Reviews (5)

Another Snub of Bonzo
This book boasts from great production, and it certainly has some wonderful color pictures in it. But it's missing one crucial piece: a fair representation of John Bonham. Toward the beginning of the book there's two page isolation on each member, the left page being the member's name (Page, Plant, or Jones) with a saying about him, and the right page being a big color shot of him. Bonzo's conspicuously missing from this part of the book, and it irked me. My theory is that this author (Mr. Ranter) got irritated by Bonzo sometime in the 70's when he, Plant, and Ratner were looking at some of his pix. Bonzo, according to this book, essentially said the pictures were beautiful, but where were the shots of him??!! This apparently had a lasting impact on Ratner, possibly insulting him, so he snubbed Bonzo a little by not including him in that beginning spotlight portion of the book. There are, believe it or not, even some out-of-focus pictures in this book. For me, "Photographers Led Zeppelin" is the book to own if you can get it. If you can only get "Live Dreams," it's better than not having it, I guess.

BE WARNED!!
I love this book, BUT it is definantly only for the Zeppelin fanatic. A lot of the pictures included in this book can be found in some of the less pricey books. If you need it soon find another book. It took almost 18 week for me to get my copy. "Live Dreams" is a beautiful book with pristine pictures and stories that you can only find here. It has some one of a kind pictures and a detailed cover that makes this book feel like a treasure. If you truely LOVE Led Zeppelin than this book is worth the extra money and waiting.

Not worth the price.
I found this book to be over produced and lack of format. Although there was some interesting reading, I feel this book could have had alot better information in it for the price, plus the way it was written didn't make a whole lotta sense. Yes, there are some excellent pictures, but many of them weren't all that exciting. I do not recommend this book, as it is hardly anything but a collector's item.

supper well done
I THOUGHT WHEN I BOUGHT MY COPY OF LIVE DREAMS THAT THERE WAS ONLY 2000 COPIES AMERICAN MADE I TALKED WHITH SOMEONE THERE AT THE OFFICE ABOUT HOW I GOT ROBERTS AND JIMMYS AUTOGRAPHS AND WITH LUCK OCT 23 JOHN PAUL JONES IS PLAYING AT THE OGDEN THEATER IN COLORADO DO YOU KNOW OF ANY WAY YOU CAN HELP ME GET THAT SINGTURE .ALSO I HAVE BOOK #635 JUST LOOKING FOR THAT LAST POSSIBLE AUTOGRAPH ANYWAY THANK YOU FOR ANY SUGESTIONS.

Excellent "pictography" of Led Zeppelin's days on the road.
This excellent 208-pg. hardback coffee-table book describes in words and in pictures the live shows and road trips of one of the greatest rock bands ever, Led Zeppelin. The book chronicles Led Zeppelin's peak touring years, from 1972-1977. Most of the book is filled with pictures of members of the band, playing live. There is also a fairly detailed description of Led Zeppelin on and off of the stage. I really enjoyed the vivid detail of the pictures and the biographical information, and so would you, whether you own every Led Zeppelin album or have never heard of Jimmy Page. There is simply no better way to relive all the glorious moments of Led Zeppelin's electrifying career than with this book!! ... Read more

Amazon.com

The author of a terrific Irving Berlin biography (As Thousands Cheer), Laurence Bergreen produces a similarly astute character analysis of the renowned trumpet player, too often viewed as a musical genius but an Uncle Tom in race relations. On the contrary, Bergreen shows, Louis Armstrong (1901-71) was that rarest of human beings, someone who could respond to injustice with a determination to overcome that never included bitterness. Slightly stronger on milieu than music, Bergreen conveys such zest for the material and such obvious fondness for Armstrong that his book is a delight to read. ... Read more

Reviews (17)

The best biography on Louis Armstrong, by far
I believe I've read them all and nothing ever written about Louis Armstrong is as detailed as this book.Moreso than the "tired old stories" you see repeated in version after version of other tales of Armstrong, this one actually delves into the personal life as well as the persona of the man.Every Armstong fan needs to read this book - it's an awakening!

WOW!!
This book was amazingly well written! It wonderfuly portrays the life of a very talented and amzing man. Please, for your own sake, read this book!

Encore for Louis!
This was one of the best biographies I have ever read.By far the best one of the life of Louis Armstrong.It took me only 2 days to read this book, I could hardly put it down.Not being much of a fan of Dixieland, New Orleans Jazz, etc...after reading this book I was hooked.I wanted to listen to every Louis recording available.Bergreen paints Armstrong as such an amazing character which he completely was.Even if you aren't a jazz fan this is just a great book about a great man.

This is the one
I've read them all (Louis Armstrong Bio's).Mr. Bergreen got it right.The up's the down's, the trials and tribulations, the known and unknown quirks...the beautiful life of Louis Armstrong.He lived through a tough period in American history.Yet he managed to always remain upbeat, polite and (naturally) highly innovative.This quintessential entertainer of the 20th century was the backbone of what we, today call Jazz. Mr. Louis Armstrong had a few bedeviling idiosyncrasies, but don't we all.His were relatively benign compared to some of his contemporaries.A wonderful read. I can't give it a proper review... you're just going to have to read it!

An Excellent Biography
This biography does an excellent job of painting a portrait of a man who changed 20th Century music, not only in America, but across the globe.Learning the details of Louis' life and struggles only enhances my appreciation of his music.

The impact of Louis Armstrong is still felt on several levels in our society.While Armstrong did not have a hand in inventing jazz, he was instrumental in pushing it artistically. With a minimum of formal instruction, he revolutionized the trumpet as well as singing in Jazz and popular music. He was also instrumental as one of the early African-American celebrities, in breaking down racial barriers.
Laurence Begreen does a fine job of illustrating the joys and struggles that Armstrong encountered.The devatating poverty and harsh socail environment of Louis youth are keenly detailed. He shows how these obstacles are overcome by Armstong's love of music and of life.He also shows the prejudice and mob intimidation that Louis had to endure on his road to stardom.

All in all, this book is an inspiring work and testimonial to the life and music of one of the greatest trumpet players and entertainers to grace this planet.I would seriously recommend this to anyone with an interest in music, especially jazz. ... Read more

Book Description

When it appeared in 1950, this biography of Ferdinand "Jelly Roll"Morton became an instant classic of jazz literature. Now back in print andupdated with a new afterword by Lawrence Gushee, Mister Jelly Roll will enchanta new generation of readers with the fascinating story of one of the world'smost influential composers of jazz. Jelly Roll's voice spins out his life insomething close to song, each sentence rich with the sound and atmosphere of theperiod in which Morton, and jazz, exploded on the American and internationalscene. This edition includes scores of Jelly Roll's own arrangements, adiscography and an updated bibliography, a chronology of his compositions, a newgenealogical tree of Jelly Roll's forebears, and Alan Lomax's preface from thehard-to-find 1993 edition of this classic work. Lawrence Gushee's afterwordprovides new factual information and reasserts the importance of this work ofAfrican American biography to the study of jazz and American culture. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Lives Up To The Hype; Essential
This is a straight reprint of the original...they actually photographed the pages instead of having it re-typeset, thank god...and all the David Stone Martin illustrations are intact.

