Genres Books

wow at first i thought this book sucked but after i looked at the tabs and listened to some of the songs again i realized it caught alotta notes that i never even heard before. good tabs

Besides being a bargain price; this book, The Latter Day Of Led Zeppilin
and you basically have all of their best songs in a set. Being a collector of thousands of guitar tab books, I've learned the difference between professional quality and someone doing a quick job. If you're on a budget and can't buy each songbook indiviually this one save you money, by buying the 5 book set. It's like getting one free..and most importantly the tabs are accurate!

This is without a doubt the most complete, most accurate set of Zeppelin tab I have ever seen. Comes w/ bound books(not stapled), & a sturdy slip case, every bit worth the price. If you're a Zep fan & a guitarist, you're not yet a man (or woman) until you own this set!

WOW! This book is amazing. If you own a guitar, buy this collection right away. If you don't have the money then steal some. This collection has every guitar part, including those immortal solo's, in detail, for the first five Zeppelin albums. It contains all the correct turnings for the song's. It is broken up into five seperate books for easier use. The books give a brief synopsis on how the song's came about and some explainations to how Jimmy played them. This collection shows you what great guitar playing is really about. Don't delay, buy it now for your own good.

This set comes with 5 books with accurate transcriptions of the first 5 Led Zeppelin albums. All of the solos, fills, mandolin, alternate guitar tunings, and in some cases organ/synth parts are transcribed as well. From album III - V there are detailed notes on each song in the beginning of the books that give insight into how the band recorded the song and sometimes some pointers on how to play the song when there are guitar parts being played through several tracks at once. All of this collection comes in a sturdy box that holds the 5 books together nicely. This set should keep one challenged for years, and will provide great insight into one of the greatest bands ever. Highly recommended.

Absolutely beautiful color photos taken all over the world and used as cover art for the popular CTI jazz label in the 70's. Landscapes, nature, travel shots, creative concoctions and the occasional portrait, all manipulated with color, create a stunning photo album and art book.

I'm a professional jazz pianist, and a former pro photographer, and this book is just terrific. If you are a jazz fan, you already own some of these covers, and if you're interested in photography, you've probably been influenced by Turner's incredible color sense. This big collection, with his notes on the pictures and beautiful printing, is just a "must buy." I'm going to a dinner next week with a bunch of musicians, and I'm taking this book along to share. It will probably be more popular than the food.....

It's fascinating to me how the energy and freedom of jazz is reflected in Turner's approach to photography. Intensity, unusual color, surprising juxtapositions.....an inspiring blend. And he photographed the top players, the masters of jazz (with some pop in the mix, too).

This is great: all of the best Pete Turner jazz record covers in one place. Many of these covers I saw for the first time as new releases in record stores by some of the best jazz musicians around; Milt Jackson, Paul Desmond, Freddy Hubbard, Wes Montgomery and so many others. To have a compendium of them in one beautifully designed and superbly printed book is an event worth celebrating.

The covers, by the confirmed master of color photography, Pete Turner, were always certain to grab my eye - and not let go. I don't know what I enjoyed more: looking at the covers or listening to the records. Fortunately it wasn't a mutually exclusive choice.

It is these photographs that inspired me to choose a career as a photographer, the best career in existence. I have Pete Turner to thank for that.

This is a great book. A big book with clear pictures. I love the way Pete reviews his photos. He's a great artist!

For me just one minor point. Some pictures are printed over two pages. This brakes the picture in two and is a little distraction because the book doesn't fold open all the way.

But certainly value for the money, a recommendation!

In the sixties and seventies I bought some of the LPs featured in these pages and I can remember being mightily impressed with Pete Turner's stunning color work. I had seen some of this, during the sixties, in the Twen, the German magazine that specialized in powerful photography and graphics to illustrate features.

Turner reveals in the book that A&M's Art Director Bob Ciano decided to treat the LP cover like a magazine spread and run the graphics across the front and back and I think this is why some of Turner's photos have such impact: stunning, very graphic color images frequently presented twenty-four inches wide. Shown in this kind of format no wonder his work is difficult to forget.

I've looked through this book a lot and the work still impresses but I would query the connection to jazz. So many of these photos are surely interchangeable with many of the covers. On pages twenty-two and three there is the famous red giraffe as used on a Antonio Carlos Jobim LP, great photo which, when it was reissued four years later, ended up as a green giraffe because of a printers gaffe. Red or green it really doesn't matter and it could just have easily been on a cover for Wes Montgomery or Milt Jackson. I think Bill Claxton for Pacific and Contemporary records and especially Francis Wolff for Blue Note produced much stronger jazz cover photos.

