Download or read book If Rock and Roll Were a Machine written by Terry Davis and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2015-12-15 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: New York Times bestselling author Terry Davis offers the critically acclaimed “powerful story about a teenager’s search for self-esteem” (Booklist, starred review). When an elementary school teacher’s criticisms turn Bert Bowden from a bright, popular boy into a self-conscious, awkward one, everyone is shocked. Bert is determined to regain his old confidence and become somebody great, but will he be able to overcome the silence of adolescent solitude? This inspiring coming-of-age story, which takes place twenty years after Vision Quest, reminds us that the growing pains of adolescence are the price we pay must for finding happiness as we grow older.
Download or read book If Rock and Roll Were a Machine written by Terry Davis and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2015-12-15 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The guidance of two adults and his interest in motorcycles and writing help high school junior Bert Bowden regain the sense of self that had been destroyed by his fifth-grade teacher.
Download or read book So You Wanna Be a Rock Roll Star written by Jacob Slichter and published by National Geographic Books. This book was released on 2005-05-10 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After years of working day jobs and making music in his basement, Jacob Slichter wondered if his dreams of rock stardom were a vain illusion. Then he was recruited by two of his successful musician friends to form a band that became Semisonic. Who could forget the smash single “Closing Time,” a runaway hit in 1998 that thrust Jake and his bandmates into the international spotlight and helped them sell over two million albums worldwide? But along the road to fame and success came bewilderment and personal chaos: How will we ever get a record deal? Which record company is the best? The worst? Do I really have to wear these ridiculous boots? Why isn’t radio playing our song? What if I have a panic attack right here on stage? What should I write on this fan’s CD? Am I famous? Why isn’t the video director getting more shots of me? Did I say the wrong thing during that interview? Help! So You Wanna Be a Rock & Roll Star is a telling and witty look at what happens just before and during one's time in the spotlight. Jake takes readers on a step-by-step journey of his evolution from fledgling drummer to globetrotting performer and proves to be the perfect guide—feisty and humbled—to the inner workings of the music industry and instant celebrity. So You Wanna Be a Rock & Roll Star speaks to all of us who dream again and again of rock superstardom and shows how one kid can go from picking up a pair of drumsticks to picking up a platinum record.
Download or read book Rock and Roll Will Save Your Life written by Steve Almond and published by Random House. This book was released on 2010-04-13 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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!
Download or read book The History of Rock Roll Volume 1 written by Ed Ward and published by Flatiron Books. This book was released on 2016-11-15 with total page 417 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An Epic Journey through the Golden Era of Rock & Roll Embark on a thrilling musical voyage with The History of Rock & Roll, Volume 1. The book traces the evolution of rock and roll from its humble origins in the 1920s, culminating in the seismic shift ushered in by the Beatles in the 1960s. This rollercoaster ride through the decades invites you to tap your feet to the music of vaudeville and minstrel acts, rhythm and blues, and the unmistakable sounds that defined post-World War II America. Our guide through this iconic era is none other than celebrated writer Ed Ward. With his definitive narrative style enriched by a profound knowledge of music, Ward spotlights lesser-known heroes and big-name legends alike. Uncover the fascinating stories of Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, and Ray Charles. Delve into the unsung tales of pioneers such as the Burnette brothers, the “5” Royales, and Marion Keisker. For all music lovers and rock & roll fans, Ward spins story after story of some of the most unforgettable and groundbreaking moments in rock history, introducing us to the musicians, DJs, record executives, and producers who were at the forefront of the genre and had a hand in creating the music we all know and love today.