This is THE classic on jazz music and writing. Crazy stories, crazy times, with the unbelievable spinner of tales Jelly Roll holding the floor. Lomax could have just printed Jelly's comments verbatim and this would've been great, but he went to the trouble of tracking down a bunch of people who knew Jelly or were otherwise around New Orleans in the early daze, and this added detail spices the pot considerably. Alan Lomax's own commentary and observations are witty, charming, and spot on.

This edition is made definitive by a scholarly afterword bringing the reader fully up-to-date on modern Jelly Roll research. Quite a few pertinent details are now known that weren't when Lomax was writing this.

Up there with Mezz Mezzrow's "Really the Blues" as essential an text in the American music pantheon.

An incredible book!
This is one of the rare books for it can be enjoyed by just about anyone who picks it up. Its the amazing account of the life of Jelly Roll Morton, one of the best jazz pianists of all time. Though a braggart and troubled man, he created some of the very best pieces of jazz. The book goes into his life from his childhood and his time working at Storyville to the very troubled end in the early forties. You learn about his family, his troubled relationships with Anita and Mabel and how he went from being wildly successful to dying virtually forgotten. Voodoo, New Orleans, jazz and Creole culture, its all here.

Written with flair and never boring, Mr. Jelly Roll is a book that you will read more than once. Its a look at a legend and a glimpse into a world we can only know of through books and music. Get this if you want a good read and a look at Mr. Morton's life. A true classic.

You can almost smell the smoke in the back rooms
Alan Lomax interviewed Jelly Roll while doing an extensive set of recordings shortly before Morton's death. He followed up with a number of interviews with people who knew Jelly Roll. Lomax did a fabulous job of keeping himself out of the way while letting the often colorful information from the interviews tell the story of Jelly's part in the birth of jazz, a story with triumphs, massive ego and ultimate decline. I read a library copy and am buying a copy for a present.

awesome
I have always been a fan of Jelly Roll Morton, and I've always looked for books about him. This is by far the best. I loved it. I wish they would re-issue it ... Read more

Book Description

Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone? is the first major biography of the Carter Family, the musical pioneers who almost single-handedly established the sounds and traditions that grew into modern folk, country, and bluegrass music -- a style celebrated in O Brother, Where Art Thou?

A.P. Carter was a restless man, seemingly in a constant state of motion. On one of his travels across the sparsely settled mountains and valleys that surrounded his home in southern Virginia, he met and married a young girl named Sara Dougherty. Orphaned as a child, Sara was remote by nature but seemed to find release in singing the typically melancholy ballads that were a part of her home tradition.

For fun, A.P., Sara, and her cousin Maybelle (who married A.P.'s brother "Eck" Carter) would play and sing the hymns and ballads known in their Poor Valley community, occasionally adding songs A.P. had collected during his travels. Then, in 1927, they traveled to Bristol, Tennessee, to audition for a New York record executive who was hunting "hillbilly" talent and offering an amazing fifty dollars per song for any he recorded. These Bristol recording sessions would become generally accepted as the "Big Bang" of country music, producing two of its first stars: Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family.

By the early 1930s, the Carter Family was the most bankable country music group in America, with total sales of more than a million records. By the late '30s, they were appearing regularly on high-power radio station XERA, which broadcast from coast to coast. A whole generation of country people could gather around the radio and hear the sound of music that came straight from their world. Johnny Cash in Arkansas, Waylon Jennings in Texas, Chet Atkins in Georgia, and Tom T. Hall in Kentucky all listened to the Carter Family. It was their formal schooling, Country Music 101.

Inside the Carter Family, however, things were hardly perfect. Though nobody outside the family knew it, Sara had left her difficult and quixotic husband in 1933. In 1936 she won a divorce. Even throughout the long and painful breakup, the Carters kept performing together, singing an ever-widening range of new songs they wrote or old songs they remade: songs of love, of betrayal, and of the death of fondest hopes. And they kept at it even after Sara married A.P.'s cousin Coy Bays in 1939. After fulfilling a final radio contract in 1943, Sara and Coy moved to California to settle near his family. The original Carter Family never performed or recorded together again.

With Sara gone, A.P. retreated home, opened a general store, and lived out the next two decades in obscurity, the odd man out in a new and reconfigured Carter musical clan. Meanwhile, Maybelle and her daughters (Helen, June, and Anita) went out and got themselves new radio contracts, working in Richmond, Virginia; Knoxville, Tennessee; and Springfield, Missouri, before ascending to country music's ultimate stage, Nashville's Grand Ole Opry. Nearly fifty years in the business won Maybelle the title "Mother of Country Music" and the adoration of generations of guitar players and just plain listeners.

The story of the Carter Family is a bittersweet saga of love and fulfillment, sadness and loss. Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone? is more than just a biography of a family; it is also a journey into another time, almost another world. But their story resonates today and lives on in the timeless music they created. ... Read more

Reviews (21)

Makes You Pine for Your Clinch Mountain Home
"Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone" represents a real step up from the typical celebrity bio it might have been. As you might expect, it chronicles the hard times and triumphs of the first two generations of the musical Carter family, starting with A.P. and his then-wife Sara, and Sara's cousin and sister-in-law Maybelle, and continuing on through Maybelle's daughters (Helen, Anita, and June Carter Cash), in-laws (Johnny Cash) and even granddaughters. The author(s) received the full cooperation of the surviving members of the family; the book has benefited tremendously, for example, from interviews with June Carter Cash and Johnny Cash.

Hirshberg and Zwonitzer's aim, however, goes beyond the tell-all. They are trying to convey not just the fundamental integrity of the Carters and their music, but also the rise of country 'hillbilly' music in the 20s and 30s and what it meant to the people that heard it. As a result the reader leaves the book wanting to hear more of the music, which to my mind is a mighty fine result.

A view from the top of "Mountain Music"
The singing Carter family have influenced American music for over 70 years, and this biography seeks to give them their due as one of the premier families of American musical heritage. While a little too soap-opry in parts, Mark Zwoniter does an impressive job tracing the Carter's early musical history, and spins some compelling tales of the original Carters (husband and wife AP and Sara, and sister-in-law Maybelle).
The book traces the Carter's over-300 recorded performances and legendary radio shows (a highlight to listeners of the Depression Era), but sometimes sacrifices musical legacy for back stories involving pregnancies, affairs and name dropping (particularly as the family grows, and ascends to their rightful place as stars on the country music scene). This problem is particularly noticable in discussions of June Carter Cash, whose story would make a phenomenal movie, but overshadows the simple pleasures of the Carters' music itself.
"Oh Brother Where Art Thou", and the continued importance of the Carter classic "Will The Circle Be Unbroken" ensure that this legendary family remains important in music history today, and should provide a solid fan base for reading this book. It's a very interesting (and easy) read, with some great stories about a musical family on the road in pursuit of the American dream.

Well worth the read
One rainy day while sipping Starbucks and staying out of the weather, I randomly strolled over to the music section at Barnes and Noble and began thumbing thru "Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone." My parents, having gone thru the Depression, often spoke of the Carter family and their original music in tones normally reserved for for our owned departed family members and I was interested to have found a book about the group. Two hours later, I had a much better understanding as to why this family had such an impact on my own and the nation. Not only is this book informative and interesting, but give great credit to the author who writes brilliantly. His tone and tales glide you thru the chapters and I felt compelled to read on and on. My biggest disappointment is that I wasn't aware of the book sooner, and that I personnaly never heard the Carters. Read this book if you want a greater understanding of the Depression Era and the workings of the early radio and record business.

