Search results

With their era-defining music and instantly recognisable look, Chic's reputation as pioneers of disco has endured long after the movement itself. After their initial success in the 1970s with classics such as `Good Times', `Le Freak' and `I Want Your Love', Chic disbanded in 1983, with founding members Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards becoming in-demand producers. After Edwards' tragic early passing in 1996, Nile Rodgers' involvement in Daft Punk's 2013's smash hit `Get Lucky' catapulted Chic ba...

Blues is the cornerstone of American popular music, the bedrock of rock and roll. In this extraordinary musical and social history, Robert Palmer traces the odyssey of the blues from its rural beginnings, to the steamy bars of Chicago’s South Side, to international popularity, recognition, and imitation. Palmer tells the story of the blues through the lives of its greatest practitioners: Robert Johnson, who sang of being pursued by the hounds of hell; Muddy Waters, who electrified Delta blues an...

Arguably the greatest soul album ever made, "What's Going On" established Motown star Marvin Gaye as a unique and maverick musical talent, whose determination and vision resulted not only in inspirational, pioneering grooves but, in the era of Vietnam and Civil Rights protests, an album that challenged America to take a long hard look at itself. In this book, the author examines in detail the making of this legendary work - initially rejected by Motown's quality control department - interviewing...

She was a good girl from Biloxi, Mississippi; he was a rockabilly singer on the verge of stardom. They fell in love in the summer of 1956, and found a timeless moment of innocence and simple pleasure. In this acclaimed, intimate portrait of the American legend, Juanico gives us the Elvis she knew and loved--the Memphis boy with aw-shucks charm, impeccable manners, and an easy and irresistible sensuality. Their lives merged quickly and completely: Elvis's mother, Gladys, felt June was her son's l...

In the autumn of 1980, Stevie Wonder invited Gil Scott-Heron and his band to join him on a forty-one-city tour across America. The purpose of the tour, which included a major rally in Washington on the anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr's birthday, was to galvanise popular support for the creation of a national holiday in honour of the great civil rights leader. The Last Holiday is Scott-Heron's fascinating account of what took place and how he came to be there. Raised by his grandmother in...

The Story of Soul and R&B traces the roots of this musical genre from the traditional black american gospel singers through soul, motown and funk, right through to it's influence on pop and to the neo soul superstars of today. Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Destiny's Child, Rihanna, Neo and many more feature on this jam-packed book on music. The Story of Soul and R&B is part of the series Pop Histories which takes a similarly detailed look at other popular musical...

Following the tragic and sudden death of Whitney Houston, author James Robert Parish's updated biography takes a look at the amazing career of the superstar and her tumultuous life Whitney Houston burst onto the international music scene in 1985 with her debut album, winning a Grammy Award for the single "Saving All My Love For You." After that, the acclaimed artist released only a limited amount of new material, yet her preeminence in the industry and her enormous popularity with music fans wa...

In this memoir, a renowned journalist tells the remarkable story of the passionate life she shared for 40 years with William Shawn, legendary editor of The New Yorker. "An enduring love, however startling or unconventional, feels unalterable, predestined, compelling, and intrinsically normal to the couple immersed in it, so I would have to say that I had an intrinsically normal life for over four decades with William Shawn." Shawn was married, yet Ross and Shawn created a home together a dozen...