Geddy Lee and The Grateful Dead. Dave Mason and Mal Evans. Tariq Trotter and Twin/Tone. Billie Eilish and Elmer Bernstein. Johnny Cash and Joe Cocker. Immediate and Arhoolie. Where to begin? At the beginning, of course. Let’s crack the covers:
My Effin’ Life
By Geddy Lee
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Geddy Lee is one of rock ’n’ roll’s most respected bassists. For nearly five decades, his playing and work as co-writer, vocalist and keyboardist has been an essential part of the success story of Canadian progressive rock trio Rush. Here for the first time is his account of life inside and outside the band. Long before Rush accumulated more consecutive gold and platinum records than any rock band after The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, before the seven Grammy nominations or the countless electrifying live performances across the globe, Lee was Gershon Eliezer Weinrib. As he recounts the transformation, Lee looks back on his family, in particular his loving parents and their horrific experiences as teenagers during World War II. He talks candidly about his childhood and the pursuit of music that led him to drop out of high school. He tracks the history of Rush, which, after early struggles, exploded into one of the most beloved bands of all time. He shares intimate stories of his lifelong friendships with bandmates Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart — deeply mourning Peart’s recent passing — and reveals his obsessions in music and beyond. This rich brew of honesty, humor, and loss makes for a uniquely poignant memoir.”
The Upcycled Self: A Memoir On The Art of Becoming Who We Are
By Tariq Trotter
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Today, Tariq Trotter — better known as Black Thought — is the platinum-selling, Grammy-winning co-founder of The Roots and one of the most exhilaratingly skillful and profound rappers our culture has ever produced. But his story begins with a tragedy: As a child, Trotter burned down his family’s home. The years that follow are the story of a life snatched from the flames, forged in fire. In The Upcycled Self, Trotter doesn’t only narrate a riveting and moving portrait of the artist as a young man, he gives readers a courageous model of what it means to live an examined life. In vivid vignettes, he tells the dramatic stories of the four powerful relationships that shaped him — with community, friends, art, and family — each a complex weave of love, discovery, trauma, and loss. And beyond offering the compellingly poetic account of one artist’s creative and emotional origins, Trotter explores the vital questions we all have to confront about our formative years: How can we see the story of our own young lives clearly? How do we use that story to understand who we’ve become? How do we forgive the people who loved and hurt us? How do we rediscover and honor our first dreams? And, finally, what do we take forward, what do we pass on, what do we leave behind? This is the beautifully bluesy story of a boy genius’s coming-of-age that illuminates the redemptive power of the upcycle.”
Euphoric Recall: A Half Century as a Music Fan, Producer, DJ, Record Executive, and Tastemaker
By Peter Jesperson
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “A passionate music fan since his early childhood, Peter Jesperson found his way into Minneapolis’s burgeoning music world of the 1970s and followed a path that put him at the center of the scene as it grew and blossomed. In 1977, Jesperson, along with two partners, founded Twin/Tone Records, which over the next 20 years released more than 300 records, including by such groundbreaking artists as Suburbs, Soul Asylum, Babes in Toyland, Jayhawks and many more. Just three years after starting Twin/Tone, Jesperson made the discovery that changed his life, and the Minneapolis music world, forever: The Replacements. As A&R man and then full manager, he guided the development of this talented and out-of-control foursome, while taking a break to road-manage an upcoming sensation out of Athens, Georgia: R.E.M. But as his career was on the rise in the wild ’80s, Jesperson began his own descent into substance abuse, until he overcame his demons and launched a second act in the industry. In Euphoric Recall, Jesperson speaks frankly about his struggle with drugs and alcohol, and how it nearly derailed his career and his life. Motivated by his love of music, Jesperson rallied to pick up where he left off before heading west to begin his next phase in Los Angeles. While working alongside such noteworthy artists as Dwight Yoakam, Kris Kristofferson, Vic Chesnutt and Steve Earle, Jesperson experienced firsthand the dramatic changes in the music industry of the 1990s. Through it all, he has retained his passion for the industry and the art, and now, after a half-century in the music business, Jesperson shares his insights, anecdotes, and lessons from his unique vantage point.”
