Composers Books

I must say, that before I bought this book I was a little apprehensive. A media person commenting on the case. I figured it would just be another book bashing MJ. Much to my surprise the book gave a non-biased point of view of the actual occurances inside that courtroom. I have watched and read the cases in many criminal trials. NEVER have I seen the media, law enforcement, the D.A., and such an immoral, resprehensible group of people (the Arvizos), go to such lengths to destroy another person all for the sake of money.
What was done to Michael Jackson I would never wish on my worst enemy. I was so sad and so angry at the lies that were being told. At how this family tricked their way into his home, how they ransacked his home, and how they grifted money from several celebrities. What hurt me the most was that his mother had to sit through every vile detail that was made about his personal life and alleged relationship with the Arvizo boy. After reading this book, you will understand why the jury found MJ NOT GUILTY on all criminal and misdemeanor charges.
I must commend Aphrodite Jones for having the courage to write this book. Everyone in the media shunned her and refused to publish it. They only wanted to hear the negative. They didn't care about the real facts. Remember Ms. Jones is one of those media people who was "out to get Michael Jackson" also. But after sitting through the trial, and listening to the testimony she had a change of heart. What you saw on CourtTV was a biased, slanted point of view. After reading this book, I believe many people will change their negative opinions of Michael Jackson.

Wonderful. That's the only word I can use to describe this book. If you want to know why it's wonderful, BUY IT!!! It's definitely worth the money!!

And one last thing... MICHAEL JACKSON IS 100% INNOCENT!

I trust this author. She went into the court room a full fledged believer in the accusations and left dumb found. A few years later wrote this book.
Mr. Jackson is an easy target for indictments. He wears more make-up than the Avon lady and he dresses like Captain Crunch. He is not your average "Joe".
I don't know for sure that he didn't do these terrible things. Nobody does really except for him-- and of course the accusers.
What I do know, is he has been very loving to those who know him well and to those who don't, and enormously generous giving over 300 million dollars to charities around the world.
Lets face it your gonna believe what you wanna believe. But if you are really in search of the truth behind all the speculations and sensationalisms that have surrounded this famous case pick this up. My heart broke for him, and yours will too.

A book to own for an MJ fan, it is full of anecdotes and it tells the truth with reliable sources: the woman who attended the trial herself!! It's a mine of information, really worth your money.

If you ever questioned Michael Jackson's innocence, then this is the book you need to read. It provides such insight to the court room you can almost feel you were there, chapter after chapeter, Miss Jones writting brings the court room to life.
It's filled with information that was never made public by the media, proving how this man was wrongly accused and the DA's office did absolutely everything in their hands to get him knowing their case was based on nothing but lies.
Every Michael Jackson fan would enjoy reading this, but more importantly every Michael Jackson hater SHOULD read this book before ever opening their mouths to make a point.
Excellent.

People who have learned how to write properly organized essays in school might find the kind of writing that Wagner did rather loose, to say the least. I'm far more interested in rock 'n' roll as an artform that appeals to the contemporaries of those who are moderately talented than in the fine art of Mozart, but favorite songs can be done well no matter where they came from. Not half bad is more likely to be my judgment on anything I would like to hear. I have enough CDs to remind myself of music in many forms, but the creative tension involved in trying to write a review of a book like THE TRISTAN CHORD also reminds me of many things that are not in this book.

THE TRISTAN CHORD ~ WAGNER AND PHILOSOPHY by Bryan Magee starts out strongly with the idea that Wagner's work is based on an understanding of life that exceeds anything within the confines of philosophy or knowledge as it is contained in universities. Clearly Nietzsche acquired so many of his ideas from Wagner because Wagner had realized that ancient Athens was the kind of society he wished to inhabit, and the festivals at which tragedies were performed were so different from the commercial nature of entertainment values in modern global intellectual property that the context has to be explained to modern readers as follows:

... Third, human participation was also maximized, in that the whole community was involved. Dramatic performances were accorded the highest possible importance, a significance that was tantamount to religious - nothing that the community did was seen as mattering more, unless it was fighting a war. This attitude could scarcely be further from that of a bourgeois society towards its commercialized art. When Athens put on a play the entire life of the society revolved around it: the day was a public holiday, all other activities came to a halt so that everyone could go to the play, no one talked of anything else, attendance was free, the actors were maintained by the State; what we would call commercial considerations were totally absent. As Wagner summed it up in his essay `Art and Revolution,' published in 1849: `With the Greeks the perfect work of art, the drama, was the sum and substance of all that could be expressed in the Greek nature; it was - in intimate connection with its history - the nation itself that stood facing itself in the work of art, becoming conscious of itself, and, in the space of a few hours, rapturously devouring, as it were, its own essence.' (pp. 86-87).

Few adults in American society were able to offer young people anything as compelling in the 1960s, when Walter Kaufmann was writing and translating, but rock 'n' roll was having more impact. The Beatles are not listed in the index of THE TRISTAN CHORD, but one of their songs, `All You Need Is Love,' is mentioned on page 60, long after comments about the early Wagner opera `Das Liebesverbot' (p. 24) being in response to the intellectual discontent of the Young Germans:

In the arts they saw the classic figures of their immediate past, people such as Goethe and Mozart, as pre-revolutionary, and therefore antediluvian, no longer speaking to the condition of the young. ... They glorified love as it really was, the sexual intoxication of the young, and they saw it as socially subversive. To express it they wanted an art that was freely and frankly erotic. In opera this caused them to look away from Weber to the unabashed sensationalism of the French, and also, much more seriously, to the sensual, hedonistic lyricism of the Italians. Perhaps most important of all to the Young Germans as individuals, they wanted to live out these principles in their own lives, loving and expressing themselves as liberated beings, innovating boldly in politics and the arts, deriding authority, and free for ever from the stultifying conservatism and conventionality of their elders. (pp. 24-25).

