Composers Books

This book is by far the nicest Nirvana book I own. It's a beautiful, thick paperback, with fantastic rare photographs. For a long time, the only Nirvana books around were information heavy, and focused a lot on Kurt's death. This book captures exactly what they were, A great band. Pure punk rock, pure soul, pure energy. It's a wonderful memory of a great band. You'd be mad not to buy this book.

I love photography, and Nirvana is my second favorite band, so therefore I love this book. I feel that this book captures the essence of Kurt Cobain. It just doesn't show him all sad and depressed as the press tends to state he was, it shows his happier side, which very few people expose. There are all sorts of pictures, mainly of Kurt, but also of the band as well. If you don't like photography, don't even bother buying the book. However, I think it's totally worth it.

Nirvana fans will love this (although, be aware; most of the photos are of Kurt Cobain). The photography is excellent and candid; displayed in a "coffee-table" book style- large pictures and lots of them. Lots of black & white photos as well as color. The photos of Kurt with Frances as an infant will tug at your heart.

Absolutely beautiful book.

Not being a big fan of Nirvana, I wasn't sure what to get my sister for her birthday. My sister is a huge fan, you see, and she loves books with pictures. After searching far and wide for a book with Nirvana and pictures of Nirvana, I discovered this one.

If you are looking to buy a book with photos from the days of Nirvana, then this is the one for you. Not only does over half the book contain large pictures, they are all (most, there are a few in black and white) in color, and they are rare photos that don't appear as often as most others do.

This book is a great buy for the Nirvana fan. If you love Nirvana, you've got yourself a book.

If you really wanna find out HOW Oasis became so big, this is the book for you. It tells it all, from the Gallagher's impressions on America, the world, and everything, to personal experiences. Provides a good laugh and is a great eye-opening-mouth-exploding-drooling experience. Only for devoted Oasis fans.

If you are a fan of the English rock band, Oasis, this is a MUST! This book gives you very rare information and is rather humorous at the same time. I actually laughed out loud more than once! The downside is, there are not many pictures along with it and it is a bit shorter than I would like. But...the few pictures that ARE in there are very Oasisesque. They bring out the band's real personality. If Liam and Noel have sparked a flame in you heart, or gotten you constantly humming "Wonderwall", you MUST check this book out

A real laugh and look at the absurdity of pop star life as only the Brits can do it. Documents the rise and rise of the the Gallagher boys and their infamous antics. Nice "behind the scenes" and tales of the mono-brow brothers' very entertaining bickering. One of my favorite authors. If you don't know his book "Generation Eccch" yet, read it for more sharp-witted criticism of pop icons of the '90s.

Let's face it. The story of the meteoric rise of Oasis and the sibbling drama surrounding the brothers Gallagher is both complicated and simple. Complicated, because how do you sift throught the tabloid haze, the drug hysteria, the fights, the break-ups and make-ups and make sense of it all? Simple, because this is what happens when the right band comes along with the perfect songs and the charasmatic force to make people desperately intrigued... yeah, it's a big explosion. This book follows just that logic and takes you along for the perfect ride through the Oasis universe. A little humour and a crisp narrative help as well. The hilarious photo captions are a bonus. Be here now...

This is a good book with engaging and thorough review of each of his operas. The reviews are so detailed that it would be outstanding study for any team planning to perform these operas. A moderate list of references is provided with references noted in the text. There is a good index. There is a recording with excerpts from recent performances. The thing I like best about this book is that all the CD, DVD and book references include very recently released works so this book is very up-to-date.

In part this book is a short biography of Monteverdi. And in part it discusses his place as the originator of opera as we know it today. But mostly it's about the three surviving operas that he wrote: L'Orfeo (Orpheus, 1607), Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria (The Return of Ulysses to his Homeland, 1640), and L'incoronazione di Poppea (The Coronation of Poppea, 1643). The stated purpose of the book is not to treat these works as merely a part of operatic history, but explaining the vital theatrical experiences that they are.

Each of the three operas gets a complete description including the history, the nature of the roles, and of course a summay of the story.

The book includes a CD that has significant excerpts from the three operas.

