Composers category: 3267 books

This brilliant biography of the cult guitar player will likely cause you to abandon everything you thought you knew about jazz improvisation, post-punk and the avant-garde. Derek Bailey was at the top of his profession as a dance band and recordsession guitarist when, in the early 1960s, he began...

Mary Lou Williams -- pianist, arranger, composer, and probably the most influential woman in the history of jazz -- receives the attention she has long deserved in the definitive biography by a leading scholar of women in jazz. The illegitimate child of an impoverished and indifferent mother,...

The massive, world-wide outpouring of grief at the death of David Bowie notably focused on not only his stunning musical output, but also his fascinating refusal to stay the same—the same as other trending artists, or even the same as himself.   In this remarkable collection, Bowie reveals the...

Billy’s Back! shows how William Shepherd ("Billy Shears") replaced Paul McCartney in The Beatles, revealing exactly how he went from being "Billy Pepper" of Billy Pepper and the Pepper Pots, to "Sgt. Pepper" of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.  You will see how replacing Paul saved the band, but plagued each band member.

Bob Dylan’s abrupt abandonment of overtly political songwriting in the mid-1960s caused an uproar among critics and fans. In Wicked Messenger, acclaimed cultural-political commentator Mike Marqusee advances the new thesis that Dylan did not drop politics from his songs but changed the manner of...

An engrossing and intimate portrait of the Oklahoma-based psychedelic pop band the Flaming Lips, cult heroes to millions of indie-rock fans. In July 2002, the Flaming Lips released an ambitious album called Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, which merged elements of orchestral pop, electronic...

They had just a few hundred pounds, one band missing a drummer, a sock drawer for an office, more dreams than sense and not a clue between them how to run a record company. But when Alan Horne and Edwyn Collins decided to start their own label from a shabby Glasgow flat in 1979, nobody was going to...

Frédéric Chopin’s reputation as one of the Great Romantics endures, but as Benita Eisler reveals in her elegant and elegiac biography, the man was more complicated than his iconic image. A classicist, conservative, and dandy who relished his conquest of Parisian society, the Polish émigré...

Through My Eyes is the first official book from Cheryl Cole. Featuring a series of stunning exclusive new photos plus informal shots from her own personal collection, it gives us a unique glimpse into the life of our favourite star. From the recording studio in LA as she works on her debut...

The iconic French singer comes to life in this enthralling, definitive biography, which captures Edith Piaf’s immense charisma along with the time and place that gave rise to her unprecedented international career. Raised by turns in a brothel, a circus caravan, and a working-class Paris...

"Blues, being the wellspring of all American music for over a century, is always worth studying. Robert does it right." --Keith Richards "An emotional map of musical Memphis. If you don't know these characters, let Robert Gordon introduce you." --Elvis Costello "Robert...

Viele Rock-Biografien folgen einem immer gleichen Schema: Die unglückliche Kindheit, die Entdeckung der Musik als Überlebens-Droge, die Ochsentour durch die Clubs, der Kampf an die Spitze und schließlich: Hybris und Niedergang – der Teil, an dem die Fans das meiste Interesse haben. Nicht so diese...

In 2010, a nineteen-year-old super-fan rushed the stage during a Lamb of God concert in Prague. To protect himself, singer Randy Blythe pushed the fan away. Unbeknownst to Blythe, the young man hit his head on the floor when he fell and later died from the injury. Blythe was promptly incarcerated...

Jonathan Cott met John Lennon in 1968 and was friends with him and Yoko Ono until John's death in 1980. He has kept in touch with Yoko since that time, and is one of the small group of writers who understands her profoundly positive influence on Lennon. This deeply personal book recounts the course...