Rock Books

I picked this book up when I started learning how to play bass. Tony Kanal (the bass player in No Doubt) is really amazing. This book has helped me to learn a lot of no doubt songs, as well as quite a bit of music theory. It really makes you appreciate No Doubt all the more. A must have for any guitar of bass players.

This book basically taught me how to play guitar. Youll learn heaps of stuff if ur not too advanced already: tapping, hamonics etc. No songs on here are boring to play, not one is just power chords all the way through and theres quite a few really good solos.

No Doubt is my favourite band ever and I'm comletely in love with just about every peice of music theyve ever made. I know this is the sort of band a lot of people are obsessed with. If u are (or arent, doesnt matter) and ur thinking of learning guitar or bass, this books pretty spot on i think, and it really makes u appreciate the band so much more.

This book is cool!! The first thing I looked at was the pictures and was stoked to see Adrian in an Iron Maiden shirt!! GO EDDIE GO!!

Anyway as far as the tabs are concerned, well I'm a drummer not a guitarist, but thankfully my brother is. This book pretty much got my band started (not long after catching ND live!), our singer Simonna had it and leant it to my brother to learn a bunch of ND's songs and that was that!! NOW WE ROCK!!! hahaha

As far as I could tell the tablature is quite accurate, the songs we learnt were Just a Girl, Excuse Me Mr, Sunday Morning, and Don't Speak I believe???? Who cares? It's just a cool book!!! SO BUY IT DAMN IT!!!!

i though it was great of you to say that they are a great band around and what i think is that that is so true and i love that band so much and i am glad you wrote the review

thanks john

I have found this book to be no less than what I expected of Hal Leonard books. It was very accurate and if you want to learn some No Doubt music, Pick it up! I highlyrecommend it.

I got this books as a present for my kind who loves Evanescence and has followed in pretty much detail their story and tracking. It provides very good background information and interesting notes on the group.
A must-have for the die-hard fans.

This is a really good book for fans of Evanescence and Amy Lee. It has some nice pictures of Amy in it. The written part of the book isn't really anything special. There's nothing unusual about the man's story and there's nothing wrong with that. A person or band doesn't need a story of suffering and starving if their art is as good as that of Evanescence. I got the impression that someone had photos that they wanted to turn into a book to make money and that the writer is just someone who was contracted to write the thing and had no personal interest in the subject matter. Almost everything written has an annoying habits of saying "In SO AND SO MAGAZINE ON SEPT 13, 2002 it was said that...". I give the book five stars for the pictures. If I were reviewing only the written part I would probably give it a 3 star rating.

I picked up this book at Hot Topic when i was just browsing. So i bought it. I started reading it the next night, it was well written. I just couldn't put it down because i wanted to know "everything" about my favorite band. They have some great photos too. I read this twice then put some of the pictures up on my wall. It covered almost everything you would want to know about this band, past and present. It was full of great facts that i've never heard before. So i recommend you read this book, its very interesting and if everyone could only read this, it would probably put an end to all the Evanescence rumors.

Great awesome book about Evanescence. The author did a really good job explaining Evanescence's roots, background, history, etc. And there are lots of cool pictures of Amy and the band. Overall, just a really cool book. Defintley recommend to any Evanescence fan.

I picked up this paperback while staying in Florida. It was hard to find on the shelf because it's actually very small. I paid 12 bucks for it and it was worth every penny.
I'm a knowledgeable fan of Evanescence I was very happy to find a few tidbits here and there I didn't know already. If you're like me, you're tired of reading/hearing "Ben and Amy met at summer camp" and "Bring Me To Life is about this" etc. The book had some great light reading covering the bands humble beginnings all the way thru the last stop of their tour. It's very easy to read and the pictures included are quite nice. I was hoping for some rare images, maybe like some early photos of Ben, Amy and David but no luck there. Most of the photos are recents, in black and white and a few color photos are thrown into the middle of the book.
My favorite part was the timeline in the back. Here the reader can see specific albums, track listings, locations of shows etc. Pick this book up if you like Evanescence, it's like having your own Evanescence scrapbook.

This is a great book from a great teacher.Congratulations to Mark Hanson. I am so grateful for what I upgraded from his instructional books.
No words at all.....to people who really wants to learn the fingerpicking art. Supreme.....each transcription. Wish I had Mrs.Robinson and The Boxer included...

I am in awe of Mr Paul Simon and his great work in his music.

This book is awesome with great explanations and great tabs, esp for an amateur like me. Dabbing in music without a guitar instructor, poses to be ardous, but with such a good book I could decipher the tabs quite easily.

Thank you for having such a great book!