This book is part of a series called Unlocking the Masters that covers the work of our most important composers. The whole series is excellent, bringing us a concise yet complete story that is both informative and easy to read.

I love this series (besides Verdi, it has Wagner, Mozart, Haydn, etc.) Being able to hear the music as you read about it makes a huge difference, and the text is written in an accessible way. It breaks the stereotype of Classical music being staid and boring.

The author who is an Associate Professor of Theater at Marymount College supports his belief that "Claudio Moneteverdi (1567-1643) was the first great opera composer" by commentaries on his operas scene by scene. Ringer follows the narrative line (such as it is in opera) and profiles the characters while explaining the role and effects of the music and words on these. Introductory parts give a biography of Monteverdi focusing on his distinctive creative genius and viewing him in the context of the development of opera in Florence in late Renaissance Italy. The CD contains 13 selections from Monteverdi operas; which are annotated in back matter. Ringer's accessible treatment of this outstanding and influential composer is an ideal introduction and companion to Monteverdi's operas.

not only is Ornette Coleman a Musical Genius but this Book captures his Full Essence.his Music Career is Incredible.he broke alot of Ground.his Music&Timeless.this is a Must Read on one Of The Greatest Musicians Ever.

Paving the way for some of the later innovative saxophonists such as John Coltrane, Albert Ayler, and others, Ornette Coleman was perhaps the pivotal man on his instrument in the '60's. Wilson's excellent new book brings his music before the reader in a clear, intelligent manner, offering a very accessible account of how Coleman's music works, how it achieves the effects it does, how he altered the rich tradition he had inherited. Perhaps most intriguing is the account of the considerable hostility Coleman originally met with from many critics, and Wilson's attempts to put the differing views into their respective contexts. Coleman's biography is equally fascinating, a unique life which resonates strongly with those intrigued by the idealism associated with the '60's. The second half of the book consists of 2-page reviews of Coleman's entire corpus of recordings, the most valuable section for this reader, allowing fans to navigate Coleman's 40 years of innovations.

Simply wonderful. I enjoyed every page of this book and could not wait for the next. Being a huge fan of Ornette's, this was the first attempt of approaching literature based upon him. Forever waiting for his yet to be published (and probably written) book of Harmolodics, I could wait anymore and this book ensured me I shouldn't have.

This is a great little book on Coleman. I wish the bio section at the beginning was more detailed (it states that a more representative bio has been written though it appears to be out of print). The section on Coleman's Harmolodic system was very interesting and written in a way that someone with limited knowledge of music theory (i.e. me) could comprehend. The write ups regarding all of Coleman's recordings were fascinating. Where many writers praise everything their subject touches, here the praise and criticism seems to be very objective. Sometimes writers show a preference for either Coleman's acoustic quartet or the electric Prime Time group but Wilson handles each on its own merits.

Recommended!

This book provides fabulous insight on WWII and the spirit of America that helped win the war for the Allies. So many times, my parents said, "Why, back in my day we didn't get meat at every dinner. But we didn't complain: we LIKED it!" If you want to know more about America's patriotic spirit and how it "gets the job done", you'll love this book. The Andrews Sisters were a class act and Maxine and the other USO "soldiers in greasepaint" did their best to encourage and cheer our fighting forces on home soil and abroad. This book has a lot of history and tells about emotions of the folks during that time in a very poignant way. If you ever wondered why certain songs with wacky titles were popular ("Six Jerks In A Jeep"), you'll come away with greater understanding.

Great book about the Andrews Sisters, their work during the WWII years with the USO, and many of the other stars that participated in these shows to entertain the troops.

This book provides fabulous insight on WWII and the spirit of America that helped win the war for the Allies. So many times, my parents said, "Why, back in my day we didn't get meat at every dinner. But we didn't complain: we LIKED it!" If you want to know more about America's patriotic spirit and how it "gets the job done", you'll love this book. The Andrews Sisters were a class act and Maxine and the other USO "soldiers in greasepaint" did their best to encourage and cheer our fighting forces on home soil and abroad. This book has a lot of history and tells about emotions of the folks during that time in a very poignant way. If you ever wondered why certain songs with wacky titles were popular ("Six Jerks In A Jeep"), you'll come away with greater understanding.

