Music Books

I loved this book, although it broke my heart to think of what happened to the sweet, caring, fun-loving young boy later in life. June is so "real", I felt I would love to have been one of her friends. I also purchased the DVD "Elvis and June" and once again after seeing June on the DVD thought she was a really fun, strong woman. It was indeed a special time for Elvis and June and she shares her memories freely. The end of their love story was so sad, I wished there had been a way to "rewrite" history to make them both as happy as they had been that wonderful summer. Highly recommended.

This book was very enjoyable to read. It gives lots of insight to Elvis and what he was like when he was just starting out in the music business. Decisions that were made and promises broken but such a great story. Any Elvis fan would enjoy reading this story.

I did love this book. I only wish the book didn't end. At the end I was wanting more!

A very good experience. I received the product in a timely manner and did not incur any problems.

I'm a huge Elvis fan and have read a lot of books on him. This book is one of my faves. It shows a sweet, funny, and sexy side of him before he hit it big. June did a great job on this book and really shows Elvis in a wonderful light. Not only is it a great story about him, but it's a great love story in general. Highly recommended!

I really enjoyed reading this book in fact I read it twice. The bond that Eddie Levert has with his family is remarkable.The love and respect that he has for his ex wife Martha Levert is admirable, though they had their differences according to the book.Also even though Gerald Levert was a star he was always family 1st.I have read a lot of books about famous celebrities,and I have to say this one took the cake. Kudos also to Lyah Beth Leflore.

this is a very heart felt book i like how close they were as father and son and know how far to go with each other as friend

I love eddie levert as well as gerald levert I enjoyed the read and realize they shared a special relationship I will proudly add this book to my biography collection

I just received this book on Monday, December 17, 2007 and I finished it today. This is a lovely book to give to anyone as a gift. Regardless of how famous Eddie & Gerald Levert became as music artist. The family bond is powerful. The relationship of father and son is awesome. The mother of Eddie's children is given the utmost respect of how she held this family together with her love and strength. I'm a single mom and I learned so much about my own relationship that I had with my father when he was alive and the relationship I'm developing with my daughter.

I thought this was a very poignant novel it's goes through the ups and downs of their relationship and also what it's like to be in the music business. Although Gerald Levert will be missed his memory will carry on thru. Put it on your miss read list.

Looking through the book again after all these years. Back when a fast modem was 14.4 and AOheLl was new. It is good to see the faces and the "Stories We Could Tell" To learn of the 'roots' of Parrot Head Madness, this book is a must. Phlockings keep us from Growing Older But Not Up. Great to re-live the moments captured in the photos of "The Evolution of a PHan" Happy to see they are not Poloroids barely in PHocus. We can look at when we finally slow down. Great job Jackson (BubbaFreak) Quigley
"Bank Of Bad Habits" Card carrier 282

BubbaJePH
the Bubba of Buckroe

PHinally, the PHirst and PHinal PHixating PHlourish of PHan-PHlocking-tastic PHlockings, PHilosoPHy, PHreaks (BubbaFreak), and PHriends--da collectors' Book set.

It's worth any price--if only to see all the other PHans that you may have only heard about on the internet, or just IM'ed or emailed once--even ole Unca Rum is in da book.. hehehehe (you'll have to buy it and read it to find me--I'm not naming pages.. lol)

My personalized copy cost me a tix to Jimmy's Initial N'awlins Arena Bash (for BubbaFreak), and it was more than worth it. =)

The best part of this book, isn't Jimmy Buffett, but the PHs and their PHlockings that make wasted away in Margaritaville on island time a national pastime PHor those that love a bit of escapism PHrom modern times.

At a time when too many downplay healthy escapism, Jackson shows how da PHlock merges good old PHasioned PHun with more than just a lil bit of charitable civil involvement. Party hard--but also help others, harder...

BTW, I hear there will be a copy of BubbaFreak (Jackson) and Rum showing off their outlawed Bank of Bad Habits ATM cards in the sequal. =)

A parrot-heads `Alice in Wonderland".
I over paid for an autographed copy of this book at our club's annual charity event, and have loved every page - A must for your collection. -Beverly Metzger, Chicago, IL.