Download or read book William S Burroughs and the Cult of Rock n Roll written by Casey Rae and published by University of Texas Press. This book was released on 2021-10-05 with total page 313 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: William S. Burroughs's fiction and essays are legendary, but his influence on music's counterculture has been less well documented—until now. Examining how one of America's most controversial literary figures altered the destinies of many notable and varied musicians, William S. Burroughs and the Cult of Rock 'n' Roll reveals the transformations in music history that can be traced to Burroughs. A heroin addict and a gay man, Burroughs rose to notoriety outside the conventional literary world; his masterpiece, Naked Lunch, was banned on the grounds of obscenity, but its nonlinear structure was just as daring as its content. Casey Rae brings to life Burroughs's parallel rise to fame among daring musicians of the 1960s, '70s, and '80s, when it became a rite of passage to hang out with the author or to experiment with his cut-up techniques for producing revolutionary lyrics (as the Beatles and Radiohead did). Whether they tell of him exploring the occult with David Bowie, providing Lou Reed with gritty depictions of street life, or counseling Patti Smith about coping with fame, the stories of Burroughs's backstage impact will transform the way you see America's cultural revolution—and the way you hear its music.
Download or read book Machine of Death written by Ryan North and published by Machines of Death LLC. This book was released on 2010 with total page 468 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: MACHINE OF DEATH tells thirty-four different stories about people who know how they will die. Prepare to have your tears jerked, your spine tingled, your funny bone tickled, your mind blown, your pulse quickened, or your heart warmed. Or better yet, simply prepare to be surprised. Because even when people do have perfect knowledge of the future, there's no telling exactly how things will turn out.
Download or read book Vision Quest written by Terry Davis and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Star making Machinery written by Geoffrey Stokes and published by Vintage Books USA. This book was released on 1977 with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: " Star Making Machinery chronicles the history of one rock band, Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen, to penetrate the myths and glamour of a business that grosses over four billion dollars annually. Geoffrey Stokes goes behind the scenes to view the almost infinite cast of characters involved in the producing and selling of a "hit" record. It is a world rife with record-company power plays, scandals, payola, and the inevitable clash of egos. Striking a critical balance between music as art and music as commodity, it is a valuable study of the economics of mass culture"--Cover.
Download or read book A Visit from the Goon Squad written by Jennifer Egan and published by Anchor. This book was released on 2010-06-08 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NATIONAL BESTSELLER • NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE WINNER • With music pulsing on every page, this startling, exhilarating novel of self-destruction and redemption “features characters about whom you come to care deeply as you watch them doing things they shouldn't, acting gloriously, infuriatingly human” (The Chicago Tribune). One of the New York Times’s 100 Best Books of the 21st Century • One of The Atlantic’s Great American Novels of the Past 100 Years Bennie is an aging former punk rocker and record executive. Sasha is the passionate, troubled young woman he employs. Here Jennifer Egan brilliantly reveals their pasts, along with the inner lives of a host of other characters whose paths intersect with theirs. “Pitch perfect.... Darkly, rippingly funny.... Egan possesses a satirist’s eye and a romance novelist’s heart.” —The New York Times Book Review
Download or read book The Republic of Rock written by Michael J. Kramer and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2013-06-27 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Michael Kramer draws on new archival sources and interviews to explore sixties music and politics through the lens of these two generation-changing places--San Francisco and Vietnam. From the Acid Tests of Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters to hippie disc jockeys on strike, the military's use of rock music to "boost morale" in Vietnam, and the forgotten tale of a South Vietnamese rock band, The Republic of Rock shows how the musical connections between the City of the Summer of Love and war-torn Southeast Asia were crucial to the making of the sixties counterculture. The book also illustrates how and why the legacy of rock music in the sixties continues to matter to the meaning of citizenship in a global society today. --from publisher description
Download or read book Stone Alone written by Bill Wyman and published by Viking Adult. This book was released on 1990 with total page 648 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An autobiography, by the bass player, of the Rolling Stones band describing the band's early years and success.
