Musical Genres Books - Page 2

Delta Blues: The Life and Times of the Mississippi Masters Who Revolutionized American Music

Ted Gioia

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

The definitive account of how the rough sounds of the Mississippi Delta changed the course of American popular music.

The blues grew out of the plantations and prisons, the swampy marshes and fertile cotton fields of the Mississippi Delta. With original research and keen insights, Ted Gioia—the author of a landmark study of West Coast jazz and the critically acclaimed The History of Jazz—brings to life the stirring music of the Delta, evoking the legendary figures who shaped its sound and ethos: Robert Johnson, Charley Patton, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Howlin' Wolf, B. B. King, and others. Tracing the history of the Delta blues from the field hollers and plantation music of the nineteenth century to the exploits of modern-day musicians in the Delta tradition, Delta Blues tells the full story of this timeless and unforgettable music. No cultural force boasts such humble origins or such world-conquering reverberations. In this evocative rags-to-riches tale, Gioia shows how the sounds of the Delta altered the course of popular music in America and in the world beyond. 38 illustrations.

Godel, Escher, Bach

Douglas R. Hofstadter

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 245 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Not my kind of philosophy 2 out of 5 stars.
2 of 3 people found this review helpful.

This book is boring. It doesn't really tell you anything, kind of "all form, no substance". A cloud of a book.

I approached it a few times in the past, seeing it on top of many bestseller charts, but each time got scared away by apparent lack of clarity - when you open this book at random, you always face something unexpected - math, music, art, insects, human brains, DNA, viruses, zen, artificial intelligence, talking turtles, you name it, and always in different form.

Anyway, I thought to myself one day - it still must be a special book, it is rated so high, and it looks mysteriously clever, and so I have to read it through to understand. And I did. Geez, was it boring.

This book is 800 pages of chasing its own tail. It is full of curiousities, but no rigor, no plot, no structure. For the first 200 pages or so, reading tales seems fascinating, just imagine (you think to yourself) what the author has to offer when it gets to the point ! Never happens. As you reach page 600, you clench your teeth still hoping that there must be some sort of revelation ahead, even if on the last page. None.

These three things is this book about:

1. Self-reference. The great deal of the book is dedicated to approaching the proof of the Godel's theorem which in some sense says that a system cannot understand itself.

2. Form vs. substance. This ranges from extracting meanings from messages on different levels, to having different levels of interpreting the situation.

3. Infinity and different sorts of infinities. This only helps to fog things up. Can't spit without hitting a paradox. And this is presented rather informally.

Speaking of which, EVERYTHING in this book is presented informally. There is no facts, no proofs, no math, no logical reasoning, no conclusions, just a stream of consciousness, which twirls around and around.

It doesn't ask nor answer any single question straight. It's a philosophy, I see, but even a philosopher has to take sides, but the author does not. There is no side here really.

The discussed topics are indeed interesting and mind-provoking, for the first 200 pages even fascinating, like I said, but then it becomes pointless and boring. The only thing I want to ask after reading this book is "SO WHAT ?".

I wish I spent the time on some other book. Something with a plot.

Editorial Review:

Douglas Hofstadter’s book is concerned directly with the nature of “maps” or links between formal systems. However, according to Hofstadter, the formal system that underlies all mental activity transcends the system that supports it. If life can grow out of the formal chemical substrate of the cell, if consciousness can emerge out of a formal system of firing neurons, then so too will computers attain human intelligence. Gödel Escher and Bach is a wonderful exploration of fascinating ideas at the heart of cognitive science: meaning, reduction, recursion, and much more.

Clapton: The Autobiography

Eric Clapton

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 317 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

“I found a pattern in my behavior that had been repeating itself for years, decades even. Bad choices were my specialty, and if something honest and decent came along, I would shun it or run the other way.”

With striking intimacy and candor, Eric Clapton tells the story of his eventful and inspiring life in this poignant and honest autobiography. More than a rock star, he is an icon, a living embodiment of the history of rock music. Well known for his reserve in a profession marked by self-promotion, flamboyance, and spin, he now chronicles, for the first time, his remarkable personal and professional journeys.

Born illegitimate in 1945 and raised by his grandparents, Eric never knew his father and, until the age of nine, believed his actual mother to be his sister. In his early teens his solace was the guitar, and his incredible talent would make him a cult hero in the clubs of Britain and inspire devoted fans to scrawl “Clapton is God” on the walls of London’s Underground. With the formation of Cream, the world's first supergroup, he became a worldwide superstar, but conflicting personalities tore the band apart within two years. His stints in Blind Faith, in Delaney and Bonnie and Friends, and in Derek and the Dominos were also short-lived but yielded some of the most enduring songs in history, including the classic “Layla.”