I usally don't write reviews but i am making an exception. If you are a parrot head or wondering what one is. this book is a must have. It is well written and the information is great. Alll around fun book. And if you ever went to a concert watch out you might be in the book:-)

You all read my pre-review: "It was 1971 and had been a long 3 months at sea and Subic Bay looked mighty good. I hooked up with my old Honey Ko, had a few San Miguel's and headed for the hotel...a shower, shave and then to bed. In the middle of a very passionate session she blurted out "Jackson Quigley". I could live with that. Afterall, I'd never promised her anything. Marriage was the last thing on my mind. Later, as she reach climax, she yelled out "JimmyDOTcom". For some silly reason I took that as an omen and the search began. 30 years later I finally found the answer......"
Now that it's here, the book is much more than I had hoped for. The amount of research and work Jackson put into this is incredible...... thankfully the "research" was enjoyable. To say this captures the "whole" parrothead experience is an understatement. Years from now (or this evening) when someone asks what a parrothead is, just hand them this. This will do what you could never put into just words and will more than answer the question. I'm just wondering what future civilizations will think when they uncover this in someone's library.... phins up, Mayday.

If you are a Music Educator, this book will help you to be a more effective teacher and will keep you from going crazy trying to figure out how to present all those music concepts on your list. The book is well organized, relevant and easy to understand. Believe me, everything you need to teach wonderful music lessons is in this book. There are song suggestions for every part of your lessons and many ideas for making your lessons more creative and powerful. After almost 30 years as a Music Educator, I am so grateful to have this tool and support for my teaching.

I bought this book after hearing about it on the MENC boards. It is packed full of great information about organizing curriculum, and offers many ideas that you can incorporate immediately into the classroom. Worth every penny!

Kodaly Today is an awesome book! It has everything, like how to plug in your lesson plans, which repertoire to use for each concept taught, and much more. The teaching procedures in this book will guide you to help your students develop musically in more ways than you think. It is a resource that is beautifully organized and a pleasure to read. Whether you see your kids every day or twice a month - every music teacher should have this book, it's amazing. I love it and can't wait to try it this new school year!

This is an incredibly valuable resource. As a classically trained pianist and choral singer, and a new K-5 Music Teacher, I have found the Kodaly approach very effective and this book has organized the objectives and strategies beautifully. I highly recommend Kodaly Today!

Kodaly Today fills a large and problematic gap in music education in the United States. Many people graduate from universities knowing the concepts that are to be taught in elementary school, but do not understand how to go about presenting them. With Kodaly Today, we finally have a book that lays out a detailed, sequential, creative, and interesting music curriculum for the elementary level. Teachers are given methods and techniques to use in presenting and practicing new and known material. Gone are the days where the Kodaly classroom used only singing and games. The approach presented in Kodaly Today incorporates the use of instruments (xylophones and unpitched percussions) in the practice portion of the lessons, and allows for a high level of creativity and musicianship to be achieved by both the student and teacher.

Another reviewer referred to Kodaly Today as the "Kodaly Bible" and I wholeheartedly agree. Nowhere else have I seen such a detailed and comprehensive text that gives the music educator everything s/he may ever need to know to be a successful teacher. Kodaly Today has teaching strategies, song lists, monthly plans, philosophy, assessment, listening examples, and the list could go on and on. As a music educator, I am so grateful to have Kodaly Today in my hands, because I will no longer have to search through book after book to find the information or resources I need. It's all in Kodaly Today.

This is an amazing book. The concepts make immediate sense as they are explained. Once the book is finished, you will have a thorough conceptual understanding of how and why relativity must work.

This book is a precious aid to help you develop your intuition about both special and general relativity. If you, like me, are someone who relies and feels comfortable more with intuition then reasoning, memory and abstractions, you have probably experienced quite a bit of discomfort studying and thinking about relativity. In other areas of physics, even quantum physics, you might have been able to come up with some sort of intuitive feel, but relativity, just a big void and a sense of "what this guys are taking about?". It's just about the fact that light velocity and strong gravitational fields are so outside of our reach that our intuition has nothing to work with, not even the "little balls" of particle physics.
Well this book is really helpful in starting to develop a visual and "gut" feel about relativity. Sometimes the drawings get a bit too fancy and confused, and you should avoid the pitfall of being led to believe you areally understand relativity just because you made something out of this book, but still it's a worthy, interesting and unusual read that will surely add something to your understanding.