About the people, not the music, still worth 5 stars
This book reminds me of the new book about Bill Monroe, Can't You hear me Calling. That book makes a lot of pretenses and some small errors and legions of overstatements about Bill Monroe and adds little to our knowledge of Big Mon the musician, but provides a rich and interesting and valuable addition to the literature by giving a well researched picture of his personal problems, his emotional outlook, and his life offstage from childhood on. In providing his true background, it dispels the usual mystifications and idiocies and stereotypes generated by Nashville.

This book does the same for the Carters, something harder to do when you are talking about three to 10 people depending on who you count as a Carter. This book is weakened by the absence of documentation, even of the type of documentation that has become standard in serious non-fiction books written for a non-scholarly audience now expects, let alone what those of us who would like to think of ourselves as scholars of the music and the culture demand.

Yes, I agree there are many gaffs here that a student of the music or a musician would find just plain ignorant. Yes, the book could have been better edited and fact checked. The publisher obviously didnt care to spend money to have competent editors go over the book, or to have it read by someone with any expertise in this kind of music or the history of music at all, such as one would expect. This speaks more to the current economics of the publishing industry where to get a book out, you have to offer a budget and a marketing plan like you were going to offer a new shade of nail polish.

What emerges here is the story of the Carters as people. Of course, this dashes away all of the mystification of the simple Carters living up in their Clinch Mountain home and resituates them as modern Americans like the rest of us with ambitions, emotional problems, sexual needs, affairs, divorce, and all the rest.

This is the real story that this book centers on. I wont regugitate it, you can do it yourself by buying this book.

I found it very very readable. Even though as a former editor, a sometimes published writer, and an English professor I can be a big stickler, the little errors and the big did not halt my desire to devour this book because of its easy and interesting writing style and because it told the lives of the Carters in a compelling way. This is done without creating phony melodrama. Apart from the breakup of the marriage of AP and Sara, which to happen as peacefully as one would expect this to happen, particularly for rural Virginia, and the brush of Maybelle's family with Hank Williams and Johnny Cash who both seemed to be enamored with June, the Carters seem to have lived reasonable lives with good opportunities and the normal surmountable dramas. To tell their story as honestly as this book seems and find a way to make it interesting and have the personal storm inform the music and our understanding of life in general is an achievement.

There is a lot of good fun description of things here. I particularly delighted in their description of Dr. Brinkley the quack who sponsored XERA the first border radio station the Carters played on. I was charmed by the portrait of the late Chet Atkins as well. Even a person with no special knowledge or interest of the music would find this book very enjoyable.

Of course, anyone who wants to have a knowledge and an interest in the music of the Carters must have this book.

Other than the bargain basement editing and fact checking job, the real weakness of this book is that it stands alone. We would not be bemoaining this books scant attempts to talk about the musical influences and musical style and changes in the Carters music if there were serious books written on those subjects. We would simply be placing this book where it belongs, an interesting personal history of the Carters' lives which should have been documented. I still give it 5 stars!

The real problem like the Monroe book is that we need more books about this and similar subjects. We do need a documented book by someone who can really understand the great list of musical and cultural influences that were represented by the Carters. Likewise, we need more books seriously written about the construction of the country music industry

A very interesting book about some classic musicians
This is a great book for fans of old time music who would also like to get into the history of this interesting family. It takes you along from the early days in the mountains through their extensive musical career. It was a very interesting, even tempered account of life in the music business. I really got a good idea of the personalities involved. Johny Cash fans may get some new insights into into his background in more "traditional" forms. There seems to be none of the sensationalism that sometimes plagues books of this sort.
Just a little tip...If, like me, you had not heard as many of the Carter Family classics as you would like, go to your area libraries and get out some of the Victor reissue recordings to play as you read this book. Their style set such a standard and it helps to have recordings around as the songs are mentioned in the book. ... Read more

Book Description

Saucerful of Secrets is the first in-depth biography of this very private group. At the heart of the saga is Syd Barrett, the group's brilliant founder, whose public decline into shattered incoherence--attributable in part to his marathon use of LSD--is one of the tragedies of rock history. The making of Dark Side of the Moon and Floyd's other great albums is recounted in detail, as are the mounting of "The Wall"and the creation of the flying pigs, crashingplanes, "Mr. Screen" and the other elements of their spectacular stage shows. The book also explores the many battles between bass player/song writer Roger Waters and the rest of the group, leading up to Water's acrimonious departure for a solocareer in 1984 and his unsuccessful attempt to disolve the group he had left behind.

Saucerful of Secrets is an electrifying account of this ground-breaking, mind-bending group, covering every period of their career fromearliest days to latest recordings. It is full ofrevealing information that will be treasured by all who love Pink Floyd's music. ... Read more

Reviews (40)

Hear the Floyd. Read the Floyd.
For all Pink Floyd fans who would like to learn more about this extraordinary assemblage of talent, this is the book for you. Schaffner takes us from the earliest years, from before Dave Gilmour was a part of the band, all the way up to the tour for "A Momentary Lapse Of Reason" (the recording of which was later released as "The Delicate Sound Of Thunder").

After reading these pages, one is transfixed with the idea that he has actually known the Floyd personages first-hand. We feel sympathetic for Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett while he slowly (but not subtly) goes insane. We gain a newfound respect for the interchange between Roger Waters the poet & Dave Gilmour the musician. It is fascinating to trace the band's career thru the years as they get along, then don't get along, end up filing lawsuits and (eventually) start taking shots at each other via their music (as in the case of Gilmour's "High Hopes").

Most importantly, however, is attention levied on the Floyd's dedication to their craft. Unlike perhaps 90% of the rock bands of today, the Floyd was / is not about image. No dancing with pythons wrapped around their neck, or posters of them with Jack Daniels, or any other nonsense. No, the Floyd has always been about a group of serious musicians getting together to make great things happen. It is no wonder that the late great Leonard Bernstein was such a big fan of theirs. For that matter, it is also no surprise that the Floyd was a big fan of his as well. [You can read all about this relationship / correspondance here, too!]

Here is their story, laid out in a exquisite clairty and sensitivity that you will not find in other bios. Schaffner takes us thru the ups, the downs & the in-betweens of one of the most innovative and talented rock bands to ever grace vinyl, audiotape and compact disk. A must read for Pink Floyd fans everywhere.

The Pros and Cons of this book
Saucerful Of Secrets: The Pink Floyd Odyssey was a great book, written by a great author, Nicholas Shaffner, who has written many books on the Beatles. This was a well researched report,if you will,from members of the outer core of the band, but not the big members, such as Syd Barrett and Roger Waters, who Shaffner claims in the Epilogue refused. Roger's interview was needed because of the dramatic brake-up, and his points on Rick, Dave, and Nick trying to bring the band back from 1987-1990. The pros of this book is that they have interviews from all over, not just interviews given by Shaffner. They have interviews from magazines, other books, and quotes from memoirs written by the people surrounding the band. The con is one big one: detail. Although the book is 309 pages in regular length from Chapters 1-24(Not counting Epilogue and Prologue)it is very easy to get through a page without understanding anything that was said. Towards the end of the novel, I believe Shaffner got sloppy with the story of Water's resurrection of The Wall, stating it as if the whole process took one day. In fact, it took a full year to put it together, but no additional detail was shown. Shaffner easily got through three in fact BIG subjects in one page, especially in the early and latter stages.

