Music

Bernard Herrmann is a music composer who in over 40 scores enriched the work of directors like Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock, Francois Truffaut, and Martin Scorsese. He scored for "Fahrenheit 451", "The Day the Earth Stood Still", and "Psycho". This title is his biography exploring the inter-relationships between his music and his personal life.

In her provocative new book Rednecks, Queers, and Country Music, Nadine Hubbs looks at how class and gender identity play out in one of America's most culturally and politically charged forms of popular music. Skillfully weaving historical inquiry with an examination of classed cultural repertoires and close listening to country songs, Hubbs confronts the shifting and deeply entangled workings of taste, sexuality, and class politics. In Hubbs's view, the popular phrase "e;I'll listen to anything but country"e; allows middle-class Americans to declare inclusive "e;omnivore"e; musical tastes with one crucial exclusion: country, a music linked to low-status whites. Throughout Rednecks, Queers, and Country Music, Hubbs dissects this gesture, examining how provincial white working people have emerged since the 1970s as the face of American bigotry, particularly homophobia, with country music their audible emblem. Bringing together the redneck and the queer, Hubbs challenges the conventional wisdom and historical amnesia that frame white working folk as a perpetual bigot class. With a powerful combination of music criticism, cultural critique, and sociological analysis of contemporary class formation, Nadine Hubbs zeroes in on flawed assumptions about how country music models and mirrors white working-class identities. She particularly shows how dismissive, politically loaded middle-class discourses devalue country's manifestations of working-class culture, politics, and values, and render working-class acceptance of queerness invisible. Lucid, important, and thought-provoking, this book is essential reading for students and scholars of American music, gender and sexuality, class, and pop culture.

Why Jazz Happened is the first comprehensive social history of jazz. It provides an intimate and compelling look at the many forces that shaped this most American of art forms and the many influences that gave rise to jazz's post-war styles. Rich with the voices of musicians, producers, promoters, and others on the scene during the decades following World War II, this book views jazz's evolution through the prism of technological advances, social transformations, changes in the law, economic trends, and much more. In an absorbing narrative enlivened by the commentary of key personalities, Marc Myers describes the myriad of events and trends that affected the music's evolution, among them, the American Federation of Musicians strike in the early 1940s, changes in radio and concert-promotion, the introduction of the long-playing record, the suburbanization of Los Angeles, the Civil Rights movement, the "e;British invasion"e; and the rise of electronic instruments. This groundbreaking book deepens our appreciation of this music by identifying many of the developments outside of jazz itself that contributed most to its texture, complexity, and growth.

Horace Silver is one of the last giants remaining from the incredible flowering and creative extension of bebop music that became known as "e;hard bop"e; in the 1950s. This freewheeling autobiography of the great composer, pianist, and bandleader takes us from his childhood in Norwalk, Connecticut, through his rise to fame as a musician in New York, to his comfortable life "e;after the road"e; in California. During that time, Silver composed an impressive repertoire of tunes that have become standards and recorded a number of classic albums. Well-seasoned with anecdotes about the music, the musicians, and the milieu in which he worked and prospered, Silver's narrative-like his music-is earthy, vernacular, and intimate. His stories resonate with lessons learned from hearing and playing alongside such legends as Art Blakey, Charlie Parker, and Lester Young. His irrepressible sense of humor combined with his distinctive spirituality make his account both entertaining and inspiring. Most importantly, Silver's unique take on the music and the people who play it opens a window onto the creative process of jazz and the social and cultural worlds in which it flourishes.Let's Get to the Nitty Gritty also describes Silver's spiritual awakening in the late 1970s. This transformation found its expression in the electronic and vocal music of the three-part work called The United States of Mind and eventually led the musician to start his own record label, Silveto. Silver details the economic forces that eventually persuaded him to put Silveto to rest and to return to the studios of major jazz recording labels like Columbia, Impulse, and Verve, where he continued expanding his catalogue of new compositions and recordings that are at least as impressive as his earlier work.

