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The Peel Sessions: A story of teenage dreams and one man's love of new music
by Ken GarnerThis is a story of teenage dreams, which, as any Peel fan knows, are hard to beat. Between 1967 and 2004 John Peel picked over 2000 bands to come and record over 4000 sessions to be played on his radio show. Many were young and had never been in a recording studio before, for some it was the start of an illustrious career, for others it was the only recognition their musical talent ever got. For over 35 years the cream of British musical talent made the journey to the BBC's studio in Maida Vale, from Pink Floyd to Pulp, the Small Faces to the Smiths. And because John Peel was so respected his sessions took on a legendary status - they were a rite of passage that every new band wanted to go through. Unfettered by commerical pressure the Peel Sessions were a unique British institution - an archive of music that reflects one man's passion for finding and encouraging new music.Includes a full sessionography listing songs, band members and broadcast dates.Jarvis Cocker writing about his first Peel Session aged 18 (Wayne the drummer was 15):'We travelled down to Maida Vale in a van driven by a very strange man we'd contacted via a card pinned to the Virgin record shop noticeboard. We'd had to borrow lots of equipment from a band called The Naughtiest Girl Was a Monitor 'cause we didn't have enough stuff of our own. The session was to be produced by Dale Griffin, who used to be the drummer in Mott the Hoople; I seem to remember that he was wearing cowboy boots.I think the crisis point came when Wayne was attempting to get a home-made synth-drum to work that a friend of his at school had made out of a rubber burglar-alarm mat and an old electronic calculator - Dale Griffin looked at this 15-year-old kid crouching on the floor bashing what looked like a doormat with some wires coming out of it and just put his head in his hands. But to his credit, the session did get finished and after it, everything else started for me...'
On Some Faraway Beach: The Life and Times of Brian Eno
by David SheppardAuthorised biography of Brian Eno - the 'Father of Ambient Music'A sonic alchemist to the stars, Brian Eno's address book is a veritable who's who of rock and pop. Tellingly, his involvement with Roxy Music, David Bowie, Talking Heads and U2 has coincided with these artists producing their most challenging and critically revered work.ON SOME FARAWAY BEACH is the first serious, critical examination of the life and times of Brian Eno, from an idiosyncratic childhood to 1960s art school and the sharp end of pop charts around the world.
On Some Faraway Beach: The Life and Times of Brian Eno
by David SheppardAuthorised biography of Brian Eno - the 'Father of Ambient Music'A sonic alchemist to the stars, Brian Eno's address book is a veritable who's who of rock and pop. Tellingly, his involvement with Roxy Music, David Bowie, Talking Heads and U2 has coincided with these artists producing their most challenging and critically revered work.ON SOME FARAWAY BEACH is the first serious, critical examination of the life and times of Brian Eno, from an idiosyncratic childhood to 1960s art school and the sharp end of pop charts around the world.
John Peel
by Mick Wall'Excellent ... paints an affectionate portrait of this unpretentious, humorous presenter who seems to have been loved by everyone who met him' SUNDAY TIMES'A leisurely stroll through the life of an "irreplaceable man" - [a] thoughtful, well-paced portrait' OBSERVERA tribute biography of the hugely popular DJ and broadcaster John PeelJohn Peel was born in Cheshire in 1939 and, after National Service, he eventually went into broadcasting while travelling in America, where his Liverpool accent convinced them he must know the Beatles, and he was even present when Lee Harvey Oswald was shot. In 1967 he returned to the UK and joined Radio One at its start. His late-night radio shows were cult listening for music fans of all ages, and many bands admit that without his support, they would never have made it.While Radio One changed, he remained a constant factor in its schedules, and in 1998 he was awarded the OBE for his services to broadcasting. It was in that year that he also began his multi-award-winning show Home Truths on Radio Four. Mick Wall tells the story of arguably the most influential man in the history of British rock music, speaking to those who knew him well to build up a complete portrait of this hugely popular figure.