During the late sixties he played as a guest with Jimi Hendrix and Bob Dylan, as well as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and longtime friend George Harrison. It was while working with the latter that he fell for George’s wife, Pattie Boyd, a seemingly unrequited love that led him to the depths of despair, self-imposed seclusion, and drug addiction. By the early seventies he had overcome his addiction and released the bestselling album 461 Ocean Boulevard, with its massive hit “I Shot the Sheriff.” He followed that with the platinum album Slowhand, which included “Wonderful Tonight,” the touching love song to Pattie, whom he finally married at the end of 1979. A short time later, however, Eric had replaced heroin with alcohol as his preferred vice, following a pattern of behavior that not only was detrimental to his music but contributed to the eventual breakup of his marriage.
In the eighties he would battle and begin his recovery from alcoholism and become a father. But just as his life was coming together, he was struck by a terrible blow: His beloved four-year-old son, Conor, died in a freak accident. At an earlier time Eric might have coped with this tragedy by fleeing into a world of addiction. But now a much stronger man, he took refuge in music, responding with the achingly beautiful “Tears in Heaven.”

Clapton is the powerfully written story of a survivor, a man who has achieved the pinnacle of success despite extraordinary demons. It is one of the most compelling memoirs of our time.

The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band

Tommy Lee, Vince Neil, Mick Mars, Nikki Sixx, Neil Strauss

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 371 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Whiskey and porn stars, hot reds and car crashes, black leather and high heels, overdoses and death. This is the life of Mötley Crüe, the heaviest drinking, hardest fighting, most oversexed and arrogant band in the world. Their unbelievable exploits are the stuff of rock 'n' roll legend. They nailed the hottest chicks, started the bloodiest fights, partied with the biggest drug dealers, and got to know the inside of every jail cell from California to Japan. They have dedicated an entire career to living life to its extreme, from the greatest fantasies to the darkest tragedies. Tommy married two international sex symbols; Vince killed a man and lost a daughter to cancer; Nikki overdosed, rose from the dead, and then OD'd again the next day; and Wick shot a woman and tried to hang his own brother. But that's just the beginning. Fueled by every drug they could get their hands on and obscene amounts of alcohol, driven by fury and headed straight for hell, Mötley Crüe raged through two decades, leaving behind a trail of debauched women, trashed hotel rooms, crashed cars, psychotic managers, and broken bones that has left the music industry cringing to this day. All these unspeakable acts, not to mention their dire consequences, are laid bare in The Dirt.

Here -- directly from Nikki, Vince, Tommy, and Mick -- is the unexpurgated version of the whole glorious, gut-wrenching story. In these pages, published for the first time anywhere, are Tommy Lee's letters to Pamela Anderson from prison: Mick's confession to having an incurable disease that is slowly killing him; Vince's experience burying his own daughter -- and the train wreck that his life became afterward; and Nikki's anguished struggle to deal with an entire life fueled by anger over his childhood abandonment, his discovery of the family he never knew he had -- and his subsequent loss of them. And all of it accompanied by scores of rare, never-before-published photographs, mug shots, and handwritten lyrics. No one is spared. Not David Lee Roth, Ozzy Osbourne, Vanity, Aerosmith, Heather Locklear, AC/DC, Lita Ford, Iron Maiden, Pamela Anderson, Guns N' Roses, Donna D'Errico, RATT, or those two girls from Dallas, Texas.

Make no mistake about it: these guys are geniuses. They invented glam metal and then left it in the dust; sold more than forty million albums from Shout at the Devil to Dr. Feelgood; toured the world dozen times and have the scars to prove it it; and maintained a rabid following in an era of throwaway pop stars. Mötley Crüe has done nothing less than tattoo the psyche of the entire MTV generation. They are the ultimate rock 'n' roll band. And if you don't believe it, read The Dirt. You don't know what decadence is...

The Clash

The Clash

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

The unique story of the Clash, by the Clash. The Clash were a band like no other. Pioneers of British punk rock, their incendiary gigs, intelligent songwriting, definitive style and passionate idealism caught the spirit of the times and made them a worldwide phenomenon. Rolling Stone magazine declared London Calling one of the greatest albums of all time, their autobiographical documentary Westway to the World won a Grammy, and their music lives on, influencing emerging bands and exciting new audiences today.


This is the first official book to be created by the band. With unprecedented access to the Clash archive, this landmark publication brings together previously unseen material--including tour posters, artwork, and photos of the band at home, on stage, in the studio and on the road--with each member telling it like it was, in their own words.


Trendsetters, icons, revolutionaries: their story is steeped in mythology. Many people have an opinion about what made them who they were - this book gives the chance to read the full story, from all four band members themselves.

