Archive for Items Categorized 'Music', only excerpts shown, click title for full entry.

How To Listen To Jazz

by Ted Gioia

Think of this book as akin to attending a graduate course in jazz appreciation. Because this book covers the subject in more than a cursory, introductory manner, we hesitate to use the cliché “Jazz 101.” Think of this book as a syllabus and find out how to “register for class.”

Fifty Sides of The Beach Boys, The Songs That Tell Their Story

by Mark Dillon

The flow of Beach Boys material is seemingly endless. Released during their 50th anniversary year it offers 50 essays for 50 songs. What is amazing is the amount of documented information found in the book—and the fact that this is but one small wavelet of the ocean.

The Whole Maghilla

Music today is ubiquitous and the music lover is offered nearly infinite choice. Here is a look at the many, many possibilities—from reel-to-reel tape to Sirius Radio, and offers insight into how one can swim through it all—from Debussy to Janelle Monae.

Keep A Knockin’, The Story of a Legendary Drummer

by Charles Connor with Ziv Biton

When the now 80-year-old Connor joined The Upsetters (aka Little Richard’s band) he was only 18. The band didn’t have a bass player so he had to drum extra hard—enabling him to “upset” many a musical convention with innovative rhythm work.

Music at the Extremes

by Scott A. Wilson (editor)

The music and musicians described in this book make the Rolling Stones, the bad boys of Rock, even in their most sinister and dangerous persona, seem safe, comfortable and overtly commercial. Even just this book review may severely offend those of delicate sensibilities.

Allen Klein

by Fred Goodman

Fred Goodman offers an account of the business end of Rock. For fans of the Rolling Stones and the Beatles, he opens a window into the back rooms, the money rooms, of the music industry. The central figure, Allen Klein, is drawn fairly and in depth.

45 RPM, A Visual History of the Seven-Inch Record

by Spencer Drate, editor

The fact that this compendium is published by the august Princeton Architectural Press alone shows that this is a far more elevated subject than one would think. Downloaders and cloud dwellers just don’t realize what they’re missing!

Son of a Beach Boy

by Scott Wilson with Karen Leslie Powell

Many still care deeply about Dennis Wilson, cofounder of The Beach Boys. Although this book doesn’t deny Wilson’s hedonistic behavior, it tells of the—often unconventional—devotion and affection he bestowed upon his stepson Scott. But the book, like its hero, has serious problems.

Dead Man’s Curve

by Berry, Christian, Kornfeld, Wilson

“The last thing I remember Doc, I started to swerve…”

Teenage tragedies, car songs, Jan Berry, Dean Torrence and Brian Wilson. 1964 was a heady time, and here at Speedreaders we miss nothing.

Janis Joplin

Janis Joplin

A book cover with scalloped edges? Nope, this is . . . a postage stamp! Nothing escapes our attention, especially if it’s well designed and of some cultural import. So there.

The Story of Music, From Babylon to The Beatles

by Howard Goodall

Humans communicate—music is communication. But it’s also much more than that. Some 40,000+ years of musical ideas, forms, and trends in the Western world are discussed here to make sense of it all.

The Beatles, aka The White Album

The Beatles, aka The White Album

The Beatles, the group, and The Beatles the album, aka The White Album, seem destined to be with us always. Speedreaders takes a detailed look at a 2009 CD reincarnation.Obladi Oblada indeed.

Newer Entries »
« Older Entries