Having trouble accessing government information? See the Libraries’ guide to Alternative Sources for Federal Information and Data.
Rock Music: Artists
"For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)": Rock Music Artists
You can't have rock music without its innovators! These library resources direct researchers in discovering the names of prominent artists, their most popular work, and information about their life and legacy.
Books
Icons of Rock: An Encyclopedia of the Legends Who Changed Music Forever by
More than half a century after the birth of rock, the musical genre that began as a rebellious underground phenomenon is now acknowledged as America's-and the world's-most popular and influential musical medium, as well as the soundtrack to several generations' worth of history. From Ray Charles to Joni Mitchell to Nirvana, rock music has been an undeniable force in both reflecting and shaping our cultural landscape. Icons of Rock offers a vivid overview of rock's pervasive role in contemporary society by profiling the lives and work of the music's most legendary artists. Most rock histories, by virtue of their all-encompassing scope, are unable to cover the lives and work of individual artists in depth, or to place those artists in a broader context. This two-volume set, by contrast, provides extensive biographies of the 24 greatest rock n' rollers of all time, examining their influences, innovations, and impact in a critical and historical perspective. Entries inside this unique reference explore the issues, trends, and movements that defined the cultural and social climate of the artists' music. Sidebars spotlight the many iconic elements associated with rock, such as rock festivals, protest songs, and the British Invasion. Providing a wealth of information on the icons, culture, and mythology of America's most beloved music, this biographical encyclopedia will serve as an invaluable resource for students and music fans alike.
Call Number: ML3534 .S336 2008ISBN: 9780313338458Publication Date: 2007-12-30
Rock Star: The Making of Musical Icons from Elvis to Springsteen by
The nature and meaning of rock stardom--celebrities who embody the most important social and cultural conflicts of their era. "All stars are celebrities, but not all celebrities are stars," states David Shumway in the introduction to Rock Star, an informal history of rock stardom. This deceptively simple statement belies the complex definition and meaning of stardom and more specifically of rock icons. Shumway looks at the careers and cultural legacies of seven rock stars in the context of popular music and culture--Elvis Presley, James Brown, Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, the Grateful Dead, Joni Mitchell, and Bruce Springsteen. Granted, there are many more names that fall into the rock icon category and that might rightfully appear on this list. Partly, that is the point: "rock star" is a familiar and desired category but also a contested one. Shumway investigates the rock star as a particular kind of cultural construction, different from mere celebrity. After the golden age of moviemaking, media exposure allowed rock stars more political sway than Hollywood's studio stars, and rock stars gradually replaced movie stars as key cultural heroes. Because of changes in American society and the media industries, rock stars have become much more explicitly political figures than were the stars of Hollywood's studio era. Rock stars, moreover, are icons of change, though not always progressive, whose public personas read like texts produced collaboratively by the performers themselves, their managers, and record companies. These stars thrive in a variety of media, including recorded music, concert performance, dress, staging, cover art, films, television, video, print, and others. Filled with memorable photographs, Rock Star will appeal to anyone interested in modern American popular culture or music history.
Call Number: ML3918.R63 S58 2014ISBN: 9781421413921Publication Date: 2014-09-15
Grown Up All Wrong: 75 Great Rock and Pop Artists from Vaudeville to Techno by
This text chronicles popular music in America. It covers the originators of rock and roll, established artists and those newer to the scene, ranging from 1950s singer-songwriters through hip-hop alternative. It illuminates legends from pop music, and rock and roll such as George Gershwin, Nat King Cole, B.B. King, Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley. It also looks at the subtle transition to just plain rock in the music of Janis Joplin, the Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Aretha Franklin, James Brown, and others. From Rolling Stones to Sonic Youth to Nirvana, from Bette Midler to Michael Jackson to DJ Shadow, Robert Christgau the text seems to show how money calls the tune in careers not necessarily compromised by their intercourse with commerce.
Call Number: ML3534 .C49 1998ISBN: 0674443187Publication Date: 1998-11-15
Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!: The Story of Pop Music From Bill Haley to Beyoncé by
As much fun to argue with as to quote, Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! is a monumental work of musical history, tracing the story of pop music through individual songs, bands, musical scenes, and styles from Bill Haley and the Comets' "Rock around the Clock" (1954) to Beyoncé's first megahit, "Crazy in Love" (2003). It covers the birth of rock, soul, R&B, punk, hip hop, indie, house, techno, and more, and it will remind you why you fell in love with pop music in the first place. Bob Stanley--musician, music critic, and unabashed fan--recounts the progression from the Beach Boys to the Pet Shop Boys to the Beastie Boys; explores what connects doo wop to the sock hop; and reveals how technological changes have affected pop production. Working with a broad definition of "pop"--one that includes country and metal, disco and Dylan, skiffle and glam--Stanley teases out the connections and tensions that animate the pop charts and argues that the charts are vital social history. Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! is like the world's best and most eclectic jukebox in book form. All the hits are here: the Monkees, Metallica, Patsy Cline, Patti Smith, new wave, New Order, "It's the Same Old Song," The Song Remains the Same, Aretha, Bowie, Madonna, Prince, Sgt. Pepper, A Tribe Called Quest, the Big Bopper, Fleetwood Mac, "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini," Bikini Kill, the Kinks, Mick Jagger, Michael Jackson, Jay-Z, and on and on and on. This book will have you reaching for your records (or CDs or MP3s) and discovering countless others. For anyone who has ever thrilled to the opening chord of the Beatles' "A Hard Day's Night" or fallen crazy in love for Beyoncé, Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! is a vital guide to the rich soundtrack of the second half of the twentieth century.