For many fans, David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust era remains the most extraordinarily creative period in his career. As a member of Bowie's legendary band at the time - The Spiders From Mars - Woody Woodmansey played drums on four seminal albums: The Man Who Sold The World, Hunky Dory, The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars and Aladdin Sane. Woody's memoir, which he started work on in 2014, focuses on this key period and brings it to glorious life. With the confidence of youth, Woody always thought he'd be in a famous band but the nineteen-year-old rocker from Hull never expected to be thrust into London's burgeoning glam rock scene, and also into a bottle-green velvet suit and girl's shoes. Playing with Bowie took him on an eye-opening and transformative journey. In Spider From Mars he writes candidly about the characters who surrounded Bowie, recalling the album sessions as well as behind-the-scenes moments with one of the world's most iconic singers. The result is an insightful, funny, poignant memoir that lovingly evokes a seminal moment in music history and pays tribute to one of the most outstanding and innovative talents of our time.

Considered one of the greatest composers-and music critics-of the Romantic era, Robert Schumann (1810-1856) played an important role in shaping nineteenth-century German ideas about virtuosity. Forging his career in the decades that saw abundant public fascination with the feats and creations of virtuosos (Liszt, Paganini, and Chopin among others), Schumann engaged with instrumental virtuosity through not only his compositions and performances but also his music reviews and writings about his contemporaries. Ultimately, the discourse of virtuosity influenced the culture of Western "e;art music"e; well beyond the nineteenth century and into the present day. By examining previously unexplored archival sources, Alexander Stefaniak looks at the diverse approaches to virtuosity Schumann developed over the course of his career, revealing several distinct currents in nineteenth-century German virtuosity and the enduring flexibility of virtuosity discourse.

'Through interviews with friends and colleagues, as well as detailed research, the writer has gained unprecedented knowledge of the true story behind the legend. This is a fascinating insight into one of the greatest artists of our lifetime.' Evening Standard'Through several interviews with Bowie she evocatively portrays his fascinating life, often with a tenderness you wouldn't expect.' Daily Express'An intriguing book. This is a personal friendship in writing. The knowledge divulged here is an endearing and powerful tale of a man who conquered the entire entertainment industry with his creative force.' VarietyA unique portrait of the globally revered artist and the extraordinary, complex man behind the legend.His music thrilled the generation it was written for, and has entertained and inspired every generation since. HERO: DAVID BOWIE is an intelligent exploration of the man behind the myths and the makeup told from the very beginning.Respected music journalist and biographer Lesley-Ann Jones knew David Jones from the days before fame, when he was a young musician starting out, frustrated by an industry that wouldn't give him a break and determined to succeed. Here she traces the epic journey of the boy from Bromley born into a troubled background to his place as one of the greatest stars in rock history.Jones has interviewed numerous friends and associates of Bowie, many of whom have never spoken publicly about him before. Drawing on this new material and meticulous research, the real story of Bowie's family background is told; the true inspiration behind the creation of Ziggy Stardust is revealed, and we learn how his marriage to Angie ended in agony following his comeback from a near fatal drug addiction. Jones also revisits Bowie's tragic relationship with his brother and his deep bond with T Rex frontman Marc Bolan. Bowie's rebellious nature, his many sources of inspiration and creativity, and his complex, intense personality are discussed here, creating a unique and compelling portrait of an extraordinary man. This is Bowie as you've never seen him before.

