The Beatles and James Bond. Sax players and style. Miami music and mental health. Hip-hop and history. Music and culture go hand-in-hand next week. Let’s see what’s on the shelf:
Sideman: In Pursuit of the Next Gig
B Mark Rivera
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “While most successful sidemen are lucky to spend a decade in the music business, multi-instrumentalist Mark Rivera is working on his fifth. Best known as Billy Joel’s saxophonist as well as musical director for Ringo Starr and his All Starr Band, Rivera has shared the stage with some of rock ’n’ roll’s greatest performers, including John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Elton John, Simon & Garfunkel, Foreigner, Peter Frampton, Tony Bennett, Sheila E., Joe Walsh, Hall & Oates and Peter Gabriel. How does he do it while avoiding the typical pitfalls — falling out of favor with the band, burnout, depression? A devoted father and husband for nearly 40 years, Rivera’s recollections in Sideman demonstrate that while he struggled to balance the two worlds — a rock ’n’ roller circling the globe and a regular guy worried about putting food on the table — his body’s compulsion to always be playing music kept him in constant pursuit of “the next gig.” The sideman is put to the test as he recounts his past from the confines of a global pandemic, and the man accustomed to “keeping up with the music” is forced to put down his instruments and reflect. Full of optimism, humor, and candor, Rivera turns the spotlight on the sideman’s life, revealing not only what it takes to climb the industry ladder (and stay there), but something more surprising: A bit of ourselves rocking out amongst all those superstars.”
Rise and Shine: A Go-Go Legend
By Quentis Scott-Adams
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Rise and Shine: A Go-Go Legend chronicles the life of Jacquel “Reo” Edwards, beginning with his childhood as the son of sharecroppers to the path that began his successful rise and ultimate shine as a hit music producer, songwriter, and sound engineer in the go-go music genre. Reo wrote and/or produced many of the most popular songs along with the most popular bands in go-go history. Recognized as a legend throughout Washington, D.C., as well as in the Go-Go Hall of Fame in the National Museum of African American History, readers will relish Reo’s advice and guidance as to the methods and practices he used in creating hit songs. Rise and Shine: A Go-Go Legend is truly a brilliant, determined, focused, and faith-driven success story, both personally and professionally.”
Love and Let Die: James Bond, The Beatles, and the British Psyche
By John Higgs
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The Beatles are the biggest band in the history of pop music. James Bond is the most successful movie character of all time. They are also twins. Dr No, the first Bond film, and Love Me Do, the first Beatles record, were released on the same day: Friday, Oct. 5, 1962. Most countries can only dream of a cultural export becoming a worldwide phenomenon on this scale. For Britain to produce two iconic successes on this level, on the same windy October afternoon, is unprecedented. Bond and The Beatles present us with opposing values, visions of the British culture, and ideas about sexual identity. Love and Let Die is the story of a clash between working-class liberation and establishment control, and how it exploded on the global stage. It explains why James Bond hated The Beatles, why Paul McCartney wanted to be Bond, and why it was Ringo Starr who won the heart of a Bond Girl in the end. Told over a period of 60 dramatic years, this is an account of how two outsized cultural phenomena continue to define American aspirations, fantasies, and our ideas about ourselves. Looking at these two touchstones in this new context will forever change how you see The Beatles, the Bond films, and six decades of cross-Atlantic popular culture.”
The Beatles’ Liverpool
By Mike Haskins
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The Fab Four —John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr — were all born and brought up in Liverpool, and this illustrated guide reveals why the city was crucial to their musical success. Following in their footsteps and including a handy location map of iconic sites, the book explores the influence that these places had on their most famous singles. Readers will discover the significance of songs such as Strawberry Fields Forever and Penny Lane as well as iconic music venue The Cavern Club.”
Fresh Fly Fabulous: 50 Years of Hip Hop Style
By Elizabeth Way, Elena Romero
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “On a hot summer night in August of 1973, DJ Kool Herc and his sister Cindy put on a “back-to-school jam” in the rec room of their apartment block at 1520 Sedgwick Ave. in the West Bronx. The rest is history. The birth of hip-hop rippled out across the globe, influencing music and fashion for generations. Fresh Fly Fabulous: 50 Years of Hip Hop Style draws on the experiences and memories of those who were there, from a foreword by Slick Rick to interviews with Disco Fever club owner Sal Abbatiello and designers Dapper Dan and April Walker. Topics cover the range of hip-hop’s influential style over the past half-century, tracing the evolution from early days born of aspiration, individuality, and practicality to contemporary fashion steeped in luxury brands. Hip-hop style is a local story, told through spotlights on Times Square as an early fashion space, as well as an international phenomenon, shown in the prominence of hip-hop fashion leaders on red carpets. Inventiveness, the art of the remix, and a diverse set of influences are consistent themes in sections that examine hip hop style from hair and nails to shoes and sneakers. Fresh Fly Fabulous is the definitive source for hip-hop style, brought to life by the groundbreaking photographers who captured it firsthand, including Janette Beckman, Jamel Shabazz and Ernie Paniccioli.”
History of Miami Hip Hop, The: The Story of DJ Khaled, Pitbull, DJ Craze, and Other Contributors to South Florida’s Scene
By John Cordero
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “In the late ’90s, the music scene in Miami was at the infancy of becoming the multi-million dollar cultural and artistic force that it is today. Musicians like Pitbull, DJ Khaled and countless others staked Miami’s claim as the newest Mecca for hip-hop heads and graffiti artists. During this time, The Cipher was created. An independent newspaper that followed the scene and included reviews, interviews, essays, photos, and more, The Cipher was the choice source for discovering Miami’s underground. The History of Miami Hip Hop chronicles the ups and downs of this legendary rag during its short tenure. Author John Cordero presents both a memoir of his time as one of the newspaper’s creators, and an anthology of some of The Cipher’s greatest hits. Both a love letter to The Cipher as well as 1990s Miami, this narrative is an essential chapter in the history of hip-hop’s third coast. The book features never-before-seen photos of 1990s stars RZA, Ghostface Killah and Method Man of Wu-Tang, Andre 3000 of Outkast, Black Thought of The Roots, Phife of A Tribe Called Quest, Lil’ Kim, Aaliyah and artists that achieved global celebrity in the 2000s, like Destiny’s Child, The Black Eyed Peas, Timbaland, DJ Khaled and many more.”
Whole World in an Uproar: Music, Rebellion and Repression, 1955-1972
By Aaron Leonard
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Nearly 70 years since the radical music of the late 1950s first hit the airwaves, the anthems of the era continue to resonate with our current times. Through studying these musicians and the political contexts in which their pioneering songs were birthed; amidst paranoia, psychedelic delusions, desire and civil unrest; Aaron Leonard’s Whole World in an Uproar is an important new critical history of countercultural music, covering everything from rock’s early days to the unwelcome arrival of Bob Dylan to the Summer of Love — and beyond.”
Bodies: Life and Death in Music
By Ian Winwood
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Money, freedom, adoring fans: Professional musicians seem to have it all. But beneath the surface lies a frightening truth: For years the music industry has tolerated death, addiction and exploitation in the name of entertainment. In Bodies, Ian Winwood explores the industry’s reluctance to confront its many failures in a far-reaching story which features first-hand access to artists such as Foo Fighters, Green Day, Trent Reznor, Biffy Clyro, Kings of Leon, Chris Cornell, Mark Lanegan, Pearl Jam. Much more than a touchline reporter, Winwood also tells the tale of his own mental-health collapse following the shocking death of his father. Written with warmth, humour and bracing honesty, Bodies is a deeply personal story and essential reading for musicians and fans alike.”