Pete Turner will probably be remembered best for his almost abstract photos that appeared on lots of LP covers. The book is well printed in 175 screen with a very clean and elegant layout and it's a suitable celebration for a photographer with a unique color style.

***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.

I got the book as a gift from my sister and initially dismissed it as a bargain bin cheapie that she picked up last minute. A fearful, insomniac child prompted me to begin reading it and, am I glad that he did.

This is ESSENTIAL READING.

The diary-like entries give you day-by-day accounts of every single session the Fab Four did, as the title promises. But... well, it just gives you a whole new insight to the band. Yeah, the recordings retain the original magic, and maybe even gain a little more because you can see that it took a whole lot more than talent and luck for them to make it big and change music. The book lets you see just HOW MUCH HARD WORK was put in by not only the band, but by everyone around them: George Martin, the engineers, the assistant engineers, the tea boy, everyone!

It's like a musical version of Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods: not only were they the most talented around, but also the hardest-working.

A whole new appreciation.

As somebody mentioned before, don't start reading before bed because you will not be able to put it down.

This book is required reading for the diehard Beatles fan. I suspect that the studio documentation was just the normal level of detailed information they kept on those who recorded there, but in hindsight, having this particular info and retaining it looks pretty genius. A detailed account of every time the Beatles were in the recording studio with documents from the studio and the recollections of those who were present. The author is meticulous and obviously a fan himself. I really consider this book the Beatles bible.

As the author of the Jefferson Airplane book "Take Me To A Circus Tent" I know the years of research it took for me to compile the information on 121 live shows, 60 unreleased songs, 266 questions and answers, and prepare for 32 interviews.

Mark Lewisohn had to dig even deeper because of the amount of material that could be documented. The work is super-human. The Beatles deserved George Martin and Mark Lewisohn.

It is easy for those that wish to find fault even with a Rolls Royce but don't worry if you would have used different words for an A Flat Augmented 7th Chord or a bridge in a song, he gave you the most complete information at your fingertips and this can't be improved!

Thank you for your time,
Craig Fenton
Author of the Jefferson Airplane book "Take Me To A Circus Tent"

First, I find it amazing that anyone kept this information in such detail in the first place.
Secondly, it is amazing that it was ever complied and put into a book.
Thirdly it was amazing that anyone would a.) Publish the book, b.) Buy the book in the first place and c.) Actually read it, which I have. Perhaps most amazing of all is how imminently readable and enjoyable it really is.
I imagine prerequisite being that it is important for the reader to have a love of the art of recording as well as a serviceable knowledge of the Beatles' collected body of work. Mine is the first edition and, yes, there are minor flaws, but honestly they are few in number and nothing of the "glaring" type which actually demeans the book.
I had initially picked up the book in a shop and glanced through the photographs, then I absently read an entry and was hooked. I think this is, all-in-all, a very exceptional journal and a valid history of one of the greatest recording acts of all time. Over the years I have met numerous musicians who, although they might not be dyed in the wool Beatles fans, still recognize their incredible contribution to recording technique and innovation. Kudos of course to Sir George Martin as well.
I cannot conceive of a more definitive account than this.

I'd been wanting this book since I first heard about it several years ago, but it was out of print. When I recently discovered it had been re-published, I ordered it and it's everything I'd heard it was. I wish Lewisohn had access to John, Paul, George and Ringo's solo sessions and would do similar books on them.

this is a great practical theory primer, and the practice CDs are great!

Useful material here, with plenty to keep you going for a long time. Steve gives you lots of examples on how to use triads and extentions and not just a bunch of theory. The CD's are very helpful in hearing the applications. After all, it is music and having an opportunity to hear what the material should sound like was a great aid in helping me understand the ideas.

This book gave me so mouch to chew on it will be years, if ever, before I put it down. I have played and performed on guitar for 30+ years and studied music in college and I still have discovered that the more I know, the less I know. I felt that I had hit a brick wall in playing and performing and this book gave me so many ideas and options that I had not considered. I emailed Steve Khan to thank him and got a personal response a day later. Not only does he have a lot to give in this book he is truly a nice guy. Buy the book, work at it everyday, utilize the things that work for you and become a better guitarist.

If you already know your basic chord theory, know all your barre chords and jazz chords, play well from lead sheets, etc... then you are ready for this book. Kahn discusses the use of leading tones and the basic triad as tools for playing guitar in a combo setting. He does a good job of covering the no-man's land between rhythm guitar and lead guitar. The book is well written, in an easily accessible style, by someone who really knows what he is talking about. There are many gems sprinkled throughout these pages. If you are a beginner or weaker intermediate player, pass on this book for now and come back to it later.