No Regrets: Writings on Scott Walker
by Rob YoungA colourful collection of pieces on the enigmatic genius of Scott Walker from THE WIRE.Scott Walker has travelled from teen idol to the outer limits of music. From 'The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Any More' reaching No.1, through to recordings of meat being punched on his last album, THE DRIFT, he somehow seems to have reached a passionate and committed fan base. Throughout his career, his impeccable critical reputation as a serious and uncompromising musician has never been questioned. The recent film, 30TH CENTURY MAN, had a litany of stars queuing up to praise Walker: the likes of David Bowie, Damon Albarn, Jarvis Cocker, Radiohead, Johnny Marr and Sting. But despite this, in 40 years of music, there has yet to be a serious book on Scott Walker. This collection, put together by Rob Young of THE WIRE magazine, features a handful of previously published articles and newly commissioned pieces, largely drawn from the orbit of THE WIRE's writers including Ian Penman, Chris Bohn and Rob Young.
No Regrets: Writings on Scott Walker
by Rob YoungA colourful collection of pieces on the enigmatic genius of Scott Walker from THE WIRE.Scott Walker has travelled from teen idol to the outer limits of music. From 'The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Any More' reaching No.1, through to recordings of meat being punched on his last album, THE DRIFT, he somehow seems to have reached a passionate and committed fan base. Throughout his career, his impeccable critical reputation as a serious and uncompromising musician has never been questioned. The recent film, 30TH CENTURY MAN, had a litany of stars queuing up to praise Walker: the likes of David Bowie, Damon Albarn, Jarvis Cocker, Radiohead, Johnny Marr and Sting. But despite this, in 40 years of music, there has yet to be a serious book on Scott Walker. This collection, put together by Rob Young of THE WIRE magazine, features a handful of previously published articles and newly commissioned pieces, largely drawn from the orbit of THE WIRE's writers including Ian Penman, Chris Bohn and Rob Young.
When Giants Walked the Earth: 50 years of Led Zeppelin. The fully revised and updated biography.
by Mick WallThe final word on the world's greatest rock band, Led Zeppelin.They were 'the last great band of the sixties; the first great band of the seventies'; they rose, somewhat unpromisingly, from the ashes of the Yardbirds to become one of the biggest-selling rock bands of all time. Mick Wall, respected rock writer and former confidant of both Page and Plant, unflinchingly tells the story of the band that wrote the rulebook for on-the-road excess - and eventually paid the price for it, with disaster, drug addiction and death. WHEN GIANTS WALKED THE EARTH reveals for the first time the true extent of band leader Jimmy Page's longstanding interest in the occult, and goes behind the scenes to expose the truth behind their much-hyped yet spectacularly contrived comeback at London's O2 arena last year, and how Jimmy Page plans to bring the band back permanently - if only his former protégé, now part-time nemesis, Robert Plant will allow him to. Wall also recounts, in a series of flashbacks, the life stories of the five individuals that made the dream of Led Zeppelin into an even more incredible and hard-to-swallow reality: Page, Plant, John Paul Jones, John Bonham, and their infamous manager, Peter Grant.The culmination of several years research, this book tells the full, shocking story of Led Zeppelin from the inside, written by someone who has known Jimmy Page for over twenty years.
A Version of Reason: The Search for Richey Edwards
by Rob JovanovicThe missing Manic - an authoritative look into the life and times of Richey Edwards, the Manic Street Preachers' guitarist who disappeared in 1995.The disappearance of Richey Edwards, troubled guitarist with the Manic Street Preachers, is one of rock and roll's great unresolved mysteries. His Vauxhall Cavalier was found abandoned in a service station car park near the Severn Bridge, a notorious suicide spot, in February 1995, a fortnight after Edwards had last been seen. The location of the car and the tape left in the deck - Nirvana's album In Utero - tended to point to one conclusion. However, it almost seemed too obvious a statement, and in A VERSION OF REASON, Rob Jovanovic unravels the complicated life and final days of Richey Edwards. Piecing together testimony from those close to Edwards Jovanovic seeks to produce an authoritative account of the life and times of Richey Edwards.