I am a professional director in the American theatre, and for the last 20 years of her life, it was my joy to direct and collaborate with Maxene Andrews on many shows, radio interviews, personal appearances, and stage appearances! She was a great lady with a heart of gold, and such pride in America!

She always spoke highly of her sisters and family, and was never boastful about the major contribution "The Andrews Sisters" made to America, and especially the WW II effort to bolster the spirits of our fighting men and women.

Maxene is sorely missed by her friends and fans, but the book she wrote with Bill, "Over Here-Over There," is a treat to read and love! She was excited when "telling the memories!" The book especially reflects wit and faith in times of great trouble for our country. The music and the stories behind the shows for the USO are inspiring!

I am happy to have known Maxene and to have been a part of her life as her director and friend! No single singing group in our history has equally the perfection and spirt of these three Greek daughters of an immigrant to America!

Maxene Andrews is a spirit that continues to brighten our torch of freedom through the music that she and her sisters sang. The stories told in this book reflect the scenes behind the scenes of keeping America smiling!


CASH BAXTER
Producer/Director
Palm Desert, CA

I found this book at our local library here in Albuquerque, and just had to own a copy. For anyone with an interest in Chopin, this book is an incredible gold mine of facts and details you won't find anywhere else, but Chopin is really only a small part of the wide-ranging subjects covered. Everyone who was anyone in Paris in the 1830s and '40s figures in this book, and people and events are also connected to the wider world of Europe and even America. The major composers, writers, artists, social reformers, politicians, and even doctors are covered. Nearly everything you might want to know about daily life in the first half of the 19th century is also described (will definitely cure you of any longing for the "good old days"....).

William Atwood is a dermatologist, and his descriptions of the medical thinking and practice of the time were especially interesting to me. As a holistic practitioner, I appreciated his discussion of the popularity of homeopathy in the 19th century. Chopin, of course, used homeopathy instead of the brutal methods of the allopathic doctors of his time, and seems to have been far better off than he would have been otherwise.

This book was a great help to me in clarifying Chopin's place in his time and adopted country. I expect to refer to it often.

What pleasure it is to be able to sit down and write a review of a truly enjoyable book such as this one. As I sit here typing I am listening to some music from one of the greatest composers of the 19th Century, Frederic Chopin. Fitting no less, as this book provides the reader with a guide through the City of Paris as seen and experienced by Chopin during his time there.

The author, William Atwood, has written two previous books on Chopin and in this third book he shows that he has a deep understanding for Chopin and his time. Covering the period from 1831 to 1849 Atwood covers all manner of subjects in his discussion of Paris, that beautiful city that seemed to produce some of the greatest artists in Europe. The author provides you with an insight into the social and artistic scene as well as some of the more interesting people, places and activities of Paris.

The book covers not only music and musicians but poets, writers, painters, the opera and theatre, medicine, bohemians, people of the street and how they all lived and survived during this turbulent period. The story just flows along smoothly and some of the stories are just amazing.

For instance when Paris decided to solve the sewage problem that tended to blot the city streets they changed the roadways contours from concave to convex allowing the swill and sewage to run off the roads into the new drainage system. The only problem with this was that not all the drains were properly covered and children often fell through the drains into the underground sewer system!

Another interesting little story in the chapter on medicine informs the reader that during the craze for bleeding as a form of combating illness that swept Paris during the early 1830's it was estimated that by 1833 Paris was importing 41.5 million leeches a year!

One of my favourite stories was the tragic tale of Alphonsine Plessis, the lady of the camellias, which can be found in the chapter regarding bohemians and demimondes (I don't want to spoil the story for anyone so you will have to buy the book and read it for yourself). According the Atwood the people of Paris still leave offerings of flowers on her tomb at the cemetery at Montmarte.

For anyone who loves good history, the arts or just a well-written book I am sure they will enjoy this story. In the pages you will find some of the greatest names in the world of the arts, Frederic Chopin, Eugene Delacroix, George Sand, Honore de Balzac, Hector Berlioz, Alexandre Dumas, Victor Hugo, Franz Liszt, and many many more. The book also provides numerous black and white illustrations showing Paris, its people and its buildings, during this time. This is a great story, an enjoyable read and an interesting piece of history.