This is a great book, it includes the music in both notation and tab. The transcriptions are perfect, they are exactly what is on the recording. The best part about the book is that for each song, there is a page or two describing how to finger each chord (some of the songs are really hard to play if you use "normal" fingering, if you use the alternate fingering he suggests, you can do the chord switches MUCH easier!)

Using this book, I had Bookends and Scarborough Fair down in two days!

The only thing preventing me from giving this book a 5 : It had some songs I didn't know, and was missing two songs I really wanted : The Boxer, and Sounds of Silence.

If you want authentic transcriptions, this is the book for you. I have every Paul Simon guitar book of note, and this is the only one with real recorded-version tabs; lamentably, it lacks some of Simon's wonderful flourishes, but it is by far the best Paul Simon guitar book available. Each song includes a page of Mark Hanson's performance instructions/notes that are genuinely helpful and informative. The music ranges from early intermediate ("Bookends") to intermediate advanced--the more difficult arrangements (like "Hearts and Bones") are much too demanding for a real beginner. But if you have decent fingerpicking abilities and want a book to grow with, this would be a great choice. A true 5-star selection. If it had included "The Boxer" and "April Come She Will," I would be a happy man.

The author Mark Hanson gets much well-deserved praise for his books, cds, dvds, and teaching style from folks on the guitar web forums I visit. This word of mouth led me to try his Beyond Basics Fingerstyle Guitar book/cd combination. Which led me to buy his The Art of Contemporary Travis Picking book/cd combo and his Fingerstyle Solo Guitar dvd. I found all of these to be excellent learning tools. In his Paul Simon Transcribed, it's much of the same again: great instruction! This isn't a beginner's book. You have to know something going in. He prefaces each song with a page telling you about the tune itself and the technique for how it should be played. Both the standard music notation and the tablature for each song are presented clearly and in detail. And fortunately for me, as I am unable to read music, the tablature shows the timing/beat/rhythm of the song: without that I'd be lost. One final gushing comment: this is an excellent book which could only have been better if it had included an audio cd to hear how the songs should be properly played. Enough said!

THIS HAS BEEN MY SONS FAVORITE BOOK FOR ABOUT 2 YEARS IT IS VERY COLORFUL A VERY CUTE BOOK THIS IS MY SONS FAVORITE AUTHOR HE LOOKS FOR BOOKS WRITTEN BY HER.

This book is an excellent use of shapes, music, rhyme, rhythm, and just fun! The pigs' bus has an accident and they end up making their gig by hitching a ride on an ice cream truck. My son loves the book. Having taught before I had children, I would have used this book in the classroom paired with the book, Twist with a Burger, Jitter with a Bug by Lowery.

This is a great book to use with students in music. You can talk about the song Blue Suede Shoes as well as all the instuments that the pigs play. The pigs are also easy to draw even for kindergarteners. We made promotion posters showing that the band was coming to town. The rhyme has a great beat and the words are easy enough for little ones to figure out. It's a hit in music class!

Here, we follow this famous band on their tour. They play country, they play rock and roll, they play blues, and everything they play, they play it with their heart and soul. And their loyal fans love them.
Using simple, energetic rhyme, the author brings us into the world of this band, Illustrations are colorful, a combination of art deco style with 1950s space age modern. Plenty of use of geometric forms come into play and color enhances the mood.
Pigs Rock! is a fun, rhyming read, especially for little ones with older siblings who already have favorite bands. Can we next expect a dvd of the Pigs of their performance on tour?

This is a great book that teaches the youngest kids about music and rhyme. It's an easy read for 2-4 age group. Daughter and I love the funny illustrations of those rockin pigs! Its a great addition.

Since everyone else has given this book such good reviews i cant help doing the same, this book really explain the things worth to know about the legendarious rock band Queen. From their very first song and how Brian with his father built his very special guitar to the sad end for Freddie. A whole lot of pictures and things we fanatics really like. Just great book!

If you are a Queen 'FANATIC", or just a newbie looking into a possible interest in the band Queen, this book is for you. From the very beginning we see each band member grow up and come together. We see how this great enigma became, and how so tragically it ended. I have read this book more than 5 times, and plan to read it some more. Kudos to Jackie!!

It is assumed that the buyer of this book either has or is planning to cultivate an interest in Queen, one of the most successful bands of the past two decades. Such a reader will not be disappointed; this book sidesteps the temptation of becoming a tabloid-style biography and instead focusses on real facts. Written by two longtime 'Queenies', As It Began is a frank, clear, and comparatively unjaundiced view of the band's progress, from 70s glam rock band to 90 'macho' musicians. For he who intends to become ridiculously well-read on one of the most memorable bands in history, As It Began is the ideal bookshelf companion.