Call Number: ML3470 .S73 2014ISBN: 9780393242690Publication Date: 2014-07-14
The Biographical Dictionary of Popular Music: From Adele to Ziggy, the Real A to Z of Rock and Pop by
The Biographical Dictionary of Popular Music is an incredible and opinionated collection of celebrated cultural critic Dylan Jones's thoughts on more than 350 of the most important artists around the world--alive and dead, big and small, at length and in brief. This A to Z reference is the true musical heir to David Thomson's seminalThe New Biographical Dictionary of Popular Film. Jones writes entertainingly about bands that have inspired, bedeviled, and fascinated him over the years.
Call Number: ML102.R6 J66 2012ISBN: 9781250031860Publication Date: 2012-10-30
33 1/3 Revolutions Per Minute: A Critical Trip Through the Rock LP Era, 1955-1999 by
Whether you're a lifelong collector or have only just gotten hip to the vinyl revival, navigating the vast landscape of rock albums can be a daunting prospect. Enter Mike Segretto and his mammoth 33 1/3 Revolutions Per Minute, a history of the rock LP era told through a very personal selection of nearly 700 albums. Beginning with the birth of rock and roll in the 1950s, Segretto moves through the explosive innovations of the 1960s, the classic rock and punk albums of the 1970s, the new wave classics of the 1980s, and the alternative revolution of the 1990s, always with an eye to both the iconic and the ephemeral, the failed experiments and the brilliant trailblazers. It's all here: everything from the classics (Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Purple Rain, Nevermind, and countless other usual suspects) to such oddities as albums by Johnny "Guitar" Watson, P. P. Arnold, The Dentists, and Holly Golightly. Throughout, Segretto reveals the perpetual evolution of a modern art form, tracing the rock album's journey from a vehicle for singles and filler sold to kids, through its maturation into a legitimate, self-contained medium of expression by 1967, and onward to its dominance in the '70s, '80s, and '90s. Whether you read it from cover to cover, seek out specific albums, or just dip in at random and let the needle fall where it may, 33 1/3 Revolutions Per Minute is a fun, informative, and unapologetically opinionated read.
Call Number: ML3534 .S437 2022ISBN: 9781493064595Publication Date: 2022-07-15
Legends of Rock: The Artists, Instruments, Myths and History of 50 Years of Youth Music by
From the roots of rock in the 1950s to the music of such contemporary favorites as Coldplay and Green Day, this spectacular celebration of rock and roll traces the history and highlights of this most enduring and most controversial of music. From beatniks to punks, and from hippies to grunge rockers, rock has experienced and encouraged countless social and cultural transformations. It has recounted how the world was and how young people wanted it to be, helped several generations dream and live, and produced art and culture which have left an indelible mark on society.The Legends of Rockrecounts the stories and the cities, instruments, fashions, and personalities that have made rock great. Organized chronologically, this comprehensive volume spotlights pioneers such as Elvis Presley, beloved storytellers like Bob Dylan, classic favorites including The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and The Who, punk rockers like Patti Smith and the Sex Pistols, grunge rockers including Nirvana and Pearl Jam, as well as perennial icons Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Prince, Bruce Springsteen, and many more. Throughout the book, portraits and vibrant pictures of the performers in concert, as well as images of the greatest albums of all time, supplement the entertaining text. With its great photographs, irresistible factoids, and wealth of tidbits, this book will be irresistible to baby boomers and teens alike.
Call Number: ML3534 .A87 2007ISBN: 9788854402812Publication Date: 2007-10-30
The Rock Who's Who by
This volume presents 395 serious biographical and historical entries on every significant or innovative performer, personality, or group since the early 1950s. Each entry includes a complete discography and original issue numbers for LPs as well as information on CD reissues. More than 75 photos.
Call Number: ML102.R6 H5 1996ISBN: 0028710312Publication Date: 1996-11-01
Rock Stars/Pop Stars: A Comprehensive Bibliography, 1955-1994 by
With a listing of over 3,600 books about individual artists and groups, this is the most accurate and comprehensive bibliography available on Rock/Pop stars. It is the most authoritative source for English-language titles, which are listed in the main directory under an A-Z presentation of artists. For easy access, information is cross-referenced through the use of author, title, and subject indexes. A down-to-the-wire supplement completes the book in a timely fashion. Collectors will be pleased with entries for privately published and/or limited editions, of which many are very rare.
