Composers Books

This book is very thouroughly written, drawing on resources of Rachmaninoff's relatives, letters that Rachmaninoff himself wrote, and of personal interactions. It gives a glimpse into Rachmaninoff's private life, which very little is known about, and shows Rachmaninoff for the true musical genius that he is.

I found this book extremely helpful and a joy to read. I have used it as a resource for a Rachmaninoff class that i am creating and also for my own pleasure. It spans through Rachmaninoff's life, going in-depth to look at glimpses of Rachmaninoff's life with family, and then meticulously explores his music career.It looks into what inspired him, his meetings with other famous composers, his performances, and includes many letters about his personal life that he wrote to his family and friends. Overall, an excellent look into the life of a composer about whom we do not know much.

If you are a fan of the British Invasion or early rock music and gear this book is for you. Dozens of great stories from the early pioneers of British rock. But this book also includes a healthy dose of info about many of Britain's top session aces-including one Jimmy Page. Bass players aren't ignored either. This book is alot of fun to read and is loaded with many great photos as well.

Fantastic book with tales stories and information on early British Rock Bands and their original sound.Great forword by Hank Marvin of The Shadows,stories of Big Jim Sullivan,Vic Flick "James Bond Theme" Paul Kossoff. Highly recommended by my PALS,Elliot Easton and Charlie Watkins.

The best way to look back on old Sex Pistols' articles. This has everything you would want in newspaper clippings on the Pistols. It is like having a book of newspaper clippings without the chance of the paper clippings ripping or browning. The best way to have a piece their of legacy.

I bought this book in Boston when I was in eighth grade, back in the mid eighties. At the time I was really into the Sex Pistols, and things like this book were hard to find. The book is basically comprised of photographs and newspaper clippings, beginning with the birth of the Sex Pistols, with Glen Matlock, up until Sid's death and Johnny's next band, Public Image, Ltd. If you want to see the actual photos and learn about the band, then this book is for you. I know that there is a lot of Sex Pistols stuff out there right now, but this book is really worth getting. All the legendary stuff is in here, including pictures from the infamous Bill Grundy interview, where you can see a very young Siouxsie Sioux. If you're into the Pistols, buy this book.

Book arrived as quickly as advertised, which was great because I needed it to write my New York Times antiques column (published today). THanks!
Wendy Moonan

Although not as thorough on the music of the great composer itself, this book is a must read for anyone interested in Shostakovich, or music and Soviet history in general.

Wilson lucidly supports her interviews and articles from colleagues, friends, and family of the composer with a curious detachment that serves to clarify rather than alienate the subject matter. The articles and interviews themselves are priceless artifacts, and presented here in an intelligent fashion.

Shostakovich's life is portrayed here with startling intimacy. The reader will find him or herself able to visualize the genius composer and his quirks, and those who listen to the relevant works of music will find their messages so much more meaningful.

As a collector and student of American popular music for more than 40 years now I have occasionally come across the name of Sister Rosetta Tharpe in some of the reference books that I own. I would also see her name mentioned in the liner notes for various CD's as well as in books chronicling the rich and diverse history of American popular music. Having said that there was really not a heck of a lot of information out there on the life and remarkable career of this extremely influential figure. Author Gayle Wald has corrected this unfortunate oversight with her entertaining and highly informative new book "Shout, Sister, Shout: The Untold Story of Rock and Roll Trailblazer Sister Rosetta Tharpe". As a result of reading this book I have already been motivated to purchase a collection of her music. And let me tell you I was not disappointed!
Sister Rosetta Tharpe was born in the tiny town of Cotton Plant, AR on March 20, 1915 not far from the birthplace of another American music legend Johnny Cash. With the encouragement of parents who were very active in the local Church of God in Christ, Rosetta began singing in church at an unusually young age. Before the age of six she started playing around with a guitar. Just about everyone who saw and heard Rosetta thought that she was an exceptionally gifted young lady. In fact, it was her acumen with the guitar that would set her apart and help to make a career in music possible. "Shout, Sister, Shout" follows the mercurial career of Rosetta from performing at her local church to a gig at the world famous Cotton Club in New York City in 1938. It is quite apparent that Rosetta was torn between the gospel music she grew up with and loved so much and the incredible opportunities and financial rewards that beckoned in the secular world. It was a dilemma that would take her years to resolve. In 1938 Rosetta inked her first recording contract with Decca records. Decca was looking to make a name for itself in the emerging gospel and blues market and viewed Sister as their ticket to success. She did not disappoint! In 1941 Sister Rosetta Tharpe joined the Lucky Millinder Orchestra as a featured vocalist. This band was at the height of its popularity at that time and Rosetta made some very memorable recordings with them. But by 1943 Rosetta had tired of the secular music scene and was determined to return to the music she really loved. Ever restless, Sister would return to the secular world from time to time as opportunities presented themselves. In 1950, she appeared on Perry Como's television show and in 1952 she recorded a duet with the legendary country artist Red Foley in Nashville. Sadly, Sister Rosetta Tharpe was only 56 years old when diabetes struck. Two years later in 1973 she died of a massive stroke on the very day she was scheduled to record a brand new album for Savoy records.
"Shout, Sister, Shout" tells the fascinating life story of Sister Rosetta Tharpe. You will the meet people who were most influential in her life, especially her mother Katie Bell Nubin and her close friend Marie Knight. And you will come to understand how it was that a female black guitarist that emerged in the 1930's would become such a major influence on people like Chuck Berry, John Lennon, Elvis and even Mick Jagger. By reading "Shout, Sister, Shout" I was able to fill in a good many gaps in my knowledge of American popular music. Cheryl Wald has come up with an extremely important book that can be read and enjoyed by a wide variety of audiences. Very highly recommended!