Still definitive and essential rock writing at its best
Nicholas Schaffner, aside from being a gifted rock journalist and a stellar writer in every way, had an enormous impact on me as a young Beatle fan (his "The Beatles Forever" is by far the best Fab Four book out there) and an even greater impact on me as a wanna-be writer. I still find myself returning to both "Saucerful of Secrets" and "Beatles Forever" as examples of the high art of rock journalism. Every time I do I am saddenned by the lack of anyone out there who could fill his shoes.

The Floyd book is unsurpassed in its information, but there is one glaring flaw: whereas the Beatles book is loaded with photos and in many cases record-chart information, the Floyd book has none, which makes it more of a nightstand read and less of a "total package" that it could be if one of his contemporaries (or family members? band members?) could take it and update it with tons more photos and the like, turning it into what it might have been had he lived to see its full completion. (I'm assuming he would have wanted this, although it may not be the case, we'll never know.)

In any case, still the definitive guide to a high point of 70's rock bombast.

Would Someone Please Update This Book???
Many years ago, Nicholas Schaffner, author of this excellent volume on that rocking band of space cadets known as Pink Floyd, wrote a book entitled The British Invasion, dealing with all the rock bands that came from John Bull's Island (an old, OLD term for Great Britain!)in the sixites and seventies, with several extended chapters on the most important bands, including the Floyd. Schaffner's writing was so lucid and intense, yet free-flowing, particularly concerning the madcap ex-guitarist named Syd Barrett, that I resolved there and then to someday pick up an entire, updated book of the Floyd. Well, in one respect, Saucerful of Secrets fills the bill nicely. Schaffner's writing is still wonderfully lucid and is an easy, entertaining read throughout, and as free from bias as any book of the FLoyd is likely to be. (If bassist Roger Waters seems to come in for more than his share of bashing, it merely confirms what I have learned from most of the other sources I have read to date.) Unfortunately, Schaffner is deceased; he died in 1991 and no one has seen fit to update his work as of this writing. He has done such a fine job covering all the bases of the band's founding, the early happenings with UFO, Syd's creativity, drug usage, and subsequent withdrawal, the formulation of a Syd-less group identity, the Golden Years of Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here, the early fragmentation into two camps: Roger Waters and everyone else, the Wall and early solo projects, the Roger-less Floyd, and Water's final triumph at the Berlin Wall. All told very, very well indeed! Now, would some enterprising journalist or former band insider provide the needed updates, including such topics as Water's 2000 tour and Gilmour's escapades with one Sir Paul McCartney? Please?? Millions of Floyd fans would be most appreciative. In any case, for a great read of how the Floyd got to be Pink, get this book now and any subsequent updates as they are written. The secrets of this wonderful odyssey await you by the saucerful!!!

Secrets revealed
Secrets is the best, even handed and articulate book on every phase of Floyd that has been written. Every book I've looked at after argues for Barrett's Floyd, Waters' Floyd or Gilmour's Floyd vs. taking a fair look at the accomplishments of all versions of the band. It's a pity that no journalist has chosen to update the late Nick Schaffner's book. It doesn't cover the very last album made under Gilmour's lead (which, despite much critical bashing, I feel is among their best).

Schaffner had access to both insiders and many rare sources when he put this book together in the late 80's (it was published after his death in 1991). His knowledge as a musician also helps give a fairness to the best and worst of Floyd. I was particularly interested in the section that discusses the recording of Barrett's post Floyd solo albums and Wright, Gilmour and Waters' involvement in helping out their own, fragmented friend.

There's also a selected discography that includes the results of The Amazing Pudding's '89 Readers Poll of Best and Worst FLoyd albums. The for (pardon the pun)record:
Best- Wish You Were Here, Dark Side, The Wall, Animals, Piper at the Gates. The Worst- The FInal Cut. Bestselling (at the time of the book's publication)-Dark Side, The Wall, Wish, Animals and Momentary Lapse. Best Floyd songs-Comfortably Numb, Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Echoes, Wish You Were Here, Time. Worst: The Dogs of War.

Worth picking up although, again, it obviously lacks any information after 1991. I'd rank Secrets as one of the best books written on the band. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Doo-Dah...Do wah?
I guess I'm the type person referenced in the one guy's review where he stated that those people who are looking for a Point A to Point Z type of biography will be disappointed with the book "Doo-Dah : Stephen Foster and the Rise of American Popular Culture." Since a Point A to Point Z biography of Stephen Foster was/is exactly what I sought, I've found reading this particular book (in which music plays the lead role and Foster is sadly oftentimes little more than a secondary player) an endurance contest! Don't get me wrong: it's a well written book; just not what I was hoping for.

Doo Dah is the BEST BIOGRAPHY OF ALL TIME!!!!!!!
If you haven't read Doo Dah, buy it today!!!! Doo Dah was the best book that I have ever read in my entire life. Unfortunately, the book is not as good as the writer is handsome, and if it was it would be on the best seller list, and I know because he is my uncle. So, show your support of American culture and buy this stupendous biography, by the Master writer, the all time best, the one and only Ken Emerson.

Bow-wow!
This is another boonie dog book review from Wolfie and Kansas. Ken Emerson's book "Doo-dah! Stephen Foster and the Rise of American Popular Culture" is well-written and informative. This is a "life and times" book, rather than a narrowly focused biography. However, the times of Stephen Foster, and the social and cultural history which Emerson discusses, are, like Foster's music, generally more interesting than the sometimes racist and alcoholic Foster himself.

Our one complaint about "Doo-dah!" is the short shrift Mr. Emerson gives to one of Stephen Foster's biggest hits in 1857, a song entitled "Old Dog Tray". We would have like to have learned more about this song. Foster's minstrel songs were performed by white men in blackface. Was "Old Dog Tray" performed by humans in dogface? ... Read more

Amazon.com

Clay Aiken, the undeniably talented American Idol runner up and self-proclaimed "nerdy, geeky, momma's boy" (and boy, does he love to talk about his momma), has written a strange hybrid of memoir, self-help and religious testimony--and in spite of it being so slight that it feels like it will float right out of your hands--he almost pulls it off. Learning to Sing is a book only his most rabid fans (and admittedly, there are millions of 'em) will be able to fully embrace.Anyone looking for American Idol dirt will have to go elsewhere, as Aiken always takes the high road,whether discussing his Idol experience (given surprisingly short shrift), the torment and damage done by the bullies of his youth, or his fractious, difficult relationship and ultimate estrangement from both his birth father and stepfather.When recounting the origin and progression of his true passion--teaching special needs children--his sincerity and dedication feels real and admirable.Towards the end of Learning to Sing, Aiken's writing teeters from subtly spiritual to zealously polemic, but surely there are worse things for young people (and some adults) to be exposed to than a wildly successful entertainer advising them to embrace their inner nerd, find and follow their passion and treat others with respect and kindness. We should all be so nerdy. --Terry Goodman ... Read more