Call Number: ML128.R6 L49 1994ISBN: 0313294224Publication Date: 1994-10-26
The Rock Canon: Canonical Values in the Reception of Rock Albums by
Canons are central to our understanding of our culture, and yet in the last thirty years there has been much conflict and uncertainty created by the idea of the canon. In essence, the canon comprises the works and artists that are widely accepted to be the greatest in their field. Yet such an apparently simple construct embodies a complicated web of values and mechanisms. Canons are also inherently elitist; however, Carys Wyn Jones here explores the emerging reflections of values, terms and mechanisms from the canons of Western literature and classical music in the reception of rock music. Jones examines the concept of the canon as theorized by scholars in the fields of literary criticism and musicology, before moving on to search for these canonical facets in the reception of rock music, as represented by ten albums: Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited, The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds, The Beatles' Revolver, The Velvet Underground's The Velvet Underground & Nico, Van Morrison's Astral Weeks, Marvin Gaye's What's Going On, The Rolling Stones' Exile on Main St., Patti Smith's Horses, The Sex Pistols' Never Mind the Bollocks: Here's the Sex Pistols, and Nirvana's Nevermind. Jones concludes that in the reception of rock music we are not only trying to organize the past but also mediate the present, and any canon of rock music must now negotiate a far more pluralized culture and possibly accept a greater degree of change than has been evident in the canons of literature and classical music in the last two centuries.
Call Number: ML3890 .J66 2008ISBN: 9780754662440Publication Date: 2008-09-28
Discographies
General:
The Great Rock Discography by
Madame tells the story of a charmingly self-absorbed teenager as he pursues sexual and intellectual maturity-and the woman of his dreams-in Communist-dominated Warsaw of the early '70s. His French teacher, "Madame," is the object of both his affections and aspirations as news of the cultural revolution in the West seeps through the Communist walls. Libera paces his exuberant young hero's fulminations, fantasies, and discoveries beautifully, building a remarkably subtle characterization of a free mind in a repressive culture. Recalling The Graduate and even the romantic films of Truffaut, Libera gives us one of the most wily, unforgettable, and unabashed young narrators in contemporary fiction.
Call Number: ML156.4.R6 S8 2004ISBN: 1841956155Publication Date: 2004-10-21
Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time by
The editors of Rolling Stone pay tribute to the last half century of popular music with a definitive collection of the five hundred greatest albums ever made, accompanied by revealing photographs of recording sessions, album covers, and inside anecdotes.
Call Number: ML156.4.R6 A16 2005ISBN: 1932958010Publication Date: 2005-11-01
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide by
The new edition of this completely revised and expanded buyer's guide now profiles the work of 1999 rock/ pop artists and groups -- a 40% increase over the last edition. Includes more than 100 photos of artists.
Call Number: ML156.4.R6 M87 1999ISBN: 1578590612Publication Date: 1999-01-01
Joel Whitburn's Rock Tracks by
(Book). Billboard 's two greatest rock charts are covered individually in one book! From Creed to The Cure, Pearl Jam to Puddle of Mudd, Incubus to INXS, Linkin Park to Love and Rockets, Scorpions to Staind, Rock Tracks is an artist-by-artist account of every hit that landed on Billboard 's "Mainstream Rock Tracks" and "Modern Rock Tracks" chart over the past 22 years. Complete chart data includes peak position, chart debut date, and total weeks on the charts plus each track's corresponding album, album label and number, and artist biographies. Special sections include a comprehensive track index, an index of classic rock tracks from 1964-1980, yearly rankings, all-time rankings, chronological listing of all #1 rock tracks, and much more!
Call Number: ML156.4.R6 W63 2002ISBN: 0898201535Publication Date: 2003-02-01
The Heart of Rock and Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made by
In The Heart of Rock & Soul, veteran rock critic Dave Marsh offers a polemical guide to the 1,001 greatest rock and soul singles ever made, encompassing rock, metal, R&B, disco, folk, funk, punk, reggae, rap, soul, country, and any other music that has made a difference over the past fifty years. The illuminating essays--complete with music history, social commentary, and personal appraisals--double as a mini-history of popular music. Here you will find singles by artists as wide-ranging as Aretha Franklin, George Jones, Roy Orbison, the Sex Pistols, Madonna, Run-D.M.C., and Van Halen. Featuring a new preface that covers the hits--and misses--of the '90s, The Heart of Rock & Soul remains as provocative, passionate, and timeless as the music it praises.
Call Number: ML156.4.R6 M37 1999ISBN: 9780306809019Publication Date: 1999-05-07
Specific Artists:
The Anthology of the Beatles Records by
Presents a complete discography of The Beatles charting the musical legacy, on vinyl, of the Fab Four from Liverpool. This title also includes a free poster, 7 inch record and postcards.