First of all, let me qualify my review by saying that I am 40 years old and have been playing since I was 11, mostly classic rock, blues, and rockabilly (with a bit of jazz). This book, in my opinion, is geared toward the intermediate to advanced jazz guitarist as the text references focus on upper 4 strings to be played over a bass guitar. Cool concepts and useful stuff if you're in a jazz band. Me, I play 99% of the time as solo (fingerpicking rythyms, chord-melody solos, etc), therefore I didn't gain a lot of insite out of this book. There is a nice discussion on triads, but I already knew this concept, plus the author never tied any of it the CAGED system.

This novel was enchanting. The author was able to put into words those feelings that we all have, but can never describe. The historical and geographical trails in the story made it interesting, but getting inside the minds of the characters made it compelling. The connections and conflicts the characters had with family, church, and politics added another dimension to this already riveting love story.

I can't remember the last time that a story moved me so deeply. I received Croft as gift, with an apologia about its being a "chick's book." While the novel's chief protagonist is a woman, the male characters spoke to my deepest uncertainties and confusions about loving and being loved. And while it is a story of private human relationships, they illuminate the world and serve as analogs for the public relationships that shape it. Gilkes' prose is both vivid and elegant, transporting the reader through war, revolution, famine, geography, and the lives of compelling characters, all by conveyance of the human heart. Croft is a pleasure to read, and its characters' "voices enter that ghostly inner ear so that we shall hear them ten years later in an empty room at dusk."

Croft is a novel that resonates for a long time after the final page is turned. The author entices the reader to follow him through five decades and across continents, from the horror of the Nazi occupation in Holland, to the realities of life in modern day politics; and from the stark beauty of the Kalahari desert in Africa, to the soft light of an autumn day in Cape Cod. The characters are richly defined, drawing in the reader to sympathize with their losses and to celebrate their joys, to care about them deeply. Each represents a microcosm of human suffering, each struggling with a personal crisis that changes them forever. Even as we feel again the despair of lives torn apart by the war in Europe and confront the senseless waste of lives through disease and famine in Ethopia, we feel as deeply for the men and women at the centre of this novel, as they struggle with passion, guilt, bitterness and betrayal. Only love can transform them, however briefly, into the people they truly want to be. A sense of sadness permeates this book, but the message is hopeful - that love is worth finding and preserving, whatever the cost.

bournepaul@hotmail.com, associate director Center Stage from New York , 26 March, 2001

As a theatre director I am constantly being reviewed so it is nice for once to be able to review. I loved this book. Especially its scale. At once both epic and minute. It is a gentle journey that manages to touch upon the huge issues we face in our daily lives. Culturally stimulating and with incredible detail the story is one essentially of passion, angst and honesty. The characters are well drawn and amusingly recognisable. As I read this book it felt as if a mirror was being held up to my own life and that of my family. The style of correspondance mixed with traditional narrative maintained my interest throughout by constantly intriguing me with very detailed personal insights. I read it in one plane journey!

In a hectic world, novel reading has become a fragmented experience, snatching opportunities to read a page here, a chapter there. Few books stand up to this abuse, but with Croft it's easy to re-immerse yourself in the narrative. Croft is a hugely ambitious book, spanning almost a lifetime, and taking you right across the world. For this scale to work, you'd expect a novel of Dickensian proportions, yet Gilkes pulls it all together in only 217 pages, without falling into the trap of cardboard characters and clichéd situations its brevity would imply. The book's African sequences remind me of Doris Lessing's early work, capturing a real sense of place, people and chaos. Gilkes has managed to bring to life, in a way few authors ever have, the emotionally blocked English male, and the torture this causes for him, and those around him. The novel revels in falling between any number of genres - a book marketer's nightmare, but a reader's daydream.

writen as well as the music, in depth from early school days to 1989. beutiful pictures not just for a cure fan but for anyone wants to read about interesting people.

This book is the "definitive version" of the first ten years of the band we all know and love, The Cure. It takes us from Robert's early school days to the height of 1986, without leaving anyone behind. By far, the best biography to date, but another is in the works.