Only You Know and I Know
By Dave Mason & Chris Epting
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “A co-founder of the legendary band Traffic, Dave Mason’s musical path started strong and only grew more significant over time. In addition to his renowned work as a revered guitar player and singer-songwriter (who penned Feelin’ Alright, one of rock’s most-covered anthems, when he was only 21), Mason has appeared on some of the most acclaimed recordings in music history, including The Spencer Davis Group’s Gimme Some Lovin,’ George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass album, The Rolling Stones’ Street Fighting Man and close friend Jimi Hendrix’s classic All Along the Watchtower. After leaving Traffic, Dave’s popularity exploded with the release of his debut solo album, Alone Together, igniting one of the most successful careers of the 1970s — marked by sell-out performances at Madison Square Garden and requests from artists such as Paul McCartney, who recruited Dave to play guitar on Wings’ No. 1 hit Listen To What The Man Said. But the triumphs didn’t come without hurdles. By the mid-1970s, cocaine and a seemingly endless touring schedule began to take their toll. Here, for the first time, Dave shares some of the great untold tales in rock ’n’ roll—his complicated relationship with Steve Winwood, his wild legal episodes with record companies, his tenure in Fleetwood Mac, his battle with addiction and the loss of a child, and his eventual induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Mason’s reputation as a “quiet giant” has long been one of music’s great mysteries. Now, one of rock’s true heroes finally shares his colorful, unique, and ultimately triumphant journey through a life in music.”
Living the Beatles Legend: The Untold Story Of Mal Evans
By Kenneth Womack
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Malcolm Evans, The Beatles’ long-time roadie, personal assistant, and devoted friend, was an invaluable member of the band’s inner circle. A towering figure in horn-rimmed glasses, Evans loomed large in The Beatles’ story, contributing at times as a performer and sometime lyricist, while struggling mightily to protect his beloved “boys.” He was there for the whole of the group’s remarkable, unparalleled story: From the Shea Stadium triumph through the creation of the timeless cover art for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and the famous Let It Be rooftop concert. Leaving a stable job as telecommunications engineer to serve as road manager for this fledgling band, Mal was the odd man out from the start — older, married with children, and without any music business experience. And yet he threw himself headlong into their world, traveling across the globe and making himself indispensable. In the years after The Beatles’ disbandment, Big Mal continued in their employ as each embarked upon solo careers. By 1974, he was determined to make his name as a songwriter and record producer, setting off for a new life in Los Angeles, where he penned his memoirs. But in January 1976, on the verge of sharing his book with the world, Evans’s story came to a tragic end during a domestic standoff with the LAPD. For Beatles devotes, Mal’s life and untimely death have always been shrouded in mystery. For decades, his diaries, manuscripts, and vast collection of memorabilia was missing, seemingly lost forever… until now. Working with full access to Mal’s unpublished archives and having conducted hundreds of new interviews, Beatles scholar and author Kenneth Womack affords readers with a full telling of Mal’s unknown story.”
Joe Cocker: With A Lot Of Help From His Friends
By Mark Bego
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Joe Cocker is one of the most dynamic singing stars to emerge from the 20th century, and was one of the most unique, creative, and memorable rockers around. With distinctively huge hits like, With A Little Help From My Friends, You Are So Beautiful, and his No. 1 duet with Jennifer Warnes, Up Where We Belong, Cocker is a one-of-a-kind legend. Although he was relatively unknown in 1969 when he took the stage at Woodstock, he quickly rose to fame for his trademark onstage choreography and anguished blues singing. His album Mad Dogs & Englishmen cemented his international stardom. Though he was an Academy and Grammy Award winner, Cocker’s life was not always on an uphill track. He suffered from low self-esteem and bouts of depression. It wasn’t until later in his life that he met the love of his life, Pam, who helped him put his personal life back on track before his death in 2014. Cocker’s life was one of attaining goals, making disastrous mistakes, and ultimately finding happiness and redemption in the 11th hour.”