Call Number: ML156.7.B4 B25 2007ISBN: 9783936300444Publication Date: 2010-03-16
Complete David Bowie by
The career of David Bowie has been one of the most colorful and intriguing in modern rock history. InThe Complete David Bowie,Nicholas Pegg chronicles the star’s every move—from his first appearance as balladeer Davy Jones in the 60s, and his spectacular, gender-bending turn in the 70s as Ziggy Stardust, to his starring roles in films likeThe Man Who Fell to EarthandThe Hunger.This definitive reference also includes a detailed production history and an analysis of all Bowie’s albums, including 2003’s Reality; hundreds of entries with facts and anecdotes about all his songs, plus unreleased rarities; and set lists and histories of every live show.
Call Number: ML156.7.B69 P44 2004ISBN: 1903111730Publication Date: 2004-06-01
Bob Dylan: All the Songs by
An updated edition of the most comprehensive account of Bob Dylan's Nobel Prize-winning work yet published, with the full story of every recording session, every album, and every single released during his nearly 60-year career. Bob Dylan: All the Songs focuses on Dylan's creative process and his organic, unencumbered style of recording. It is the only book to tell the stories, many unfamiliar even to his most fervent fans, behind the more than 500 songs he has released over the span of his career. Organized chronologically by album, Margotin and Guesdon detail the origins of his melodies and lyrics, his process in the recording studio, the instruments he used, and the contribution of a myriad of musicians and producers to his canon.
Call Number: ML156.7.D97 M37 2015ISBN: 9781579129859Publication Date: 2015-10-27
Jimi Hendrix Sessions: The Complete Studio Recording Sessions, 1963-1970 by
"Jimi Hendrix is universally recognized as the greatest rock 'n' roll guitar player of all time. But until now, the story of how he made his amazing music has never been told. Jimi Hendrix: Sessions is the first book to take us inside the studio and reveal, album by album and track by track, how his songs were born and shaped into the classics they would become." "Hendrix biographer John McDermott, working with Hendrix's producer Eddie Kramer and bass player Billy Cox, recreates in extraordinary day-by-day detail the making of every one of Hendrix's songs. Based on firsthand accounts by people who were there and on hundreds of hours of unreleased tapes, this book reveals what went into the creation of "Purple Haze," "Foxey Lady," "All Along the Watchtower," and Hendrix's many other masterpieces. It explains how Hendrix manipulated the primitive studio technology of his time to achieve his unprecedented sounds, and it shows the new heights toward which he was reaching at the time of his death." "Beginning with Hendrix's legendary journeyman sessions for the Isley Brothers and other soul greats, and continuing through his last work, this is the authoritative treatment of Hendrix as musician that admirers have long awaited. Illustrated with over one hundred photographs, handwritten lyrics, and studio memorabilia, Jimi Hendrix: Sessions is a loving and timeless tribute to the electric guitar's greatest master."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Call Number: ML156.7.H47 M45 1995ISBN: 0316555495Publication Date: 1995-09-01
Rocks Off: 50 Tracks That Tell the Story of The Rolling Stones by
December 3-4, 1969. Keith and Mick stood at the same microphone at Muscle Shoals, lights dimmed, splitting a fifth of bourbon, and simultaneously sang the melodies and harmonies on the three songs that they had recorded over three days: "Brown Sugar," "You Got to Move," and "Wild Horses." That's your rock 'n' roll fantasy right there, pal. A six-piece band working in a tiny converted coffin factory across from an Alabama graveyard, on an eight-track recorder, with no computer editing or Autotune, recorded three songs, representing 30 percent of one of the greatest rock 'n' roll records of all time. So tells Bill Janovitz of the making of the inimitable triple-platinum album,Sticky Fingers, which hit number one in the US and the UK in 1971, skyrocketing the band to superstardom. To Bill, all artists reveal themselves through their work and the Rolling Stones are no different: Each song exposes a little more of their soul. InRocks Off,Janovitz reveals the forces at work behind the band's music by deconstructing their most representative tunes from their incredible fifty years of record making. Written by a Stones fanatic, this is a song-by-song chronicle that maps the landmarks of the band's career while expanding on their recording and personal history. Much like friends pouring over old records or having a barroom argument over the merits of certain songs, the book presents the musical leaps taken by the band and discusses how the lyrical content both reflected and influenced popular culture. The song choices are chronological and subjective; many of them are the classic hits; however, the book digs deeper into beloved album tracks and songs with unique stories behind them. Rocks Offis the ultimate listening guide and thinking man's companion that will spur you to dust off those old albums and listen in with a newfound perspective on one of the most famous and acclaimed rock 'n' roll bands of all time.