This book provides a basic look at the What of relativity... but is seriously flawed when explaining the Why. And this is very problematic in a book that is constantly claiming that it's "showing" you why a fact about relativity is true. Epstein keeps "proving" things but when you really look at it he hasn't proven anything at all and you don't really understand relativity any better. For example, he loves schematic diagrams, and showing how something is true because it looks a certain way in a diagram. But just drawing something in a diagram and saying, "See, that's the way time works because that's how the line looks on the diagram" proves nothing. Why does the diagram represent reality? And why must the diagram be drawn in exactly the way he did? And the "diagram proofs" are just a symptom of the bigger problem here: a lack of valid argument to back up conclusions, and an overall lack of rigor throughout the book, from the terms used to the methods utilized for demonstration. Read this book if you are new to relativity and want to get an initial grasp of what it's about and the kind of phenomena it entails. But don't make the mistake of being fooled into thinking you're really undertsanding relativity, because for the most part you're not.

This is the best introductory book on relativity, period. What makes it different from others is how much it emphasizes a visual approach to the subject. The diagrams are not there merely to help you understand the main text; they are an integral part of the main text.

Even if you understand the basic concepts of relativity, you will probably learn something new. Consider, for instance, the following passage: "The reason you can't go faster than the speed of light is that... everything, including you, is always moving at the speed of light. How can you be moving if you are at rest in a chair? You are moving through time." Accompanying diagrams then clearly show how this is so, and how time dilation follows from it.

The theory of Relativity was Einstein's conceptual framework for explaining some weirdnesses physicists had uncovered about the way light waves, fast-moving objects, objects in heavy gravitational fields, etc. behave. Relativity is hard to understand partly because their behavior is hard to grasp -- it defies both one's normal intuition and the rules of Newtonian mechanics. So first off this book excels in explaining exactly what the weirdness is, what it was that had physicists scratching their heads in confusion and disbelief.

But Relativity is also hard to understand because of a lack of a simple explanation, a way of picturing what's going on. And this is the true value of this book, that it provides this type of concept.

By analogy, if you follow the motions of the planets with a telescope, you see them speeding up, slowing down, even reversing direction, in a way that would be hard to justify on simple principles... until you make the sun rather than the earth the stationary frame of reference. Then all that seemingly complicated motion reduces to simple elliptical orbits. And more importantly, this explanation gives you the sense of "getting it" conceptually. It's that kind of idea -- what the author calls a "myth" -- that this book uniquely provides for Relativity.

The ideas presented not only make Relativity comprehensible, they also hold up quantitatively (e.g. how much does one's clock slow down, how much does a body shrink, etc.)

Galileo's helio-centric writings got him into trouble with the Church, and he was forced to recant. In effect he said that he didn't mean that the Earth rotated around the Sun, only that the math is simpler with the Sun as a frame of reference. That the motions of the planets were calculable, but not comprehensible, was sufficient for the Church to spare his life.

To this day, Quantum physics remains mathematically rigorous and in perfect agreement with experiment, but no one understands it. It is my fondest wish that someone some day will come up with a conceptual touchstone for grasping Quantum physics that is as powerfully intuitive as what this author has come up with for Relativity.

I do have one caveat, which is that this book does not distinguish between Special and General Relativity. He never mentions uniform vs. accelerated motion. Although he does seem to explain some phenomena that I thought fell into General Relativity, I also thought I recognized one or two places where his explanation breaks down if General Relativity were taken into consideration.

The book "Sound Design", the expressive power of music, voice, and sound effects in cinema, is one of my favorite in my collection. I always recommend it to colleagues and customer. During my technical seminars-workshop and product training sessions, I have often taken inspiration from the book, particularly the sections "TRY THIS" that the author has included in various parts inside it.

The book is written with great passion!

Sonnenschein effectively covers the theory behind shaping the soundtrack, and gives great examples of the ideas in action. I loved the candid quotes from masters like Ben Burtt, Gary Rydstrom, Walter Murch, Dane Davis, and others. I started noting down all of the films he mentions as examples of good sound design, until I noticed Sonnenschein was one step ahead and had already noted them all in the back. Only 4 stars 'cause I personally wanted more technique and a little less theory.

