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Nightfly: The Life of Steely Dan's Donald Fagen
By Peter Jones. 2022
Donald Fagen will forever be associated with Steely Dan, the band he formed with Walter Becker and four other musicians…
in 1972. The smooth, radio-friendly veneer of the duo's songs made Steely Dan internationally popular and famous in the 1970s, but the polish glossed over the underlying layers of anger, disappointment, sleaze, and often downright weirdness lurking just beneath the surface. The elliptical lyrics were—and continue to be—an endless source of fascination. What kind of person was capable of writing such songs? Fagen has always kept his true self hidden behind walls of irony, confounding most journalistic enquiries with a mixture of obscurity and sarcasm. Nightfly cracks open the door to reveal the life behind the lyrics and traces Fagen's story from early family life in suburban New Jersey, to his first encounter with Walter Becker at Bard College, their long struggle for recognition as songwriters, and the formation of Steely Dan. The band's break-up in 1981, re-formation in 1993, and Fagen's parallel solo career are covered in detail.Author Peter Jones seeks to explain the public's continuing fascination with Fagen's music, both in collaboration with Becker and as a solo artist.Delta Lady: A Memoir
By Rita Coolidge, Michael Walker. 2016
The two-time Grammy Award-winning singer and songwriter bares her heart and soul in this intimate memoir, a story of music,…
stardom, love, family, heritage, and resilience.She inspired songs—Leon Russell wrote “A Song for You” and “Delta Lady” for her, Stephen Stills wrote “Cherokee.” She co-wrote songs—“Superstar” and the piano coda to “Layla,” uncredited. She sang backup for Eric Clapton, Joe Cocker, and Stills, before finding fame as a solo artist with such hits as “We're All Alone” and “(Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher and Higher.” Following her story from Lafayette, Tennessee to becoming one of the most sought after rock vocalists in LA in the 1970s, Delta Lady chronicles Rita Coolidge’s fascinating journey throughout the ’60s-’70s pop/rock universe.A muse to some of the twentieth century’s most influential rock musicians, she broke hearts, and broke up bands. Her relationship with drummer Jim Gordon took a violent turn during the legendary 1970 Mad Dogs & Englishmen tour; David Crosby maintained that her triangle with Stills and Graham Nash was the last straw for the group. Her volatile six-year marriage to Kris Kristofferson yielded two Grammys, a daughter, and one of the Baby Boom generation’s epic love stories. Throughout it all, her strength, resilience, and inner and outer beauty—along with her strong sense of heritage and devotion to her family—helped her to not only survive, but thrive. Co-written with best-selling author Michael Walker, Delta Lady is a rich, deeply personal memoir that offers a front row seat to an iconic era, and illuminates the life of an artist whose career has helped shape modern American culture.My Life with Earth, Wind & Fire
By Maurice White, Herb Powell. 1980
Foreword by Steve Harvey and afterword by David FosterThe Grammy-winning founder of the legendary pop/R&B/soul/funk/disco group tells his story and…
charts the rise of his legendary band in this sincere memoir that captures the heart and soul of an artist whose groundbreaking sound continues to influence music today.With its dynamic horns, contrasting vocals, and vivid stage shows, Earth, Wind & Fire was one of the most popular acts of the late twentieth century—the band “that changed the sound of black pop” (Rolling Stone)—and its music continues to inspire modern artists including Usher, Jay-Z, Cee-Lo Green, and Outkast. At last, the band’s founder, Maurice White, shares the story of his success.Now in his seventies, White reflects on the great blessings music has brought to his life and the struggles he’s endured: his mother leaving him behind in Memphis when he was four; learning to play the drums with Booker T. Jones; moving to Chicago at eighteen and later Los Angeles after leaving the Ramsey Lewis Trio; forming EWF, only to have the original group fall apart; working with Barbra Streisand and Neil Diamond; his diagnosis of Parkinson’s; and his final public performance with the group at the 2006 Grammy Awards. Through it all, White credits his faith for his amazing success and guidance in overcoming his many challenges.Keep Your Head to the Sky is an intimate, moving, and beautiful memoir from a man whose creativity and determination carried him to great success, and whose faith enabled him to savor every moment.All Hail the Queen: Twenty Women Who Ruled
By Jennifer Lewis. 2019
Discover twenty true stories of royal intrigue, power, and passion, brought to life through the gorgeous illustrations of Jennifer Orkin…