'A triumph' - Time OutTransformer is the only complete and comprehensive telling of the Lou Reed story.Legendary songwriter and guitarist Lou Reed passed away on the 27th October 2013, but his musical influence is assured. Now discover the true story of the Velvet Underground pioneer in this update of Bockris's classic biography.Transformer: The Complete Lou Reed Story follows the great songwriter and singer through the series of transformations that define each period of his fifty year career. It opens with the teenage electroshock treatments that dominated his memories of childhood and never stops revealing layer after layer of this complex and often anguished artist and man. Transformer is based on Lou's collaborations with the hardest and most romantic artists of his times, from John Cale, Andy Warhol, and Nico, through David Bowie, Robert Wilson, Laurie Anderson and the ghost of Edgar Alan Poe. Rippling underneath everything he did are Lou's relationships with his various muses, from his college sweetheart to his three wives (and one drag queen).Leading Lou Reed biographer, Victor Bockris - who knew Lou throughout the Rachel Years, from Rock 'n' Roll Animal to the Bells - updates his original biography in the wake of Lou's death. Through new interviews and photos, he reveals the many transformations of this larger-than-life character, including his final shift from Rock Monster to the Prince Charming he had always wanted to be in the twenty years he spent with the love of his life, Laurie Anderson . Except with Lou, you could never really know what might happen next...Including previously unseen photographs and contributions from Lou's innermost circle and collaborators that include similarly esteemed artists such as Andy Warhol and David Bowie, Transformer is as captivating and vivid a read as befits an American master.

MAKING MICHAEL delves deep inside the career of one of the mostsuccessful, enigmatic and controversial entertainers of all time:Michael Jackson. Side-stepping sensationalism, journalist Mike Smallcombe enters uncharteredterritory as he takes you behind the scenes to reveal the real Jackson, a manfew people ever got to know. Interviewing over sixty of Jackson's associates including managers, lawyers,music executives, producers, musicians and engineers - many of whom arespeaking about their experiences publicly for the first time - he providesexclusive access to one of the biggest-selling recording artists in history. Featuring a foreword by Matt Forger, one of Jackson's longest serving andmost loyal collaborators, MAKING MICHAEL takes readers into thestudio with the King of Pop, charting the creation of record-breaking albumsincluding Thriller, Bad, Dangerous and HIStory and the twists and turnsthat occurred along the way. Untold stories, revelations and secrets finallysee the light of day as Jackson's career outside the studio is also examined. Smallcombe remains objective and doesn't shy away from exploringJackson's ruthless traits, his addictions, his fall outs, the relentless pursuit ofperfectionism, the financial chaos and those shocking final weeks. MIKE SMALLCOMBE is a British journalist living and working in theUK. www.makingmichael.co.ukTwitter: @mikesmallcombe1

This is the second volume in Clinton Heylin's magisterial survey of the songs of Bob Dylan. The first volume - Revolution in the Air which is now available in paperback - charted the rise of Bob Dylan from his first jottings to the full expression of genius in songs such as 'Hard Rain Gonna Fall' and 'The Times They Are a Changin''. Still on the Road begins in 1974 with "e;Blood on the Tracks"e;, the album filled with masterworks such as 'Tangled Up in Blue' and 'Simple Twist of Fate' that heralded a watershed in Dylan's creative journey, and continues to chart his never-ending fascination with music and the art of song up to 2006's "e;Modern Times"e;. Praise for Revolution in the Air:'Beg, steal, borrow ... a compelling history of Dylan's mercurial song writing.' Mojo, 5-star review'Better than any biography could ever be, and a crucial Dylan book' Jonathan Letham'Valuable resource' Observer'A gripping new book by Dylan scholar Clinton Heylin so is so far in the deep end that its borderline insane . . [yet] has been devoured with a ravenous, insatiable appetite, and I have even made notes in the margin.' Mark Ellen, Word.'Terrifically interesting for Dylan nuts' Sunday Herald'Manna for completists' Metro 'True to form, Heylin digs deep-way deep-into the songs, mixing cold hard facts with illuminating anecdotes.' - Mark Smith, managing editor, Acoustic Guitar

'Honest and poignant' THE SUNThe honest and revealing story of John Lennon's childhood by his sister Julia. Through her own personal journey, Julia reveals the battle between two strong, self-willed women - John's mother and his Aunt Mimi - to have custody of John in his early years. It was Aunt Mimi who finally won and removed John from his mother at the age of five. But as John grew up, he would frequently return home - spending time with his mother and half-sisters, Julia, Jackie and Ingrid, learning his love of music from his mother, and hanging out, playing guitar with his childhood friend Paul McCartney.Julia is candid about the sadness as well as the joy of their broken family life. She details the devestating loss of their mother Julia in a road accident - and describes the painful legacy for the entire family, especially John as he moves into a life of stratospheric fame with the Beatles.

