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Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink
- Narrated by: Elvis Costello
- Length: 18 hrs and 41 mins
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Publisher's summary
The perfect gift for music lovers and Elvis Costello fans, telling the story behind Elvis Costello’s legendary career and his iconic, beloved songs.
Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink provides readers with a master’s catalogue of a lifetime of great music. Costello reveals the process behind writing and recording legendary albums like My Aim Is True, This Year’s Model, Armed Forces, Almost Blue, Imperial Bedroom, and King of America. He tells the detailed stories, experiences, and emotions behind such beloved songs as “Alison”, “Accidents Will Happen”, “Watching the Detectives”, “Oliver’s Army”, “Welcome to the Working Week”, “Radio Radio”, “Shipbuilding”, and “Veronica”, the last of which is one of a number of songs revealed to connect to the lives of the previous generations of his family.
Costello chronicles his musical apprenticeship, a child's view of his father Ross MacManus' career on radio and in the dance hall; his own initial, almost comical steps in folk clubs and cellar dive before his first sessions for Stiff Records, the formation of the Attractions, and his frenetic and ultimately notorious third US tour. He takes listeners behind the scenes of Top of the Pops and Saturday Night Live, and his own show, Spectacle, on which he hosted artists such as Lou Reed, Elton John, Levon Helm, Jesse Winchester, Bruce Springsteen, and President Bill Clinton.
The idiosyncratic memoir of a singular man, Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink is destined to be a classic.
Critic reviews
"Some of the best writing - funny, strange, spiteful, anguished - we’ve ever had from an important musician.” (Dwight Garner, The New York Times)
“The book is fantastic - maybe the best about music by a musician that I've read.... The stuff about the collaborations alone - McCartney, Burt Bacharach, Allen Toussaint, the Roots, the Brodsky Quartet - is riveting.” (Nick Hornby)
“Revelatory, evocatively crafted, [and] highly entertaining.” (David Fricke, Rolling Stone)
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Guy Pratt came of age just as bass playing became sexy. Having dallied with punk legend Sylvain Sylvain, Pratt suddenly found himself on Top of the Pops and supporting David Bowie with smooth Australian outfit Icehouse. He became bass player to the stars, crawling from studio to bar and hotel to stadium Portakabin with the likes of Pink Floyd, Robert Palmer, Womack &Womack and Bryan Ferry. Guy has recorded with everyone from Madonna and Michael Jackson to McFly.
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Best book on Audible by a bass player!
- By Fjolnir on 03-12-12
By: Guy Pratt
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Wild Tales
- A Rock & Roll Life
- By: Graham Nash
- Narrated by: Graham Nash
- Length: 12 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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From Graham Nash - the legendary musician and founding member of the iconic bands Crosby, Stills & Nash and The Hollies - comes a candid and riveting autobiography that belongs on the reading list of every classic rock fan.
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The Best of the Recent Rock Biographies
- By Steven Schuster on 10-28-13
By: Graham Nash
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Being John Lennon
- A Restless Life
- By: Ray Connolly
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 16 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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What was it like to be John Lennon? What was it like to be the castoff child, the clown at school, the middle-class suburban boy who pretended to be a working-class hero? How did it feel to have one of the most recognizable singing voices in the world but to dislike it so much he always wanted to disguise it? Being John Lennon is not about the whitewashed Prince of Peace of “Imagine” legend - because that was only a small part of him. The John Lennon depicted in this book is a much more kaleidoscopic figure, sometimes almost a collision of different characters.
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Stars taken off for inclusion of MDC’s story
- By rob on 12-09-22
By: Ray Connolly
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Catch a Wave
- The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson
- By: Peter Ames Carlin
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
- Length: 14 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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In Catch a Wave, Peter Ames Carlin pulls back the curtain on Brian Wilson, one of popular music's most revered luminaries, as well as its biggest mystery. Drawing on hundreds of interviews and never-before heard studio recordings, Carlin follows the Beach Boys from their earliest days through Brian's deepening emotional problems to his triumphant re-emergence with the release of Smile, the legendarily unreleased album he had originally shelved.
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Not great
- By J. Barker on 08-08-16
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The Cake and the Rain
- A Memoir
- By: Jimmy Webb
- Narrated by: Jimmy Webb
- Length: 12 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Jimmy Webb's words have been sung to his music by a rich and deep roster of pop artists, including Glen Campbell, Art Garfunkel, Frank Sinatra, Donna Summer, and Linda Ronstadt. He's the only artist ever to win Grammy Awards for music, lyrics, and orchestration, and his chart-topping career has, so far, lasted 50 years, most recently with a Kanye West rap hit and a new classical nocturne. Now Webb delivers a snapshot of his life from 1955 to 1970, from the proverbial humble beginnings into a moneyed and manic international world of beautiful women, drugs, cars, and planes.