Billie Eilish
By Mick O’Shea
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “In the space of just three years, Billie Eilish has become one of the most streamed artists on the planet. From her unique style of songs, co-created with her brother, Finneas O’Connell, to her squeamish videos and unusual look, Billie is far from your typical singer. Though she’s young, she’s no cookie-cutter pop star. Her famous dead eyes, her performatively bored attitude along with her angsty, often sadistic lyrics about serial killers and psychopaths make Eilish intruiging and ‘intimidating as hell’. With her colourful hair and her refusal to wear any tight clothing, Eilish is well known for her distinctive style. Her loose, body-obscuring silhouettes in neon colours and graffiti prints have become so iconic that she has now launched her own retro-inspired clothing collection. But Eilish’s appeal doesn’t just stem from her style or her music, she is also admired for her frank discussion of mental health and body image issues and taking her social responsibility as a role model seriously. This book is full of fascinating facts and fun nuggets of knowledge which will delight superfans as well as those new to her music but keen to find out more.”
Get Shown the Light: Improvisation and Transcendence in the Music of the Grateful Dead
By Michael Kaler
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Of all the musical developments of rock in the 1960s, one in particular fundamentally changed the music’s structure and listening experience: The incorporation of extended improvisation into live performances. While many bands — including Cream, Pink Floyd, and The Velvet Underground — stretched out their songs with improvisations, no band was more identified with the practice than The Grateful Dead. In Get Shown the Light, Michael Kaler examines how the Dead’s dedication to improvisation stemmed from their belief that playing in this manner enabled them to touch upon transcendence. Drawing on band testimonials and analyses of early recordings, Kaler traces how the Dead developed an approach to playing music that they believed would facilitate their spiritual goals. He focuses on the band’s early years, the significance of their playing Ken Kesey’s Acid Test parties, and their evolving exploration of the myriad musical and spiritual possibilities that extended improvisation afforded. Kaler demonstrates that The Grateful Dead developed a radical new way of playing rock music as a means to unleash the spiritual and transformative potential of their music.”
Rebel Music: Bob Marley & Roots Reggae
By Kate Simon
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Rebel Music is a tribute to one of the greatest legends in world music, Bob Marley. In 1975, Kate Simon first photographed Marley and The Wailers at the Lyceum in London, where the now-legendary live performance of No Woman No Cry was recorded. They then collaborated throughout the ’70s, with Simon shooting some of the most intimate, enduring and emblematic images ever taken of Marley, including his iconic Kaya album cover. Simon captured it all: Portraits of the reggae greats of the ’70s, such as Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, Bunny Wailer and Peter Tosh; the Exodus Tour, on the road with Bob Marley and The Wailers as they performed across Europe; and the One Love Peace Concert, where Bob famously united Jamaica’s opposing political leaders. Ultimately, in 1981, Simon would ride with the funeral cortege from Kingston to Marley’s final resting place. Rebel Music contains over 400 photographs from Simon’s archives, many published for the first time. Introduced by Patti Smith, with a foreword by Lenny Kravitz and afterword by Keith Richards, a cast of 24 contributors join Simon in sharing the stories behind the images, including ex-Wailers guitarist Junior Marvin and bass player / band leader Aston ‘Family Man’ Barrett; musicians such as Junior Delgado, Steve Jordan, Paul Simonon and Bruce Springsteen; filmmaker Don Letts and producer Danny Sims; and Island Records founder, Chris Blackwell.”
Elmer Bernstein, Film Composer: An Authorized Biography
By Peter M. Bernstein
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “A behind-the-scenes look at the life and music of legendary Hollywood composer Elmer Bernstein, the only person to be nominated for an Academy Award in every decade from the 1950s to the 2000s. Over a career spanning 54 years, he composed landmark scores in every available genre — epics, jazz, westerns, dramas, and comedies — and his credits read like list of the greatest films of his time: The Ten Commandments, The Magnificent Seven, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Man With the Golden Arm, The Great Escape, Ghostbusters, to name just a few. This biography, written by Elmer’s son Peter, interweaves exclusive interviews, oral histories not otherwise available, estate archival materials, and personal experiences. Bernstein lived a colorful life: he was a first-generation American; he was blacklisted; and he was a fearless advocate for film music not afraid to take on anyone in pages of trade papers. The book looks at many of his landmark scores in depth, collaborations with various producers and directors, and his success in navigating the rough and tumble of Hollywood. There is much to his story: A cycle of struggle, success, frustration, failure, and reinvention repeated many times over his career which connected the Old Hollywood with the modern era.”