David Bowie: every single song. Everything you want to know, everything you didnt know. David Bowie remains mysterious and unknowable, despite 45 years of recording and performing. His legacy is roughly 600 songs, which range from psychedelia to glam rock to Philadelphia soul, from avant-garde instrumentals to global pop anthems. Rebel Rebel catalogs Bowies songs from 1964 to 1976, examines them in the order of their composition and recording, and digs into what makes them work. Rebel Rebel is an in-depth look at Bowies early singles and album tracks, unreleased demos, session outtakes and cover songs. The book traces Bowies literary, film and musical influences and the evolution of his songwriting. It also shows how Bowie exploited studio innovations, and the roles of his producers and supporting musicians, especially major collaborators like Brian Eno, Iggy Pop and Mick Ronson. This book places Bowies music in the context of its era. Readers will discover the links between Kubricks 2001 and Space Oddity; how A Clockwork Orange inspired Suffragette City. The pages are a trip through Bowies various lives as a young man in Swinging London, a Tibetan Buddhist, a disillusioned hippie, a rock god, and a Hollywood recluse. With a cast of thousands, including John Lennon, William S. Burroughs, Andy Warhol and Cher.

In the last few decades, new technologies have brought composers and listeners to the brink of an era of limitless musical possibility. They stand before a vast ocean of creative potential, in which any sounds imaginable can be synthesised and pieced together into radical new styles and forms of music-making. But are musicians taking advantage of this potential? How could we go about creating and listening to new music, and why should we? Bringing the ideas of twentieth-century avant-garde composers Arnold Schoenberg and John Cage to their ultimate conclusion, Infinite Music proposes a system for imagining music based on its capacity for variation, redefining musical modernism and music itself in the process. It reveals the restrictive categories traditionally imposed on music-making, replaces them with a new vocabulary and offers new approaches to organising musical creativity. By detailing not just how music is composed but crucially how its perceived, Infinite Music maps the future of music and the many paths towards it.

From one of America's celebrated critics, the definitive field guide to listening to music in the age of the CloudThe most significant revolution in the recent history of music has to do with listening: it is now possible to listen to nearly anything at any time, to ignore albums, and to instantly flit across genres and generations, from 1980s Detroit techno to 1890s Viennese neo-romanticism. Yet music criticism has historically focused on the musician's intent, not the listener's experience. Every Song Ever is therefore the definitive field guide to listening in an age of glorious, overwhelming abundance. By revealing the essential similarities between wildly different kinds of music, Ben Ratliff shows how we listen to music now, and suggests how we can listen better.

In July 2005 in Hyde Park, Pink Floyd performed together on stage for the first time in 24 years with founder member Roger Waters. Almost a year later, reclusive founder-member Syd Barrett died and then in 2008 the death of keyboard player Rick Wright confirmed there would be no more reunions of one of the world's biggest bands. In this superbly comprehensive and engrossing history of the group, Mark Blake tells how a group of Cambridge school friends went on to conquer the world with classic albums like Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here, and put on some of the most spectacular shows of all time. Drawing on over a hundred original interviews, Pigs Might Fly follows Pink Floyd all the way from the early psychedelic nights at UFO in the mid-sixties through the acrimonious schism, to the recent appearances of David Gilmour and Nick Mason with Roger Waters at the London date on his The Wall tour. Meticulous, exacting and ambitious as any Pink Floyd album, Pigs Might Fly has rightly been acclaimed as the definitive book on the band.