Lewis and the witty words of Shweta Jha. From Cleopatra to Empress Wu Zetian, Marie Antoinette to Queen Liliuokalani of Hawaii, these extraordinary female monarchs from all over the world have captured imaginations throughout the ages. With a deluxe foil-spangled two-piece case, this elegant and diverse celebration of women in charge makes the perfect Mother's Day or girlfriend go-to gift for the queen in our lives.Women and the Piano: A History in 50 Lives
By Susan Tomes. 2024
Women are an essential part of the history of the piano—but how many women pianists can you name? Throughout…
most of the piano&’s history, women pianists lacked access to formal training and were excluded from male-dominated performance spaces. Even the modern piano&’s keys were designed without consideration of women&’s typically smaller hands. Yet despite their music being largely confined to the domestic sphere, women continued to play, perform, and compose on their own terms. Celebrated pianist and author Susan Tomes traces fifty such women across the piano&’s history. Including now-famous names such as Clara Schumann and Fanny Mendelssohn, Tomes also highlights overlooked women: from Hélène de Montgeroult, whose playing saved her life during the French Revolution, to Leopoldine Wittgenstein, influential Viennese salonnière, and Hazel Scott, the first Black performer in the United States to have a nationally syndicated TV show. From Maria Szymanowska to Nina Simone, and including interviews with women performing today, this is a much-needed corrective to our understanding of the piano—and a timely testament to women&’s musical lives.Mi Little Golden Book sobre Taylor Swift (Little Golden Book)
By Wendy Loggia. 2023
Ayude a su pequeña o pequeño a soñar en grande con esta biografía en español sobre Taylor Swift, la artista…
multiplatino y ganadora del premio Grammy. Las biografías de Little Golden Book son la introducción perfecta a la no ficción para lectores jóvenes, ¡así como para fanáticos de todas las edades! "Imprescindible para cualquier colección de Taylor Swift". —Rolling Stone¡Este Little Golden Book sobre Taylor Swift, la cantante y compositora cuyo talento distintivo para contar historias la ha convertido en una de las superestrellas más famosas de la música country y pop, es tan inspirador para los niños pequeños como para sus padres Swiftie!Busca biografías Little Golden Book sobre: • Lady Gaga • Beyoncé • Dolly Parton • Elton JohnHelp your little one dream big with a Little Golden Book biography about Taylor Swift, the Grammy Award–winning and multiplatinum artist. Little Golden Book biographies are the perfect introduction to nonfiction for young readers—as well as fans of all ages!"A must-have for any Taylor Swift collection." —Rolling StoneThis Little Golden Book about Taylor Swift--the singer and songwriter whose distinctive talent for storytelling has made her one of the biggest superstars in both country and pop music--is an inspiring read-aloud for young children as well as their Swiftie parents!Look for more Little Golden Book biographies: • Lady Gaga • Beyoncé • Dolly Parton • Elton JohnThe American Duchess: The Real Wallis Simpson
By Anna Pasternak. 2019
Wallis Simpson is known as the woman at the center of the most scandalous love affair of the 20th century,…
but in this &“unputdownable…lively and detailed&” (The Times, London) biography, discover a woman wronged by history with new information revealed by the latest research and those who were close to the couple. The story that has been told repeatedly is this: The handsome, charismatic, and popular Prince Edward was expected to marry a well-bred virgin who would one day become Queen of England when he ascended the throne. But when the prince was nearly forty, he fell in love with a divorced American woman—Wallis Simpson. No one thought the relationship would last, and when the prince did become king, everyone assumed that was the end of the affair. But to the shock of the British establishment, the new king announced his intention to marry the American divorcée. Overnight, Wallis was accused of entrapping the prince in a seductive web in order to achieve her audacious ambition to be queen. After declaring that he could not rule without the woman he loved, the king abdicated, and his family banished him and his new wife from the country. The couple spent the rest of their days in exile, but happy in their devoted love for each other. Now, Anna Pasternak&’s The American Dutchess tells a different story: that Wallis was the victim of the abdication, not the villain. Warm, well-mannered, and witty, Wallis was flattered by Prince Edward&’s attention, but like everyone else, she never expected his infatuation to last. She never anticipated his jealous, possessive nature—and his absolute refusal to let her go. Edward&’s true dark nature, however, was no secret to the royal family, the church, or the Parliament; everyone close to Edward knew that beyond his charming façade, he was utterly unfit to rule. Caught in Edward&’s fierce obsession, she became the perfect scapegoat for those who wished to dethrone the troubled king. With profound insight and evenhanded research, Pasternak pulls back the curtain on one of the darkest fairy tales in recent memory and effortlessly reveals &“a host of intriguing insights into a misunderstood woman&” (Kirkus Reviews).Stephen: The Reign of Anarchy (Penguin Monarchs)