The philosophy of Feuerbach is considered a major source for the setting of Wagner's `Ring' cycle of operas. I tend to associate this kind of catastrophe with the Vietnam syndrome of my generation, but THE TRISTAN CHORD links Feuerbachian philosophy of religion to picturing the gods as a gang of crooks. Just imagine, "Isaiah Berlin used to exclaim complainingly, `But they're just a lot of gangsters!'" (p. 54).

The interesting theme for me is the idea that Wagner did a lot of writing to generate the creative tension which he would like to turn into a form of art critical of his own society by composing music that would maintain a stream of consciousness worthy of the kind of life currently possible or imagined as a future ideal. "Because Wagner believed that we live in `a whole world of injustice' which was about to be swept away and replaced by `a righteous world' there is a sense in which he was living for the future." (p. 59). "Because the drama of ancient Greece is the art he is bent on re-establishing, and the opera of his contemporaries is the obstacle he is determined to sweep away, he is liable in a discussion of almost anything to dive off into the question of how whatever it is he is talking about relates to either or both of those things." (p. 91).

... The musical motives need not simply be repeated, they possessed infinite possibilities of musical transformation - the light hearted could be made tragic, the triumphant hollow, the confident full of foreboding, the loving grief-stricken. The potential for musical metamorphosis was protean, and also endlessly subtle. (p. 91).

Rock 'n' roll has filled many pockets with big bucks, but it is also carrying remnants of more than philosophy could say. The vocabulary was entirely different, but the simplicity of a chorus that kept repeating after verses that can go from bad to worse in so many ways, certain songs could be described as blues. Just one example is a song, `(Down to) SEEDS & STEMS (Again)' recorded in Austin, Texas, November, 1973, written Billy Farlow and George Frayne, who do vocals and piano for a group called Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen, which was included on a collection of their songs `Too Much Fun' released on CD in 1990. A looser version on `Marijuana's Greatest Hits Revisited' has someone singing, "I have a few decent memories of what I was going to say. I'm down to seeds and stems again, hurray!" At times, it is nice to discover that the fun is going to stop and life can go back to being about something else. But for us, what else could there possibly be?

Someone once said that one has to be a philosopher to understand "Parsifal." The statement is not far from the truth. In fact, it can apply to Wagner's mature works from "Ring" onwards. Magee's book is then heaven sent.

That "Parsifal" is the antithesis of "Tristan" gnaws at me for years. To understand it is what I wanted out of "Tristan Chord." According to Magee, the contradiction can apparently be traced back to Schopenhauer's ambiguity towards sexuality. Schopenhauer, on one hand, celebrates sex as this quasi-mystical realization of life essence - the will to live. On the other hand, he expounds compassion, or the denial of the will to live, as the road to redemption. Wagner grappled with this contradiction when he worked on "Tristan," and reconciled it in "Meistersingers", and more interestingly, in an earlier work of his, "Tannhauser."

Needlessly to say, I am very impressed with Magee's rich insights, solid scholarship and sensitive treatment of German history and philosophy.

Some of my favorite chapters are as follows.

Chapter 4, Feuerbach's influence on early Wagner and "Ring"
Chapter 9, Schopenhauer's philosophy
Chapter 10, Schopenhauer's powerful influence on Wagner
Chapter 12, on "Tristan"
Chapter 14, on "Meistersingers"
Chapter 15, on "Gotterdammerung"
Chapter 16, on "Parsifal"

This is THE book on Wagner that I hoped would one day be written and which I knew could be written. The author has no use for post-Holocaust axe-grinding or ideological regard, and neither does he indulge in any of the by now ubiquitous but superficial kulturgeschichtliche approaches in which Wagner is one more symbol-player to be pigeon-holed and arranged (much like the props in Hans-Juergen Syberberg's "Parsifal" film), nor does he dish up Wagner with a sideorder of Marxist criticism. Instead you get Wagner as a living, breathing, thinking, and creating human being, a real man (no impersonal cultural forces here!) who encountered ideas and reacted to them in the completely unique way that his personality demanded.

In a way one can only appreciate this book if he has already spent time ploughing through even a fraction of the tendentious trash in print that attempts to deal with this man (e.g. Gutman, Millington, even M. Owen Lee at times). If you have done that, then you will really be in a position to enjoy what Bryan Magee has done, how he has done it, and what a tremendous debt we owe to him for presenting to us Wagner the man in all of his outrageous but fascinating complexity. This is a book for people who are interested in learning more closely what kind of man Wagner actually was (that, for example, he was a 'commanding' personality, what that might mean in real terms, and that, in itself, should not be held against him)and who are equally interested in distinctions being made along the way that really do amount to something and are not just so much critical hot air.

After you read this book, and if you have not already done it, read Michael Tanner's "Wagner" and enjoy hearing from someone who knows actually knows what he is talking about and has spent some time thinking about it instead of listening to the clowns who parrot the prejudices they've picked up from "The New York Times Review of Books".

Bryan Magee writes with enthusiasm and clarity. He's particularly good at explaining philosophy in layman's terms. According to Magee, Wagner was the most erudite of all the great composers, and his philosophical beliefs profoundly effected his compositions. His intellectual life can be broken into two main periods: the early, one of political radicalism and activism, and the late, one of resignation and mysticism.

As a young man Wagner believed that a revolution - a total annihilation of the existing order - must take place in order for people to start anew to build a free and equal society. This was the intellectual zeitgeist throughout Europe in reaction to the sweeping changes brought about by capitalist industrialization in the early 19th Century. It was, in part, a romantic longing for a simpler past.