Call Number: ML421.R64 J37 2013ISBN: 1250026318Publication Date: 2013-07-23
Bruce Springsteen: The Stories Behind the Songs by
In Bruce Springsteen: The Stories Behind the Songs, longtime Rolling Stone writer Brian Hiatt digs into the writing and recording of the song on Springsteen's studio albums, from 1973's Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. to 2014's High Hopes--plus all the released outtakes. The legend of Bruce Springsteen may well outlast rock 'n' roll itself. And for all the muscle and magic of his life-shaking concerts with the E Street Band, his legendary status comes down to the songs. He is an acknowledged master of music and lyrics, with decades of hits, from "Blinded by the Light" and "Born to Run" to "Hungry Heart," "Dancing in the Dark," and "The Rising." Brian Hiatt offers a unique look at the legendary rocker's songwriting methods, along with historical context, scores of colorful anecdotes, and more than 180 photographs. He has interviewed Springsteen five times in the past and has conducted numerous new interviews with his collaborators, from longtime producers to the E Street Band, to create an authoritative and lushly illustrated journey through Springsteen's entire songbook and career. "Even Springsteen fans, who can chart their lives by his tours, are bound to learn . . . This book is for those true fans." --New York Daily News "It's a coffee table book that's a blast to read--not only hefty and beautiful to look at, but a rich study of Bruce's work . . . The result is a song-by-song look at Springsteen's catalog that is, even for major Springsteen fans, enlightening as well as entertaining--not just a rehash of everything you already know." --Backstreets Magazine
Call Number: ML420.S77 H32 2019ISBN: 9781419734830Publication Date: 2019-03-26
Articles
Serials and Magazines:
Online Resources:
- Rock's BackpagesAn archive of music journalism and popular music writing of the last 60 years. Includes 38,000 articles on all subcategories of popular music.
- Rolling Stone ArchiveThe backfile of Rolling Stone covers the magazine from its launch in 1967 to the present. It soon became a leading vehicle for rock and popular music journalism, shaping and chronicling new trends and movements. From the 1980s, coverage expanded to encompass more entertainment topics, such as film and television, making it a leading resource for contemporary reporting and reviews pertaining to wider popular culture.
Audio
The Music Library holds more than 60,000 sound and video recordings you can check out. Use the library catalog to find their call numbers, then ask for them at the Music Library Circulation Desk.
- Use ALL FIELDS search.
- Refine your search (to CD, Vinyl record, Audiocassette, etc) with limiters on the left side of the screen
|
Ex. ALL FIELDS: David Bowie |
Ex. ALL FIELDS: Rock music |
Pay attention to the item's location; there are several collections on campus that have music materials.
When you find a recording you are interested in, click on its Subject tab to find similar items. If the item you want is checked out or we don't own it, you can request it through Interlibrary Loan.
Videos
Moonage Daydream by The first and only documentary about David Bowie authorized by the Bowie Estate, narrated by Bowie himself, explores Bowie's artistic journey over the years and illuminates many of his intellectual and artistic philosophies. Featuring never-before-seen footage.
Call Number: BRD-28Publication Date: 2022
Janis: Little Girl Blue by
Documentary on rock singer Janis Joplin, with her own words telling much of the story through a series of letters she wrote home over the years, read by Chan Marshall. Includes interviews with musicians P!nk, Kris Kristofferson, Melissa Etheridge, Bob Weir, Juliette Lewis, TV presenter Dick Cavett, filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker, the Joplin family, and others.
Call Number: 65-DVD20745Publication Date: 2016
The Velvet Underground by
Emerging from the primordial soup of glamour, gutter sleaze, and feverish creativity that was New Yorks 1960s underground culture, the Velvet Underground redefined music with its at once raw and exalted blend of experimentation and art-damaged rock and roll. In his kaleidoscopic documentary The Velvet Underground, Todd Haynes vividly evokes the band's incandescent world: the creative origins of the twin visionaries Lou Reed and John Cale, Andy Warhol's fabled Factory, and the explosive tension between pop and the avant-garde that propelled the group and ultimately consumed it. Never-before-seen performances, interviews, rare recordings, and mind-blowing transmissions from the era's avant-garde cinema scene come together in an ecstatic swirl of sound and image that is to the traditional music documentary what the Velvets were to rock: utterly revolutionary.
Call Number: 65-DVD25424Publication Date: 2022
Michael Jackson's This Is It by
Presents a rare, behind-the-scenes look at Jackson as he developed, created, and rehearsed for his sold-out concerts at London's 02 Arena. Drawn from more than one hundred hours of behind-the-scenes footage, the singer, dancer, filmmaker, architect, creative genius, and great artist at work is captured in raw and candid detail as he created and perfected his planned final London shows.
Call Number: 65-DVD10588Publication Date: 2010
Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice by
Linda Ronstadt has been an icon for more than 50 years. Her extraordinary vocal range and ambition created unforgettable songs across rock, pop, country, folk ballads, American standards, classic Mexican music, and soul. As the most popular female recording artist of the 1970s, Ronstadt filled huge arenas as no one had ever done and produced an astounding eleven platinum albums. Ronstadt was the first artist to top the Pop, Country, and R&B charts simultaneously.
Call Number: 65-DVD24909Publication Date: 2019Cobain: Montage of Heck by "... The only ever fully authorised portrait of the famed music icon. Academy Award nominated filmmaker Brett Morgen ... blends Cobain's personal archive of art, music, never seen before movies, animation and revelatory interviews from his family and closest friends. ... Follow Kurt from his earliest years in this visceral and detailed cinematic insight of an artist at odds with his surroundings."--Container.