By Carl Watkins. 2015
Known as 'the anarchy', the reign of Stephen (1135-1141) saw England plunged into a civil war that illuminated the fatal…
flaw in the powerful Norman monarchy, that without clear rules ordering succession, conflict between members of William the Conqueror's family were inevitable. But there was another problem, too: Stephen himself.With the nobility of England and Normandy anxious about the prospect of a world without the tough love of the old king Henry I, Stephen styled himself a political panacea, promising strength without oppression. As external threats and internal resistance to his rule accumulated, it was a promise he was unable to keep. Unable to transcend his flawed claim to the throne, and to make the transition from nobleman to king, Stephen's actions betrayed uneasiness in his role, his royal voice never quite ringing true.The resulting violence that spread throughout England was not, or not only, the work of bloodthirsty men on the make. As Watkins shows in this resonant new portrait, it arose because great men struggled to navigate a new and turbulent kind of politics that arose when the king was in eclipse.Soul Song: Reflections On An Unexpected Journey by The Priests
By David Delargy, Eugene O'Hagan, Martin O'Hagan. 2010
Known collectively as The Priests, Fr Martin, Fr Eugene and Fr David, have taken the music world by storm. Since…
they signed their much-reported Sony contract in front of Westminster Cathedral in April 2008, their album has sold almost 2,000,000 copies worldwide and broke the Guinness record for the fastest-selling debut classical album in the UK. It has also chalked up an impressive fifteen weeks at No. 1 on the Classic FM chart and was nominated for a Classical Brit Award. In June 2009, The Priests topped off their incredibly successful year with a highly-acclaimed mini-tour of the UK and Ireland. But long lunches in swanky restaurants and celebrity parties count for little with these down-to-earth, wonderfully talented singers, because first and foremost, David, Martin and Eugene are priests; their faith and the work they undertake in their busy parishes takes priority over everything else they do. So, whilst their gruelling promotional schedule for the album has taken them around the world - from Europe to Montreal and Toronto, from Washington to New York and Sydney, where they have played to packed houses and given dozens of press, radio and tv interviews - they have always been happy to return to their parishes in Belfast and the people they serve. Now in Soul Song, The Priests draw upon their unique experiences as priests and performers, their love of music and their faith, as they weave together a rich, illuminating tapestry of spiritual wisdom. Insightful and engaging, it is a treasury of memories which offers us all a rare and timely opportunity to reflect on our own journey through life.Simply Thrilled: The Preposterous Story of Postcard Records
By Simon Goddard. 2014
They had just a few hundred pounds, one band missing a drummer, a sock drawer for an office, more dreams…
than sense and not a clue between them how to run a record company. But when Alan Horne and Edwyn Collins decided to start their own label from a shabby Glasgow flat in 1979, nobody was going to stand in their way.Postcard Records was the mad, makeshift and quite preposterous result. Launching the careers of Orange Juice, Aztec Camera and cult heroes Josef K, the self-styled ‘Sound of Young Scotland’ stuck it to the London music biz and, quite by accident, kickstarted the 1980s indie music revolution.Simon Goddard has interviewed everyone involved in the making of the Postcard legend to tell this thrilling rock’n’roll story of punk audacity, knickerbocker glories, broken windscreens, raccoon-fur hats, comedy, violence and creating something beautiful from nothing, against all the odds.Into the Void: From Birth to Black Sabbath—And Beyond
By Geezer Butler. 2023
A rollicking, effusive, and candid memoir by the heavy metal musician and founding member of Black Sabbath, covering his years…
as the band’s bassist and main lyricist through his later-career projects, and detailing how one of rock’s most influential bands formed and prevailed. With over 70 million records sold, Black Sabbath, dubbed by Rolling Stone “the Beatles of heavy metal,” helped create the genre itself, with their distinctive heavy riffs, tuned down guitars, and apocalyptic lyrics. Bassist and primary lyricist Geezer Butler played a gigantic part in the band’s renown, from suggesting the band name to using his fascination with horror, religion, and the occult to compose the lyrics and build the foundation of heavy metal as we know it.In Into the Void, Butler tells his side of the story, from the band’s beginnings as a scrappy blues quartet in Birmingham through the struggles leading to the many well-documented lineup changes while touring around London’s gritty clubs (Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa, and The Who makes notable appearances!), and the band’s important later years. He writes honestly of his childhood in a working-class family of seven in Luftwaffe-battered Birmingham, his almost-life as an accountant, and how his disillusionment with organized religion and class systems would spawn the lyrics and artistic themes that would resonate so powerfully with fans around the world.Into the Void reveals the softer side of the heavy metal legend and the formation of one of rock’s most exciting bands, while holding nothing back. Like Geezer’s bass lines, it is both original, dramatic, and forever surprising.Theodora: Portrait in a Byzantine Landscape