Ever since I became a Cure fan I had always wondered if Robert or any of the other band members had a biography, marking the major turning points of their musical careers.... And I guess that my question has been answered ever since I first heard about this crucial book. It lives up to what everyone has said about it, and I just got it yesterday from my friend Ben actually!(Thanks again! You're a sweetie!!)
What can I really say that hasn't been said already? It starts out in the late 70's, the original band members were in the middle of high school and already showing major signs of music excellence. Robert showed obvious signs of his intrest in music around his 10th grade year, and this book clearly highlights his journey to the top. I personally think it's quite intresting to read about their rise to fame and the obstacles they had to encounter along the way. I don't want to give out any spoilers so you all will just have to find out of yourselves the stories in here (oh yeah, there's a hilarious one that concerns Lol and Billy Idol... I almost fell over laughing!!)
This treasure is full of surprises and just about anything else you won't expect to hear. And, lets not forget the oh so needed eye candy!! It's practically exploding with tons of rare, great pictures... Color and black and white. The cute as hell baby pictures are a perfect ending. I especially love the color on the cover. Just because it says it's "paper-back" does not mean that it's not durable or good-looking. First time I saw it I thought it was a hard back because the front is glossy.
The pages are made out of nice quality paper and it's really thick, so you'll have hours to spend reading it. It's a fairly large book as well, I'd say around the size of a good-sized magazine (the width being roughly 8 1/2 in. and the length being 11 in.). This book is generally hard to come across(if not impossible), so I highly urge any Cure fan who is considering on buying this to second-guess no more.
You WILL NOT find any and I mean ANY other Cure book that will be more on the mark than this one. Take it from me and millions of Cure fans alike, this book will easily become one of your most valued possesions. Also, it's important to note that this is the only site on the 'net where I've seen this book for sale (new and used).
I've tried bidding before and no matter what, I was always outbidded by like, 12 other people so just save yourself some time and not to mention money and buy this now! I wish that I would've done that a long time ago. I promise you won't be disappointed in the least!

I have been a cure fan for as long as I remember and own several cure books, but I must say this is my very favorite, one of the most interesting I have ever read on this band."Ten Imaginary years" takes you on a journey from the very begining of the band (it even mentions how Smith and Tolhurst meet) and ends around the late 1980's when the cure play in Orange, France.
Members of the band talk about their experiences with being in the world of music,their musical inspirations, life on the road, bad managment,fights,bar hopping, drinking binges (hilarious!!!), making of their videos, family life and the very unusual characters and situations they have been in along the way.
This was one of my first cure books , so I absolutely recomend it to the new cure fan and for the old cure fan, its a must have. It has great pictures (including childhood pictures form all members!!), a discography at the end of the book and lots of information about the members I had no idea about. Most important of all this book is extremely humorous.This book is the real thing, it revelas all unapologetically. You will love it!!!!!

This book is not just a The Cure fan's book, it just a great book. In depth from cover to cover with every thing from school times to kiss me kiss me kiss me. In a few words: Lovable, interesting, and just wonderful.

Appeared in Sing Out! the Folk Music Magazine, June, 2003 by Rich Warren
Scott Alarik is arguably the finest contemporary journalist covering the folk community. Alarik begins with a succinct, well-reasoned definition of folk in his introduction and moves on. (He considers the word 'folk' to include the contemporary aspect of the music, and prefers using 'traditional' or 'traditional folk music' when describing the older music.) For this book, Alarik has collected more than 300 columns primarily written for the Boston Globe (along with a few written for these pages) over more than a decade; from Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer in September 1991 to The Mammals in August 2002. As a performer himself, Scott brings considerable knowledge to the table, knowing what questions to ask and how to approach his subjects. You'll find conversations with Dar Williams, Pete Seeger, Gordon Bok, Hankus Netsky of the Klezmer Conservatory Band, a good number of Irish artists and even Patricia Monteith, station manager at WUMB. However, unlike some others writing about the community, Scott is objective without an axe to grind or a chip on his shoulder. He handles the descriptive prose and invites the artists to do the talking. While Scott removed dated references, the book does read like a collection of columns, often ending abruptly. As a newspaper writer myself, I know the brick wall of column length limitations. Many times I wished the short pieces were longer with a more graceful flow. One very distracting newspaper style element is putting one quote in each piece in large type, about 10-points larger than the body text. Obviously, the book is Boston oriented, but that should not lessen enjoyment for readers in Omaha or Sacramento. Sadly for researchers, the book is not indexed. The sub-title, Adventures in the Modern Folk Underground, captures the essence of this book. It is rich with nuggets of intelligence and insight. Scott gives us the stories behind the songs, the singers and the music. He covers a multitude of subjects, with many artists turning up in more than one chapter. Even if you never read a word, the scores of Robert Corwin's black and white photos are worth the price of admission. Corwin's lens brings to light whatever soul Alarik might miss with words. While some interest in the folk community is likely a prerequisite to an interest in this book, others would do well to understand that, in a broader sense, the folk community is a microcosm of the larger music community. There's a lot to learn here. If someone approached me wanting to know more about this music that I love so dearly, I would buy that friend a copy of Deep Community.