Reviews (13)

Al Green Took Me to the River
Al Green's new autobiography, written in 2000, is a riveting story for anyone who has ever been curious about Al Green, how he came to be a famous soul singer, and the story behind his music. I was hooked on this book from the moment I picked it up. It was easy to read and very entertaining. He starts off describing his childhood and his experiences in Jacknash Arkansas as the middle child of a sharecropping family. He tells about his parents whom he loves very much and how they had the courage to sell everything they had and move north for a better life. "Al," he said, "go wake up your brothers and sisters. Tell them to get dressed and start packin." Al explains how much he learned from his parents and how much he respects them for taking this gutsy move. His childhood was hard but he pursued his dream of becoming a soul singer and when he teamed up with legendary producer Willie Mitchell, he was on his way. This autobiography tells of his rise to the top of the music industry, his attempted murder and suicide, his immense struggle between his religious side and his secular side, and how this struggle is reflected in much of his music. Al eventually chooses God over his million dollar career but left us with some of the best soul music ever recorded. I was very surprised at the candor with which Al told the details of his life, good and bad. He talked as honestly about the problems he had with drugs and money as he did about his numerous successes. It made his story sound very earnest and sincere. He covered all the bases of his life and answered all the questions I had about the artist that I have been listening to for many years. The only negative about this book was that it wasn't longer. I was not ready for it to end and have a strong desire to read as much more as I can about him. I am only 17 years old but have been listening to Al Green for over five years. This book was very well written and very interesting to me. I am sure it will be just as riveting for other fans.

Wonderful book for Al Green lovers, but NEEDS a copyeditor!!
I love Al Green(e). Almost everyone who knows me knows that. For Christmas I received two copies of this book: one from my husband and one from a girlfriend. My husband ordered the book from Amazon.com. My girlfriend, however, purchased hers and stood in line at a bookstore in Atlanta to have Al sign it and personalize it. It was the BEST gift I received this Christmas! I read it in a couple of days and thoroughly enjoyed it right from the Introduction to the last page. I have a deeper appreciation of my favorite male vocal artist (Aretha being my favorite female) and although he sounded boastful often enough, he owned right up to it -- admirable. HOWEVER . . . Being married to a copyeditor/indexer/proofreader it was almost impossible to put up with all the stupid and distracting mistakes. A publisher the size of HarperCollins should have staff that is at least literate! What an embarrassment! For example, throughout the book "or" is used instead of "of," "spent" instead of "spend," words beginning with a consonant are preceded by "an" instead of "a," and the reverse happens for vowels. I know this kind of slack attitude is rampant in e-mail messages, but I started getting angry at the apparent total disregard for the English language. I hope this was a case of rushing to have the book out in time for holiday season sales (although there's NO excuse for such a sloppy job), but I started to wonder at one point if some misguided editor was trying to make the book have more of an ethnic sound to it. If that is the case, Mr. Green and Mr. Seay should have that editor's hide because it was downright insulting. And since that is probably not the case, I would advise future authors to think twice before allowing HarperEntertainment to publish their work using their current staff of copyeditors and proofreaders. By the way, I have the name of an excellent person if you want it!

Take it to the river, Leave it there!
Huge Al Green fan, yet greatly disappointed in this book. For some reason, I did not feel total truth and sincerity was put into writing this book. And who was the editor! The numerous typos only led to further frustration. I have always respected Al Green for who he was- the church boy gone secular who never lost his ability to interpret any tune with gospel fire and conviction. The Hollywood side of Al has always been visible- to everyone but himself- and it is still prevelant as I watch him on numerous television events singing his hits of old. I was not fascinated by this read and I would suggest that you borrow this book from the library or a friend before making the purchase.

Thoughts on Take Me To The River
I believe that one of the most interesting aspects of the book is Al's discussion about his upbringing in an intensely religious home, and how this conflicted with his worldly aspirations. His story in a sense is not unlike many of the stars of his generation who were brought up in the church, and found themselves at odds with their parents world view. The chapter that illuminated on the Hi recording sessions at the Royal Studios in Memphis was spectacular. The book even provides a great run down of the stars on the Hi label - a record label that has not received the respect it is due. By the way, Al Green's producer Willie Mitchell is a genius. He turned Al Green into a superstar. However, I must say I found the book wanting. I thought the pictures in the book were one's that most of us who have followed his career have seen over and over. In addition, there are no pictures of him as a child, or even of his own family (wife and children). If you expect this book to be reveal any of the struggles that he has dealt with on a personal level, you will be sorely disappointed. He glosses over his own personal family life. The book paints a nice surface potrait of Al, but really does not go much beyond that.

Fascinating, but...
I found "Take Me To The River" to be very eye-opening, in terms of the amazing range of experiences that Al Green has had, and as to his development as an artist. It was the later part, that interested me the most. Having been a fan of his, since "Tired of Being Alone" changed the course of soul music, in 1971, I was most fascinated by his accounts of his working relationship with Willie Mitchell (who I consider an unsung genius of popular music), and with the Hi Records rhythm section, one of the greatest groups to ever make a record.

I also found the book to be very well written. I have two major complaints though. First of all, as another reviewer has pointed out , (and I'm amazed that it's only been one), the book looks like it wasn't edited. I have never read a book with so many blatant typos, in my life! Harper Collins should be ashamed (and should make a recall, have the book edited, and send everyone new copies.)

My second objection is much less cut-and-dried: I was recently involved in the production of an event at which Mr. Green was given a Lifetime Achievement Award, and not only did he not show up, but didn't notify anyone until the day of the event, that he would not be there, leaving many people in a very awkward position-and leaving a very unsatisfied audience at the Apollo Theater. He had been aware of the award and of the event, for at least a month, and had confirmed the fact that he would attend.

The fact that he didn't show up was an insult to the organization making the presentation, as well as to the house full of people who were expecting to see him...Even worse, this isn't the first instance of his not showing up for a scheduled appearance, that I know about. I must say, that knowledge of actions like these, made me read certain sections of "Take Me To The River" with more than a grain of salt... ... Read more

Book Description

The Beatles are always in the news and in our hearts. February 2004 marks the 40th anniversary of the Beatles' first trip to America, an historic event that was captured by the young photojournalist Harry Benson.

Benson was commissioned to accompany the Beatles to Paris in January 1964, where he took his famous photograph of the pillow fight the night they learned that "I Want to Hold Your Hand" had climbed to number one on the U.S. pop charts. He was with them on February 7, when they stepped out of their plane in New York and into the pandemonium of Beatlemania, American-style. In Miami, he introduced the Beatles to Muhammad Ali, and later that year he covered the filming of A Hard Day's Night. He was with them in Chicago in 1966, when John Lennon was quoted as saying that the Beatles were more famous than Jesus Christ, and covered their last tour as a band. He documented the eye of the hurricane: four guys in their twenties at the center of the known universe. This handsome, large-format book is a record of those amazing times. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

PHOTOGRAPHS
This is a delightful book replete with exceptional photographs of the Beatles during their early years performing. The majority of the photographs are taken in 1964, the year the Beatles came to America.