A fantastic and detailed journey through the history of one of the greatest music sensations of the 20th century. Anyone who wants to really know about this incredible band should read this work compiled by the the manager of the Queen Fan Club and Queen's official discographer. Jampacked with information about the band. Beginning with info about the lives of the four talented musicians who made up Queen : Freddie Mercury , Roger Taylor , Brian May and John Deacon. We see that Taylor , May and Deacon all had BSC Honours Degrees. The life of Freddie Mercury makes particularly interesting reading. Born Farookh Bulsara , of Persian parents Bomi and Jer Bulsara , on 5 September 1946 , on the small spice island of Zanzibar.
In 1954 , at the tender age of eight , Freddie was shipped off from Zanzibar to St Peter's English Boarding School in Panchgani outside Bombay. During his time at Ealing , Freddie formed his first band , the Hectics , which played only within the school at fetes , parties and school dances. After taking his O Levels at St Peters Freddie returned to Zanzibar , but his family fled the island in 1964 , along with many other Indians and British when the African Marxists launched a violent revolution. The Bulsaras moved to Feltham , Middlesex in England and in September 1966 , Freddie began a graphic illustrating course at Ealing College of Art. In 1969 Freddie joined a Liverpool band named Ibex , which played a selection of cover version songs by the Beatles , Rod Stewart and Yes. He had also met Tim Staffel , who together with Brian May and Roger Taylor , had a band named Smile. Freddie later formed his own band Wreckage. A few months later , Freddie disbanded Wreckage and in 1970 , formed Queen together with Brian May and Roger Taylor. The following year the band where joined by John Deacon. The rest is music history , and the book traces Queen's development from a unique inside view, full of colour pictures and exclusive interviews .We feel we are watching the history of the band unfolding. We read of the Bands first triumph in Japan , where they first achieved Superstar status. Of the bands friendship with David Bowie and their meeting in 1977 with Groucho Marx , of Freddies friendship with Michael Jackson and Elton John among others and of John Deacon's friendship with tennis great , John Mac Enroe.
The last chapter is about the tragic death of Freddie Mercury from AIDS after having fought a brave battle against the disease.
I particularly enjoyed reading about the golden years of the Super 1970s.

The complete and virtually unabridged biography of the greatest band of all time is a must-have for any fan. It details the lifes of Freddie, Brian, John and Roger from their respective births, and leaves little out (apart from the malicious gossip that so frequently found in the tabloid papers about them).

The book is written by Jacky Smith (nee Gunn), the manageress of the Offical International Queen Fan Club (which is now the longesy running fan club of all time) and Jim Jenkins, a long time fan who was at most of the concerts Queen ever gave, so the authority from both people is a good one. You cane expect everything in the book to be completetly factual, and absolutley respectful to Queen and their families.

Hands-down, this is the absolute best Halloween book for young children. We bought this when it first came out in 1997, and it still has an honored spot on our shelves. Every year, we pull it out and revel in the fanciful pictures, catchy rhymes, and joy of the season.

We started reading this when my son was only a few months old, and now that he's almost 9, it's still a favorite -- and our younger two kids love it just as much. Don't miss this book!

This book is great for Halloween! Our children really enjoy repeating the rocking, rythmic sounds made in this graveyard!

This great book is meant to be read aloud. This is a humorous book, which makes friends of the goblins and ghouls, by making them party through the night with all the local neighbors. The rhythms are great, the words are funny and this is a book designed to make the tongue dance and the teeth tap. The pictures are wonderful and in full color. Read it at bedtime around Halloween and your kids will be filling in the rhythms and rapping along with you in a Halloween treat.

My daughter (age 3) likes this book so much that I have to read it to her at least twice a day. This has been going on for over a month and luckily, I'm not really tired of it yet!

Rattlebone Rock is so fun to read. Children love the rhythmic text and really get into the book by making the spooky sounds the author writes of. Read it through once to a class of K-3 students. Then read it again and again, and have them chime in during the graveyard ghostly parts! This has been a hit with the k-3 students I have read it to. They will love the text and the great illustrations. A Halloween Book I wouldn't be without!

Read The Beatles is a collection of previously published articles, interviews & excerpts about the most influential musical act in history. The book touches on every era including the pre-fame years, Beatlemania, break-up & the aftermath. It also devotes sections to the solo years of all four members. The best stuff is from the early days of Beatlemania where you get articles that appeared in print from that time that speculate about what the group means, criticism of their music and most especially a great article from Gloria Steinem where John Lennon himself considers the Beatles a fad and contemplates what his next career move will be after the bubble bursts. As with most books of this kind, it isn't necessary to read it from cover to cover. Overall, for any fans of the group, this is a fine addition to your Beatles library.