By Antony Bridge. 2005
&“First rate popular history/biography, evoking the Byzantine empire at its peak. A remarkable story in an entertaining, informative book.&” —The…
Wall Street Journal This is the biography of a Byzantine courtesan who rose from the gutter to the throne of an empire. It is a romantic and improbable story, and Theodora is an extraordinary woman, indeed. Her background and her many actions were scandalous, but she had qualities of greatness and this book sets the record straight. This account of her life is a pageant in which Emperors and barbarian kings, Popes and Patriarchs, eunuchs and generals, heretics and orthodox opponents, charioteers and ladies of easy virtue, saints and sinners move in a formal and splendid rhythm. This formality was often marred by violence: one of the worst riots in Byzantine history took place when Theodora had been empress for a short time, and during much of her reign there was war in Italy, marked by appalling suffering and barbarity. Toward the end of her life, Constantinople was devastated by Bubonic plague. Yet Theodora triumphed over every adverse circumstance, tough and clever to the end. &“ . . . Bridge&’s book, with its exceptionally vivid and evocative style, brings the period alive.&” —Library Journal &“Puts [Theodora] in her own time and place in the vast panorama of the golden age of an empire which lasted 1,100 years.&” —Boston Herald &“Conveys the passion and the fervor of the sixth century A.D.&” —Los Angeles Herald ExaminerRollaresque: The Rakish Progress of The Rolling Stones
By Simon Goddard. 2015
London 1962. Five young hooligans have formed a band and are on a collision course with the austere and intolerant…
values of post-war Britain. From their beginning in a scummy flat off the Kings Road to the notorious Redlands scandal, this is the anarchic rollercoaster ride of the Stones’ first five years.We follow our heroes in a rags-to-riches romp of sex, scandal, mischief and uproarious behaviour as they challenge the establishment, invent the archetype of the rebellious, parent-scaring rock star lothario and, eventually, receive their comeuppance from the powers that be. Presented with the audacious wit and bawdy humour of a vintage novel, complete with Dickensian illustrations, Rollaresque celebrates the young Stones in the grand English literary tradition of lovable rogues. This is the music biography reinvented as a ripping yarn.Richard III: A Failed King? (Penguin Monarchs)
By Rosemary Horrox. 2020
No English king has so divided opinion, both during his reign and in the centuries since, more than Richard III.…
He was loathed in his own time for the never-confirmed murder of his young nephews, the Princes in the Tower, and died fighting his own subjects on the battlefield. This is the vision of Richard we have inherited from Shakespeare. Equally, he inspired great loyalty in his followers. In this enlightening, even-handed study, Rosemary Horrox builds a complex picture of a king who by any standard failed as a monarch. He was killed after only two years on the throne, without an heir, and brought such a decisive end to the House of York that Henry Tudor was able to seize the throne, despite his extremely tenuous claim. Whether Richard was undone by his own fierce ambitions, or by the legacy of a Yorkist dynasty which was already profoundly dysfunctional, the end result was the same: Richard III destroyed the very dynasty that he had spent his life so passionately defending.Richard II: A Brittle Glory (Penguin Monarchs)
By Laura Ashe. 2016
Richard II (1377-99) came to the throne as a child, following the long, domineering, martial reign of his grandfather Edward…
III. He suffered from the disastrous combination of a most exalted sense of his own power and an inability to impress that power on those closest to the throne. Neither trusted nor feared, Richard battled with a whole series of failures and emergencies before finally succumbing to a coup, imprisonment and murder.Laura Ashe's brilliant account of his reign emphasizes the strange gap between Richard's personal incapacity and the amazing cultural legacy of his reign - from the Wilton Diptych to Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Piers Plowman and The Canterbury Tales.Richard I: The Crusader King (Penguin Monarchs)
By Thomas Asbridge. 2018
Richard I's reign is both controversial and seemingly contradictory. One of England's most famous medieval monarchs and a potent symbol…