This eloquently written book describes the rhyme and reason behind all the sounds - music, effects, and dialogue - that are blended together to create the sophisticated soundtracks we're accustomed to. Sonnenschein, a director, musician, and award-winning sound designer, combines practical wisdom with sound theory and exercises to inspire and educate both new and experienced sound professionals. The book will appeal to non-professionals and other filmmakers as well because it's fun, entertaining, and enlightening. The author clearly loves and knows the world of sound and it's a joy to be brought into this world.

This was an interesting book, and it really gave me some new perspectives on sound design. Sonnenschein focuses on the organization and mindset of sound design, rather than the technicalities. I especially liked the excerpts from top sound designers such as Dane Davis (The Matrix, Drugstore Cowboy), Gary Rydstrom (Backdraft, Saving Private Ryan), and Ben Burtt (Star Wars, Indiana Jones).

My only knock on the book is that Sonnenschein was repetitive at times. The book would be about 30 pages shorter if he didn't repeat points that were made in previous chapters. Never the less, it was an interesting read, and I still think it is a great resource.

I am very glad, that I found this book. It helps me think about making sound design in a very deep point of view.
I love it!!!
Thank you David Sonnenschein:-)

Jan Sleska
student of sound engineering

This personal narrative set in the midst of global history is a tremendous story. A touching and humorous account of an unforgettable era, told with skill. Couldn't put it down until it was finished. One reads it thinking, "This would make a wonderful movie."

This book is a compelling story about a young man who grows up on the outskirts of Birmingham, Alabama on his family farm and goes on to serve his country in World War II. Sacco made the unique decision of telling the story in his father's voice, which adds to the authenticity of the account.

This tactic also makes the writing come across as glib in places. While the elder Sacco tells anecdotes about bad food, and seemingly endless hours of drills in all types of weather, he glosses over some of these hardships as the story moves on. The book would have been strengthened a bit if the author had filled in some of those gaps for the reader. The liberation of Dachau gets surprisingly few pages, as one would expect this event to be the pinnacle of the young soldier's life.

However, there are a number of places where Sacco's first hand account proves very effective: The story is full of wiseacre remarks about the shape of a woman, and while these types of comments aren't acceptable in our time, in most circles, they add to the realistic feel of a group of young GIs serving half a world away usually without female companionship.

Sacco's account of the group dynamics in his unit is fascinating. There are a number of anecdotes about race relations in the Army. The elder Sacco seems to pride himself on having been more enlightened than some in his time, in part because he himself experienced prejudice. Finally, his account of falling in love with a young woman named Monique during a stint in a small French village on the border with Germany is truly riveting.

In sum, the book seems to serve as a realistic account of military service and of the horror of war. And while I was disappointed by the casual telling of the story in some places, one has the sense that the elder Sacco's sense of humor, combined with his ability to minimize certain aspects of his tough experience, helped to keep him going during some of the most harrowing experiences of his life. Indeed, the author's style provided plenty of comic relief. This book is more for those who like biographies rather than those who want a straightforward account of the facts and dates associated with these historic events.

I concur with the excellent reviews preceeding mine. This is a beautifully written account of the guys from the 192nd Signal Battalion from basic training to the end of World War II. I'd like to identify three significant elements undergirding this excellent account of the incredible fortitude of teenagers turned warriers in a brutal environment. First, Joe Sacco and his buddies had the immense good fortune of being under the capable direction of First Sargeant Ernest Thomas. His presence in the background is a constant element in keeping these young men the best that they could be. Next, Joe Sacco and his buddies were among those who forever identify themselves as members of "Patton's Army". Through Joe's eyes we can appreciate the inspirational leadership he offered in the worst of times. Last, these guys were such good guys--in their treatment of little children, a child German soldier, and others, it makes one so proud of all those very young American soldiers who could see the worst, and yet keep their faith in the importance of each human being.

Superbly written! At once epic in scope and intimate in detail, WHERE THE BIRDS NEVER SING effortlessly transports even a casual reader on an emotional and unforgettable journey. Author Jack Sacco masterfully recounts the true story of his father, Joe Sacco, an American GI in World War II. Instead of using the tired genre of third-person documentary-style writing to tell the tale, the author speaks in the first person, through the eyes of his father. The result is one of the most powerful and honestly moving accounts of the human drama in World War II in recent memory.