Author, songwriter, and folksinger Scott Alarik is fully qualified to document the current U.S. Folk Scene. His new book, Deep Community: Adventures in the Modern Folk Underground (2003), is comprised of articles he has written between 1990 and 2002 for the Boston Globe newspaper and Sing Out! The Folk Music Magazine. Black & white photographs by the noted music photographer, Robert Corwin, add immediacy and drama. Published by Ellis Paul manager Ralph Jaccodine's Black Wolf Press, Deep Community is comprehensive in scope, detailed in its appraisal, and accurately researched. There are illuminating interviews and articles here about older generation performers, musicians of every stripe, from traditional to pop, including Celtic, Klezmer, bluegrass, old timey, new acoustic, cowboy, blues, and songwriters, some Music Industry acts as well as grass roots & DYI performers, the New England dance community, managers, agents, record producers & labels, coffeehouses & commercial venues, festivals, concert promoters, folk radio, folk arts & educational organizations, and, of course, today's hottest young stars, all presented up-close & personal. Mr. Alarik writes from a valuable three-pronged perspective: his Boston Globe pieces are tailored for broad readership, his Sing Out! articles for a targeted folk music audience, and all are informed by his many years as a professional folk performer. Throughout the book, his extensive knowledge of folk music, its values, and its value to the culture is obvious. Mr. Alarik writes with insight, humor, curiosity, and profound respect for his subject. This is a fascinating, intelligent, and imminently readable book presenting ideas & perspectives that resonate far beyond the boundaries of the folk world. My only complaint is the lack of an index.

Appeared in Sing Out! the Folk Music Magazine, June, 2003 by Rich Warren
Scott Alarik is arguably the finest contemporary journalist covering the folk community. Alarik begins with a succinct, well-reasoned definition of folk in his introduction and moves on. (He considers the word 'folk' to include the contemporary aspect of the music, and prefers using 'traditional' or 'traditional folk music' when describing the older music.) For this book, Alarik has collected more than 300 columns primarily written for the Boston Globe (along with a few written for these pages) over more than a decade; from Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer in September 1991 to The Mammals in August 2002. As a performer himself, Scott brings considerable knowledge to the table, knowing what questions to ask and how to approach his subjects. You'll find conversations with Dar Williams, Pete Seeger, Gordon Bok, Hankus Netsky of the Klezmer Conservatory Band, a good number of Irish artists and even Patricia Monteith, station manager at WUMB. However, unlike some others writing about the community, Scott is objective without an axe to grind or a chip on his shoulder. He handles the descriptive prose and invites the artists to do the talking. While Scott removed dated references, the book does read like a collection of columns, often ending abruptly. As a newspaper writer myself, I know the brick wall of column length limitations. Many times I wished the short pieces were longer with a more graceful flow. One very distracting newspaper style element is putting one quote in each piece in large type, about 10-points larger than the body text. Obviously, the book is Boston oriented, but that should not lessen enjoyment for readers in Omaha or Sacramento. Sadly for researchers, the book is not indexed. The sub-title, Adventures in the Modern Folk Underground, captures the essence of this book. It is rich with nuggets of intelligence and insight. Scott gives us the stories behind the songs, the singers and the music. He covers a multitude of subjects, with many artists turning up in more than one chapter. Even if you never read a word, the scores of Robert Corwin's black and white photos are worth the price of admission. Corwin's lens brings to light whatever soul Alarik might miss with words. While some interest in the folk community is likely a prerequisite to an interest in this book, others would do well to understand that, in a broader sense, the folk community is a microcosm of the larger music community. There's a lot to learn here. If someone approached me wanting to know more about this music that I love so dearly, I would buy that friend a copy of Deep Community.

Library Journal
Alarik, folk writer for the Boston Globe and music critic for National Public Radio's Here and Now program, has compiled nearly 125 of his brief articles to capture the spirit and substance of folk music at the turn of the 20th century. Initially published in Sing Out!, the Boston Globe, and Folk Music Magazine, these sketches portray a wide range of folkies, including the well known (e.g., Joan Baez, Pete Seeger, Judy Collins, and Emmylou Harris), the seasoned veterans (e.g., Utah Phillips and Ronnie Gilbert), the up-and-comers (e.g., Bill Morrissey, Dar Williams, Greg Brown, and Chris Smither), the relatively obscure (e.g., Jerry O'Sullivan, Natalie MacMaster, and Aine Minogue), and important folk entrepreneurs (e.g., Chris Strachwitz and Ralph Jaccodine). Though focusing on singer-songwriters and the sounds of his home base of Boston, the author defines the folk genre to cover a broad expanse of musical styles, including Celtic music, bluegrass, country dance, acoustic blues, the women's music movement, and the Latin revival. He emphasizes such themes as the crippling effects of the fickle music business, the potential of the Internet for folk, the importance of tradition, the definition of folk music, gender in folk, and the sense of community engendered by folk artists. Fascinating, informative, well written, and enhanced by Corwin's photos, this book offers an essential primer to the continuing folk revival that first blossomed during the 1980s. Highly recommended to anyone remotely interested in American music, folk, and the music industry.-Dave Szatmary, Univ. of Washington, Seattle Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