What makes this book such a treat is that there are some cute anecdotes about some of the photographs and I like the way an index print (or contact sheet) is included in a photo series of the Beatles, in February 1964 horsing around in their hotel room. They were like big children, natural and full of fun and the photographs do a good job of capturing that.

I love this book. Although there is very little in the way of new information, if any, it is still guaranteed to bring smiles to the faces of all who read it. I give it a hearty recommendation and a resounding, "YEAH, YEAH, YEAH!"

The Beatles forever
It grieves me to give any Beatles photograph book only four stars, but I have to say these photos have almost all been published previously. If you're new to the Fabs or don't have many photograph compilations of them, then this will be a magnificent book. But if you've collected on them for years and own Benson's previous book, then many of the pictures will be recycled ones to you.

Ultimately, it doesn't matter, any book featuring the boys is always a treat, even if the information has been read a thousand times before. The quality of the book is good, the photos are reproduced beautifully, what's not to like? Incidentally, the cover photo of John, Paul and Ringo is one of the more evocative photos in the book, they usually crop poor Ringo out of this one. Enjoy!

Fab Shots
This is a wonderful coffee table book. Unfortunately, I had to give this book four stars, and it's The Beatles! However, I was quite disappointed with the pictures that were displayed. I own a previous photo book that Harry Benson had published several years back that was smaller in size, and it was quite better than this one. I guess, I've been fabbed out with the pictures that have been released of The Beatles, and there wasn't a shot I had not seen as taken from a different angle or hasn't been shown either in film or video form. I guess it just didn't fulfill my expectations.

But nevertheless, I recommend this book for those who have not yet experienced the remarkable photography of Harry Benson, and photogenics of the topper most popper most band that ever existed. For all you black and white officinados, you'll love the blow ups.

If Only There Were a Way to Describe How Great this Book Is!
Once there was a way to get back home--a haunting and beautiful lyric if there ever was one. But now there is another beautiful way to get back to the early days of the Beatles and beyond and to see in black and white what it must have been like to be with them during some of their most intimate moments!This large, arresting photographic journey back to the Beatles is a coffee table sized book that would make a perfect Christmas gift for any Beatles aficianado! Benson was there when it all began, and his stories and the photos of the Beatles at their best take us all on a long and winding road back to when the world was younger, and we were too--a time when there was a way, and the way seemed clear and lovely. ... Read more

Book Description

When Jeff Buckley drowned in Memphis in 1997 at the age of 30, the music world lost one of its most original and promising voices. His 1994 debut LP Grace showcased his soaring eight-octave vocal range and fluid guitar playing, and was hailed as an instant classic, winning him legions of devoted fans the world over. Photographer Merri Cyr was there from the beginning, shooting his album covers and accompanying him on tour, capturing priceless images of Buckley's boundless charisma and many-sided personality. Now she has assembled an unforgettable and poignant collection of recollections from friends and members of his inner circle and photographs, many never before seen, of an artist whose untimely death - and the timeless music he left behind - continue to resonate. Hardcover, 340 full-color photos. Merri Cyr is a photographer and video artist. She lives in Brooklyn. "A tremendous anthology ... ravishing portraits of a singular, much-missed singer." - Rolling Stone Play Jeff Buckley's songs with our Guitar Recorded Versions tab transcription book - 00690451. ... Read more

Reviews (10)

thanks to merri
Thanks to Merri and thousands of emailers, the book that was on her site, finaly ended on hardcopy after almost a year!
Splendid photos, very touching for Jeff fans.
very beautiful harcopy, well manufactured, it helped me to understand many of the moments of Jeff's life as described in the"dream brother" book.

A marvellous tribute among others.
Yves Brunson ...

This book will make you smile, make you cry, make you feel
This book is indispensable to all the die-hard fans out there! The exquisite beauty of Merri Cyr's photography is only enhanced by her connection to Jeff. These aren't the cold photographs of someone hired to do publicity shoots, these are the loving pictures of a friend. And the quotes and stories only enrich our understanding of the complexity of Jeff Buckley. It is beautiful and sweet and sad. You will read it again and again and when you don't have time to read you will find yourself stealing a glance at the photographs. This book is worth every penny.

Worth it for the pictures
The short "skits" that try to explore Buckley as a person can be extremely weak and full of unnecessary commentary from the "author" from time to time. The bits that do resonant are well worth it and extremely tasteful. The pictures are marvelous and that alone makes the book worth buying. Really helped me discover the man behind the touching music.

A window
True fans of Jeff respect his music and appreciate the honest, open, and intriguing person he was. This book was created by a close friend of his and is not out to profit off of possible exploitation. It is rather a unique collection that celebrates the man and his life force: music. Buy this or borrow it, just please cherish it. I do.

WONDERFUL
Although this book is not a biography, it is a well thought collaberation of stories and memories of Jeff friends and loved ones. Only a true fan will embrace this book for all it is worth. The pictures also tell stories of thier own. Like Jeffs music, these pictures show the deversity of his style also his physical appearance. Jeff Buckley never carries the same physical appearance in any of his pictures. Again like his music, he was able to carry any style and do it well. This book celebrates Jeffs life as "Jeff" the friend and loved one, not from an authors perception of the stories, but rather from the people in which Jeff dearly loved and who loved him as well. Not only will this book give you the insite to who Jeff truely was, it will also take your eyes on a visual joyride as well. ... Read more

Book Description

The stirring, full-color oral biography of the singer whose pure, haunting voice came to be loved by millions around the world after her tragically brief life.

Eva Cassidy's albums Songbird, Live at Blues Alley, Eva By Heart, Time After Time, and Imagine have sold over a million and a half copies in the U.S. and millions more worldwide. Her songs have been heard on many television shows and film soundtracks, and the video of her classic performance of "Over the Rainbow" is the most requested in BBC history. Yet she lived to see only one of her solo albums released, a CD she underwrote herself and sold from the trunk of her car before her tragic death.

Capturing Eva's essence and tender life story, Eva Cassidy: Songbird collects the intimate memories of relatives, close friends, and the musicians who collaborated with her. The book tells the story of her too-brief life and enduring music. Featuring candid full-color photos and reproductions of Eva's original artwork, a vivid portrait emerges of a woman who devoted her energies to the things she truly loved-giving encouragement to those around her, tending to plants at the nursery where she worked, and performing her music at clubs in Washington, D.C. She succumbed to cancer at age thirty-three just as the world was starting to notice her arresting voice.

Eva Cassidy's music continues to grow in recognition from critics and legions of fans throughout the world. The rock icon Sting has said her voice possesses "a magical quality. People respond to its purity. It suggests something ethereal-something unattainable." This American edition contains two new chapters about her influences and her posthumous success in her native country. With the publication of Eva Cassidy: Songbird, the woman behind the unforgettable voice will at last be known. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Mind Blowing
Everyone needs to get a copy of this cd. I found out about this cd through a co-worker of mine. Its the best thing I've heard in along time. Each song reaches into your heart and soul.