I found this book at our local library here in Albuquerque, and just had to own a copy. For anyone with an interest in Chopin, this book is an incredible gold mine of facts and details you won't find anywhere else, but Chopin is really only a small part of the wide-ranging subjects covered. Everyone who was anyone in Paris in the 1830s and '40s figures in this book, and people and events are also connected to the wider world of Europe and even America. The major composers, writers, artists, social reformers, politicians, and even doctors are covered. Nearly everything you might want to know about daily life in the first half of the 19th century is also described (will definitely cure you of any longing for the "good old days"....).

William Atwood is a dermatologist, and his descriptions of the medical thinking and practice of the time were especially interesting to me. As a holistic practitioner, I appreciated his discussion of the popularity of homeopathy in the 19th century. Chopin, of course, used homeopathy instead of the brutal methods of the allopathic doctors of his time, and seems to have been far better off than he would have been otherwise.

This book was a great help to me in clarifying Chopin's place in his time and adopted country. I expect to refer to it often.

I found this book at our local library here in Albuquerque, and just had to own a copy. For anyone with an interest in Chopin, this book is an incredible gold mine of facts and details you won't find anywhere else, but Chopin is really only a small part of the wide-ranging subjects covered. Everyone who was anyone in Paris in the 1830s and '40s figures in this book, and people and events are also connected to the wider world of Europe and even America. The major composers, writers, artists, social reformers, politicians, and even doctors are covered. Nearly everything you might want to know about daily life in the first half of the 19th century is also described (will definitely cure you of any longing for the "good old days"....).

William Atwood is a dermatologist, and his descriptions of the medical thinking and practice of the time were especially interesting to me. As a holistic practitioner, I appreciated his discussion of the popularity of homeopathy in the 19th century. Chopin, of course, used homeopathy instead of the brutal methods of the allopathic doctors of his time, and seems to have been far better off than he would have been otherwise.

This book was a great help to me in clarifying Chopin's place in his time and adopted country. I expect to refer to it often.

I just got my copy of this and for the $8.50 that I paid for it I feel that I've gotten my money's worth, but I do have a few complaints although rather minor. First, that intro or sometimes called "Preamble" to "War Pigs" is suspiciously missing. But, on the plus side all of the other parts are intact including the solo section and outro. The intro to Iron Man has a slight error. Most transcriptions show the drum intro lasting 2 measures of 4 and then the guitar dive bomb comes in repeats on 1st beat of the 3rd measure and then repeats after 2 more measures and again and then the last time before the guitar riff starts there is one measure of 4 and one of 2 beats. Tedious though this may seem it is noticeable and unless I'm mistaken they've cut "Iron Man" one verse short. Still kind of fun but for learning Sabbath/Iommi riffs in greater detail I recommend the book by Troy Stetina where the songs are discussed in great detail and perfomed one section at a time at normal tempo and then at slow speed. Also they could've put tuning notes for standard tuning as well as the drop tunings (which Troy Stetina also does). It's still kind of fun to play along with if you already know the songs but not that great if you don't.

I ordered this book for my 10-year-old son who just began taking guitar lessons last month. Within one day he could play major sections of four of the songs. He is extremely pleased with this book! In case you are wondering which six classics are included in this book, they are: Iron Man, Paranoid, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, Snowblind, Sweetleaf and War Pigs.

excellent learning tool . Loads of fun to play along with.

The best way to learn and play Sabbath songs. The tablature and songs are excellent quality and superbly transcribed! A must get for cover or tribute bands!

alot of info and facts also alot of art
if your a fan of Al or Beck you'll love this book

Do you know anything about Al Hansen? Before buying this book, I had no idea that he was such a renown member of the Fluxus/Happenings community. Al was colleages with such icons as Andy Warhol, Yoko Ono, and John Lennon. In the book, it is mentioned that as children, Beck and his brother Channing would be sent on missions to collect cigarette butts for their dear grandpa's art. I used to wonder how Beck could be so inventive, but now I see where his roots lie. Al is the reason we have our beloved Beck. Al is why we can today defy all sexx laws. And so even though he is deceased, it is comforting to know that his legacy lives on, not only in his art, but in his eccentric rock-star grandson.

