Books published by Music Mentor Books

David Williams grew up in Epsom, Surrey and was a childhood friend of future Led Zeppelin guitar legend, Jimmy Page. Together they discovered what was for them an intriguing and very different kind of music: the blues. As their interest grew into a passion, they befriended other teenage enthusiasts -- among them Brian Jones, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards -- becoming part of a movement that ultimately brought about the ''60s rock revolution. Part-biography, part-history, "The First Time We Met The Blues" is packed full of great anecdotes and unique insights into the early British blues scene, Page''s formative years as a musician, the beginnings of the Rolling Stones, and much more besides. It culminates with a detailed account of a momentous expedition by van from London to Manchester to see the American Folk-Blues Festival in October 1962 -- the first time ever that Williams and his friends had an opportunity to see legendary American bluesmen like T-Bone Walker, Willie Dixon and John Lee Hooker in action -- and an assessment of its far-reaching aftermath.

The plane crash of 3 February 1959 which claimed the life of Buddy Holly was both a human tragedy, and a tragedy for rock'n'roll. In a little under two years, Holly and his band -- the Crickets -- had become major stars, thanks to their high standard of musicianship and a string of memorable hits including 'That'll Be The Day', 'Rave On', 'Peggy Sue', 'Oh Boy!' and 'Heartbeat', only for their career to be cruelly cut short. After his death, Holly's records continued to sell in quantity for many years -- a testament to his massive influence and the lasting popularity of his music. It may sound strange now, but in those monochrome, pre-Internet days very little was actually known about the singer with the unusual name and the hiccup in his voice -- a situation that persisted until the appearance of John Goldrosen's pioneering biography in 1975. Since then, much more information has been uncovered, thanks to decades of research by dedicated fans. This book draws together a mass of Holly facts and info from a variety of published sources, as well as the author's own original research, and presents them in an easy-to-use encyclopaedic format. Now in its third edition, it has proved to be a popular and valuable reference work on this seminal rock'n'roller. This is a book that every Holly fan will want to keep at his fingertips. A book about a musical genius who will never be forgotten.