Call Number: 65-BLU190Publication Date: 2015
George Harrison: Living in the Material World by
Using unseen photos and footage ... director Martin Scorsese traces the life of George Harrison in a personal film, weaving together performance footage, home movies, rare archival materials and interviews with his family and friends.
Call Number: 65-DVD18032Publication Date: 2011
Suggested Subject Headings
"Rock groups"
"Rock groups -- Biography"
"Rock groups -- Dictionaries"
"Rock groups -- Discography"
"Rock musicians"
"Rock musicians -- Biography"
"Rock musicians -- Dictionaries"
"Rock musicians -- Discography"
Recommended Memoirs and Biographies
Life by
The long-awaited autobiography of Keith Richards, guitarist, songwriter, singer, and founding member of the Rolling Stones. With The Rolling Stones, Keith Richards created the songs that roused the world, and he lived the original rock and roll life. Now, at last, the man himself tells his story of life in the crossfire hurricane. Listening obsessively to Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters records, learning guitar and forming a band with Mick Jagger and Brian Jones. The Rolling Stones's first fame and the notorious drug busts that led to his enduring image as an outlaw folk hero. Creating immortal riffs like the ones in "Jumping Jack Flash" and "Honky Tonk Women." His relationship with Anita Pallenberg and the death of Brian Jones. Tax exile in France, wildfire tours of the U.S., isolation and addiction. Falling in love with Patti Hansen. Estrangement from Jagger and subsequent reconciliation. Marriage, family, solo albums and Xpensive Winos, and the road that goes on forever. With his trademark disarming honesty, Keith Richard brings us the story of a life we have all longed to know more of, unfettered, fearless, and true.
Just Kids by
WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD It was the summer Coltrane died, the summer of love and riots, and the summer when a chance encounter in Brooklyn led two young people on a path of art, devotion, and initiation. Patti Smith would evolve as a poet and performer, and Robert Mapplethorpe would direct his highly provocative style toward photography. Bound in innocence and enthusiasm, they traversed the city from Coney Island to Forty-Second Street, and eventually to the celebrated round table of Max's Kansas City, where the Andy Warhol contingent held court. In 1969, the pair set up camp at the Hotel Chelsea and soon entered a community of the famous and infamous, the influential artists of the day and the colorful fringe. It was a time of heightened awareness, when the worlds of poetry, rock and roll, art, and sexual politics were colliding and exploding. In this milieu, two kids made a pact to take care of each other. Scrappy, romantic, committed to create, and fueled by their mutual dreams and drives, they would prod and provide for one another during the hungry years. Just Kids begins as a love story and ends as an elegy. It serves as a salute to New York City during the late sixties and seventies and to its rich and poor, its hustlers and hellions. A true fable, it is a portrait of two young artists' ascent, a prelude to fame.
My Love Story by
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Tina Turner--the long-reigning queen of rock & roll and living legend--sets the record straight about her illustrious career and complicated personal life in this eye-opening and compelling memoir. From her early years in Nutbush, Tennessee to her rise to fame alongside Ike Turner to her phenomenal success in the 1980s and beyond, Tina candidly examines her personal history, from her darkest hours to her happiest moments and everything in between. My Love Story is an explosive and inspiring story of a woman who dared to break any barriers put in her way. Emphatically showcasing Tina's signature blend of strength, energy, heart, and soul, this is a gorgeously wrought memoir as enthralling and moving as any of her greatest hits.
Born to Run by
The revelatory and wildly bestselling memoir by legendary rock star Bruce Springsteen: "Glorious...a philosophically rich ramble through a rock 'n roll life...It's the lyric he was born to write" (USA TODAY, 4 out of 4 stars). Over the past seven years, Bruce Springsteen has privately devoted himself to writing the story of his life. The result is "an utterly unique, endlessly exhilarating, last-chance-power-drive of a memoir" (Rolling Stone) that offers the same honesty, humor, and originality found in his songs. He describes growing up Catholic in Freehold, New Jersey, amid the poetry, danger, and darkness that fueled his imagination, leading up to the moment he refers to as "The Big Bang": seeing Elvis Presley's debut on The Ed Sullivan Show. He vividly recounts his relentless drive to become a musician, his early days as a bar band king in Asbury Park, and the rise of the E Street Band. With disarming candor, he also tells for the first time the story of the personal struggles that inspired his best work. Rarely has a performer told his own story with such force and sweep. Like many of his songs ("Thunder Road," "Badlands," "Darkness on the Edge of Town," "The River" "Born in the U.S.A," "The Rising," and "The Ghost of Tom Joad," to name just a few), Bruce Springsteen's autobiography is written with the lyricism of a singular songwriter and the wisdom of a man who has thought deeply about his experiences. "Both an entertaining account of Springsteen's marathon race to the top and a reminder that the one thing you can't run away from is yourself" (Entertainment Weekly), Born to Run is much more than a legendary rock star's memoir. This book is a "a virtuoso performance, the 508-page equivalent to one of Springsteen and the E Street Band's famous four-hour concerts: Nothing is left onstage, and diehard fans and first-timers alike depart for home sated and yet somehow already aching for more" (NPR).