A Version of Reason: The Search for Richey Edwards
by Rob JovanovicThe missing Manic - an authoritative look into the life and times of Richey Edwards, the Manic Street Preachers' guitarist who disappeared in 1995.The disappearance of Richey Edwards, troubled guitarist with the Manic Street Preachers, is one of rock and roll's great unresolved mysteries. His Vauxhall Cavalier was found abandoned in a service station car park near the Severn Bridge, a notorious suicide spot, in February 1995, a fortnight after Edwards had last been seen. The location of the car and the tape left in the deck - Nirvana's album In Utero - tended to point to one conclusion. However, it almost seemed too obvious a statement, and in A VERSION OF REASON, Rob Jovanovic unravels the complicated life and final days of Richey Edwards. Piecing together testimony from those close to Edwards Jovanovic seeks to produce an authoritative account of the life and times of Richey Edwards.
Tattoos & Tequila: To Hell and Back With One Of Rock's Most Notorious Frontmen
by Vince Neil Mike SagerAn explosive biography of one of America's most notorious bands - Mötley Crüe.Mötley Crüe were formed in Los Angeles in 1981, and have since gone on to become one of America's biggest-selling and notorious heavy metal acts, with nine studio albums and over 80 million album sales. Acquiring huge success by the end of the 1980s with their mixture of heavy metal and glam rock, singer Vince Neil's 'glam' look even supposedly inspired the hit Aerosmith song 'Dude (Looks Like A Lady)'. In 1992 Neil left the band to pursue a solo career before returning in 1997. The band went into hiatus in 2000 before reuniting in 2004.In TATTOOS & TEQUILA, Vince Neil chronicles his personal experiences as singer and frontman for Mötley Crüe, and his time as a participant on reality shows. Mötley Crüe were a band who always lived up to the typical image of the 'rock and roll' lifestyle, and this is captured firsthand by Neil, who writes candidly about the band's struggles with drugs, alcohol and the law. These include incidents such as bass guitarist Nikki Sixx's near fatal heroin overdose in 1987. He also details his marriages to date, as well as movingly writing about the death of his daughter Skylar from cancer in 1995. The result is a compelling look at a band and a man who have seen many highs and lows in their career.A highly-anticipated film following the group's formidable ascent to the top of the '80s rock scene will be released in February 2018.
Popcorn: Fifty Years of Rock 'n' Roll Movies
by Garry MulhollandHugely acclaimed author of THIS IS UNCOOL and FEAR OF MUSIC turns his attention to rock 'n' roll movies.From BLACKBOARD JUNGLE to QUADROPHENIA, from 8 MILE to ABBA: THE MOVIE, no one has seriously looked at the strange phenomenon that is the rock 'n' roll movie. Garry Mulholland turns his focus away from classic records to the best, the worst, the weird and the completely deranged from the world of the rock movie. Part serious critical appreciation, part celebration of B-movie trash, Garry Mulholland's inclusive approach is the key to his success. He is as comfortable deconstructing the likes of PERFORMANCE, GIMME SHELTER or JUBILEE as he is celebrating FOOTLOOSE or JAILHOUSE ROCK. As he writes: '... Anyone who rejects the joy that the likes of GREASE or DIRTY DANCING or FAME have brought millions of people without even attempting to engage with why such unapologetic trash works can't really be that interested in filmgoers at all.'
Popcorn: Fifty Years of Rock 'n' Roll Movies
by Garry MulhollandHugely acclaimed author of THIS IS UNCOOL and FEAR OF MUSIC turns his attention to rock 'n' roll movies.From BLACKBOARD JUNGLE to QUADROPHENIA, from 8 MILE to ABBA: THE MOVIE, no one has seriously looked at the strange phenomenon that is the rock 'n' roll movie. Garry Mulholland turns his focus away from classic records to the best, the worst, the weird and the completely deranged from the world of the rock movie. Part serious critical appreciation, part celebration of B-movie trash, Garry Mulholland's inclusive approach is the key to his success. He is as comfortable deconstructing the likes of PERFORMANCE, GIMME SHELTER or JUBILEE as he is celebrating FOOTLOOSE or JAILHOUSE ROCK. As he writes: '... Anyone who rejects the joy that the likes of GREASE or DIRTY DANCING or FAME have brought millions of people without even attempting to engage with why such unapologetic trash works can't really be that interested in filmgoers at all.'