Tragic story of an unbelievable talent
If you haven't heard Eva Cassidy sing, then you need to go to your closest music store and pick up her CD, also titled Songbird for an introduction to one of the most underrated beautiful voices I've ever heard. After you hear this music, I guarantee you'll want to buy every one of her CDs that has been released.

There is a power and raw emotional edge to her voice that sends chills down my spine and almost makes me feel as though she is singing directly to me. The tragedy of Eva Cassidy's life is that she was struck down by invasive melanoma at the age of 33 and we are left to wonder what might have been.

Reading this book, which is loaded with family photographs, has helped to fill in the blanks of her life...I wasn't aware that she was also a talented artist. This is just a beautiful tribute to a pure-voiced singer whose life was cut too short. ... Read more

Book Description

This annotated bibliography is an excellent starting point for studying Krzysztof Penderecki, one of the great Polish composers of the 20th century. It is comprised of over 1,400 books, articles, and other writings that were published in North America, England, Poland, Germany, and France through 1998, the year of Penderecki's 65th birthday. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

How would you feel if Lemmy was your dad?
I could not put this book down. This is f*@k@#g great, don't you wish you were Lemmy? I really like this book but there are some things missing. There is not enough information about the Golden line up of Kilmister, Clarke, Taylor. Man, Eddie rules and it is my opinion that he is just as a badass as Lemmy when it comes to Music.
I would have liked to have read 100 pages from the On-parole to the Iron Fist years. Eddie rips up solos, he has heart and feel unlike Philp Campbell. Hey Campbell, please don't try to turn Motorhead into a Faster PussyCat. PLS lose those bandanas and those silk and L.A. glam rock outfits you wear. Mickey rules. Wurzel is the man, next to Eddie ofcoarse. You can find more information on Fast Eddie's website about those days, and it gives an honest, blunt, view of the Eddie years. Long live Lemmy and the horse he rode on!!

Motorheadbanger
Lemmy Kilmister, lead singer of Motorhead, tells his story as if you were sitting right there next to him enjoying a cold one together. He's comes off as witty, natural and loose in describing his troubles with record labels, his women, and the journeys all over the world his band has taken him. One complaint; other than Megadeth & Slayer, Lemmy never really goes in depth on his relationships or feuds with other rock stars. I wanted to hear more about his friendship with Doro Pesch (from Warlock), his feud with Blackie Lawless of W.A.S.P., and others. You'd think that after influencing countless bands like Metallica that there would be more backstage stories. But he mainly sticks with the craziness within his own group. Very readable and funny.

Incredible!!! A definite rock autobiography!!!
Even if your're not a Motorhead fan you are sure to enjoy this. This book is as uncomprimising as his music. It is brutally honest, as wacky as a Mel Brooks film and as revealing on Rock Music as the watergate scandal was on Mr Nixon. Lemmy is a guy whose been through it all right from the mid sixties to the present day and still going strong and knows the ins and outs of the buisness. You just feel that he has so much to tell he could probably fill ten books of legendary stories about himself, other bands' antics and good and bad guys in music.
The wit and good taste the book is told with is legendary. A story he tells about guitarist Wurzel snorting cocaine off Leslie West's boot in a toilet had me smiling for days. There are brilliant one liners throughout whether it's wit or advice.
you could go through this book in almost one sitting because of its overly shortness, readability and because its hard to put down- lemmy just begins a story, says he'll come back to it later, and then its the end of the book! I think volume 2 is in order! Buy this book you wont regret it!

Good Reading
What a fun read it is. Motorhead fans will enjoy the sarcastic sense of humor all the way through whilst "regular" rock & roll fans will find enough information and shocking sex-and-drugs stories to stay satisfied. Of course, to Motorhead fans nothing will be shocking, just fun. We have known about Lemmy's...eh...excessive(?) behavior since we bought our first Motorhead album. This book provides enough insight into Lemmy to show once and for all that he "IS" rock & roll. Definitely mandatory reading if you are into music. ... Read more

Book Description

Finalist for the 2001 Pulitzer Prize in Biography. A landmark biography of Bach on the 250th anniversary of the composer's death, written by the leading Bach scholar of our age. Although we have heard the music of J. S. Bach in countless performances and recordings, the composer himself still comes across only as an enigmatic figure in a single familiar portrait. As we mark the 250th anniversary of Bach's death, author Christoph Wolff presents a new picture that brings to life this towering figure of the Baroque era. This engaging new biography portrays Bach as the living, breathing, and sometimes imperfect human being that he was, while bringing to bear all the advances of the last half-century of Bach scholarship. Wolff demonstrates the intimate connection between the composer's life and his music, showing how Bach's superb inventiveness pervaded his career as musician, composer, performer, scholar, and teacher. And throughout, we see Bach in the broader context of his time: its institutions, traditions, and influences. With this highly readable book, Wolff sets a new standard for Bach biography. 42 b/w illustrations. ... Read more

Reviews (13)

dry but readable and insightful
After reading this book I came away with a good understanding of Bach's musical achievements and his concept of what music is all about. This is a very well written and comprehensive look at Bach's music and musical evolution thru life - including his major, longer works (no minuets included) and musical surroundings. It is very well worth reading for its study of Bach's music if you have some technical musical background (more on that later).

One small complaint: most of the music titles are given in German only. Since there are hundreds of such cases, it was impractical to do always search for a translation on the internet so I'm sure I missed a few points. For example the titles of Bach's first three key teaching works are listed - with only the first in English. Wolff then says that "the carefully coordinated phraseology of all three titles" were impressive!
Fortunately, the German version of "The Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach" is obvious in meaning but shamefully without translation: for many of us, one of our first piano pieces came from that notebook!

Finally, this is not a complaint, but a warning. You will have great difficulty with this book if you don't have some background in musical terminology, notation, and Baroque music history. You should know the meaning of terms like "basso continuo", "counterpoint", "thoroughbass" (figured bass), etc. to appreciate the text. For example, there is much discussion of Bach's role in the evolution of the "Fugue". Other forms, such as the "motet" (sacred music not an integral part of the mass) are mentioned without definition. For such a background, I would recommend Kamien's "Music An Appreciation, Ed.8" - or a less expensive alternative that covers music from the Middle Ages to the Baroque Period.

A scholarly masterpiece worthy of your intelligence!
This book is most ostensibly not a work intended to provide a layman's knowledge of Bach. The book assumes a fair knowledge of Bach and his oeuvre, as well as a thorough knowledge of music theory and general instrumentation. Cristoph Wolff has written a thoroughly satisfying and extraordinarily comprehensive summary of Bach's professional and personal lives. I found that despite the book's intrinsically serious tone, reading it as a whole felt not like a biography, but a story that us Bach fanatics wish would never end.

This book is thoroughly impressive in both its scope and its detail, though the numerous tables cataloguing Bach's work from the various periods such as Weimar and Cothen are not as well integrated in text as one might hope. Where Wolff makes the occasional reference to the tables, I as the reader desired to see more comparison and analysis of various works in each period.