Having recently rediscovered The Beatles (as in, I had gone a few years and not listened to their music), it's amazing to me the number of people still writing about them. The fascination is itself, fascinating.
This book is yet a different approach from many others: the writings of journalists and "observers" who covered the decade, both up close and from across the ocean, as well as some recent entries.
One of the elements of this book that makes it worth reading is the sense that you are not prying this time...not delving into private moments or contributing to the guilty pleasures of fan gossip.
This is a true journalistic, sometimes intellectual appraisal of what happened during those ten years in and around The Beatles: a time when the world was morphing from post war aesthetics and ethics into the mind blowing sixties and all that it encompassed for the generations to come.
Keep this book on a table and just pick it up from time to time. It's not a straight read, so enjoy it at a leisurely pace while you listen to some Beatles' tunes...it's all good.

I loved it. This is a collection of some of the finest writers of our time, writing about the finest group of our time. It's divided into two parts; 'Together' and 'Apart', with sub headings under each of those. Each piece is either an expose', piece of poetry, newspaper article or magazine article.

The first story is appropriatly titled, 'The Afternoon Hours',from the book, 'The Day John Met Paul'. It goes from there, with a varied selection of writings from every concievable type of writer from Gloria Steinem to William Mann. Some of the writings are quite controversial like one piece by a journalist named Paul Johnson called, 'The Menace of Beatlism'. This appeared in a British journal in 1964, and it's very interesting to see how people were divided along the generational lines at that time. This leads me to the famous, William Mann article from 1963, which established the group as serious musicians and song writers when everyone over a certain age was saying they were a gimmick with no talent. Mann who was certainly over 30 was a visionary, ahead of his time. He was also a musicologist who knew what he was talking about, even if John Lennon did think he was talking about "Exotic birds". I loved that article and was glad it was included. Another facinating piece stands out. A Gloria Steinem expose' which appeared in Cosmopolitan in 1964. Most of her piece is about trying to get close enough to John Lennon to interview him during the boys' '64 North American tour. Even though she was given permission to do the interview, she finds it impossible to penetrate the Aspinall, Evans, Taylor shield that was erected around them because of their growing distrust of the media. I don't know what she had been planning to ask John because she never really gets to do a proper interview. Instead we are treated to a revealing look at the Beatles behind the scenes, on tour, complete with groupies and assorted hip friends like Bob Dylan and his manager (this was after the pot party, so Dylan had become a permanent fixture by this time.) Gloria even gets to go to the concert, a charity event at the New York Paramount, where she stands at the front of the stage with three very pretty girls from Philly who were just hanging out with them. You know like friends of the band...hmmm. Their are other groupies around also, and with typical 1964 decorum, Gloria discloses what she sees with the utmost taste, leaving the reader to fill in the spaces of what it NOT said. At one point she reports that Paul had barracaded himself in his bedroom, refusing to come out. This made the groupies from Philly cry. As you can see, I loved this article. I thought it was very revealing, and Ms. Steinem leaves you wanting more.

There are other standout articles like the 'looking back' articles, "Ten Great Beatle Moments" from a 2002 news piece, and "They Were the Most Brilliant,Powerful,Lovable Pop Group on the Planet...But Now They're Really Important", from Q Magazine in 1995. Interviews with the fabs like a 1965 Redbook interview with Ringo. One of the best parts is, the last section called 'A Way of Remembering' which includes writings from fans about the Beatles' impact on their lives. One that stands out is from a man who was in the navy at the time of the Beatles first visit to the states in February 1964. He is on leave with his navy buddies and staying at the Deaville Hotel in Miami Beach, where the Beatles are staying. He spys them in the hotel bar and he goes on to tell what his first impression was of this strange group of guys from England. He encounters Lennon standing next to him, ordering drinks at the bar, and the ensuing, brief exchange they have turns into a hilarious misunderstanding of British and American slang. It could have been an episode of 'Seinfeld'. I couldn't stop laughing.

This book is wonderful. If you are a Beatles scholar you will find it invaluable. It's one of my favorites, and I've read many. You will learn a lot more from these pages than you will ever learn from books like 'Shout' or 'The Love You Make'. There were one or two exposes' from the 'Pepper' period that I thought were pretentious and boring, but those are few. The things I wish were included are, pictures of course, and the 1965 'Playboy' article is missing. If you haven't read that, you are missing a very important piece of Beatle writing. Luckily you can see it online. Don't miss it. In the mean time, this book is a must.