Metallica: The Biography
by Mick Wall'A flaming juggernaut of heavy-metal biog' GUARDIAN'This is the definitive account of heavy metal's biggest band of all' CLASSIC ROCK 'Truly enlightening' ROCK SOUND'ENTER NIGHT, Mick Wall's biography of Metallica confirms this grizzled veteran to be as engaged and waspishly authoritative a chronicler of metal's most hirsute behemoths as Barry Miles has been for the Beats' INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAYMick Wall moves on from Led Zeppelin to produce a definitive doorstop on Metallica.Alongside contemporaries Slayer, Megadeath and Anthrax, Metallica came to prominence in the eighties as one of the 'big four' of thrash metal. Metallica were to thrash, though, what the Sex Pistols were to punk. Nearly thirty years on, their tale is one of alcohol, rule breaking and tragically early death. But allied to that are colossal sales figures for their records -- they are the fifth-highest selling recording artists of all time - and members with backgrounds that touch on jazz and classical music. Metallica, in fact, have garnered more critical acclaim than any heavy rock band since Led Zeppelin. Fresh from the critical and commercial success of WHEN GIANTS WALKED THE EARTH, Mick Wall takes a similar informed look at the band, a group he has known on and off since their formation in 1981.
Metallica: The Biography
by Mick Wall'A flaming juggernaut of heavy-metal biog' GUARDIAN'This is the definitive account of heavy metal's biggest band of all' CLASSIC ROCK 'Truly enlightening' ROCK SOUND'ENTER NIGHT, Mick Wall's biography of Metallica confirms this grizzled veteran to be as engaged and waspishly authoritative a chronicler of metal's most hirsute behemoths as Barry Miles has been for the Beats' INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAYMick Wall moves on from Led Zeppelin to produce a definitive doorstop on Metallica.Alongside contemporaries Slayer, Megadeath and Anthrax, Metallica came to prominence in the eighties as one of the 'big four' of thrash metal. Metallica were to thrash, though, what the Sex Pistols were to punk. Nearly thirty years on, their tale is one of alcohol, rule breaking and tragically early death. But allied to that are colossal sales figures for their records -- they are the fifth-highest selling recording artists of all time - and members with backgrounds that touch on jazz and classical music. Metallica, in fact, have garnered more critical acclaim than any heavy rock band since Led Zeppelin. Fresh from the critical and commercial success of WHEN GIANTS WALKED THE EARTH, Mick Wall takes a similar informed look at the band, a group he has known on and off since their formation in 1981.
Appetite for Destruction: The Mick Wall Interviews
by Mick WallWhether it's hanging around with Marillion's Fish in Berlin, seeing Whitesnake fail to ignite 1985's Rock in Rio, talking through old times with Jimmy Page in his Berkshire pile or following Ozzy Osbourne to Moscow, there isn't a rock luminary that Wall hasn't cross-examined or kept the flame burning with at some point over the last thirty years. Here, amongst several pieces, he catches Lars Ullrich just on the cusp of world domination; has dinner with Ritchie Blackmore on the eve of a Deep Purple comeback; and is up all night in LA with W. Axl Rose.APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION gathers together Wall's journalism for Kerrang!, for whom he was the star writer in their eighties heyday. It also features brand-new introductions to all the pieces, written with maybe less hair but also the benefit of twenty years' hindsight.
Appetite for Destruction: The Mick Wall Interviews
by Mick Wall'APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION has the best of Wall's Kerrang! features, each bolstered by new, insightful post-scripts. You won't read a funnier rock book****' MOJO'Wall is firing on all cylinders' CLASSIC ROCK'This hilarious tome is a collection of his finest moments... Wall had a great knack from getting under the skin of interviewees' BIG ISSUEWhether it's hanging around with Marillion's Fish in Berlin, seeing Whitesnake fail to ignite 1985's Rock in Rio, talking through old times with Jimmy Page in his Berkshire pile or following Ozzy Osbourne to Moscow, there isn't a rock luminary that Wall hasn't cross-examined or kept the flame burning with at some point over the last thirty years. Here, amongst several pieces, he catches Lars Ullrich just on the cusp of world domination; has dinner with Ritchie Blackmore on the eve of a Deep Purple comeback; and is up all night in LA with W. Axl Rose.APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION gathers together Wall's journalism for Kerrang!, for whom he was the star writer in their eighties heyday. It also features brand-new introductions to all the pieces, written with maybe less hair but also the benefit of twenty years' hindsight.