Note: In case you were going to buy this for your Beck-crazed teeny-bopper, be aware that this book contains some nudity.

beck hansen and his zany grandpa use cigarette butts as artistic media. you wouldn't think that something so trashy could be so beautiful. it's miss-shapen, partially grotesque, and acutely obtuse. human shapes composed of matches and cigarettes provide a uniquely symbolic look at what makes us-- bits and pieces of what others throw away. i personally drove from seattle to nyc to see the opening of the art exibit featured in the book. although i wouldn't suggest everyone go to such extents, injesting the book is nice start.

Al Hansen was my advisor in college. Having said that, let me also add that his teaching continues to impact every day of my life in a most positive fashion. i had the good fortune of being a member of a small group of earnest students at Rutgers University in Newark who basically followed Al around for four years and never regretted it. perhaps, my most memorable experience was going with Al and a few other students to a party at Andy Warhol's factory for the Velvet Underground. i also collected hersey chocolate wrappers and empty camel cigarette packs for Al.

I first started listening to Queen back around 1987, having a copy of "The Game" that a cousin gave me. But it wasn't until 1992 that I became a fan, and I bought this book to learn about the band. It's got a lot of good information and pictures, and I recommend it to any Queen fan.

There is one aspect of the band that isn't touched on in the book, and that is their debauchery! Even though I've been a fan for almost 15 years, only recently did I learn that these guys were real hellraisers! I'd read a magazine article after "Innuendo" came out that mentioned the wild release party they held for it, but I had no idea how hard these guys partied. Sick and twisted!

But anyway, that one, minor, misgiving aside, I recommend this book. I wish there were more books available on Queen.

I bought this book back in 1992 when I first became a Queen fanatic. There are some great pictures and quotes, along with kind of an abbreviated history of the band. It concludes with a list of all of Queen's music releases up until 1992. It is a beautiful book that is well worth the money. You will look at it again and again.

This book brings you right along side the band and their legendary music. If you like queen, this is a must have for your library!

This Queen book is absolutely fabulous! It is perfect in nearly every way. It is basically a visual timeline of the band, from its subtle beginnings to its flashy end (or is it?). The pictures alone are worth the price, but the ingenius quotes from band members simply makes this one of the best Queen books available. Look for Freddie in his Superman shirt!

This is neither a "companion piece" nor a "tell-all" book. Equally, it is not a flimsy paperback stapled and glued together just in time for the band's next big tour. What Denise Sullivan does write (and write well, also) is much closer to an anecdote, a souveneir, a recalled event. She avoids the trite and passionless type of "rock'n'roll" review/expose we have to endure all the time and instead lets the reader get a glimpse not so much of the band REM, but of the people that REM exerted some influence on, or the people for whom REM mattered. Reading Sullivan's book, I am reminded of how one of my closest friends and I discuss REM -- from memory, from songs, from what has been happening in our lives. This book feels like a friend.

Unlike most "rock-n-roll" books which often pander to the lowest common denominator -- which usually is the author's own personal bias barely hidden in the text and most often the lens through which we are forced to watch the history of the band/singer unfold -- Denise Sullivan gives us something better, and frankly, more fun. "TATP" offers an original and fresh perspective on a very enigmatic yet familiar college - rock - alternative - mainstream - wacky - superstar band. This book is a must-have for both the fan and fanatic. The writing is well-done, the subject matter well-handled. While almost everyone's favorite REM song and/or album may change over time, this remains my favorite book on the band.

You can't get much better than this -- personal accounts of people who actually were there. There is just as much information to be found here as in _It Crawled from the South_. It proceeds chronologically with great detail, and feeds the REM-fact hungry reader just what he/she wants.

This book was excellent. It was great to get a history of what went on by people who actually were there.Recommendwd if you are a fan of Mr. Stipe and Co. or just interested in a the history of great music that shaped a scene.