Stuart Sutcliffe is the most famous contender for the crown of 'fifth Beatle'. One of the founding members, a close friend of Lennon, he left the band after their Hamburg sojourn in order to pursue his promising career as an artist, dying shortly thereafter of a brain haemorrhage. For years his sister Pauline has tried to protect his memory against the Beatles' need to sanitise their early history and now she is ready to tell the real story. In so doing she sheds new light on their formative period - the rivalry with McCartney, how George Harrison tried to keep the peace, the truth about Stuart's intense relationship with Lennon and why Lennon was haunted by guilt over her brother's death. And she describes what it was like for those like herself and Cynthia Lennon who have had no choice but to live with the Beatles all their lives. 'Gripping . . . the story of Stuart Sutcliffe. . . holds the key to the birth of pop's greatest group' Daily Mail 'An odd, fascinating book' MOJO

In June 1989, Paul Du Noyer was contacted by Paul McCartney's office in London and asked to interview the star as they had met once before and enjoyed a good raport. In the years that followed, Paul Du Noyer continued to meet, interview and work for Paul McCartney on a regular basis, producing magazine articles, tour programmes, album liner notes, press materials and website editorial. It's likely that Du Noyer has spent more hours in formal, recorded conversation with McCartney than any other writer. Conversations with McCartney is the culmination of Du Noyer's long association with McCartney and his music. It draws from their interview sessions across 35 years, coupling McCartney's own, candid thoughts with his observations and analysis.

In this memoir, iconic singer Linda Ronstadt weaves together a captivating story of her origins in Tucson, Arizona, and her rise to stardom in the Southern California music scene of the 1960s and 70s.Tracing the timeline of her remarkable life, Linda Ronstadt, whose forty-five year career has encompassed a wide array of musical styles, weaves together a captivating story of her origins in Tucson, Arizona, and her rise to stardom in the Southern California music scene of the 1960s and 70s.Linda Ronstadt was born into a musical family, and her childhood was filled with everything from Gilbert and Sullivan to Mexican folk music to jazz and opera. Her artistic curiosity blossomed early, and she and her siblings began performing their own music for anyone who would listen. Now, in this beautifully crafted memoir, Ronstadt tells the story of her wide-ranging and utterly unique musical journey. Ronstadt arrived in Los Angeles just as the folkrock movement was beginning to bloom, setting the stage for the development of country-rock. As part of the coterie of like-minded artists who played at the famed Troubadour club in West Hollywood, she helped define the musical style that dominated American music in the 1970s. One of her early backup bands went on to become the Eagles, and Linda went on to become the most successful female artist of the decade. In Simple Dreams, Ronstadt reveals the eclectic and fascinating journey that led to her long-lasting success, including stories behind many of her beloved songs. And she describes it all in a voice as beautiful as the one that sang Heart Like a Wheellonging, graceful, and authentic.

The man known simply as 'Enge' by his millions of fans worldwide has sold over 150 million records and is in the Guinness Book of Records for achieving 56 consecutive weeks in the chart with 'Release Me'.From living on the dole and receiving last rites with tuberculosis, to buying a Hollywood palace with a heart-shaped pool and a fleet of fourteen Rolls Royces, Engelbert wears his 'King of Romance' crown so well that horticulturists even named a rose after him. And the love god has certainly lived up to his reputation, indulging in a string of affairs and one-night stands, whilst remaining happily married to his first love Patricia. Forty years on from his early hits 'Enge' is still at the very top, selling out concerts across the world, representing the UK at the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest, and topping the charts in all the major markets.Inspired by the warmth of his millions of affectionate fans and the endless support of his wife, Engelbert shares his incredible life story with openness, humour and astonishing honesty.