The story begins in 1943 on a farm in Alabama, when the young Joe Sacco receives a letter informing him that he has been drafted into the service. From there, it seamlessly moves through his training with the 92nd Signal Battalion, shipping out to England (where the soldiers witnessed the stirring and famous speech by General Patton), landing at Omaha Beach in Normandy, surviving the Battle of the Bulge and fighting their way across Nazi Germany to eventually arrive at the notorious concentration camp at Dachau by war's end.

The book, already powerful and moving up until that point, then takes the reader to a new level of realism as horrifying details of the camp are revealed. Considering all he had seen and experienced since landing at Normandy, the emotional response of the young Joe Sacco to the carnage inside Dachau may leave the reader near tears. Rarely, if ever, has there been a written account of the reality of the concentration camps so graphic, gripping or compelling. As if that wasn't enough, Jack Sacco has included actual historic photographs his father took during the dramatic liberation.

All along the way, the author crafts memorable and beautifully written scenes, from the terrors of battle to the tranquility of a snowfall in the forests of Alsace-Lorraine, from the sorrows of the death of a buddy to the simple joy of decorating a makeshift Christmas tree with gum wrappers. In describing the emotions of the men before leaving Dachau, Sacco writes, "Now, after a year of combat, each of us finally and forever understood why destiny had called us to travel so far away from the land of our birth and fight for people we did not know. And so it was here, in this place abandoned by God and accursed by men, that we came to discover the meaning of our mission."

This is not another book about World War II. It's an intimate journey into the heart of an American soldier, and as such, it is as triumphant as the men it depicts. Readers will not only delight in WHERE THE BIRDS NEVER SING, they will gain a new appreciation for the accomplishments of their own fathers, uncles and grandfathers who may have served in World War II as part of the Greatest Generation.

Where The Birds Never Sing is the story of Joe Sacco's years in the army during WWII as written by his son Jack. From the time he was drafted until the time that he returns home we live with Joe as he experiences everything from basic training to the liberation of Dachau, which left Joe and the men of his company, soldiers who had witnessed everything that war has to offer, speachless and sickened. It also, as Joe so eloquently tells us, brought home, all too clearly, to these soldiers just why they had left their homes to "fight for a people we did not know."

A remarkable story about a remarkable man. This book must be read by all who are interested in "The Greatest Generation."

I love Michael Jackson. Every fan should have this book, it means so much to experience his literary voice. He is so good at putting the right sounds together that I enjoy reading his poetry out loud. If you're a fan, get it. Just do.

I've loved this book ever since I checked it out from the library years ago. Now, I finally own it and I read it almost every day. The writings are very deep and insightful, and the pictures are beautiful. (My favorite pic is on page 62. :D) If you're an MJ fan you HAVE to have this book, or at least read it at the library or something.

Dancing the dream is a glimpse into the soul of Michael Jackson. It's a must have for any fan. It gives you a MUCH MUCH MUCH better idea of who he is than his 'autobiography' Moonwalk (which was little more than a recounting of his career). This book shows you the idealistic, perhaps naive, and sometimes sappy core of Michael.

If you're looking for the world's best poetry or writings, this isn't it. But if you're looking for a glimpse of Michael Jackson's heart, if you want to escape the harsh realities of everyday life and indulge in the idealistic dreams of someone who genuinely looks for the good in the world, then this is the book for you.

Any time I'm feeling down, I can always pick up this book and read a few pages and it always makes me feel better :)

After checking it out from the library, reading it twice, and not wanting to return it, I had to have my own copy, which I just received (used) from this site.

It is truly inspiring and I will undoubtedly read through it many times in the days and years to come when I'm feeling down and need a lift in my spirit.

Best 8 bucks I've spent in many moons.

This book is truly amazing and has so much insight on different things. You see Michael in a completely different light. It was almost like it was written directly for me. It had everything that i needed/wanted to hear, especially about trust and courage and even about the love of God. It was like it was direct advice to me personally. I like this book so much that i think anybody would enjoy it. It's so beautiful. You really get to see his pain and what's going on inside his head and i think if everyone read it, they would be like, "Wait, Michael Jackson wrote all of these?" He's so talented and i love him even more after reading this book. By the way, the pictures are great, i love them all!