CORRECTED REVEIW:

DEEP COMMUNITY by Scott Alarik
July 15, 2003

Reviewer: Susan E. Naiman-Pascar (see more about me) from Lynn, MA United States
"Deep Community," authored by Scott Alarik, is an incredibly insightful, exquisitely written and well put-together book, a patchwork quilt woven of stories and reviews about the modern folk genre and the music that comes out of a music community segregated (Thank goodness!) from the mainstream of the pop music culture. It has always been so, and as most mainstream music trends have been born and died, folkmusic stays ever-bouyant and followed by its loyal fans. It has evolved to include ancient, traditional, topical, blues, and merging new styles of music such as "Afro-Celtic." "Deep Community" is a DEEP examination and look inside the hearts and minds of the artists, songwriters, singers and musicians who create this music and perform it.
I have been a "folkie" since I attended my first Newport Folk Festival in the summer of 1963, entered art school in Boston that same September and Harvard Square became my "hangout." I became a member of Club 47 on Palmer Street just outside the Square and was a regular attendee every Friday and Saturday night until the club closed its doors in October of 1968. The club opened again a few years later, has changed hands several times and is presently a strong and ongoing folk establishment now known as Club Passim.
Once again I am proud to be a member and recently attended a book release and music night the club hosted for Scott's book. Present were Ellis Paul, Vance Gilbert, Robbie O'Connell, Catie Curtis, Aoife O'Donovan and Aine Minogue. To start off the evening, and between the two sets by all of the performers, Scott read exerpts about each one from his book. It has to be one of the best evenings of folkmusic I've ever attended.
Like that evening, "Deep Community" is a collection of reviews I've been reading for many years from Scott's career as Boston Globe's folk critic. The artists run the genres from Pete Seeger, Tom Rush, Judy Collins, Bill Morrissey, Joan Baez and Utah Phillips to newer and younger artists such as Ellis Paul, Vance Gilbert, Dar Williams, John Gorka, Eddie from Ohio, Christine Lavin, Richard Shindell, Patty Larkin, Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer, just to name a few.
Aside from Scott's individual, truthful, creative and unrepetitious reviews, the artists' thoughts and feelings about their reasons for being folk performers, their love of the music, and their dedication to preserving and keeping folkmusic alive are interspersed throughout the book. The book is written from Scott's own experience as a folk performer and his perspective as a gifted writer. I don't want to say too many specifics or make too many references because I want you to buy the book, read it for yourself, and see why it should be an important and integral part of your folk library.
Along with Paul Stookey's and Geoff Bartley's reviews, and artists I've personally had the good fortune with whom to discuss Scott's book, I feel there isn't enough to be said about what a folk masterpiece and fitting tribute "Deep Community" is to a medium I hold passionately to my heart and to the man who wrote it. Thank you, Scott!!!

PS.....By the way, Scott is also a talented and diversified singer/songwriter and musician in his own right. If you have a chance and he's playing in your area, be sure to catch his show. Though he often performs on his own, he also has a wonderful and unselfish habit of doing shows that showcase and expose to us folk fans several new and gifted performers on stage within one evening's entertainment.

Hardy has written a meticulous and incisive book on TVZ that is sure to please TVZ fans. I have not read John Kruth's bio on TVZ so I cannot compare the two. Nevertheless, I was quite pleased with the ethos of this bio and am sure other TVZ fans will appreciate it in kind. Despite Hardy's obvious awe of Townes, "A Deeper Blue" does not come off unctuous. It never approaches hagiography, and comes fairly close to being quite objective. Moreover, the narrative methodically unravels, yet is consistently interesting. It is well-written and overall, offers a thorough and compelling portrait of TVZ. I'm glad I bought it.

Townes Van Zandt was a cult musician with a lot of demons like mental illness and alcoholism and drug abuse. It's all catalogued here for those who care. He left a lot of recordings, but never quite achieved the kind of fame he may have deserved. I'm not sure how thoroughly this book was researched, because I know of at least one manager of Van Zandt's who is not even mentioned. Still, it's unlikely that anything better will be done for a long time.

If I had 10 or more years to do the research Hardy has done (and I could write) I would not have done better myself. I could not detect one false note or major factual error in the covering of Townes 52 years. This book is a joy to read and gives a very close account and filling in of many "missing years" that had never been shared before now. The album and song reviews are well done, and the adherence to chronology is most rewarding. Highest recommendation.