Download or read book Before Elvis written by Larry Birnbaum and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2013 with total page 475 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An essential work for rock fans and scholars, Before Elvis: The Prehistory of Rock 'n' Roll surveys the origins of rock 'n' roll from the minstrel era to the emergence of Bill Haley and Elvis Presley. Unlike other histories of rock, Before Elvis offers a far broader and deeper analysis of the influences on rock music. Dispelling common misconceptions, it examines rock's origins in hokum songs and big-band boogies as well as Delta blues, detailing the embrace by white artists of African-American styles long before rock 'n' roll appeared. This unique study ranges far and wide, highlighting not only the contributions of obscure but key precursors like Hardrock Gunter and Sam Theard but also the influence of celebrity performers like Gene Autry and Ella Fitzgerald. Too often, rock historians treat the genesis of rock 'n' roll as a bolt from the blue, an overnight revolution provoked by the bland pop music that immediately preceded it and created through the white appropriation of music till then played only by and for black audiences. In Before Elvis, Birnbaum daringly argues a more complicated history of rock's evolution from a heady mix of ragtime, boogie-woogie, swing, country music, mainstream pop, and rhythm-and-blues--a melange that influenced one another along the way, from the absorption of blues and boogies into jazz and pop to the integration of country and Caribbean music into rhythm-and-blues. Written in an easy style, Before Elvis presents a bold argument about rock's origins and required reading for fans and scholars of rock 'n' roll history.
Download or read book AC DC written by Phil Sutcliffe and published by Quarto Publishing Group USA. This book was released on 2010-10-14 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Formed in 1973 by brothers Angus and Malcolm Young, AC/DC has become one of the most popular rock ’n’ roll bands in history. This massive new title follows the band from its roots in Sydney, Australia, to its most recent releases and sold-out world tours. No stone is left unturned, from the AC/DC’s formation and early club gigs to its astounding worldwide success. A special cover incorporating Angus on a spinning disc gives way to more than 400 illustrations include handbills, posters, backstage passes, and vinyl from around the globe, as well as rare candid and performance photography. Sidebars from top rock scribes examine all studio releases and delve into the guitar gear of the Young brothers. The result is an awesome tribute to the band renowned for a live-wire stage show and a sonic attack that have attracted fans from all rock camps Contributors include: Phil Sutcliffe Joe Bonomo Danie Bukszpan Jen Jewel Brown Anthony Bozza Garth Cartwright Ian Christe David Dunlap Andrew Earles Dave Hunter James McNair Martin Popoff Sylvie Simmons Bill Voccia
Download or read book Rock Connections written by Robert Dimery and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2010-10-12 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story of any great band includes walk-on parts by scores of musicians who left the scene before fame and fortune came calling. All diehard fans love to trace the connections and lineups of their favorite bands, including the unexpected lucky breaks, the name changes, and all the missed chances before they hit the big time. Rock Connections brings you the fascinating histories, behind-the-scenes secrets, and encapsulated biographies of the biggest names in music from the last fifty years. From Elvis Presley and The Rolling Stones to the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Coldplay, the evolution of the most important acts is traced. You'll also find a grab bag of fascinating extras, including features on key record labels, producers, clubs, and festivals, along with the lowdown on the bands who made them great. All this, plus enough entertaining trivia to satisfy even the most hardcore fan. Want to find out how the band you love came to be? Then use your Rock Connections.
Download or read book Rock n Roll Myths written by Gary Graff and published by Voyageur Press (MN). This book was released on 2012-06-12 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It's perhaps the relative modernity of rock 'n' roll that makes the genre a minefield of myths and legends accepted as truth. History hasn't had time to dissect the bunk. Until now. Discover the real stories behind rock's biggest crocks, how they came to be but why they have persisted. Did Cass Elliott really asphyxiate herself with a ham sandwich? Did the Beatles spark a spliff in Buckingham? Did Willie Nelson do the same in the White House? Did Keith Richards get a complete "oil change" at a Swiss clinic in 1973 to pass a drug test necessary to embark on an American tour with the Stones? Then there's the freaky (did Michael Jackson own the remains of the Elephant Man?), the quasi-medical (Rod Stewart and that stomach pump?), the culinary (did Alice Cooper and Ozzy Osbourne really do all those things to bats, chickens, etc. onstage?), and the apocryphal (did Robert Johnson sell his soul to the Prince of Darkness in exchange for mastery of the blues?). In all, more than 50 enduring lies are examined, explained, and debunked.
Download or read book Flowers in the Dustbin written by Jim Miller and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 424 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Richly anecdotal and always provocative, this sharp, insightful, opinionated book explores the rise--and arrested development--of rock and roll over the last half century.
