Rock History

In more than 40 stories from the glory days of rock’n’roll, featuring Lou Reed, Elton John, Sting and The Clash, Allan Jones remembers a world that once was – one of dark excess and excitement, outrageous deeds and extraordinary talent, featuring legends at both the beginnings and ends of their careers.

As unconventional a biography as Adler was in his own creative ventures, California Dreamin’ is the first book to show how Adler became the pacesetter of the rock industry along the West Coast, a master tastemaker walking the razor's edge between highbrow and lowbrow, redefining the sound of a whole generation in his wake.

Respected broadcaster Alan Cross narrates the definitive history of alternative rock over the last 30 years. He recounts the stories of David Bowie, The Velvet Underground, The Clash, The Ramones, The Sex Pistols, and Iggy Pop.

Rock & Roll Nightmares, Volume 1 scratched the sinister surface with tales of the 27 Club, rock ‘n’ roll suicides, plane crashes, curses, and more. Now the award-winning series continues with concert mayhem, a look at the “baby groupie” trend of the 1970s, Satanic panic, horrific home invasions, musicians who’ve died on stage, rockers who lived on borrowed time, gun-toting music producers, deadly DJs, and much more.

Black Snake is the story of four leaders - LaDonna Allard, Jasilyn Charger, Lisa DeVille, and Kandi White - and their fight against the pipeline. It is the story of a new generation of environmental activists, galvanized at Standing Rock, becoming the protectors of America's natural resources.

Can't Give It Away on Seventh Avenue: The Rolling Stones and New York City explores the history of the group through the prism of New York. It is a highly detailed document of the dynamic and reciprocal relationship between the world's most famous band and America's most famous city as well as an absorbing chronicle of the remarkable impact the city has had on the band's music and career.

Rock Stars on the Record is a collection of firsthand tales by artists of all ages, backgrounds, and musical influences, remembering the meaning behind the records that mattered most to them. From Laura Jane Grace to Ian MacKaye, Don McLean to Cherie Currie, Alice Bag to Mac DeMarco, and many more, best-selling author Eric Spitznagel talks to rock stars across the sonic spectrum about the albums that changed them in ways only music can change someone.

At fourteen years old, Carlotta Walls was the youngest member of the Little Rock Nine. The journey to integration in a place deeply against it would not be not easy. Yet Carlotta, her family, and the other eight students and their families answered the call to be part of the desegregation order issued by the US Supreme Court in its 1954 Brown v. Board of Education case.

In the second of four volumes, Alan Cross reveals the fascinating stories behind the music, focusing on the following top performers: Joy Division, New Order, The Cure, Depeche Mode, U2, Brian Eno, Skinny Puppy, and The Pixies.

The world of musical theater has a rich and diverse history, spanning multiple genres and styles. One genre that has significantly influenced the landscape of musical theater is the rock musical. Combining the energy, rebelliousness, and catchy melodies of rock music with the storytelling and theatricality of the stage, the rock musical has captured the hearts of audiences around the world.

Mysteries in the Music: Case Closed examines some of the secrets, myths, legends, hoaxes, conspiracies, and wildly inexplicable events that are such an intriguing part of rock and roll history. Travel back to the 1950s to uncover "Who Really Discovered Elvis Presley?" Revisit the 1960s when a folk troubadour tried forming a supergroup with The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. Transport back to Jamaica 1976 to discover whether the CIA tried to assassinate reggae superstar Bob Marley. Discover whether The Beach Boys actually stole a song from cult leader Charles Manson.

Hence this is a story without precedent, a story in which Elton John plays a royal funeral, Mick Jagger gets a knighthood, Bob Dylan picks up the Nobel Prize, the Beatles become, if anything, bigger than the Beatles and it's beginning to look as though all of the above will, thanks to the march of technology, be playing Las Vegas forever.

In a long line of beloved books, Loud Pictures stands as Marc Spitz’s final project. This big, broad, noisy, and expansive exploration of art marries the two things Marc loved most—movies and rock and roll. In many ways, films can become imprinted on our brains because of their soundtracks.

In 1951, Carlotta Walls Lanier was one of the nine African-American students to integrate Little Rock High School, and the first to earn a diploma. Here she provides a firsthand account of her experiences - including the bombing that rocked her home, the constant threats she and her classmates faced, and the pressure and bullying her parents endured.

The 1960s were a time of huge transformation, sustained and amplified by the music of that era: Rock and Roll. During the 19th and 20th centuries visionary and esoteric spiritual traditions influenced first literature, then film. In the 1960s they entered the realm of popular music, catalyzing the ecstatic experiences that empowered a generation. Exploring how 1960s rock and roll music became a school of visionary art, Christopher Hill shows how music raised consciousness on both the individual and collective levels to bring about a transformation of the planet.

By turns fascinating, funny, and bizarre, this book offers insight into the peculiar choices and idiosyncratic psychologies of hundreds of top musicians from the 1960s to the present. Originally published more than two decades ago to great success, it's been out of print for years and has now been completely updated and expanded to feature dozens of exclusive interviews, including conversations with groups like The Black Keys, The Killers, Twenty One Pilots, Coldplay, Cage the Elephant, and Vampire Weekend.

Howard Bloom - called “the greatest press agent that rock and roll has ever known” by Derek Sutton, the former manager of Styx, Ten Years After, and Jethro Tull - is a science nerd who knew nothing about popular music. But he founded the biggest PR firm in the music industry and helped build or sustain the careers of our biggest rock legends, including Michael Jackson, Prince, Bob Marley, Bette Midler, Billy Joel, Billy Idol, Chaka Khan, and 100 more. What was he after? He was on a hunt for the gods inside of you and me.

Updated information about every instrumental recording that reached number one on Billboard's popular recorded music charts from 1950 to the present. There is a great deal of information about every instrumental song that topped the pop charts, as well as every one of the recording artists, and each recorded song’s songwriters. The author conducted massive research to compile the interesting stories found in this book. The text covers the instrumentalists from Anton Karas’ recording of “Third Man Theme,” which reached number one in 1950, through Baauer reaching the top of the charts...

From Rocks to Robots: The Evolution of Western Surgery takes listeners on a fascinating journey through the gripping, often gruesome, but always remarkable history of surgery—from ancient Greek healers performing primitive operations with bronze instruments, through the battlefield heroics of Renaissance surgeons, to the sterile precision of robotic surgery today.

Chad Smith: Funk’s Relentless Groove is the definitive, full-length biography of Chad Smith—the powerhouse drummer behind the Red Hot Chili Peppers, one of the most influential and unpredictable bands in modern music. Written in vivid narrative style, this book goes far beyond the liner notes to tell the untamed story of a musician whose rhythm reshaped the sound of rock, funk, and everything in between. From his earliest days growing up in the working-class neighborhoods of Saint Paul, Minnesota, Chad Smith displayed an obsession with groove that couldn’t be taught—only chased. ...