In Wagner's first period two figures were his main influences, Mikhail Bakunin, the anarchist, and Ludwig Feuerbach, who taught that mankind created the Gods, or God, in its own image. This was not to dismiss religion but to appraise it seriously as something illuminating about human beings.

After numerous inconsequential attempts at revolution took place throughout Germany in the mid-1800's Wagner became disenchanted with politics. He immersed himself in the philosophy of his contemporary, Arthur Schopenhauer. Schopenhauer wrote a great deal about music and it occupied a large part of his philosophical outlook. Both he and Wagner shared an interest in Buddhist thought.

Schopenhauer maintained that human beings are the embodiment of a metaphysical "will", so that willing, wanting, longing, craving and yearning are not just things we do, they are what we are. And he believed that music was a manifestation of this metaphysical "will." Thus, music directly corresponds to what we ourselves are in our innermost being. Wagner's "late" period dates from his extensive study of Schopenhauer.

Schopenhauer wrote that music proceeds by creating certain wants which it then spins out before satisfying. Even the simplest melody makes us want to close eventually on the "tonic" and provokes dissatisfaction if it ends on any other note than that.

Schopenhauer gave special attention to a technical device in harmony known as "suspension," and this instantly appealed to Wagner's musical sensibility. The suspension in music is the penultimate chord, when what we had just heard was what we thought was the penultimate chord. This causes a sense of discord in the listener. Schopenhauer said "this is clearly an analogue of the satisfaction of the will which is enhanced through delay."

This inspired in Wagner the idea of composing an entire piece of music moving from discord to discord in such a manner that the listener was always in a state of tension waiting for a resolution that did not come. This would be the musical equivalent of the dissatisfied longing , craving, yearning that our being is. There could only be one resolution to it, the final chord that was the end of the musical score (and in an opera, the end of the protagonist's life). This would be a musical expression of the essence of humanity in the universe.

The first chord of Tristan is the most famous chord in the history of music: F, B, D sharp and G sharp or any chord of the same intervals. It contains not one, but two dissonances. It then moves to resolve one of the dissonances but not the other, thus providing resolution, yet not resolution. Thus as the music proceeds, in every chord shift something is resolved but not everything. This "partial satisfaction" yet continued "frustration" carries on through the entire work. The only point where all discord is resolved is in the final chord, which is the musical analogue of freedom from striving, freedom from the tension that is existence. It is like a mystical state of nirvana.

What made this double-dissonance chord so famous was that it, in effect, closed the door on the age of classicism. And it opened the door to impressionism, atonalism, and modern classical music in general.

It was under the influence of the Schopenhauer-Buddhist belief system that Wagner's late works, Tristan, The Mastersingers, and Parsifal were written. Actually, since most of his operas were written piecemeal with many interruptions (sometimes years in length), there are traces of the early and late philosophical influences in almost every opera. Tristan is the only opera that Wagner wrote uninterrupted from start to finish.

There are many more aspects of Wagner's life and work contained in this book. New insights are provided into the Nietzsche-Wagner relationship and the vexed anti-semitism of Wagner. It should be noted that although Magee believes the above conjunction of philosophy and music in Wagner, he is not dogmatic. He says late in the book that "one does not have to be familiar with Schopenhauer's ideas, let alone accept them" to appreciate the greatness of Wagner's music.

This book has added a new dimension to my understanding and appreciation of Wagner. I heartily recommend it.

I'm a careful fellow yet I make quite a claim in the title of this review; and I confidently stand by it. Wagner has stimulated an enormous bibliography, but most of it is biography and/or polemics regarding the man himself or else "way out" (e.g. Jungian) interpretations of his art. Surprisingly little criticism of real seriousness pertains to the actual music. Bryan McGee's book magnificently fills that gap.

It is not a musical analysis per se, but a study of Wagner's changing philosophical values and how they influenced his music...and there is no composer in history who was a more acute intellectual than Wagner and more influenced in his art by ideas. You cannot fully understand his art without this book...it is that seminal. And it does not pertain only to "Tristan und Isolde," despite the title. It covers the entire sweep of Wagner's output.

Mr. McGee brings to his text the virtues which previously made him an outstanding author in "popularizing" philosophy: clarity, honesty, common sense, and even-handed weighing of the evidence. I hesitate to say he "popularized" philosophy. That could suggest a "dumbing down." And that is definitely not this book. It is crystal clear for a layman yet it is a scholar's dream in substance...a rare combination.

The book is an absolute must for anyone who has ever been moved by Richard Wagner's music...and perhaps even for those who have wondered why the rest of us are so moved by it. I cannot recommend it enough. There are only two other texts in the last century which compare, in my opinion: 1) Ernest Neumann's multi-volumn biography of Wagner; and 2) Deryk Cooke's "I Saw the World End," (first published 1979), which is the definitive (if incomplete) analysis of Wagner's "Ring."

If you love Wagner's music, or want to investigate it, this book is both a delight and a "must."

I loved this book! It has amazing photos and stories and tells all about each of the girls different walks of life. I loved it! Geri was always my fave and now I think I understand why she left. As one of her quotes goes "I'm a restless person and I'm not satisfied yet. I don't know what I'm to do yet but something else has to be coming my way." I think that was an amazing and brave thing to do so Cheers Geri!

I may not be a big book reader for my spare time, but I can tell you this is the best book I have ever read. I love the Spice Girls, and Ginger was always my fav, and to find out more about my favorite female in the world, well, is awesome. she is such a cool person and a great writter! I was talking about it at school once, and one of my classmates came up to me, and wanted to read it. she agreed, this is a good book! she couldn't put it down (as I couldn't, either!). it explains a lot, and fills in the holes as why Geri left the Spice Girls. this is her whole life story, and you also get to learn even more about the Spice Girls than you probably knew from before! oh, and if you have her solo album, you might not understand some of her lyrics- but once I read this, and listened to it again, the whole album made sense, and I could relate everything back to her book. it's awesome. a definte for spice girl fans.