As I have been looking forward to someone writting a book about Sister Rosetta Tharpe I was excited that one was on the market. I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It was sensitively written and with a lot of information about this neglected gospel star who pioneered so many trends in music and what she did on stage. A lot of what she accomplished she has not been given due credit by writters of popular music and this book seeks to balance this oversight.
My only critisism was that there were not enough pictures of rosetta in the book and could of done with a fully discogrphy.

for fans of the broadway musical, steven suskin's books are indispensable. this time around he manages to explore the full bodies of work of some 36 broadway composers, as well as the work of various "lesser" lights. if you are any kind of fan beyond the most basic, there will be few reference books on the subject you will turn to more often. mine is beside my cd player, as i constantly am cross-referencing. if i can have a complaint, its that the book is too short -- but im sure thats the fault of suskin's publisher, who cant be making a fortune on this book as is.

btw, highly recommended: suskin's bi-weekly review of new recording....

for fans of show music, this is a MUST HAVE.

Anyone interested in Broadway lore must own at least three books, all by Steven Suskin. The first is which covers 1943-1964 and the sequel, which deals with 1965-81. These are compilations of what the major New York music critics had to say about the openings of every important show on or just Off-Broadway plus the author's comments about each. These books are very readable and an invaluable document of American musical history. Now Mr. Suskin has given us an equally valuable reference tool, but this is more to be used than to be read for enjoyment.

The third edition of his (Oxford University Press, 2000) is an encyclopedia of facts about the composers of the shows dealt with in the other volumes. The organization is like this. After several introductory pages, we are given facts about the composers of the early years from Jerome Kern to Harold Rome, new composers of the 40s and 50s, and those of the 60s and beyond. Having dealt with what Suskin considers (mostly rightly) to be the major composers, he then devotes the fourth part of the volume to "Notable scores by other composers": "Irene," "Shuffle Along," "Hair," and so on up to "Parade."

Then comes a feature or two, which to students of the American musical like myself, are almost worth the price of the book alone. There is a year by year listing of all the major Broadway productions from 1904-1998, a list of all people who collaborated on the shows (George Abbott, Guy Bolton, etc.), an index of song titles, and finally an index of show titles. Talk about user friendly!

Turning back to the main section and taking Gershwin as an example, Suskin gives us in chronological order facts about each of the shows from 1916 to a 1951 production that used Gershwin's music. For each, he lists all the published songs, indicates which were dropped by opening night, and gives some general comments about the show itself. Then he ends with an evaluation of Gershwin's Broadway output in general.

Concise, accurate (as far as I can see), beautifully organized. A real Grabbit.

I had searched for quite a while for a passing libretto of Wagner when I stumbled upon this gem. Sabors translation is sheer poetry and is a joy to follow along with during the operas. A must buy if you want a fantastic Wagner libretto!

I've read much of Rudolph Sabor's Wagner material, and I want to be sure he knows, from and ardent student of the composer, just how much I love and appreciate all his work. But these four books from Phaidon on the Ring cycle are masterpieces. The extraordinarily elegant presentation not only invites you into another world, but Sabor's clarification and mythic understanding of Wagner goes far beyond anything that is available to the reader so far. In "The Real Wagner",which I have in both English and Spanish, Sabor's deadly sense of humour peeked through whenever irony was appropriate, and even in these translations and notes, he, as a writer and critic, never forgets the subtleties and contradictions Wagner offers to us. If possible, please extend both to the author and to the publishers, my profound appreciation of the symphony they have created together. Let's call these books "collectors items". And in paperback!
And thank you, Amazon, for getting them to me so quickly up here in the mountains of southern Mexico.

Linda

This fantastic bio of Sir Simon Rattle gives all aspects of his personal and professional life. He is one of the very few conductors, or person in authority, who places his people before personal gain as denoted with his status with City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. This is trait of true leader. A must read for all who are interested in the classical music arena.

This book is a continuation of a previous book also written by Nicholas Kenyon. The previous book was written earlier in Rattle's career and was in need of an addendum considering Rattle's enormous progress as a conductor.