Mo' Meta Blues by
"You have to bear in mind that [Questlove] is one of the smartest motherf*****s on the planet. His musical knowledge, for all practical purposes, is limitless." --Robert Christgau A punch-drunk memoir in which Everyone's Favorite Questlove tells his own story while tackling some of the lates, the greats, the fakes, the philosophers, the heavyweights, and the true originals of the music world. He digs deep into the album cuts of his life and unearths some pivotal moments in black art, hip hop, and pop culture. Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson is many things: virtuoso drummer, producer, arranger, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon bandleader, DJ, composer, and tireless Tweeter. He is one of our most ubiquitous cultural tastemakers, and in this, his first book, he reveals his own formative experiences--from growing up in 1970s West Philly as the son of a 1950s doo-wop singer, to finding his own way through the music world and ultimately co-founding and rising up with the Roots, a.k.a., the last hip hop band on Earth. Mo' Meta Blues also has some (many) random (or not) musings about the state of hip hop, the state of music criticism, the state of statements, as well as a plethora of run-ins with celebrities, idols, and fellow artists, from Stevie Wonder to KISS to D'Angelo to Jay-Z to Dave Chappelle to...you ever seen Prince roller-skate?!? But Mo' Meta Blues isn't just a memoir. It's a dialogue about the nature of memory and the idea of a post-modern black man saddled with some post-modern blues. It's a book that questions what a book like Mo' Meta Bluesreally is. It's the side wind of a one-of-a-kind mind. It's a rare gift that gives as well as takes. It's a record that keeps going around and around.
Face It by
Filled with never-before-seen photos and art throughout, the much-anticipated autobiography from rock icon and lead singer of Blondie, Debbie Harry BRAVE, BEAUTIFUL AND BORN TO BE PUNK Musician, actor, activist, and the iconic face of New York City cool, Debbie Harry is the frontwoman of Blondie, a band that forged a new sound that brought together the worlds of rock, punk, disco, reggae and hip-hop to create some of the most beloved pop songs of all time. As a muse, she collaborated with some of the boldest artists of the past four decades. The scope of Debbie Harry's impact on our culture has been matched only by her reticence to reveal her rich inner life--until now. In an arresting mix of visceral, soulful storytelling and stunning visuals, Face It upends the standard music memoir while delivering a truly prismatic portrait. With all the grit, grime, and glory recounted in intimate detail, Face It re-creates the downtown scene of 1970s New York City, where Blondie played alongside the Ramones, Television, Talking Heads, Iggy Pop and David Bowie. Aesthetically dazzling, and including never-before-seen photographs, bespoke illustrations and fan art installations, Face It brings Debbie Harry's world and artistic sensibilities to life. Following her path from glorious commercial success to heroin addiction, the near-death of partner Chris Stein, a heart-wrenching bankruptcy, and Blondie's breakup as a band to her multifaceted acting career in more than thirty films, a stunning solo career and the triumphant return of her band, and her tireless advocacy for the environment and LGBTQ rights, Face It is a cinematic story of a woman who made her own path, and set the standard for a generation of artists who followed in her footsteps--a memoir as dynamic as its subject. "I was saying things in songs that female singers didn't really say back then. I wasn't submissive or begging him to come back, I was kicking his ass, kicking him out, kicking my own ass too. My Blondie character was an inflatable doll but with a dark, provocative, aggressive side. I was playing it up yet I was very serious."--From Face It
The Storyteller by
The #1 New York Times Bestseller * Named one of Variety's Best Music Books of 2021 * Included in Audible's Best of The Year list * A Business Insider Best Memoirs of 2021 * One of NME's Best Music Books of 2021 So, I've written a book. Having entertained the idea for years, and even offered a few questionable opportunities ("It's a piece of cake! Just do 4 hours of interviews, find someone else to write it, put your face on the cover, and voila!") I have decided to write these stories just as I have always done, in my own hand. The joy that I have felt from chronicling these tales is not unlike listening back to a song that I've recorded and can't wait to share with the world, or reading a primitive journal entry from a stained notebook, or even hearing my voice bounce between the Kiss posters on my wall as a child. This certainly doesn't mean that I'm quitting my day job, but it does give me a place to shed a little light on what it's like to be a kid from Springfield, Virginia, walking through life while living out the crazy dreams I had as young musician. From hitting the road with Scream at 18 years old, to my time in Nirvana and the Foo Fighters, jamming with Iggy Pop or playing at the Academy Awards or dancing with AC/DC and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, drumming for Tom Petty or meeting Sir Paul McCartney at Royal Albert Hall, bedtime stories with Joan Jett or a chance meeting with Little Richard, to flying halfway around the world for one epic night with my daughters...the list goes on. I look forward to focusing the lens through which I see these memories a little sharper for you with much excitement.