The Authorized P-Funk Song Reference: Official Canon of Parliament-Funkadelic, 1956-2023
By Daniel Bedrosian
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “George Clinton’s Parliament-Funkadelic collective (P-Funk) stand as one of the most iconic and important groups in popular music history, with an impressively large discography, enormous number of members, and long history. For the first time, this authorized reference provides the official P-Funk canon from 1956 to 2023: every project, album, collaboration, song, details of personnel for songs, and tidbits about each act and select songs, as well as dozens of rare photos and a color photospread. No volume has ever attempted to provide such details from this collective and its many dozens of acts, collaborations, and offshoot projects from its inception in the ’50s as The Parliaments to the present day. Daniel Bedrosian, keyboardist for P-Funk, accomplishes that in this volume, the culmination of nearly thirty years of careful research, interviews, and access to exclusive archival material. Song entries are organized under artist / group names and contain definitive listings of players for each song. Select entries shed light on the inner workings of the recording process, singles chartings, controversies, inside information about process, and more. This authorized volume demystifies one of the most unique and influential popular musical groups in history.”
Immediate: The Rise and Fall of the UK’s First Independent Record Label
By Simon Spence & Simon Spence
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham was the enfant terrible of swinging ’60s London, the man who had crafted The Beatles’ antithesis. By 1965 he was a millionaire notorious for working every publicity angle for his rising stars, but he still felt frustrated by the men in grey suits who controlled the music industry. His solution to that problem was Immediate Records — the U.K.’s first independent label — with a mission statement to wash away those grey men. What followed was five years of scams, chicanery, sex, drugs, violence and sensational music. Immediate’s ‘in-house’ polymath producers — Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Oldham himself, Jimmy Page and Steve Marriott — attracted a crowd of daring, young British talent, forging the hippest scene in the world. Yet, following his ousting as Stones manager in 1967, the label itself began to fray at the seams as the drugs and booze clouded Oldham’s creative genius and the grey suits quietly took their revenge. Simon Spence’s acclaimed telling of Immediate’s rise and fall was first published in 2007 but has now been augmented with explanatory footnotes and even more detail following a further decade’s research.”
Arhoolie Records Down Home Music: The Stories and Photographs of Chris Strachwitz
By Joel Selvin & Chris Strachwitz
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Founded in 1960 by Chris Strachwitz, the one-man operation Arhoolie Records eventually produced more than 400 albums during more than 40 years in operation, exploring the far corners of American vernacular music — blues, gospel, Cajun, zydeco, hillbilly, Texas-Mexican norteño music, and more. From the very beginning, Strachwitz brought his camera along with recording equipment as he met and recorded now-legendary artists such as Lightnin’ Hopkins, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Clifton Chenier and Big Joe Williams. This book collects more than 150 of his best, most intimate, and exciting images — many never-before-seen — each with rich captions by Strachwitz and award-winning music journalist Joel Selvin, along with a substantial 20,000-word essay by Selvin about Arhoolie, Strachwitz, and the music.”
Transfigured New York: Interviews with Experimental Artists And Musicians, 1980-1990
By Brooke Wentz
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Transfigured New York presents conversations with iconic, genre-bending artists who shaped the sounds of experimental movements like no wave, avant-jazz, and electronic music. As an undergrad in the 1980s, Brooke Wentz hosted the show Transfigured Night on Columbia University’s WKCR-FM, discussing art and ideas with avant-garde music luminaries. She unearths these candid interviews — heard before only when first broadcast — from cassettes and reel-to-reel tapes, letting readers today feel the excitement and creative energy of the 1980s New York underground scene. Musicians and artists, now icons of their craft, tell their stories and share their thoughts about the creative process, capturing the ambition and energy that animated their work. Legends in the making like Bill Frisell, Philip Glass and Laurie Anderson convey what it was like to be a struggling artist in 1980s New York, when the city was alive with possibilities. Others who were well known at the time, including John Cage, La Monte Young and Ravi Shankar, advocate for their distinctive ideas about art and open up about their creative lives. Featuring an astonishing range of interviewees — Morton Subotnick, Joan Tower, Steve Reich, Glenn Branca, Joan La Barbara, Living Colour, Arthur Russell, John Lurie, Eric Bogosian, Bill T. Jones and many more — Transfigured New York provides new insight into the city’s cultural landscape in this era. It is a one-of-a-kind account of one of the most exhilarating and inventive periods for art and culture in New York City’s history.”
