Lucinda and Madison share their stories, Miranda feeds your hunger, Lizzo gets animated, Van Halen and Eagles are put under the microscope, Dylan is brought back home, the roots of Chicago and the Coen brothers get examined — and they’re just some of the new titles to put on your list. Read all about ’em:
Don’t Tell Anybody the Secrets I Told You: A Memoir
By Lucinda Williams
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Lucinda Williams’ rise to fame was anything but easy. Raised in a working-class family in the Deep South, she moved from town to town each time her father — a poet, a textbook salesman, a professor, a lover of parties — got a new job, totaling 12 different places by the time she was 18. Her mother suffered from severe mental illness and was in and out of hospitals. And when Williams was about a year old, she had to have an emergency tracheotomy — an inauspicious start for a singing career. But she was also born a fighter, and she would develop a voice that has captivated millions. In Don’t Tell Anybody the Secrets I Told You, Williams takes readers through the events that shaped her music — from performing for family friends in her living room to singing at local high schools and colleges in Mexico City, to recording her first album with Folkway Records and headlining a sold-out show at Radio City Music Hall. She reveals the inspirations for her unforgettable lyrics, including the doomed love affairs with “poets on motorcycles” and the gothic southern landscapes of the many different towns of her youth, including Macon, Lake Charles, Baton Rouge, and New Orleans. Williams spent years working at health-food stores and record stores during the day so she could play music at night, and faced record companies who said her music was not “finished,” that it was “too country for rock and too rock for country.” But her fighting spirit persevered, leading to a hard-won success that spans 17 Grammy nominations and a legacy as one of the greatest and most influential songwriters of our time. Raw, intimate, and honest, Don’t Tell Anybody the Secrets I Told You is an evocative reflection on an extraordinary woman’s life journey.”
The Half of It: A Memoir
By Madison Beer
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “A memoir from singer-songwriter Madison Beer, chronicling the past decade of her life spent in the spotlight — the ups, the downs, and the in-betweens that you won’t see on social media. Discovered at 12 years old, Beer was one of the first artists to have her entire life documented online. Over the past decade, she has navigated the spotlight as a child, through her teenage years, and now as a young woman in her 20s. In The Half of It, Madison pulls back the curtain to show the behind-the-scenes of her journey, from reckoning with mass hate online and the time her private pictures were leaked, to battling suicidal thoughts while making her highly acclaimed debut album Life Support, and her recovery since then. This memoir is an honest and unflinching account of self-love, mental health, and advocacy from one of the fastest-rising musical voices and most influential social media presences of her generation. It hammers home the point, more striking and urgent than ever, that no matter how close the internet may make us feel to people, we truly don’t know the half of it.”
Bob Dylan in Minnesota: Troubadour Tales from Duluth, Hibbing and Dinkytown
By K G Miles
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Bob Dylan was born in Duluth, grew up in nearby Hibbing, and cut his musical teeth in the folk scene of Dinkytown. This travel guide brings together wonderful stories from these key locations and the roots and early life of Dylan. We also introduce you to four great contributors who live in Dylan’s homeland and play an active part in promoting everything Dylan. We travel back in time to hear stories from his early teacher, tales of the mysterious wandering rabbi, eye-witness accounts from early Dinkytown musical collaborators, as well as being privy to secrets from behind the scenes of the classic Blood On The Tracks album. Fascinating insights into the early life of one of the most important songwriters in music history — and told with Minnesota voices.”
Aladdin Sane 50
By Chris Duffy
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “On the 50th anniversary of David Bowie’s magical album, Aladdin Sane 50 is the ultimate celebration of a musical masterpiece — and the most famous photograph in pop history. This landmark book contains hundreds of photographs, including dozens of David from the Aladdin Sane session that have never been seen until now, 50 years since they were taken. Aladdin Sane 50 also features essays by renowned experts and authors Paul Morley, Charles Shaar Murray, Nicholas Pegg, Kevin Cann, Jérôme Soligny and Geoffrey Marsh on Bowie’s remarkable album and the story behind the famous cover. In a breathtaking package designed by long-time Bowie collaborators Barnbrook creative studio, Aladdin Sane 50 pays tribute to a seminal album and an iconic image, one that will live forever more in rock ‘’n’ roll history.”