AC/DC: Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be
by Mick WallMick Wall penetrates the closed world of Aussie rock legends AC/DC.AC/DC moved to Britain from Sydney in 1975, and soon set up a residency at London's Marquee Club. Their short hair (including the odd mullet), loud rock and attitude chimed well with the lingering pub rock and soon-to-be punk crowd. They weren't really a band for guitar solos, and singer Bon Scott was the original bike-riding, speed-snorting, fighting man. An ex-convict he lived life fast and short; he died in February 1980, just before BACK IN BLACK, their huge-selling album, took off and the second period of AC/DC (with Brian Johnson as lead vocalist) was ushered in. BACK IN BLACK has gone on to sell 45 million copies worldwide, and as the band have become a global phenomenon so their reclusiveness has increased. Mick Wall, the don of heavy metal writing, seeks to penetrate the wall around the Young brothers, and write the first authoritative, in-depth critical account of AC/DC.
AC/DC: Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be
by Mick WallMick Wall penetrates the closed world of Aussie rock legends AC/DC.AC/DC moved to Britain from Sydney in 1975, and soon set up a residency at London's Marquee Club. Their short hair (including the odd mullet), loud rock and attitude chimed well with the lingering pub rock and soon-to-be punk crowd. They weren't really a band for guitar solos, and singer Bon Scott was the original bike-riding, speed-snorting, fighting man. An ex-convict he lived life fast and short; he died in February 1980, just before BACK IN BLACK, their huge-selling album, took off and the second period of AC/DC (with Brian Johnson as lead vocalist) was ushered in. BACK IN BLACK has gone on to sell 45 million copies worldwide, and as the band have become a global phenomenon so their reclusiveness has increased. Mick Wall, the don of heavy metal writing, seeks to penetrate the wall around the Young brothers, and write the first authoritative, in-depth critical account of AC/DC.
Lady Gaga: The Biography
by Helia PhoenixWe're all going gaga for Gaga. The first biography of the international superstar, style icon and pop princess...Pop princess. Fashionista. Icon. Rebel. Eccentric. Superstar.She's known all over the world for her catchy music, outlandish style and often controversial opinions. A paparazzi favourite, she manages to grab headlines whilst remaining enigmatic. Whether she's carrying a purple teacup, fuelling the fire about her gender or stealing the limelight with her creative performances, no one can deny this twenty-first-century sensation is turning heads wherever she goes. She is Lady Gaga.But Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta was always destined to be a star. Just Dance is the first unauthorised biography to reveal how she achieved popworld domination to become one of the globe's most exciting new entertainers - an artist who constantly pushes the boundaries of music, fashion and culture. Find out why we're all going gaga for Gaga...
Lady Gaga: Just Dance: The Biography
by Helia PhoenixWe're all going gaga for Gaga. The first biography of the international superstar, style icon and pop princess...Pop princess. Fashionista. Icon. Rebel. Eccentric. Superstar.She's known all over the world for her catchy music, outlandish style and often controversial opinions. A paparazzi favourite, she manages to grab headlines whilst remaining enigmatic. Whether she's carrying a purple teacup, fuelling the fire about her gender or stealing the limelight with her creative performances, no one can deny this twenty-first-century sensation is turning heads wherever she goes. She is Lady Gaga.But Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta was always destined to be a star. Just Dance is the first unauthorised biography to reveal how she achieved popworld domination to become one of the globe's most exciting new entertainers - an artist who constantly pushes the boundaries of music, fashion and culture. Find out why we're all going gaga for Gaga...