Wicked: The Grimmerie, a Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Hit Broadway Musical

David Cote

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Total reviews: 124 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Wicked is not just a musical, it is a phenomenon. Every week 15,000 people pack New York+s Gershwin Theatre to see the show. The most successful musical on Broadway in 2004, Wicked is based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Gregory Maguire. It tells the story of Elphaba, the headstrong Wicked Witch of the West, and Glinda, the good witch, growing up in the Land of Oz. The show has cast a spell on fans, many of whom return for second and third viewings. In 2005, the show begins an extensive tour across the United States and Canada, hitting major cities such as Toronto, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and many more.This beautifully packaged, whimsical keepsake is designed to resemble the Grimmerie, an ancient book of spells that Elphaba uses in the show. Wicked: The Grimmerie offers fans a behind-the-curtains peek at the musical, profiles of the cast and creative team, and inside stories, with full-color photographs throughout. Some of the irresistible special features include an -Ozian+ glossary, spells, an illustrated family tree, and a step-by-step look at how Elphaba gets green before each show-everything fans need to relive the Broadway experience day after day.

Cobain Unseen

Charles R. Cross

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Awesome Book 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I just picked this up today and I can't seem to put it down. If your a fan of Cobain and or Nirvana I recommend buying this. It is packed full of very nice pictures and tons of other things.

Editorial Review:

An unparalleled look inside the brilliant mind of one of America's most revered rock legends, Cobain Unseen collects previously unseen artifacts and photographs from the estate's archives to form a fascinating portrait of the creativity, madness, and genius of Kurt Cobain.
Personal items and photographs take readers deeper inside Cobain's life than they've ever been before, and interactive features, such as Kurt's handwritten sticker-sheet of Nirvana name tags, facsimiles of unseen journal pages, and gatefolds of his graffiti-embellished guitars make this an essential keepsake. An audio CD showcasing spoken-word material by Cobain, some of it never before released, will be included. Accompanying the previously unpublished images and memorabilia is a compelling biographical narrative by New York Times-bestselling author Charles R. Cross.

Scar Tissue

Anthony Kiedis, Larry Sloman

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Total reviews: 155 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Now in paperback, the New York Times bestseller by one of rock’s most provocative figures

Scar Tissue is Anthony Kiedis’s searingly honest memoir of a life spent in the fast lane. In 1983, four self-described "knuckleheads" burst out of the mosh-pitted mosaic of the neo-punk rock scene in L.A. with their own unique brand of cosmic hardcore mayhem funk. Over twenty years later, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, against all odds, have become one of the most successful bands in the world. Though the band has gone through many incarnations, Anthony Kiedis, the group’s lyricist and dynamic lead singer, has been there for the whole roller-coaster ride.

Whether he’s recollecting the influence of the beautiful, strong women who have been his muses, or retracing a journey that has included appearances as diverse as a performance before half a million people at Woodstock or an audience of one at the humble compound of the exiled Dalai Lama, Kiedis shares a compelling story about the price of success and excess. Scar Tissue is a story of dedication and debauchery, of intrigue and integrity, of recklessness and redemption -- a story that could only have come out of the world of rock.

The Jazz Ear: Conversations over Music

Ben Ratliff

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

An intimate exploration into the musical genius of fifteen living jazz legends, from the longtime New York Times jazz critic

Jazz is conducted almost wordlessly: John Coltrane rarely told his quartet what to do, and Miles Davis famously gave his group only the barest instructions before recording his masterpiece “Kind of Blue.” Musicians are often loath to discuss their craft for fear of destroying its improvisational essence, rendering jazz among the most ephemeral and least transparent of the performing arts.

In The Jazz Ear, the acclaimed music critic Ben Ratliff sits down with jazz greats to discuss recordings by the musicians who most influenced them. In the process, he skillfully coaxes out a profound understanding of the men and women themselves, the context of their work, and how jazz—from horn blare to drum riff—is created conceptually. Expanding on his popular interviews for The New York Times, Ratliff speaks with Sonny Rollins, Ornette Coleman, Branford Marsalis, Dianne Reeves, Wayne Shorter, Joshua Redman, and others about the subtle variations in generation, training, and attitude that define their music.

Playful and keenly insightful, The Jazz Ear is a revelatory exploration of a unique way of making and hearing music.

Heaven and Hell: My Life in the Eagles (1974-2001)

Don Felder

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 88 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Let it go Don 3 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

This book is an entertaining enough read. I actually would have rated it higher than three stars because it is enjoyable. But ultimately, it's written by a very small, bitter man.

Don Felder is a very talented guitarist. No question. The first time that I saw the Eagles in person was in Vegas on 12/27/1999. I never realized just how many of their key guitar parts were played by him. But for those people who think that without him, their sound isn't as good, get a grip.