Great book for all Spice Girls fans. It tells the real story, with in depth about their feelings and about their family, too

This book is wonderfully written. The Spice Girls are brilliant recording artists and now they're brilliant authors too! I definately think you you should read this if you're a Spice fan and even if you're not, you'll still enjoy the book. It is a real attention catcher. Tou won't be able to put your book down! Spice Up Your Life by reading this!

This book is undoubtedly the best book I've ever read. It tells the story of pop music's biggest phenomenon, the Spice Girls. Learn about Mel C's hundreds of awards, Emma's early modeling career, Victoria's many hair styles, Geri's Girl Power!, and Mel G's cute side. If you love the Spice Girls, this book is definitly for you. Also check out Geri Halliwell's new book If Only. Girl Power!

This is a collection of thought-provoking poetry, lyrics, quotes and short stories that tell about life in all its many moments. Most are hope-filled and positive. Others deal with the hurt and loss that occur in our modern day world.

Chase Von has such a deep and meaningful poetic voice. Each poem has a flavor all its own. He uses emotions and images to capture the reader and draw him in to the very heart of the action.

Among my favorite poems were Pink, Blue and Green, A Poem, I Am The Future, and A Letter Home. Each of these touched me very much.

Pink, Blue and Green is a poem that talks about racial intolerance. It is very clever. Not even an albino is free of this bias.

In A Poem, Chase shares the moment when a couple breaks up. He works through the loss by creating a poem. What a fitting tribute to what they once had!

I Am The Future shares the joy and importance a child brings to a family. How they become the focus of the parents. They are their present AND their future.

A Letter Home discusses the heartache of never knowing your ancestors because of slavery tearing cultures apart. I am part American Indian, and it made me think of how my ancestors were devastated, too. This poem touched me the most.

The lyrics are about friendship and love. They stand well on the written page. But, when I've heard some of these performed, they are great!

My favorite is I'm Your Friend. It is a very heart-felt song. Read it when you are sad or lonely.

Chase Von's quotes are quite profound. They make you realize how special his talent is. He can encapsulate a deep thought in such a way that it becomes immortal. His one about the universe being big enough to hold your dreams should be tacked on the wall of every child.

The short stories are very diverse and interesting. My favorite is The Tree and the Butterfly. It talks how helping each other in this fleeting world is important.

In closing, this showcase of selections is only the tip of the iceberg of Chase Von's talent. Take your time and enjoy them. I'll eagerly await the next book!

Dawn Huffaker
Author of Flights of Fancy, Volume 1 (Second Edition)

This varied and earnest volume reveals the devotion Chase has for the power of words. "The Face Of," "Falling Stars" and "Will Be" are highlights, but there is something witty, wise or wisecracking to be found in virtually every poem.

Challenging, reflective and motivating, delivered with panache.

The Last Panther Speaks to us through poetry, lyrics and short stories that does much more than just touch your life.

"Don't live behind the walls that guilt built
The longer you stay incased in that tomb
The harder it becomes to break free
And write a new and different story
With the pen
That is your life"

Love it!

"True love is the bridge
That covers the gaps
Left by
Misunderstandings
And like wise
Understanding
Is the passage way
Through which
True love
Enters our lives"

"Your Chance To Hear The Last Panther Speak" is a huge asset to the literary world as well as anyone, from any background, who takes the time to read it. I specifically suggest it to young adults and teenagers on a path to figure themselves out and too unsure of how to surpass the labels instilled within their life through the ignorance of society.

One thing that impressed me most is that Chase Von does not only help people surpass their label but also leads by example. A tough feat for anyone, but especially someone who lived within the label of a strong, unemotional gangster.
No matter what I face in life I can always find a write that I can relate to. He has the ability to put what other people are thinking but can't always articulate, into words. Beyond that, his writing style is versatile (Which is a talent few writers have) but the content always remain powerful!
I was reluctant to pick up the book, reading the words 'Black Panther" within the title I made an incorrect assumption that the book was aimed towards an audience interested in reading the message of the group The Black Panthers.

"Don't judge this book by its cover"

The works are moving (sometimes to the point of tears) and will teach you life long lessons.

Audrey MichelleVanity? The Pieces of Audrey MichelleVanity? The Pieces of Audrey Michelle

From the first poem "my silence" posted on my page and through every stories and poems, it resonnated in my heart... this book will not leave you indifferent, it will challenge you for some, comfort you in your views for others, in a way or another, if it's by the beauty of the writting or by the meaning of his content,with certainty , i assure you that it will expand your heart and soul.

Thank you Chase for shining and being you.

"Where in today's world

Are those that truly carry on

The torch

That he so brilliantly lit our world with?"

You are one of them my friend.
Sincerely,
Flavia

This is the grandaddy of all of studio session books. So many have come after this (Jimi Hendrix, Clapton, etc.) but this is the gold standard. I have given this to a few people that I know would appreciate it, and every one of them has raved... just like I am doing.

My only suggestion is that Mr. Lewisohn updates it with all of the new information that has been put out there since this was published (many books including The Beatles's ANTHOLOGY CD and book for example).