This is a simply lovely book. I was a music student at Yale a few years before the author studied at Curtis, and his book invokes that time for me as if it were yesterday. I think anyone would enjoy it greatly even beyond the music, for it shows how four highly talented, strongly opinionated, dynamic men could blend into a coherent group - in their case, to make music, but law partners (I changed careers) could learn a lot from their example. A wonderful book.

This book was a joy to read. Not only is Arnold Steinhardt a superb violinist, he's also a very good writer. No doubt it helps to appreciate this book if you're a fan of the Guarneri Quartet and a lover of the string quartet literature, but I found Steinhardt so charming, and the story so compelling, I imagine the book might have a broader appeal. It's a story of a kid pursuing a dream, then the kid and the dream both maturing while a love of chamber music develops, which then requires the dream of solo stardom to give way to a lifelong collaboration with three others. The three others, of course, share his passion for chamber music, and particularly for that ineffable, almost perfect form they choose to make their life's work together. They start out exploring and experimenting, with hardly a penny. They grope their way towards playing as an ensemble, gradually become established, and then come the constant touring, recording, families. They learn how to stay together by creating boundaries, and they stay together for over four decades (although the original cellist retired before the rest, this book was written before his retirement).

We meet a lot of famous musicians, and there are many interesting and sometimes humorous anecdotes, but the most interesting parts of the book have to do with the music and its making. Steinhardt mentions the cavatina from Beethoven's Op. 130 more than any other piece or movement - clearly it's had a special place in his life. I saw the Guarneri a few months ago, during their final season, and it was bittersweet. They played Beethoven's Op. 74 and his Op. 130 with the Op. 133 Grosse Fuge as the final movement. It was magnificent. I prefer their late Beethoven to anyone else's. Mr. Steinhardt looked liked he'd aged considerably in only a year or so. I'll miss them. I'm grateful to have this book along with their recordings now that they're retiring.

I would recommend this book for any musician, especially a member of an ensemble. This book gives a good insight of the personal dynamics between the members and why they have been successful and together for so many years.

excellent study of the dynamics of a string quartet, or any group of individuals working for a single goal.

Fantastic read for any instrumentalist, especially if youve played in any type of small ensemble.Highly recommended.

This book is great for a K-2 general music lesson. It has a great introduction to jazz music and improvisation. All my students wanted to hear more jazz and move to jazz after reading this book. Can also be easily used as a sub lesson, since the whole book is on CD.

I first heard the cd that comes with this book when my 5th grade teacher played it in class. Everyone stopped what they were doing to listen even two kids who hardly ever stop talking. My teacher's a drummer and so am I so we LOVED the jazz beat. I read that another reviewer thought the beats were on 1 and 3. Anyone can hear the hi-hat clicking on beats 2 and 4. This is real jazz played by real jazz musicians! (I don't think that reviewer is a musician.) The thing I liked most about The Jazz Fly besides the music, was the illustrations and the way it introduce scat as a kind of language. It IS a language, ZA-BA-ZA-BOO-ZA-BA. Everyone can speak it their own way.

This book is solid! One of the best books on the market today about jazz for young kids. This is the story of a jazz fly who ultimately gigs on drums at a club following his encounters with several other creatures. The fly riffs off their contributions to create his own improvised session. Children love the rhyme scheme and enjoy scatting to the sounds of za ba za boo za ba zee za ro nee ... Read it aloud and children can't resist trying to repeat the syllables in song. The book is sold with a CD that compliments the text and informs the reader on how it should be read aloud rhythmically. I highly recommend this book to anyone who teaches young children or has a child of their own that they want to expose to jazz.

I've given several copies of this book/CD as gifts to my friend's children. It's always enthusiastically received.

Most conventional music education seems to ignore jazz, which is puzzling since it is our own music, not a European implant. Matthew Golub has found a way to make the learning process truly enjoyable. The rhythms are infectious; you find yourself singing along with the CD. And the cartoon-like text is fun for children of all ages. This is a book to own, if you have a musically inclined child.

Jazz can get elitest sometimes. Jazz musicians can narrowly define jazz as only rhythm change or blues. I love this book because it does not put jazz in a box - it gives life to jazz sounds. This book gives kids and those who read to kids a chance to just "dig it." There is no over-emphasizing the roots of jazz or making the rhythm too complicated to follow, it's just a fun introduction to different scat sounds that even a little kid can relate to and follow.