Hardy's long-awaited biography of Townes Van Zandt pretty much gets everything right. This is an excellent work. Hardy's treatment of Van Zandt's life is appropriately thorough, but it isn't at all tedious. I know that this book was exhaustively researched (and in the interest of disclosure I should say that I contributed some research). It is also clearly a labor of love - Hardy is a fan - but he has not succumbed to the tendencies of so many biographers to gush or to simply list everything he learned over the years about his subject's life.
What Hardy says about Van Zandt's song "Waitin' Around To Die" is also true about this book: The archetypical story is well-told. To the extent that Van Zandt's story is a sad one, this book, "bears the weight of its seriousness almost effortlessly. . . it is handled so deftly that there is no sense of it being maudlin." But the details of Van Zandt's drinking and drug use are not glossed over or glamorized. Hardy is objective; he doesn't vilify anyone, and he lets the narrative speak for itself.
This book is well-written, well-organized, insightful and quite moving too. It's the one to read if you're seriously interested in Townes Van Zandt. And you should be.

This is an excellent biography. Townes' story is assuredly a sad one but he left a legacy of unparalleled songs. I actually put off finishing the book for almost a month just because I didn't want to read the end...I already knew what happened but it didn't make reading a detailed account of his last days any easier.

I've also read the other biography out there, To Live's To Fly, and there's simply no comparison. TLTF was largely anecdotal and the author broke a key rule of biography writing by attempting to project his own importance into the story; Hardy has simply done an exhaustive amount of research and cites all of his sources. He presents the story and then steps aside, so this is the one to go with if you want a more factual recounting of Townes' life. 100% worth the price and read if you're a fan, and if you aren't it just might convert you.

Divine Right's trip is an excellent novel about a small-town kid turned hippy who leaves town in his VW bus to discover the world. It is an accurate fictional portrayal of Kentucky and Appalachian life, and contains several take home lines-- my favorites being clever lines of rage against big coal.

Divine Right finds himself lost but is determined to find himself- which he eventually does. A great novel for those of us who know that there is always more to life than we have yet seen.

This novel also introduced me to one of Gurney Norman's other works, Kinfolks. It's also a great read.

Divine Right Davenport, David Ray Collier, or D.R. for short lead the way for me to peer through his eyes and feel every emotion that forced its way through his soul continuing through mine. Gurney Norman is an author to be envied and one that I am sure to never forget. After finishing the book and digesting the information brought forth in the Afterword, I have an increased invaluable respect for Norman; I felt connected to him and his family, his friends, and his coworkers. This is a must-read for the soul. To silence your dragon within and find your Estelle. How beautiful and perfect her soul was. To travel the open road with Urge and his wonderfully tattooed skin. But most of all, to be hippy, I mean to be happy. OM MANI PADME HUM - David Moya, www.BlueprintPublishing.com

I originally read this novel as "serialized" in the Whole Earth Catalog. They put each short chapter, sometimes only a few paragraphs, in a narrow column on every-other page of the catalog. I'll bet I've read this book four times.

Divine Right's Trip is so intensely, so honestly human that it hurts. Stick out your thumb and hitch a ride with hippie Divine Right and his girlfriend, Estelle as they bump along in Urge, D.R.'s psychedelically-painted VW bus.

To read this book is to trip. For those of you who haven't tripped, the sensation was summed up well by the very friend who bought me that Whole Earth Catalog 'way back then. He admits to "dropping acid" back in the late 60's. He told me once that tripping is like sneaking into the circus by crawling under the tent: Sometimes you get the clowns, sometimes you get the lions.

And that reminds me of something Divine Right read, written on a bathroom wall somewhere along his trip: (paraphrasing) "There are nights when the wolves are silent and the moon is howling."

Just read the book.

--LW

This is a classic piece of American history. For those of us who were fortunate to live in the 60's, it will make you cry and it will make you laugh out loud. For younger readers, take a trip with Gurney back to a time when everything of the fertile mind was possible and "far-out". My favorite character: "The Lone Outdoorsman". Enjoy the ride and arrive alive!

Anyone who wants to know how to overcome the trappings of this shallow materialistic world and become a free and uplifted person, look no further. Divine Right is the most honest, soulful, lovable character that I have ever encountered in literature, and his struggles with family and identity should hit home with anyone who has ever had to rethink their view of self. I read this book once and had to read it again and again and again...I am a better person for it. Norman's descriptions of Kentucky are so perfect, and anyone who's never met the Greek in one form or another should definitely get ahold of this book ASAP!

David Boucher has written a book that examines in detail the contribution of both artists to the worlds of both literature and rock & roll. In his intoduction he looks at the progress of Cohen from serious poet to rock & roll recording artist and performer. This transition cost him status in the literary world but aided by the legendary "golden voice" and some consummate musicians it allowed him to reach a hitherto undreamed of audience.