It is also immediately apparent upon even a glance through the index that Wolff dedicates much of his analysis of Bach's major works to Bach's vocal music, and notably less space to Bach's instrumental and keyboard/organ music. As we know, Bach's Fugue "the Great" in G minor, BWV 542, is a towering masterpiece of Bach's (and Baroque) organ music, but Wolff hardly affords it the analysis it demands. He also neglects to develop much depth of analysis with Bach's instrumental works. For example, we know that nearly all of Bach's solo and multiple piano concerti have their roots in previous concerti, but little attention is paid as to why Bach chose to transcribe to piano(harpsichord), why he selected the works he did, and whether there is a distinct method/pattern to Bach's transcriptions.

Wolff does do, however, an exquisite job of analysis of Bach's vocal music, exploring the depth of Bach's passion for writing cantatas, and how skillfully he was able to interpet his vision of the words into music. Wolff provides numerous glimpses of Bach's organ expertise, especially in the field of repair and construction. These descriptions do require some prior knowledge of how an organ produces sound and how it is played in order to be enjoyed to the fullest. The book also does a magnificient job of exploring and relating the various and primary influences on Bach's musical development and style. Wolff provides an insight into the influence of Dietrich Buxtehude especially, as well as that of Johann Pachelbel and the numerous older Bach relations. Much has been heaped upon Mozart's child prodigy fame, but even those of us for whom Bach is a perpetual favorite, know little about Bach's formative years, and Wolff gives a very comprehensive look at Bach's musical training.

Wolff's small digressions notwithstanding, this book is truly one every lover of Bach should keep in his library. (And reread every so often!)

Detailed and Learned but Ultimately Unrewarding
This is a very detailed book covering a great deal about the life of Bach. A great deal of insight is on offer regarding the great man's life and times as well as the likely basis under which he produced his work. I have found that reading and re-reading this book has significantly enahnced my understanding of Bach's world - Thuringia in the first half of the 18th century.

There is more detail here in terms of how Bach lived and his day to day relations, both personal and professional, than anyone could possibly need. In terms of factual aspects concerning Bach and his life one could not expect or need anything more that this book and in this regard the book is successful; Christolph Wolff has been more than thorough in his research. So many points of detail are listed that I thought that I would come across one of Bach's laundry lists if I read for long enough. It could be said that there is actually too much detail here which doesn't significantly more forward one's understanding of Bach the man or Bach the musician. However, in an academic book such as this it is generally accepted that a surfeit of information does not constitute a lapse of quality. Concise is not an adjective which could be applied to the author.

However, there are two drawbacks for me in this book. The first is a relatively minor point but the second is very significant.

The first drawback is that the content of the book is, at times, meandering. Wolff seems to move around subjects and themes within a single chapter leaving the reader confused and unsatisfied. While there is plenty of information - sometimes too much even - the underlying structure is confused and confusing. This can appear as a meandering text which sometimes seems to lose the idea of the point it is pursuing. This is more a matter of style than an outright criticim however.

The second drawback is far more significant for me. Most people who would go to the extent of buying and reading this book would have a specific interest in Bach; that is his music represents something special to them. Many such readers will view Bach as a great genius; I am in that camp myself, no doubt so is Christolph Wolff. The main point about Bach is his musical, expecially compositorial skill. Why then is there no analysis of Bach's genius? How and where did it originate and how did it develop in his lifetime? How, in the view of the author, does Bach's genius manifest itself in his works. What is it about Bach which has raised his work to such an exalted level - how is this different to his contemporaries? The author scant regard to where Bach's creativity ebb and flow and how this manifested itself in his work. Little effort seems to be made in this book to consider the work of Bach in terms of how it could be analysed and contrasted - surely this is of primary importance in understanding Bach and his music.

I'm afraid that the dry factual/quantative approach which Wolff takes with regard to Bach's creative process is ultimately unrewarding for me. Most people who listen to Bach would be interested to hear the different musical aspects of, say the Masses. Why is the B Minor Mass considered great and how could it be compared in musical terms to the Mass in F for instance.
Which of Bach's cantatas are the ones to focus on when trying to expand one's understanding of his oeuvre? Merely listing the various Cantata cycles is not sufficient in terms of understanding the qualitative aspects of the music.

While this book gets behind the day to day Bach it does not give any insight into the creative core of Bach. This is certainly not easy given the essentially unknowable aspects of creative genius and the elapsed time since Bach's life - however I would have appreciated some effort on this front.

No book can serve the purposes of all potential readers and what this book covers it does in quality and detail. However an analysis of Bach's life should never be divorced from an analysis of his genius which the author seems to have done here.

Christolph Wolff is clearly a man who understands the life and times of Bach in great detail but I would have preferred to see more focus on the qualitative aspects of Bachs music.

In summary, then an informative and useful factual book but one which misses the opportunity to inform the reader as to the practicalities of the works of the great genius Bach.

Best book ever on Bach
The usual view of Bach's life that I grew up with portrays him as something of a musical hermit, producing masterpieces and children at a prolific rate in relative anonymity with little or no earthly recognition. This book completely revises my view of Bach's life. Wolff shows Bach as a fantastically well-rounded and charismatic musician with a fantastic ability to create masterpieces, a great teacher, well loved and respected member of the community, a profound and simple Christian, and a fundamentally happy, joyful, complete man. Wolff also tries to show that Bach was the greatest musician who ever lived, and does a pretty convincing job at that. I always knew Bach was a great musician; this book simply reinforces and proves my intuition. His intermittant references to Newton are a little annoying and indicative of the hyperbole Wolff sometimes uses, but one gets used to them. The book also shows his human side - his mercurial temperment, his sometimes overbearing and demanding personality, and his greed. This book contains an enormous amount of personal information on Bach, far more than I knew existed. Wolff writes well and does not use an inordinate amount of musical terminology, so a musical illiterate like myself can still read and enjoy him. If you love Bach's music get this book, and you might as well the New Bach Reader along with it, as a good percentage of the quotes in Wolff's come directly from this source.

A Great Book on Bach's Life and Influence
J.S. Bach has been my longtime favorite classical composer, but while I knew he was one of the most influential composers in history, I never quite knew why. Moreover, he always seemed to have a tacit reputation as being rule-bound and stern, unlike the more dynamic, perhaps more charismatic, figures of Mozart and Beethoven (the latter's horrible temper notwithstanding). Cristoph Wolff's book has at last provided me with a fuller picture of Bach and his influence.

The subtitle "The Learned Musician" sets a primary theme for the work, namely Bach as the scholar-musician, who was able to pass rigorous theology exams in Latin and whose mastery of organ building was a significant achievement of engineering, math and acoustics, to say nothing of raw musical genius. A motif that crops up in this book is the comparison between Bach and Newton (which was made in Bach's time). Bach thought that there were rules of causality in canons just like there is causality in Nature, and used other musical pieces to explore theological concepts. Musical science is no mere metaphor applied by Wolff to Bach, but is something that the composer himself took very serious, and this was realized even by some of his contemporaries. Likewise Wolff also points out that this does not mean that Bach was some soulless theoretician either. Rather, Bach's work worked within rules of composition, but also broke and surpassed them when necessary. Bach refused to divorce theory from practice, so his collections of music like the Well-Tempered Clavier and the Art of the Fugue served to show how a particular form of music (e.g., the keyboard or the fugue) could be applied in just about any combination imaginable. These compositions were theoretical statements, albeit ones without words. Wolff does not get too bo