Charles Manson.

Bob Gruen is one of the most well-known and connected photographers in rock and roll. For almost 50 years, he has documented the music scene in pictures that have captured the world's attention. Right Place, Right Time is Gruen's first written account of his winding, adventure-filled journey.

In this new audiobook, broadcaster and music writer Alan Cross narrates the definitive history of Sonic Youth. Cross succeeds once again in revealing the fascinating history behind the music in the same compelling way we've come to expect from his long broadcasting career.

Rock balancing is the practice of stacking stones one on top of another, creating structures that range from simple towers to amazingly elaborate edifices that seem to defy gravity. People balance rocks as a way of connecting to nature, to challenge their limits, as a therapeutic mindfulness practice and simply to have fun! This is the first guide to this meditative art, combining technical instructions and mindfulness advice with spectacular photographs of the incredible balances built by Travis Ruskus.

How does a little boy from the London suburbs named Reginald Kenneth Dwight grow up to become one of the biggest pop stars of all time? A lot of talent and a lot of personality! Elton John, as he would later call himself, started playing piano at the age of three. Although he was trained to play classical music, Elton's real love was rock and roll.

All You Need Is Myth is a timely philosophical conversation about ancient concepts that continue to reverberate in the modern age of mass media and global communication. Author Steve Wagner proposes that the Beatles and the iconic stars of the classic rock era function as modern forms of classical archetypes familiar in mythologies and religious traditions throughout history.

In 1983, backstage at the Lyceum in London, Tracey Thorn and Lindy Morrison first met. Tracey's music career with the Marine Girls had just begun, while Lindy, drummer for The Go-Betweens, was ten years her senior. They became confidantes, comrades and best friends, a relationship cemented by activism and agitprop theatre, lesbian punk bands and rock 'n' roll love affairs. Morrison came to be a kind of mentor to Thorn, a strong female role model in a male dominated industry. They both faced a chauvinist music media wanting them to behave to type.

Kerrang! has an unparalleled reputation as one of the world's best-loved rock-focused publications. It continues to be at the forefront of alternative music, flying the flag for metal, hardcore, punk and beyond, introducing millions to their new favorite bands. Anyone who's anyone in the metal scene has featured Kerrang's hallowed pages and this unique book chronicles these appearances. If it happened in metal, Kerrang! covered it, as confirmed in this year-by-year survey of alternative music.

As a young man, Richard Neer dreamed of landing a job at WNEW in New York - one of the revolutionary FM stations across the country that were changing the face of radio by rejecting strict formatting and letting disc jockeys play whatever they wanted. He felt that when he got there, he’d have made the big time. Little did he know he’d have shaped rock history as well. FM: The Rise and Fall of Rock Radio chronicles the birth, growth, and death of free-form rock-and-roll radio through the stories of the movement’s flagship stations.