This book is a delightful Beatles' smorgasbord of their writings; articles about them and a plethora of anecdotes. Although I wish photographs of the Fabs had been included, I still really like this book and heartily recommend it. Five Stars plus and a resounding "yeah, yeah, yeah!"

This is an extremely well-put-together anthology of writings about the Beatles, spanning their entire career as a group and then following each in their post-Beatles years. It includes most of the seminal reviews, interviews and articles about the Beatles from beginning to end (such as the Maureen Cleve/Lennon interview, the William Mann London Times reviews legitimizing the Beatles as serious musicians and songwriters, sections from the Playboy interviews with John Lennon and Yoko Ono, excellent writing on the elusive George Harrison and his musical contributions by David Simons, and much more) and essays on why the Beatles still matter.

The book is set up in three distinct parts

I. Articles written during the Beatles years, in chronological order.
II. Articles written about individual Beatles post-Beatles, arranged by individual.
III. Articles and essays about the Beatles legacy.

I knew quite a bit about the Beatles before reading this book, but I learned much that was new and interesting that has heightened my appreciation of these fine musician/songwriters and their legacy.

Five stars, and then some. A+

I loved the drawings !! Great depiction of a farm yard. Each animal had a distinct character and personality. The story line was very cute and clever. You don't think of animals as ever needing to be having a good time. Who couldn't relate to thinking they needed to have more fun?
Will there be more Red Rock Capers ??

This is a fantastic book for children. Those who live in the city find out just what goes on around a farm. I like the way the story keeps you in suspence and can not wait to find out what happens.

"Red Rock Capers" brings you right in on the action (from a dog's point of view) living on the farm! Illustrations are fantastic and really help to tell the story. Can't wait to read more of the series to my kids!

What a terrific book with great pictures and a fun story! Perfect for kids of all ages!

This is a wonderful children's book! Both thoughtful and playful, the story draws readers in, while the illustrations keep the action alive! I have sent a copy to each of the children in my life.

A must have book for all Versace fans.

Fantastic photography in another large book from Versace. This book captures the 'rock chic' glamourama which the late Versace excelled at creating. The association between 'Rock and Roll', and art is full indulged here creating a empirical illusion to the Versace dynasty. The glossy presentation of the images also adds to an overall feeling of luxury. The only reason I have not given this book the top rating is for its inclusion of Elton John - who makes me sick. So what if its expensive, luxuries like this don't come cheap. ciao,

Maureen Farquhar (maureenfarquhar@yahoo.com)

This book gives a look into the classic, Calabrian influenced, luxury of Versace. This volume serves as a record of the pure decadant genius of this mega Italian talent.

For all of you who loves Gianni Versace clothes and really admire what he had done to the world of fashion I recommend you to have this incredible book.

Gianni Versace was a designer who loved to push the envelope. His clothes were a mixture of extremes: sexy, sleazy, colorful, tacky, and elegant. One adjective you'd never find in a sentence with the word Versace is "boring." His clothes commanded--and often got--attention, which is why he was such a favorite among celebrities such as Madonna, Elton John, Liz Hurley, Courtney Love, Prince, Jon Bon Jovi and even Princess Diana. This book is a fabulous, eye-opening collection of vivid photographs of models and rock stars in Versace: from Prince to the members of British boy band Take That. Some outfits are more releaving than others, but they're all unmistakably Versace. Diana herself is also included in the book, along with a few words of praise for the designer. Tragically, Versace was murdered in the summer of 1997, but his spirit and influence live on. This book comes highly recommended. Drop it on your coffeetable, and your guests won't want to put it down.

Not only is Patterson's book the autobiography of a spunky New Mexico ranch girl who grew up with the romantic way of life that still exists in the West, it is a fascinating glimpse of Roswell, New Mexico, in the pre-alien era. A good read.

If you talk to anyone who grew up on a ranch, they always speak of the experience with awe. This fine book will help you understand why. Barbara Corn Patterson's vivid account of the joys and struggles of life on a southwest ranch will make you long to be a cowboy again, but for a different reason!

If you talk to anyone who grew up on a ranch, they always speak of the experience with awe. This fine book will help you understand why. Barbara Corn Patterson's vivid account of the joys and struggles of life on a southwest ranch will make you long to be a cowboy again, but for a different reason!

Looking for your next read? Well, here it is!
Ranch life in the good olds days was full of cattle
round-ups, hard labor, neighbors helping neighbors, ect.
There's all that and more at the Rock House!
Check it out!

The good old days with hard reality and simplicity at the same time! Fascinating memoir!

Great book to curl up on the couch with!