Foo Fighters
by Mick WallEveryone from Sir Paul McCartney and Jimmy Page to Queens of the Stone Age now relishes the chance to share a stage with Dave Grohl and his legendary Foo Fighters. The question is: why? Musical depth? Not really. Major success? Well, yes. Despite no longer shifting albums in the same quantity as they did twenty years ago, this band can still fill stadiums the world over (when Dave's not breaking his leg, of course).Long before Kurt Cobain blew his brains out in 1994, Dave Grohl was planning for a life after Nirvana. The unflinching bright sunlight to Cobain's permanent midnight darkness, Grohl had come from a similar broken home to his erstwhile band leader, but came out of the experience differently - brimming with positivity and a shrewd grasp of opportunities in the music industry.Did Grohl merely take the sonic blueprint of Nirvana and embellish it with a more life-affirming pop sheen? Of course he did. Every band in America that sold over a million records in the post-grunge 90s did the same. The difference was that Grohl had real credibility. And he knew it.With exclusive testimony from true insiders (including Krist Novoselic, Grohl's bass-playing partner in Nirvana, ex-girlfirends, record company executives, tour photographers and confidantes), this book is an exploration of the real story behind Grohl and the Foo Fighters - the only serious literary biography of the group and its leader, one of the most famous and critically bulletproof rock figures of the 21st century.
Black Sabbath: Symptom of the Universe
by Mick Wall'An epic tale, told the way it should be' RECORD COLLECTOR'The book he was born to write' CLASSIC ROCK MAGAZINE'An entertaining read for long-standing fans and newcomers alike' GUITARISTThe final word on the only name synonymous with heavy metal - Black Sabbath.Way back in the mists of time, in the days when rock giants walked the earth, the name Ozzy Osbourne was synonymous with the subversive and dark. Back then, Ozzy was the singer in Black Sabbath, and they meant business. A four-piece formed from the ashes of two locally well-known groups called The Rare Breed (Ozzy and bassist Geezer Butler) and Mythology (guitarist Tony Iommi and drummer Bill Ward), all four founding members of the original Black Sabbath grew up within half-a-mile of each other.This biography tells the story of how they made that dream come true - and how it then turned into a nightmare for all of them. How at the height of their fame, Sabbath discovered they had been so badly ripped off by their managers they did not even own their own songs. How they looked for salvation from Don Arden - an even more notorious gangster figure, who resurrected their career but still left them indebted to him, financially and personally. And how it finally came to a head when in 1979 they sacked Ozzy: 'For being too out of control - even for us,' as Bill Ward put it.The next 15 years would see a war break out between the two camps: the post-Ozzy Sabbath and Ozzy himself, whose solo career overshadowed Sabbath to the point where, when he offered them the chance to reform around him again, it was entirely on his terms. Or rather, that of his wife and manager, daughter of Don Arden - Sharon Osbourne.
Black Sabbath: Symptom of the Universe
by Mick Wall'An epic tale, told the way it should be' RECORD COLLECTOR'The book he was born to write' CLASSIC ROCK MAGAZINE'An entertaining read for long-standing fans and newcomers alike' GUITARISTThe final word on the only name synonymous with heavy metal - Black Sabbath.Way back in the mists of time, in the days when rock giants walked the earth, the name Ozzy Osbourne was synonymous with the subversive and dark. Back then, Ozzy was the singer in Black Sabbath, and they meant business. A four-piece formed from the ashes of two locally well-known groups called The Rare Breed (Ozzy and bassist Geezer Butler) and Mythology (guitarist Tony Iommi and drummer Bill Ward), all four founding members of the original Black Sabbath grew up within half-a-mile of each other.This biography tells the story of how they made that dream come true - and how it then turned into a nightmare for all of them. How at the height of their fame, Sabbath discovered they had been so badly ripped off by their managers they did not even own their own songs. How they looked for salvation from Don Arden - an even more notorious gangster figure, who resurrected their career but still left them indebted to him, financially and personally. And how it finally came to a head when in 1979 they sacked Ozzy: 'For being too out of control - even for us,' as Bill Ward put it.The next 15 years would see a war break out between the two camps: the post-Ozzy Sabbath and Ozzy himself, whose solo career overshadowed Sabbath to the point where, when he offered them the chance to reform around him again, it was entirely on his terms. Or rather, that of his wife and manager, daughter of Don Arden - Sharon Osbourne.