I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

Since editions and publishers change, I am certain if I am reviewing the exact book. This book will be interesting mainly to those who were teenagers during the 1960s. These persons will recall the first time they heard each of the Beatles' albums, or they will recall the event of buying these albums. For example, I first heard Sgt. Pepper at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco. The album was played before the performers went on stage -- that was Cream on their first American tour, along with Gary Burton Quartet and the Flaming Groovies (last minute replacement for the Electric Flag). Anyway, the book takes the form of a diary detailing when and under what circumstances many of the songs were composed, recorded, and performed. The book contains 360 pages of small print, and almost every page has a 1/4 page sized photograph, though some are 1/8 sized. The latter part of the book contains color photos. The reproductions of the photos are better than one might expect -- nice contrast and sharp focus. We learn that the original name of the Beatles was the Quarry Men, where this name came from Quarry Bank High School for Boys (page 12). We learn that the Quarry Men (John, Paul, George, and John Lowe (drums)) made their first recording in 1958 (page 13). We learn that Ringo was the drummer for a band called "Al Caldwell's Texans" even before he (Ringo) jointed "Rory Storm and the Hurricanes." (page 16) We learn that the first appearance of the lineup of John, Paul, George, and Ringo took place on August 18, 1962, and this was at Hulme Hall, where the occasion was the Horticultural Society's annual dance (page 75). We learn that the Beatles' first U.S. performances were in February 1964. An interesting fact is that Charles Finley, then owner of the Kansas City Athletics baseball team, paid $150,000 out of his own pocket to persuade the Beatles to play in Kansas City, and that the manager of the hotel in Kansas City cut up the Beatles' bed linen into 3-inch squares, and sold them for $10 each (page 139). We learn that the trumpet players on Strawberry Fields Forever were Tony Fisher, Greg Bowen, Derek Watkins, and Stanley Roderick (page 234) and that Dave Mason played the B-flat piccolo trumpet on Penny Lane (page 240). We learn that Maxwell's Silver Hammer took 27 takes, that She Came In Through the Bathroom Window took 39 takes, and that Here Comes the Sun had 13 takes (pages 324-327). Again, the reading is fairly dry and fun facts are encountered only on occasion. There is essentially no information on the Beatles' social lives. But for those who were teenagers during the 60s, the book is likely to be a page turner.

This book is a must for any Beatle-fan, or anyone working in a studio who knows the Beatles' music. The book is a cornucopia of information on how the Beatles' music was created in the studio. Sit down with the book and the CDs, and listen to each song as your read Lewisohn's description of the recording session. It's like being there!

I love The Beatles records and have since my Dad purchased "Meet the Beatles" in 1966. The first records I bought on my own, as soon as I had a paper route and spending money, were The Beatles' LPs, in order of American release. I even knew the exact running time of every Beatles song and couldn't imagine that there were people in the world who didn't know every Beatles song. If you're like me, the revelation of the details of the recording of every Beatles track, as detailed in this book, will be a thrill to pore over.

Some Beatles books are gossipy, and others feature questionable armchair critical analyses of their music. Lewisohn takes a totally different approach. Working with the original Abbey Road studio logs, he's created a day-by-day record of what the Beatles were doing in Abbey Road studios, who played what instruments, and how long it took them to record and write their songs.

I own a first edition of this book and have used it ever since I bought a used copy sometime in the early 1990s. I reread it many times that summer, and that somewhat battered, oversized copy still sits on my shelf. It's a book I returned to when I set up a mini home recording studio, and returned to yet again when I was learning how to mix my sounds. Although this is not a "how-to" book, you can learn an awful lot about good recording and mixing technique by carefully reading it.

Furthermore, Lewisohn packed his text with surprises. I, for one, was shocked to learn how primitive Abbey Road's technology was, even by the standards of a British studio in the 1960s. I was also surprised to learn why the mono and stereo mixes of the Beatles' music often sounded so different from one another even though they were mixed from the same masters. Also, it's amazing to learn just how quickly some seemingly complex tracks were put together, while some seemingly simple songs took far more work. As a side benefit, Lewisohn's comprehensive notes probably knocked the wind out of more than one bootlegger trying to pass off BBC radio performances as lost studio recordings of Beatle tracks! Throughout, there are many, many excellent photos - many of which have not been reproduced elsewhere. Just when you think Lewisohn's run out of goodies, there's a rare interview with Paul McCartney that touches on the songwriting process.

I can't rate this as a five star book although I'd like to. As good as Lewisohn is, there are a lot of minor details here that are misleading or just plain wrong. Lewisohn can't seem to tell phasing from flanging (two very different techniques to create swirling electric guitar sounds). He also prints quotes from studio musicians without elaboration, leading me to believe he has a weak grasp on performance and theory. For example, one horn player describes a McCartney song as being "between the cracks" of two different keys; the song in question actually seems to have been recorded slightly flat and sped up to normal pitch upon playback, but we have no way of knowing what the horn player actually meant without more information. The average reader might walk away thinking that the song used two different keys, unless he also knew that the song was in a single key. I'm surprised an editor didn't catch this stuff.

If you're a Beatles fan who could care less about their personal lives, but would love to learn more about how they created their studio albums - this book is for you. If you're interested in home recording, you'll learn lots of tidbits here too. Lewisohn deserves a lot of credit for creating this resource, and I wish that it weren't such a difficult book to find.

I was unfamiliar with the Kindertransport that moved 10,000 Jewish children to safety from the Holocaust. This biography brings that event to life through the memories of Lisa Jura. At 14, her parents sent her to London and the book covers that wrenching journey and the next six years of her life. Growing up during the blitz in a refugee home with 31 children makes a fascinating book.
Lisa's devotion to music weaves the story together as she strives towards her parents' dream. Becoming a concert pianist seems unachievable under the circumstances, but this touching biography details Lisa's progress towards that goal. This account has appeal for both adult and teen readers.
I also recommend In The Shadow Of The Cathedral: Growing Up In Holland During WW II by Titia Bozuwa

author of Cooking Jewish: 532 Great Recipes from the Rabinowitz Family

from the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles
August 30, 2002

Vienna, 1938. In the city of Mozart, Schubert, Beethoven and Strauss, 14-year-old musical prodigy Lisa Jura looks forward to a promising career as a concert pianist. Hitler has other plans. With the breaking of glass on Kristallnacht, Jura's dreams are shattered.