Johnny Cash: The Life In Lyrics
By Johnny Cash
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Johnny Cash is one of the most beloved and influential country-music stars of all time, having composed more than 600 songs and sold more than 90 million records. He received 29 gold, platinum, and multiplatinum awards for his recordings and has been inducted into The Grammy Hall of Fame, The Rock And Roll Hall of Fame, The Country Music Hall of Fame, and The Hollywood Walk of Fame. This is the first time Cash’s 50 years of songwriting have been collected anywhere; this book includes the lyrics to 125 songs and the stories behind them. Perhaps more than any other American artist, he spoke to the soul of the nation as well as to the triumphs and challenges of his own life. These pages explore Cash’s range as a poet and storyteller, taking readers from his early life and first successes through periods of personal challenge, activism, and faith. The result is a profound understanding of Cash as a man and an artist, as well as the American story he helped shape.”
Sound Experiments: The Music of the AACM
By Paul Steinbeck
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Founded on Chicago’s South Side in 1965 and still thriving today, the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians is the most influential collective organization in jazz and experimental music. In Sound Experiments, Paul Steinbeck offers an in-depth historical and musical investigation of the collective, analyzing individual performances and formal innovations in captivating detail. He pays particular attention to compositions by Muhal Richard Abrams and Roscoe Mitchell, the association’s leading figures, as well as Anthony Braxton, George Lewis (and his famous computer-music experiment, Voyager), Wadada Leo Smith and Henry Threadgill, along with younger members. Sound Experiments represents a sonic history, spanning six decades, that affords insight not only into the individuals who created this music but also into an astonishing collective aesthetic. This aesthetic was uniquely grounded in nurturing communal ties across generations, as well as a commitment to experimentalism. The AACM’s compositions broke down the barriers between jazz and experimental music and made essential contributions to African American expression more broadly. Steinbeck shows how the creators of these extraordinary pieces pioneered novel approaches to instrumentation, notation, conducting, musical form, and technology, creating new soundscapes in contemporary music.”
60 Songs That Explain the ’90s
By Rob Harvilla
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The 1990s were a chaotic and gritty and utterly magical time for music, a confounding barrage of genres and lifestyles and superstars, from grunge to hip-hop, from sumptuous R&B to rambunctious ska-punk, from Axl to Kurt to Missy to Santana to Tupac to Britney. In 60 Ssongs That Explain The ’90s, music critic Rob Harvilla reimagines all the earwormy, iconic hits Gen Xers pine for with vivid historical storytelling, sharp critical analysis, rampant loopiness, and wryly personal ruminations on the most bizarre, joyous, and inescapable songs from a decade we both regret entirely and miss desperately.”
Tribute: Tina Turner
By Michael Frizell & Ramon Salas
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Born Anna Mae Bullock, Tina Turner started her life as a singer in her local church and elementary schools. Her ill-fated relationship with Ike Turner coincided with her meteoric rise up the Billboard charts, leading to her eventual fall. After retooling her image, Tina again exploded on the scene in the ’80s. She passed from natural causes May 24, 2023. Twice inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame with a musical career that spanned half a century, Turner’s legacy isn’t likely to be repeated.”
Tribute: Men in Music: Prince, David Bowie, Jerry Garcia & Freddie Mercury
By Michael Frizell & George Amaru
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “This extraordinary graphic novel collection is a tribute to the lives and accomplishments of some of music’s brightest stars, including Prince Rogers Nelson, who started a musical revolution, challenging even Michael Jackson, for chart supremacy during the 1980s. We also explore the life of the chameleon of the music industry, David Bowie, one of the most influential artists of any generation, constantly reinventing himself while defying convention. In addition, counterculture icon and non-conformist Jerome John “Jerry” Garcia is best known for his distinctive guitar playing and 33-year history with The Grateful Dead. And last but certainly not least, Freddie Mercury, the British musician, singer, and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and lyricist of the rock band Queen whose tumultuous life of excess cemented his fame.”