Life
by Keith RichardsOnce-in-a-generation memoir of a rock legend - the No. 1 SUNDAY TIMES bestseller.'Electrifying' New York Times'A masterpiece' The Word'Funny, poignant, brutally honest' Sunday TelegraphWith the Rolling Stones, Keith Richards created the riffs, the lyrics and the songs that roused the world, and over four decades he lived the original rock and roll life: taking the chances he wanted, speaking his mind, and making it all work in a way that no one before him had ever done.Now, at last, the man himself tells us the story of life in the crossfire hurricane. And what a life. Listening obsessively to Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters records as a child in post-war Kent. Learning guitar and forming a band with Mick Jagger and Brian Jones. The Rolling Stones' first fame and success as a bad-boy band. The notorious Redlands drug bust and subsequent series of confrontations with a nervous establishment that led to his enduring image as outlaw and folk hero. Creating immortal riffs such as the ones in 'Jumping Jack Flash' and 'Street Fighting Man' and 'Honky Tonk Women'. Falling in love with Anita Pallenberg and the death of Brian Jones. Tax exile in France, wildfire tours of the US, 'Exile on Main Street' and 'Some Girls'. Ever increasing fame, isolation and addiction. Falling in love with Patti Hansen. Estrangement from Mick Jagger and subsequent reconciliation. Solo albums and performances with his band the Xpensive Winos. Marriage, family and the road that goes on for ever. In a voice that is uniquely and intimately his own, with the disarming honesty that has always been his trademark, Keith Richards brings us the essential life story of our times.
The John Lennon Letters: Edited and with an Introduction by Hunter Davies
by John Lennon Hunter DaviesJohn Lennon was a writer as well as a musician. It was entirely natural for him to put pen to paper whenever he had an idea, a thought, a reaction or a desire to communicate. He lived - and died - in an age before emails and texts. Pen and ink was what he turned to. John wrote letters and postcards all of his life; to his friends, family, strangers, newspapers, organisations, lawyers and the laundry - most of which were funny, informative, campaigning, wise, mad, poetic, anguished and sometimes heartbreaking. For the first time, John's widow, Yoko Ono, has given permission to publish a collection of his letters. The Editor is the Beatles' official biographer, Hunter Davies, who knew John well. John's letters are in a way something of a mystery - where are they all? Over the years many have come up at auction, then sold to dealers and collectors. Or they have been kept by the recipients, locked up safely. It has been a wonderful piece of detective work tracing many of these 250 letters, postcards and notes, which are arranged in chronological order, so that a narrative builds up, reflecting John's life. It will be visual - in a sense that many of the letters are reproduced as they were, in his handwriting or typing, plus the odd cartoon or doodle. THE JOHN LENNON LETTERS is fundamentally a book to read and study, providing a unique insight into the mind of one of the great figures of our times.John's letters are read by Christopher Eccleston. Christopher Eccleston is an English actor who has had a hugely successful career in film, TV and on stage. His regular appearance on the TV series, Cracker, in 1993 brought him recognition and he went on to star along side such actresses as Nicole Kidman and Cate Blanchett. He won the 2011 International Emmy Award for his performance in Jimmy McGovern's Accused. He played John Lennon in the 2010 TV movie in and has twice been nominated in the Best Actor category of the BAFTA TV Awards.Hunter's editorial materials are read by Allan Corduner. Allan Corduner trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and has appeared on stage in PASSION at the Donmar Warehouse, SERIOUS MONEY in the West End and TITANIC on Broadway, and on screen in YENTL and TOPSY-TURVY, amonst many other roles. He is a highly experience voice actor and memorably narrated the voice of Death when reading THE BOOK THIEF. He has read Elspeth Coopers' WILD HUNT novels for Orion.Includes a foreword read by Yoko Ono(p) 2012 Orion Publishing Group