Internationally celebrated concert pianist Mona Golabek, with journalist and poet Lee Cohen, has crafted a loving, lyrical tribute to her mother, Lisa Jura, in "The Children of Willesden Lane: Beyond the Kindertransport: A Memoir of Music, Love, and Survival."

Jura was one of 10,000 Jewish children saved from the Nazis by the British and sent on the Kindertransport to safety from Eastern Europe. Already being compared to "The Diary of Anne Frank," this simultaneously heartbreaking and uplifting tale weaves together the stories that Golabek's mother told her about prewar Austria; the gut-wrenching separation from her family; life at the orphanage on Willesden Lane; and the power of music to help her survive.

As Jura's mother, Malka, puts her on the train, she says the prophetic words that will sustain and inspire her daughter and future generations: "Hold on to your music. Let it be your best friend."

In a world turned ugly, the beauty of music becomes Jura's strength, and, against tremendous odds, with the help and encouragement of the 30 other displaced children at the orphanage, she wins a scholarship to London's Royal Academy.

"Each kid saw something in my mother's music that reminded them of what they had left behind in Czechoslovakia, in Austria, in Germany," says Golabek, a Grammy-nominated artist, "and that's what I tried to do in the story, not only to pay homage to my mother, but to all these kids and to their bravery."

The book opens with Jura's tantalizing daydream of performing in a great concert hall and closes with the fulfillment of that dream, as she makes her debut before an exhilarated crowd. And in between, the pages burst with melody: Jura pounding the cadenza of the Grieg "Piano Concerto" to drown out the sounds of bombs during London's blitz, Jura visualizing Chopin fleeing a flaming Warsaw as she struggles with the somber coda of the "Ballade," Jura remembering her mother's Sabbath candles as she plays the solemn opening of Beethoven's "Pathetique."

"My mom and her mother never cared if a piece is in C major. What really counts is the passion behind it, the image. If it's `Clair de Lune,' imagine the moon over a desert island. That imagination allowed her to survive the horrors of what she experienced, because a C-major chord will not inspire you through the horrors. It's the moonlight, the idea that maybe the composer wrote it for someone he loved. These things inflamed her imagination, and that's how she inflamed mine."

And now Golabek's book will inflame the imagination of a whole new generation. The Milken Family Foundation, together with Facing History and Ourselves, an educational organization that teaches tolerance to 1 million students annually, are working with Golabek to bring the story to schools across the country by developing a companion curriculum guide.

Plans are under way to launch the book in Austria, and make it available to teachers as part of the now mandatory four-year Holocaust education program for students.

The saga of Golabek's 18-year struggle to get the story published is almost as harrowing as her mother's story itself. "It went through many, many writings; many, many ups and downs, starts and disappointments," Golabek says.

Now the accolades and offers are pouring in. On Sept. 24, she will be an honored guest speaker at the California Governor's Conference for Women at the Long Beach Convention Center and will appear at Beth Am on Nov. 17 with her sister, pianist Renee Golabek-Kaye, and Jura's four grandchildren, all musicians: Michele, 16; Sarah, 14; Jonathan, 8; and Rachel, 7. Brandeis University will honor her at the Skirball Cultural Center next March 31.

Last week Golabek was interviewed on NPR's Morning Edition and was the subject of a feature story by Andy Meisler of the New York Times. In the planning stages is a concert next year co-sponsored by the U.S. Holocaust Museum and the Austrian government. And, of course, Golabek is considering movie offers.

On her syndicated radio show, "The Romantic Hours," which highlights stirring writings against a musical backdrop (Saturdays at 10 p.m., 105.1 FM), Golabek often quotes the poet Jean Paul Richter: "Life fades and withers behind us, but of our immortal and sacred soul all that remains is music."

"That was a quote my mother taught me, and the whole reason why I wrote this book and why I created `The Romantic Hours' was that my mother felt through words and through music our souls would be immortalized."

This is one of my all-time favorite books. If you are a musician, you will fall in love with it. The story is inspiring and moving and will make you appreciate music to the greatest extent possible.

Full of history. Easy to follow. Great read for young and old alike.

This is a story which every parent should read to their children. Talk about the history of WW2 and discuss the extremes of humanity. A book which once read you will never forget.

This is one of the few books I've had trouble putting down. It's the story of an amazing man that I truly admire. I would recommend this book to everyone. Also his CD's and those of the three tenors are beautiful music to say the least.

Dr. Ronan Tynan has to be one of the most friendly, inspirational, and heart-warming people on the face of the planet. I'm convinced of it. For a man who has had to persevere as much as he has, his outlook on life, his accomplishments, and his stories are awe-inspiring.

I first learned of Tynan when I heard him sing "God Bless America" on TV. I was enthralled. I had never heard a voice so pure, so powerful, so emotional. His voice touched me, it caused goose-bumps. I immediately began to research, trying to find out about the man who had just amazed me so.

After reading "Halfway Home", I am even more impressed with the man. In every aspect of life, he has triumphed over odds and circumstances that would have buckled the average person. To be accomplished in so many ways, to have lived such a rich, full life, is a dream for which we all should strive. The blueprint for such a goal is in Ronan Tynan's approach to life, which is guided by kindness, decency, hard work, love, passion, and faith.

At times the book is a bit boring, as is nearly all biographical material, but the inspiration overcomes, just like Tynan. Add him to my short list of personal heroes.