A first of its kind collection, How to Rap is an insightful and intelligent breakdown of the elements of rap for anyone wanting to learn the art form or understand the principles behind it. Author Paul Edwards examines the dynamics of hip hop from every region and in every form - mainstream, underground, current and classic - looking in particular at content, flow, writing and delivery. Edwards provides unparalleled access to the most acclaimed names in rap and their methods of working, with a foreword by Kool G Rap and interviews with over 100 artists, including Public Enemy, Mobb Deep, Schoolly D, Nelly, will.i.am, Arrested Development, A Tribe Called Quest, and Rah Digga. This one and only comprehensive examination of the MC art form is pure gold for the hip hop lover.

As the lead guitarist of Queen, Brian May is one of rock's most recognisable stars. Brian May: The Definitive Biography charts his life from his childhood, through his years studying astrophysics and teaching, to his success with Queen, his more recent projects and his volatile relationship with actress Anita Dobson. Bestselling writer Laura Jackson examines closely the many aspects of the May's life, detailing Queen's struggles to acheive success and what life at the top was really like. It charts the camaraderie and conflicts within Queen as well as the disintegration of May's first marriage, the death of his father and the profound professional and emotional effects of Freddie Mercury's illness and death. Packed with nearly seventy first-hand exclusive interviews with some of May's closest friends, colleagues and fellow musicians - including Iommi, Joe Elliott, Raul Rodgers, Cliff Richard and Spike Edney - this is an extraordinary, inimate portrait of a rock legend.

In this definitive biography of Brian Jones, Laura Jackson - the first to insist that Jones was murdered and the first to identify his killer - rejects the stereotype of a narcissistic rock star who was doomed to self-destruct. Instead, she spoke to the people who knew him best: his family and friends, girlfriends and confidantes, the musicians and friends who lived and worked with him right up until his death in 1969. Jones emerges as a man of immense talent, energy and humour, but crippled by insecurities and shyness - a portrayal greatly at odds with the sordid rumours that plagued him throughout his life, which continue to this day. Jackson provides new testimony on the rivalries within the Rolling Stones and the bitter final split, together with telling details from the pathology and coroner's reports, to tell the story behind the headlines and get to the heart of the mysterious death of Brian Jones.

There's only one book that ever truly got inside the Beatles and this is it. The landmark, worldwide bestseller that has grown with the Beatles ever since. During 1967 and 1968 Hunter Davies spent eighteen months with the Beatles at the peak of their powers as they defined a generation and rewrote popular music. As their only ever authorised biographer he had unparalleled access - not just to John, Paul, George and Ringo but to friends, family and colleagues. There when it mattered, he collected a wealth of intimate and revealing material that still makes this the classic Beatles book - the one all other biographers look to. Hunter Davies remained close with the band and as such has had access to more information over the years. This 40th anniversary edition contains new material which has never been revealed before, from the author's archives and from the Beatles themselves, that will bring new insights to their legend.

**THE DEFINITIVE, UP-TO-DATE BIOGRAPHY OF FREDDIE MERCURY**'An outstanding biography. . .a fitting testament to the creative genius' -- Daily Mail'Touches all manner of intriguing rock 'n' roll debauchery. . .fascinating reading' -- Time OutThis fascinating biography of Freddie Mercury has received outstanding acclaim from Queen and rock fans worldwide -- now revised and updated to coincide with the release of the film about his life, Bohemian Rhapsody.Born Farrokh Bulsara on the island of Zanzibar, Freddie Mercury rose to worldwide stardom as the lead singer of Britain's biggest music act of all time. In this bestselling biography, Laura Jackson reveals the reality behind Queen's flamboyant frontman and lead singer, as she looks behind his unique brand of showmanship to discover who Freddie Mercury really was. Featuring exclusive interviews with some of those closest to Freddie right up until his tragic death, original Queen members and many others -- including new and intimate stories from Tim Rice, Richard Branson, Cliff Richard, Bruce Dickinson, Mike Moran, Wayne Eagling, Zandra Rhodes and Susannah York -- this is the definitive biography of one of rock's greatest legends.