Van Halen: Every Album, Every Song
By Morgan Brown
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Van Halen are arguably America’s greatest ever rock ’n’ roll band. From inauspicious roots as a backyard covers outfit, they went on to revolutionise and revitalise heavy rock, creating a world-conquering blend of heavy metal power, punk energy and pop hooks. Armed with staggering musical virtuosity and irresistible charisma, they sold millions of records and spawned legions of imitators. From their humble origins and meteoric rise, through some dark, troubled years, to their triumphant rebirth, the band produced a remarkable body of work. In this thorough and illuminating book, Morgan Brown guides us song by song through the band’s classic albums, charting their development from Sunset Strip upstarts to multi-platinum stadium rockers and beyond. We’ll examine the music’s ingredients and inspirations, and meet the characters behind the songs, including visionary guitar genius, the late Edward Van Halen, motormouth master showman David Lee Roth, and his replacement, powerful vocalist Sammy Hagar, who ushered in a new era for the band. Equally suitable for inquisitive new listeners or long-time fans, this book is both an in-depth guide to, and an enthusiastic celebration of the career of a truly legendary band. Feel like diving in? Well, as Roth said, go ahead and jump!”
Eagles: Every Album, Every Song
By John Van der Kiste
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Eagles began as a backing group for Linda Ronstadt, then realised they had the potential to strike out on their own. All being accomplished vocalists, musicians and songwriters, they jointly set themselves the goal of ‘number one singles and albums, great music, and a lot of money’. With guitarist Glenn Frey and drummer Don Henley as the combined driving force, by 1975, they had topped the singles and album charts at home, found major success in Britain and across the world, and established themselves as America’s foremost band. The global success of Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975 and Hotel California, to this day the first and third best-selling albums in America of all time, proved impossible to surpass, and after lineup changes, they disbanded in 1980. A ‘resumption’ in 1994 was cemented with the live/studio album Hell Freezes Over and their first studio album in 28 years, Long Road Out Of Eden, followed in 2007. After Frey’s death in 2016, they recruited new members, with a live schedule lasting into the 2020s post-pandemic era. This book recounts the rise, fall and rise again, with a detailed look at every track on each studio and live album, and an overview of original songs and cover versions recorded but never officially released.”
Nektar: Every Album, Every Song
By Scott Meze
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Of all the British bands that blasted to fame in rock’s golden age, Nektar remain the most mysterious and least documented. Because they chose to base themselves in West Germany, until now commentators in their native land have tended to overlook them. They’re all but excluded from prog’s official narrative even though Remember The Future is a classic of the genre and one of very few European art rock albums to conquer the US. This book reveals Nektar as much more than just a hit LP, celebrating a catalogue rich in works of equal stature which, uniquely for the time, poured so effortlessly from the players. Whether you know only the clutch of 1970s albums that are Nektar at the pinnacle, or you’ve followed their progress under leaders Roye Albrighton and now Derek Moore, here’s everything you need to complete your understanding of an agile, continuously intriguing and as distinctive as their covers, as dazzling as their light show, and as warm as their fans. It documents how Germany was both boon and bane for the band, how America tore them apart and pulled them back together, and how from Journey To The Centre Of The Eye to The Other Side, Nektar have a vision and a connection that brings them much closer to our small scared lives than any other band of their stature.”
Barbra Streisand: The Music, The Albums, The Singles
By Matt Howe
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “On Feb. 25, 1963, Columbia Records released The Barbra Streisand Album. The first song was Cry Me A River, and with that a star was born. Barbra Joan Streisand had a zany personality backed by a talent that Stephen Sondheim once described as “one of the two or three best voices in the world of singing songs,” adding “it’s not just her voice but her intensity, her passion and control.” Harold Arlen, another of her favorite composers, commented, ”This young lady … has a stunning future.” With all-male rock groups like The Beatles, The Beach Boys and The Four Seasons ruling the charts, no one expected a 20-year-old female singer from Brooklyn to not just hit No. 1, but repeat that accomplishment every decade that followed all the way to the next millennium and become the best-selling female recording artist of all time. Now, for the first time ever, comes the definitive book on the extensive recording career of this towering cultural icon, the Funny Girl considered by many to be the most talented singer of her generation. Barbra Streisand: The Albums, The Singles, The Music takes readers on a journey through every album, soundtrack, and single Streisand has released.”