Firstly this review is not intended in any way to be objective. I love the man who is Ronan Tynan, I love his voice and all that he has contributed to the world. Halfway Home is the story of a man who is passionate, driven, inspired and someone who refuses to beaten down in any way. He is a Maverick, who in this side-splittingly funny book, outlines just some of the things that he has done in his life. What makes this book special is that his accomplishments that are detailed in this are done so with such humility that it seems as if he is with you in your living room having a friendly chat. I met him a few weeks ago and he is just as funny and outgoing in person as this book suggests. One of life's true heroes.

Dennis Charles

In the book "Halfway Home-My Life til Now" Ronan talks about family and those whom he has met so far in his life. He also talks about the women he has slept with so far. Which I find appalling, and just plain bad taste. He should apoligize to the women he talks about in the book. I wouldn't let anyone under the age of 21 to read this book. Keep it away from children.

This is an inspiring book. I cannot overstate that. Ronan could have folded his cards and done nothing in the face of adversity. He could have just stayed inside and watched tv or something of that nature. Instead he did not even let it bother him at all. In fact he hurdled right over the adversities.

"The book was better." Moviegoers are always saying that.
Back in 2005, *Los Angeles Times* columnist Steve Lopez wrote a series of stories about a homeless man who turned out to possess orchestra-level talent on several stringed instruments.
Lopez turned his columns into *The Soloist* -- and now it's being turned into a movie (an early Oscar contender, no less, to be released Nov. 21) starring Robert Downey Jr. as Lopez and Jamie Foxx as Nathaniel Ayers, the musician who suffers from paranoid schizophrenia.
So why not just wait for the movie? Downey Jr. is a great actor, and Foxx, having played another gifted-but-disabled musician in Ray, just might pull off the mix of inspiration and delusion.
Because books provide detailed, verbal pleasure, that's why. In real life, fore example, Lopez is married and very much involved in the life of his young daughter; in the movie, he's divorced. OK, so screenwriter Susannah Grant (*Erin Brockovich*) needed to streamline the narrative.
But scenes recorded for the movie won't capture the author's commentary. Movie directors can compel our focus, but they can't enter into the characters' interpretations. At one point, for example, Lopez decides to spend a night on the streets as a homeless person alongside Ayers, who demonstrates how he taps a stick on the sidewalk at night to scare off rodents. And Lopez observes: "He's a classical musician who has taken a great fall and now finds himself fending off sewer rats, but when I look into his eyes, I find no hint of regret, no recognition of this nightly collision between beautiful thoughts and ugly reality."
Most important, the process of reading through the months and months of coordination it took among several people to get Ayers off the streets and into treatment (tentatively, provisionally) -- the reader's act of setting the book aside, then returning to it days later -- mimics the one-step-forward, three-steps-back hassles that Lopez endured just to make Ayers' life a little better. Movies accelerate problems, then "solve" them in two hours.
Director Joe Wright allowed us a glimpse, in *Atonement,* of a happily-ever-after ending that's severely undercut by stark realities. Reader-viewers of *The Soloist* will anticipate an ending that offers the hope of continued treatment for Ayers, not a cure. Lopez's book ends with the question of whether Ayers will be able to continue attending concerts at Walt Disney Concert Hall, let alone performing in them. No sentimentalized Hollywood endings are welcome here.
If they intrude, then this Thanksgiving, you can stroll out of a cineplex somewhere and justly say, "The book was better."

Steve Lopez has written a moving story of a talent musician and, in the process, written an illuminating two-year autobiography.

Great story line. Towards the end, I began to read slower, then pick the book down for a few days, because I did not the story to end. I think this fall around October, November the movies based off this book is scheduled to come out, Starring Jamie Fox. Might not be a bad idae to pick this box up and read it before the movie comes.

Steve Lopez writes an eloquent, very personal story of a homeless, mentally ill man with a brilliant, talented past. It is totally by chance that Lopez meets Nathaniel Ayers along Skid Row in downtown LA. Captivated by the music Nathaniel plays on a beat-up violin that is missing two essential strings, Lopez steps over the threshold into a world very unlike his own.
As a reporter, Lopez's style is rich, tactile and complete. We follow Nathaniel's trail of breadcrumbs from humble beginnings in Cleveland to Julliard to the tunnel in LA where he sleeps.
Lopez's visually evocative language creates a spell that shows us how the mentally ill are marginalized and along with him, we ride the magic carpet of great hopes for recovery and change and then plummet into the depths of Nathaniel's delusional brain chemical mania.
All the while, Lopez allows us to experience his personal emotional struggle of managing a reporter's tettering job, a wife, a two year old daughter and his commitment to helping Nathaniel, once a musical prodigy, now brought down by schizophrenia.
Poignant and touching, this book is a true story of people so real, you will wake from the page with music in your ears and in your heart.

The Soloist by Steve Lopez was such an excellent read. I related to the music side because I am a pianist and the mental illness side. I've never had Schizophrenia, but when feeling down I know how revitalizing music is. This was a warm, touching story that pulls you in and makes you care about Mr. Nathaniel Ayers. I could feel and understand his love for the music. I would like to know how he's doing and what became of him. I have never felt that way after reading a story. The story just touches the humanity in me and I think in everyone who reads it.

Blue Monday is an interesting but not a compelling read. We never get inside Fat's head to understand the man, so we get an expanded discography. The dates, times and places seem to be well researched which begins to wear after a while. The matter of fact style just does not bring Fat's personal life into focus, although there are many descriptions of incedents about him. He remains a mystery in reference to his personal motivation, dual life style, and reclusive habits.
Russ H.