Dylan, whom he refers to as "The Changing Man" in Chapter Three, was the chameleon-like performer who picked up, and discarded new personas and new musical styles at the drop of his very famous hat. The obvious example here is the infamous "electric tour" where Dylan was heckled and called "Judas". This abuse was, the book shows, not only for his perceived betrayal of the acoustic folk movement, but also a reaction to the contempt with which Dylan treated his audience. Dylan had always been a confrontational performer, and his response to such attacks was to become louder and less acoustic than ever. What David Boucher also shows is that this signified a shift from the community centred ethic of the folk movement to the excessive individualism and nihilism of the Beat poets who through the drug culture wanted, like Rimbaud, to experience the extremes.

In other chapters the myriad influences on both performers are examined as well as their involvement with political and religious organisations. Finally David Boucher gives us an insight into the road travelled by both men in search of their own personal salvation.

Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen are complex men and complex performers. To listen to, or to read the works of either man is always challenging. In this book the author has written an analysis that is equally challenging exploring, as it does, the anger and the angst of the 1960s and beyond. I enjoyed every minute of the challenge.

What makes this book such a unique and significant contribution to its genre is that it is written with the insight and sensitivity of a spirit that seems deeply attuned to those of its subjects. Not only does the reader come away with a better understanding of the historical times and political contexts that shaped these men, and the personal struggles and psychological bents that motivated their writing, but also with a clearer understanding of what attracts their devotees to their work.

Throughout the book, Boucher weaves explorations of various aspects of the lives and cultural context of Dylan and Cohen that strongly affected them and their work. These include the civil rights movement, drugs, women, sexuality, God and religion, what it means to be reluctantly identified as the voice of a generation, and -- particularly for Cohen -- the holocaust. Boucher also explores the influence of other artists on their work, from Woody Guthrie for Dylan to Lorca for Cohen, as well as the influence that Dylan and Cohen had on each other.

Just as Dylan and Cohen make poetry an accessible part of popular culture, with equal skill Boucher makes philosophy of art and interpretation accessible as well. He points out that our experience of lyric poetry is informed by the questions we bring to it and he explains that the richest experience is to be had when the most appropriate questions are asked. Boucher uses the theories of several philosophers such as R. G. Collingwood, Henry Jones, and Michael Oakeshott, to identify which questions are most appropriately asked of particular works at particular moments in the artists' creative development. He also shows the fruitlessness of asking the wrong kind of questions of a particular poem, as is the tendency of many thinkers. He describes various forms of artistic expression: pseudo-art, or art as magic; art as the expression of emotion, or imaginative art; and inspirational art, or poetry which delights in images. He then demonstrates how, at various stages in Dylan's artistic development, his work takes all three forms of expression, whereas Cohen's work primarily takes the form of the last two. He then offers examples from their poetry to illustrate which form(s) of expression is/are being inhabited by a particular work and he supports his demonstrations with quotations about their work from the artists themselves.

Finally, Boucher helps to bring the period to life for his reader by including several pictures of book covers, concert and film posters, magazine covers and various photographs. The overall result of the book is that Boucher successfully positions his readers to have a richer experience and a deeper understanding and appreciation of the lyric poetry of Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen.

The irate and intemperate person signing himself pepidude in a previous review seems incapable of being able to appreciate an argument or of understanding the nature of the exercise that David Boucher has undertaken. It is a thematic book with a wide range of references, not a book of facts about Bob Dylan.The author introduces us to the complexities of issues relating to the difference between popular music lyrics and poetry, between origins and originality, the poetry of imagination and inspiration and much more. Anyone interested in ideas and issues, and in theories as well as facts will find this book immensely stimulating and fascinating.

David Boucher's masterly work 'Dylan & Cohen' is essential reading, not simply for devotees of these 'Poets of Rock and Roll' but for anyone with an interest in the history of the radical cultural, political and musical changes in the last century.

It is clear from this eloquent book that neither Dylan nor Cohen wished to speak for anyone but themselves and equally clear that the strength of their work would be seized upon by a generation looking for a new direction. Thankfully they both continued to write through their tribulations and we have a bank of some of the most evocative music to continue to listen to.

I urge you to buy this book but with a word of warning: you won't want to stop reading once you've started.

This is an excellent study of the music and lyrics of the 2 greatest rock "poets." Boucher explores whether or not their lyrics even qualify as poetry and keeps the subject interesting! He effectively delves into their psyches,as well, without getting hung up on personal, biographical details which have been over analyzed in other places. I found the final chapter "The Religious Experience" to be some of the best writing that I've seen on Dylan and Cohen's spiritual journeys. I highly recommend this to fans of either man's work.