Gold Dust Woman by
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! "All you ever wanted to know about Fleetwood Mac's mesmerizing frontwoman." - People Magazine "Davis is astute and respectful...adept in his literary analysis." - The New York Times Book Review Stevie Nicks is a legend of rock, but her energy and magnetism sparked new interest in this icon. At sixty-nine, she's one of the most glamorous creatures rock has known, and the rare woman who's a real rock 'n' roller. Gold Dust Woman gives "the gold standard of rock biographers" (The Boston Globe) his ideal topic: Nicks' work and life are equally sexy and interesting, and Davis delves deeply into each, unearthing fresh details from new, intimate interviews and interpreting them to present a rich new portrait of the star. Just as Nicks (and Lindsey Buckingham) gave Fleetwood Mac the "shot of adrenaline" they needed to become real rock stars--according to Christine McVie--Gold Dust Woman is vibrant with stories and with a life lived large and hard: --How Nicks and Buckingham were asked to join Fleetwood Mac and how they turned the band into stars --The affairs that informed Nicks' greatest songs --Her relationships with the Eagles' Don Henley and Joe Walsh, and with Fleetwood himself --Why Nicks married her best friend's widower --Her dependency on cocaine, drinking and pot, but how it was a decade-long addiction to Klonopin that almost killed her -- Nicks' successful solo career that has her still performing in venues like Madison Square Garden --The cult of Nicks and its extension to chart-toppers like Taylor Swift and the Dixie Chicks
Slash by
From one of the greatest rock guitarists of our era comes a memoir that redefines sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll He was born in England but reared in L.A., surrounded by the leading artists of the day amidst the vibrant hotbed of music and culture that was the early seventies. Slash spent his adolescence on the streets of Hollywood, discovering drugs, drinking, rock music, and girls, all while achieving notable status as a BMX rider. But everything changed in his world the day he first held the beat-up one-string guitar his grandmother had discarded in a closet. The instrument became his voice and it triggered a lifelong passion that made everything else irrelevant. As soon as he could string chords and a solo together, Slash wanted to be in a band and sought out friends with similar interests. His closest friend, Steven Adler, proved to be a conspirator for the long haul. As hairmetal bands exploded onto the L.A. scene and topped the charts, Slash sought his niche and a band that suited his raw and gritty sensibility. He found salvation in the form of four young men of equal mind: Axl Rose, Izzy Stradlin, Steven Adler, and Duff McKagan. Together they became Guns N' Roses, one of the greatest rock 'n' roll bands of all time. Dirty, volatile, and as authentic as the streets that weaned them, they fought their way to the top with groundbreaking albums such as the iconic Appetite for Destruction and Use Your Illusion I and II. Here, for the first time ever, Slash tells the tale that has yet to be told from the inside: how the band came together, how they wrote the music that defined an era, how they survived insane, never-ending tours, how they survived themselves, and, ultimately, how it all fell apart. This is a window onto the world of the notoriously private guitarist and a seat on the roller-coaster ride that was one of history's greatest rock 'n' roll machines, always on the edge of self-destruction, even at the pinnacle of its success. This is a candid recollection and reflection of Slash's friendships past and present, from easygoing Izzy to ever-steady Duff to wild-child Steven and complicated Axl. It is also an intensely personal account of struggle and triumph: as Guns N' Roses journeyed to the top, Slash battled his demons, escaping the overwhelming reality with women, heroin, coke, crack, vodka, and whatever else came along. He survived it all: lawsuits, rehab, riots, notoriety, debauchery, and destruction, and ultimately found his creative evolution. From Slash's Snakepit to his current band, the massively successful Velvet Revolver,Slash found an even keel by sticking to his guns. Slash is everything the man, the myth, the legend, inspires: it's funny, honest, inspiring, jaw-dropping . . . and, in a word, excessive.
Chronicles by
WINNER OF THE NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE The celebrated first memoir from arguably the most influential singer-songwriter in the country, Bob Dylan. "I'd come from a long ways off and had started a long ways down. But now destiny was about to manifest itself. I felt like it was looking right at me and nobody else." So writes Bob Dylan in Chronicles: Volume One, his remarkable book exploring critical junctures in his life and career. Through Dylan's eyes and open mind, we see Greenwich Village, circa 1961, when he first arrives in Manhattan. Dylan's New York is a magical city of possibilities--smoky, nightlong parties; literary awakenings; transient loves and unbreakable friendships. Elegiac observations are punctuated by jabs of memories, penetrating and tough. With the book's side trips to New Orleans, Woodstock, Minnesota, and points west, Chronicles: Volume One is an intimate and intensely personal recollection of extraordinary times. By turns revealing, poetical, passionate, and witty, Chronicles: Volume One is a mesmerizing window on Bob Dylan's thoughts and influences. Dylan's voice is distinctively American: generous of spirit, engaged, fanciful, and rhythmic. Utilizing his unparalleled gifts of storytelling and the exquisite expressiveness that are the hallmarks of his music, Bob Dylan turns Chronicles: Volume One into a poignant reflection on life, and the people and places that helped shape the man and the art.