I guess if Antoine "Fats" Domino could keep the President and First Lady waiting, then he could keep us waiting for his first biography - this is a Natural Born book about a musical genius, intriquing personality, and unassuming cultural revolutionary.
The author tells his story and includes many entertaining anecdotes about life at home and on the road with several sets of support players - the greatest names of course being Dave Bartholomew, Herb Hardesty, and Lee Allen. We get a strong picture of the smiling, "safe" rock and roller, as the often defiant man's-man. And a complex artist/showman: he could sing The Rooster Song while flashing rings to make Freddie Blassie envious.
A great bunch of previously unpublished black and white photographs from Look magazine, among other handsome prints of lesser known shots really bolster the text.
A serious ommission for the audiophiles: not even a selected discography and no sessionography. [Though there are "Notes" in the back of the book on the mysterious Broadmoor recordings, including personnale and dates!]. Of course the '50s period sessions can be found as a booklet in the Bear Family 8-CD set, and in a European book, "Jazz Records"; also in a fairly recent issue of Goldmine magazine. But Fats Domino ABC-Paramount, Mercury, Broadmoor and Reprise FD session data has never, to my knowledge, appeared in print, and what a fabulous component that would have made.
Speaking of the ABC-Paramount tracks, the author did not mention in the text a very important 4-CD set, "The Paramount Years", which included the *incredibly* rare fourth l.p. for that label, plus the 1980 "If I Get Rich" from another record company!
The idea that "The Fat Man" is the first R & R record also doesn't agree with me. Yes, the elements are there, the upbeat shuffle and bright lead vocal, but that powerful sound (and many others by Fats in that '49 to '54 period) were not *primarily* for the youth. The first discs to be produced for teenage tastes came much later. I wouldn't even include "Tutti Frutti" in that category, as it too, lyrically and instrumentally echoed an earlier, "swingin'" sound. [It was "Ready Teddy" folks which screamed out...Rock and Roll!!!].
Still, this book should be "required reading" for those dedicated followers of those Rock and Roll Hall of Famers.

Rick Coleman's new book "Blue Monday" is the first full biography of Fats Domino. Many interesting things are therein.
- Fats was the first black rock & roll star. His records made the pop charts before r&r's dawn in 1955.
- Kids did not buy albums in the 50s, but Fats' albums sold, meaning he had an adult following like Louis Armstrong's.
- Fats concerts were often scenes of teenage riots. He may be known for `Blueberry Hill,' but his fierce rolling piano ignited his audience.
- "Blueberry Hill" was the product of a botched session. Engineer Bunny Robyn edited together the best parts of several incomplete takes and simply repeated the chorus.
- The string-laden "Walkin' To New Orleans" was a big breakthrough which traditionalists lamented. But it hit R&B (#2) even higher than pop (#6).
- Roy Brown once ditched a plan to have Fats open for him on tour. Fats never forgot it, and refused to have Brown open shows for him when the tables were turned.

Of the Big Five (EP, FD, CB, JLL, LR), Fats is the least lionized because he was not a "rebel." Historians normally embrace only people with bold lifestyles.

Boy ol Boy, Rick Coleman has written a great book on the TRUE story of Rock & Roll! I know as I was there and if you want to know what it was really like to be on the scene when true rock & roll was called race music on a juke box, Boogie Woogie and the down home blues was taking over the country then get this book and turn others on to it also. No one person was more responsible for the birth of R&R and R&B than the Fat Man! This was long before Elvis, Haley and the hand full of others came on the bandwagon. [...]

From his first record in 1949 until his harrowing escape from Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Antoine "Fats" Domino has defined New Orleans and its culture. This book puts Fats, his city, and his music into perspective in amazing detail. In the process, Rick Coleman convincingly demonstrates that Fats and his collaborators--especially songwriter/arranger Dave Bartholomew and producer Cosimo Matassa--have as solid a claim as Elvis, Carl, and Jerry Lee with Sam Phillips in Memphis or Wolf, Muddy, and Chuck with the Chess brothers in Chicago as the prime architects of rock 'n' roll. The product of more than 20 years of exhaustive research, this is, surprisingly, the first biography of one of the greatest early rock stars. Coleman had his work cut out for him; Fats is notoriously reclusive. Nevertheless, you come away from this book admiring Fats's talent and drive, and Coleman's exhaustive research and evocative writing. All the other great Louisiana rockers are here--the bayou wild men, backwoods musical savants, and forgotten honkers, shouters, string-benders, and drum-thumpers who helped create the Crescent City sound. I highly recommend this to anyone who wants to understand the real, complete history of rock 'n' roll instead of the revisionist pap that passes for such. -Mark Hoffman, co-author of "Moanin' at Midnight: The Life and Times of Howlin' Wolf"

You gotta have this book if you're a Bruce fan. Great history and old photos. Great back stories and nostalgia. I was a bit dissapointed with the reproductions - both in terms of relevance and also the quantity of them, but all in all it is well worth the money. I mean, people actually paid $50 for the Madonna book a few years back. Puh-lease.... there is only one BOSS!

I recently took my 10 year old to a Springsteen concert and he is hooked. At his urging we went to the local library to see if they had a book on the Boss..we found this one and he loved it so much I ordered it..the great thing about it was that I loved it too !! Nothing better than something you can enjoy with your kids. I give this a thumbs up !!

My daughter got this book for me for X-Mas,
and it's the neatest thing !
Great chronological history of Bruce and his
various bands, along with the cool artifacts
placed throughout the book, including 2 great
posters !
Great bargain and must-have for any fan of the Boss !!

It's one of the greatest gifts you can give a Springsteen-fan. It holds the hole story from start til today and includes som replicas of tickets and posters

I bought this book not knowing what to expect. Talk about a labor of love. I highly recommend Greetings From E Street to any serious Bruce Springsteen fan. It's chock full of nifty things and some good information, as well. I was very pleased with this book. It has replicas of tickets, backstage passes, concert posters, and other memorabilia. The writing, which is fine, is secondary to the entire package. Just a real treat. If you have a die hard Springsteen fan in your house, he or she would love this book.