There's a lot of great guitar players in the world, and the ones who become famous become so because they write and sing great material. That's what separates well-known great guitarists like Eric Clapton or Jeff Beck or George Harrison from equally great guitarists like Felder or a thousand other session men. Another of those is Felder's replacement, Stueart Smith, who is a virtuoso. (And has actually written more material for the Eagles than Felder ever did.)

Does Felder honestly believe that he's equally responsible for the success of the Eagles as Don Henley and Glenn Frey? Then, he's quite the one to talk about egos.

The point of the entire book is the evil Don Henley and Glenn Frey and their outsized egos. No question they have them. But who in their position doesn't? Wasn't Bernie Leadon displaying a rather huge ego when he didn't like the fact that they band was moving in a [more successful] direction that he didn't like? Felder could have walked away whenever he wanted. That's what Randy Meisner did. Meisner didn't want to deal with touring and the pressures of having to turn out more albums on schedule. He wanted to be with his family and work on his own. Felder could have done the same. Yet he stayed with the band and even came back when they reunited.

Felder blames every bad thing in his life on Henley and Frey. Did they force drugs into his system for him? Did they personally take groupies and mount them on Felder's pen..? For god's sake, be a man and take responsibility for your own failings.

So why did Henley and Fry settle out of court? Look at most of the reactions here to this book. Most believe what Felder wrote, without even hearing the other side. Dragging out a high-profile court case and bringing more of what was a sordid past into light is hardly when Henley and Frey need. They both have families and both have done things that they aren't proud of. As for financial matters, no matter the truth, a judge would likely have given Felder some sort of financial settlement. It is unlikely that any judge would have ruled 100% for one side of the other, so the easiest thing to do was to settle, with an agreement that got a lot of other ugly gossip material that was originally in this book removed.

Felder tries to drag down Timothy B. Schmit and Joe Walsh with him. Great guy. He seems to paint them as pathetic sidemen under the thumbs of "The Gods." Maybe Schmit and Walsh are just more realistic about their situation. Schmit nor Walsh was with the band at the start, and contrary to what he seems to portray, neither was Felder, who didn't get there until the tail end of the recording sessions on the third of their six pre-breakup albums.

The Eagles as performers in a band are a different entity than Eagles Ltd, the company that controls the band. Felder did own a chunk of that but it is now just Don and Glenn. Just because Walsh and Schmit are not co-owners of the management company "Eagles Ltd." does not mean that they are not truly part of "The Eagles." Some has to run and manage the show, and that's Henley and Frey, and Irving Azoff.

This is not that unusual a situation. A lot of musicians in rock bands really are just salaried men. From 1972 to 1980, the same time frame as the Eagles, Wings was one of the most popular bands in the world. Outside of Paul and Linda McCartney, it featured a lot of different salaried musicians during it's run. The exception was ex-Moody Bluesman Denny Laine, who was there from start to finish. But he was also on salary. He had a lot of similar complaints about Paul McCartney's control of the band and about money, despite McCartney's public challenge to name someone else in his [Laine's] position that was as well paid. Laine was McCartney's collaborator and co-writer of some Wings material. But did he really think that people were coming out to see him?

Did Felder, despite his great talent, think that people were coming out to see him?

Walsh and Schmit are happy with their situation. Obviously, they're making a ton of money. But professionally, they don't have many options anywhere close to being Eagles. And, yes, they are Eagles.

Schmit never had a particularly successful solo career. Walsh was very successful before he joined the Eagles and for a while after they disbanded in 1980. But, by 1994, Walsh's recordings weren't selling. He's very popular as part of the Eagles, and his guitar solos and lead vocals are a great part of the show. But he just wasn't that big a draw when his name was on top of the bill as a solo act. Both Schmit and Walsh add a lot to the Eagles, but in reality, the Eagles are mainly Henley and Frey. Most of the songs are theirs. Schmitt only contributed one lead vocal pre-breakup and has had three since the reunion. Walsh had two lead vocals pre-breakup and has two on the new album.

Even as popular as Walsh is with the fans performing mostly James Gang material, Henley and Frey could probably perform by themselves as the Eagles with just a nameless backup band and still be nearly as popular.

Felder was basically the Ringo Starr of the Eagles. He should have just stayed quiet and played his role. Like Starr, he is a talented musician with fairly limited ability beyond his instrument. Actually, if you listen to Felder's only lead vocal, 1974's "Visions," there is something of a vocal similarity to Starr. A pleasant sounding enough voice with range that is obviously quite limited.

Editorial Review:

The Eagles are the bestselling, and arguably the tightest-lipped, American group ever. Now band member and guitarist Don Felder finally breaks the Eagles’ years of public silence to take fans behind the scenes. He shares every part of the band’s wild ride, from the pressure-packed recording studios and trashed hotel rooms to the tension-filled courtrooms, and from the joy of writing powerful new songs to the magic of performing in huge arenas packed with roaring fans.