Y’all Eat Yet?: Welcome to the Pretty B*tchin’ Kitchen
By Miranda Lambert
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “If you’re going to have a Bitchin Kitchen, you’re going to need a few things — plenty of room, plenty of good food for sharing, high spirits (in both senses) and all the friends and family you can fit. For Miranda Lambert, a good time means sharing a great meal with the women who helped raise her back in Texas — her mom and a colorful bunch of best friends who could raise the roof, come through in a pinch, celebrate, cry, and really, really cook. Lambert invites readers into this special circle of sisterhood with collection of recipes and stories. Y’all Eat Yet? is full of recipes for meals that fill your belly, and your soul, food meant to be shared, meant to be eaten with your fingers off of paper plates, or on your fanciest antique China. Some were handed down to Miranda from her mom and grandma, some come from the circle of cherished friends who helped raise her, and all of them are meant to be easy to prepare and shared with those you love. True to Miranda’s personality, Y’all Eat Yet? is sassy and inviting. Whether she’s cooking up omelets in her tricked-out Airstream to serve with Mimosas or laying out the Whiskey cupcakes next to Nonny’s Banana pudding, Y’all Eat Yet? delivers food you want to make alongside charming stories that show just why Lambert is one of the most beloved artists in country music today.”
The DJ Who Brought Down the USSR: The Life and Legacy of Seva Novgorodsev
By Michelle Daniel
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Of the many Cold War radio DJs who broadcast to the USSR, Seva Novgorodsev must be near the top of the list. A masterful BBC presenter, Seva was considered a sage of rock ’n’ roll. His programs introduced forbidden western popular music and culture into the USSR, rendering him an “enemy voice” and ideological saboteur to the Central Committee of the Communist Party. Despite KGB threats and constant media pillorying, Seva remained on the air for 38 years, acquiring millions of listeners all across the breadth of the USSR and beyond. He became a cult phenomenon, dismantling the Soviet way of life in the hearts and minds of youth. This is the story of Russia’s first and best-known DJ.”
Fender Electric Guitars & Basses 2002-2006
By Michael Tonn
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Fender is an iconic musical instrument American brand name, known by countless people throughout the world. This book is written about Fender electric guitars and basses. However, what makes this book unique and unlike anything written before, is that this book was written from “the inside”, by the person responsible for bringing these instruments to market. This book takes the reader inside of the company, the factories, the processes, and the thinking, in building the brand name and tradition that Leo Fender started in 1946. A behind-the-scenes look at manufacturing and release of the firm’s electric guitars and basses between the years 2002-’06. The stories behind each model — the what, why, where and when, which — includea 115 price list models shown and explained in nice colorful pictures. The detailed specs and facts behind each model reside in the text. There are also 30 models, many of which have never been seen before also described as the book concludes. There were hundreds of thousands of these instruments sold during this time period — some of which are still in the Fender assortment. Perhaps you own one. This is the first time the entire story of these instruments being created has been told.”
Country and Midwestern: Chicago in the History of Country Music and the Folk Revival
By Mark Guarino
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Chicago is revered as a musical breeding ground, having launched major figures like blues legend Muddy Waters, gospel soul icon Mavis Staples, hip-hop firebrand Kanye West, and the jazz-rock band that shares its name with the city. Far less known, however, is the vital role Chicago played in the rise of prewar country music, the folk revival of the 1950s and 1960s, and the contemporary offspring of those scenes. In Country And Midwestern, veteran journalist Mark Guarino tells the epic century-long story of Chicago’s influence on sounds typically associated with regions further south. Drawing on hundreds of interviews and deep archival research, Guarino tells a forgotten story of music, migration, and the ways that rural culture infiltrated urban communities through the radio, the automobile, and the railroad. Guarino chronicles the makeshift niche scenes like Hillbilly Heaven in Uptown, where thousands of relocated Southerners created their own hardscrabble honky-tonk subculture, as well as the 1960s rise of the Old Town School of Folk Music, which eventually brought national attention to local luminaries like John Prine and Steve Goodman. The story continues through the end of the 20th century and into the present day, where artists like Jon Langford, The Handsome Family and Wilco meld contemporary experimentation with country traditions. Featuring a foreword from Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Robbie Fulks, Country And Midwestern rediscovers a history as sprawling as the Windy City.”
The Coen Brothers and American Roots Music
By Jesse Gerlach Ulmer
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “For more than three decades, Joel and Ethan Coen have produced some of the most memorable and influential American roots music soundtracks in film history. From Raising Arizona (1987) to O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) to Inside Llewyn Davis (2013), the Coens, along with musical archivist and producer T-Bone Burnett, have curated half-forgotten yet unforgettable genres, artists and songs from America’s cultural past for new audiences. This book is the first devoted to giving a full account of this rich cinematic legacy.”
Female Force: Lizzo
By Darren G Davis & Pablo Martinena
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Melissa Viviane Jefferson became the iconic singer Lizzo though challenges as well as triumphs. Lizzo, born in Detroit, raised in Texas and based until recently in Minneapolis, started rapping at 10 and, by 14, formed her first musical group. She has risen to the top of the charts and has become a voice for this generation. Reading her life story will convince you she’s an authentic female force.”