I was the Fool-king of Soho and the number-one slag in the Groucho Club, the second drunkest member of the world's drunkest band. This was no disaster, though. It was a dream coming true.'For Alex James, music had always been a door to a more eventful life. But as bass player of Blur - one of the most successful British bands of all time - his journey was more exciting and extreme than he could ever have predicted. In Bit of a Blur he chronicles his journey from a slug-infested flat in Camberwell to a world of screaming fans and private jets - and his eventual search to find meaning and happiness (and, perhaps most importantly, the perfect cheese), in an increasingly surreal world.

Factory Records' fame and fortune were based on two bands - Joy Division and New Order - and one personality - that of its director, Tony Wilson. At the height of the label's success in the late 1980s, it ran its own club, the legendary Ha ienda, had a string of international hit records, and was admired and emulated around the world. But by the 1990s the story had changed. The back catalogue was sold off, top bands New Order and Happy Mondays were in disarray, and the Ha ienda was shut down by the police. Critically acclaimed on its original publication in 1996, this book tells the complete story of Factory Records' spectacular history, from the label's birth in 1970s Manchester, through its '80s heyday and '90s demise. Now updated to include new material on the re-emergence of Joy Division, the death of Tony Wilson and the legacy of Factory Records, it draws on exclusive interviews with the major players to give a fascinating insight into the unique personalities and chaotic reality behind one of the UK's most influential and successful independent record labels.

Fifty years ago he was just the boy Harry Webb, performing in a local youth club. Now he is Sir Cliff Richard, the first rock star to be knighted, with a massive international fan base and a top ten hit in each of the last six decades. Yet, despite his huge public persona, the man himself remains a reserved and private figure.Unflinching in its portrayal of the man behind the musical icon, this revealing biography marks fifty years of music from the first British pop star. His fellow musicians, co-stars, directors and Cliff himself talk candidly about his musical ascendance, the women in his life, his religious beliefs and his lasting regret that he has never broken America.

Born without social instincts many people take for granted, brought up in a troubled environment and possessed with an extraordinary musical talent, Mike Oldfield was thrust into the spotlight at the tender age of nineteen. His first album Tubular Bells went on to sell fifteen million copies worldwide and catapulted him into a stardom he was ill-equipped to cope with.From growing up with an alcoholic mother, to his feelings of alienation and struggles with depression, this book takes Mike from his early years, through his staggering fame, his broken marriages, years as a recluse, his rebirth experience at a controversial Exegesis seminar and beyond. Mike Oldfield has been on a journey few of us could ever imagine, and offers a message of hope to anybody who feels they live on the edge of society.

What is the difference between a musical note and any other sort of sound? What is harmony, and why does it sound good? Why is it easy to tell the difference between a flute and a clarinet even if they are playing exactly the same note? Why do ten violins sound only twice as loud as one? What is perfect pitch, and do I have it?Discover the answers to these and many other questions in John Powell's charming, straight-talking and ear-opening guide to what music is and how exactly it works. Written by a composer with a PhD in physics, How Music Works is a unique and entertaining guide. Opening up the world of acoustics and the science of music to deepen our appreciation and understanding of what we listen to, How Music Works covers subjects from the difference between how we hear a musical note and any other kind of sound, to a brief history of the scale system, why a run of arpeggios sounds 'romantic' and why a flute sounds different to a clarinet. The perfect book for players and listeners alike.

The first major account of the history of reggae, black music journalist Lloyd Bradley describes its origins and development in Jamaica, from ska to rock-steady to dub and then to reggae itself, a local music which conquered the world. There are many extraordinary stories about characters like Prince Buster, King Tubby and Bob Marley. But this is more than a book of music history: it relates the story of reggae to the whole history of Jamaica, from colonial island to troubled independence, and Jamaicans, from Kingston to London.