of national identity, he barely spent six months on English soil during a ten-year reign and spoke French as his first language. Contemporaries dubbed him the 'Lionheart', reflecting a carefully cultivated reputation for bravery, prowess and knightly virtue, but this supposed paragon of chivalry butchered close to 3,000 prisoners in cold blood on a single day. And, though revered as Christian Europe's greatest crusader, his grand campaign to the Holy Land failed to recover the city of Jerusalem from Islam.Seeking to reconcile this conflicting evidence, Thomas Asbridge's incisive reappraisal of Richard I's career questions whether the Lionheart really did neglect his kingdom, considers why he devoted himself to the cause of holy war and asks how the memory of his life came to be interwoven with myth. Richard emerges as a formidable warrior-king, possessed of martial genius and a cultured intellect, yet burdened by the legacy of his dysfunctional dynasty and obsessed with the pursuit of honour and renown.Renegade: The Lives and Tales of Mark E. Smith
By Mark E. Smith. 2008
The only way to appreciate the legendary musician Mark E. Smith is to encounter the man in his own words.'May…
be the funniest music book ever written' ObserverThe Fall are one of the most distinctive British bands, their music - odd,spare, cranky and repetitious - an acknowledged influence on The Smiths, The Happy Mondays, Nirvana and Franz Ferdinand. And Mark E. Smith IS The Fall.47 members have come and gone over the years yet he remains its charismatic leader, a professional outsider and all-round enemy of compromise, a true enigma. There have been a number of biographies of the legendary Smith, but this is the first time he has opened up in a full autobiography. For the first time we get to hear his full, candid take on the ups and downs of a band as notorious for its in-house fighting as for its great music; and on a life that has endured prison in America, drugs, bankruptcy, divorce, and the often bleak results of a legendary thirst.'A riot' Independent on Sunday 'Unbeatable' Time Out'Vicious' Daily Telegraph'Hilarious' Scotland on SundayReally Saying Something: Sara & Keren – Our Bananarama Story
By Sara Dallin, Keren Woodward. 2020
______________________________________'Engaging, entertaining, brilliantly recounted' Mirror 'Captivating . . . an incredible story' i paper__________________________________MUSIC, FAME AND A LIFELONG FRIENDSHIPSara Dallin…
and Keren Woodward met in the school playground when they were four. They went on to become international stars and inspired a generation with their music, DIY-style and trailblazing attitudes.Told with humour and authenticity, and filled with never-before-seen photos, Really Saying Something takes us behind the scenes of their early days, the world tours, party games with George Michael, a close friendship with Prodigy's Keith Flint, and hanging out with Andy Warhol in New York.This is a celebration of a life-affirming friendship, with an unbeatable soundtrack.__________________________________'Like something from a movie' Dermot O'Leary'A brilliant autobiography' Martin Kemp'A blast' Metro'What a nostalgia-fest' Kate ThorntonRapthology: Lessons in Life and Lyrics
By Jermaine Scott 32. 2019
'Groundbreaking... Part memoir, part guide, this is a must-have.' Independent'A worthwhile tutorial.' Evening Standard"Poetry and rap come from the same…
family. They're brothers. Just because you're good at one doesn't necessarily mean you'll be good at the other, but if you master both you'll be unparalleled."Rapthology is a masterclass in lyric writing. A spotlight into the craft and skill of what it takes to be an incredible artist by pioneering musician and artist, Wretch 32. Taking us through the songs which have shaped his career over the last two decades step by step, explaining what each song means to him, his own creative process, from the first flashes of inspiration to final edits and improvisation, right through to how popular and powerful his lyrics are.Part autobiography, part guide to creativity and part cultural history Rapthology is a blueprint to the music that matters.The Queen's Houses
By Alan Titchmarsh. 2014
The Queen's life was dedicated to her public - every move was scrutinised, every word noted. But her homes were…
havens where peace could be found, away from watchful eyes; sanctuaries of private calm in a whirlwind life of public duty.In The Queen's Houses, Alan Titchmarsh takes us on a tour of the royal residences, examining the personal family stories behind these magnificent buildings. Through personal reflections, interviews with royal staff and meticulous historical research, Alan looks beyond the formal grandeur of Buckingham Palace, the imposing structure of Windsor Castle and the private escape offered by Balmoral and others.Illustrated with intimate family photographs and evocative memorabilia, The Queen's Houses offers a glimpse of life lived behind the state banquets and sovereign duties - a respectful study of the royal family at home.