Those looking for a book that reads well and provides one with the detail and information about the rise of Simon Rattle's career will find it here. It begins with his present postion as chief conductor of the berlin Philharmonic and covers his birth and musical upbringing, citing the influences that led Rattle to his career as a conductor. It also outlines both the triumphs and defeats (though few and far between in the "defeats" coumn) of his ascent.

While all this is of course interesting and fascinating, I found the greatest strength of this book is the attempt at explaining what makes Rattle a conductor sought out by the world's top orchestras. There is a careful analysis of his method of studying a score (courtesy of his old teacher John Carewe), his thinking about programming, and his approach to rehearsing an orchestra, as well as his loyalty to the City of Birmingham orchestra despite the calls from much larger and more prestigious orchestras. This is a book that is much more than a mere biography. It has something to share with the casual reader and the professional musician.

Conductors will find this particularly interesting reading.

"Frank's luster never dimmed. He made film after film, and the great recordings he made are being played to this day. He was bigger than life: he had something special; the rare talent that meant when he sang, it was difficult, if not impossible, to ignore that ol' black magic in his voice." ~ Bob Willoughby's Reflection on Frank Sinatra - 2002.

This is a collection of Frank Sinatra's never before published intimate photos with detailed captions, mostly snap shots taken by the legendary Hollywood photographer, Bob Willoughby, who also did photo collections of Elizabeth Taylor and Audrey Hepburn. This 207-page paperback is virtually a 'feast-on-the-eyes' for any fan of the Chairman of the Board.

Willoughby focused on the singer/actor's very good years in the movies from 1953 thru 1965, commencing with the movie "From Here To Eternity" which was a blockbuster at the box office and garnered numerous Oscar Awards, to his 1965 movie, "Marriage On The Rocks" with Deborah Kerr, Dean Martin and Sinatra's daughter, Nancy. On this section shows a full-page photo of Sinatra standing in front of a Divorce Attorney's office which has a big sign that reads: "Divorce your loved one with dignity." Mr. Willoughby did a fantastic job in putting all these photos together, spotlighting on Sinatra's stolen moments with his co-stars Dean Martin, Deborah Kerr, Shirley MacLain, Sammy Davis, Jr., Peter Lawford, Judy Garland, Kim Novak and also the great arranger/conductor and Sinatra's very good friend, Nelson Riddle, among many others.

Highly recommended to all Sinatra enthusiasts. This will be a nice addition to your Sinatra books.

This book is a suberb look at Frank Sinatra from photos that have never been seen before and are simply fascinating. The book itself is beautifully put together and every picture gleams.
The captions are extensive and informative. A lot of care went into this book. In many ways it is superior to the It Was a Very Good Year Book, which was much more popular - higher quality photos, a lot in color, a lot of prime information about some of Sinatra's best films. If you are thinking of getting this, GET IT!! You won't be sorry!

Dena Epstein was a Chicago Librarian. She wasn't a paid musicologist, but she was determined to find out the story of African American music from the time we got off the slave ships until the Civil War. She emerged with a triumph.

No one who has not read this book really knows anything about African American, or for that matter American culture and music, worth knowing. Rather than the abstract dwelling on Africanism in this or that part of Black culture, she refutes the idea that the slaves were robbed of their culture she shows how the musical culture of West Africa was carried here and how it was modified and added to.

One of the most interesting aspects of Epstein's book for me is the record of the many different African instruments that were brought to the New World or were remade by Africans in the New World. The common idea that African instruments were limited to drums is refuted here strongly with her references to descriptions of different instruments found in the US and the West Indies. Along the way, Epstein was one of the first to reassert the AFricanness of the banjo and document it.

One interesting question which with the easiness of hindsight and futher research I raise is the issue of fiddling. Epstein documents that contrary to the popular stereotype that AFricans in the America were primarily banjoists or drummers, in the US until the point in the 19th Century when banjos became generally available and popular among most black and poor folks, African American musicians were most closely indentified with the fiddle. This is true not only in the US but in the West Indies.

Epstein does document how quickly after being "imported" African born musicians became excellent players of the fiddle, makers of fiddles, and even teachers of fiddling. She points out that the fiddle was so essential to the lives of planation African Americans that the question of whether the slave master should provide his slaves with a full time fiddler for slave dances was debated in circles who discussed how to manage slaves.

The question is really posed that such quick mastery of a very difficult instrument, and the rather rapid way it was used to play African based music could not be just a coincidence or a product of some kind of general African musical ability, but the product of retention of traditions that come from West African bowed instruments. Blacks who were fiddlers already in AFrica on African fiddle like instruments were enslaved, and their rapid progress another feature of transmission of AFrican culture into this country.

Of course, I am looking back from advances pioneered by Epstein and those who followed her.

Read this books and celebrate that triumph and learn what must be known about Black music and American culture.

Epstein expertly culls available documentary evidence, including contemporary accounts as well as such sources as runaway slave notices mentioning that the slave in question was a fiddler, to fill in a lot of gaps in our knowledge of how African music developed when it was transplanted to North America. The book is well-written and full of groundbreaking research. It's absolutely essential if you are interested in this subject.