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This Book is Hard to Listen to
- By Robert Alexander on 01-14-21
By: Jimmy Webb
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Fire and Rain
- The Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, James Taylor, CSNY and the Lost Story of 1970
- By: David Browne
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 11 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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January 1970: the Beatles assemble one more time to put the finishing touches on Let It Be; Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young are wrapping up Déjà Vu; Simon and Garfunkel are unveiling Bridge Over Troubled Water; James Taylor is an upstart singer-songwriter who's just completed Sweet Baby James. Over the course of the next twelve months, their lives---and the world around them---will change irrevocably.
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Fascinating information, easy to listen
- By NCKitkat on 07-28-11
By: David Browne
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Outlaw
- Waylon, Willie, Kris, and the Renegades of Nashville
- By: Michael Streissguth
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 7 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Waylon Jennings. Willie Nelson. Kris Kristofferson. Three renegade musicians. Three unexpected stars. Three men who changed Nashville and country music forever. Streissguth's new book brings to life an incredible chapter in musical history and reveals for the first time a surprising outlaw zeitgeist in Nashville. Based on extensive research and probing interviews with key players, what emerges is a fascinating glimpse into three of the most legendary artists of our times and the definitive story of how they changed music in Nashville and everywhere.
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Revealing little-known Details does Captivate!
- By Cody Meyer on 11-20-17
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Dreaming the Beatles
- A Love Story of One Band and the Whole World
- By: Rob Sheffield
- Narrated by: Rob Sheffield
- Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Dreaming the Beatles is not another biography of the Beatles or a song-by-song analysis of the best of John and Paul. It isn't another exposé about how they broke up. It isn't a history of their gigs or their gear. It is a collection of essays telling the story of what this ubiquitous band means to a generation who grew up with the Beatles' music on their parents' stereos and their faces on T-shirts. What do the Beatles mean today? Why are they more famous and beloved now than ever? Find out.
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Wonderful ramble
- By Tad Davis on 05-18-17
By: Rob Sheffield
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Uncommon People
- The Rise and Fall of The Rock Stars
- By: David Hepworth
- Narrated by: Matthew Lloyd Davies
- Length: 10 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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The age of the rock star, like the age of the cowboy, has passed. Like the cowboy, the idea of the rock star lives on in our imaginations. What did we see in them? Swagger. Recklessness. Sexual charisma. Damn-the-torpedoes self-belief. A certain way of carrying themselves. Good hair. Interesting shoes. Talent we wished we had. What did we want of them? To be larger than life but also like us. To live out their songs. To stay young forever. No wonder many didn't stay the course.
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INSIGHTFULL!
- By CLAUDIA R KENNEDY on 02-18-18
By: David Hepworth
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Traveling Music
- The Soundtrack to My Life and Times
- By: Neil Peart
- Narrated by: Brian Sutherland
- Length: 14 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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The music of Frank Sinatra, Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park, and many other artists provides the score to the reflections of a musician on the road in this memoir of Neil Peart's travels from Los Angeles to Big Bend National Park. The emotional associations and stories behind each album Peart plays guide his recollections of his childhood on Lake Ontario, the first bands that he performed with, and his travels with the band Rush. The evocative and resonant writing vividly captures the meanderings of a musical mind.
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If your a music lover you'll dig this one
- By Jason Lessenger on 09-12-15
By: Neil Peart
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High Voltage
- The Life of Angus Young - AC/DC's Last Man Standing
- By: Jeff Apter
- Narrated by: John Derum
- Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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The first biography to focus exclusively on Angus Young - from his remarkable rise from working-class Glasgow and Sydney to the biggest stages in the world. Angus Young, the cofounder and the last remaining original member of AC/DC, has for more than 40 years been the face, the sound and sometimes the exposed backside of the trailblazing rock band.
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Excellent book
- By Anonymous User on 09-21-18
By: Jeff Apter
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Born to Run
- By: Bruce Springsteen
- Narrated by: Bruce Springsteen
- Length: 18 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Story
In 2009, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band performed at the Super Bowl's halftime show. The experience was so exhilarating that Bruce decided to write about it. That's how this extraordinary autobiography began. Over the past seven years, Bruce Springsteen has privately devoted himself to writing the story of his life, bringing to this audio the same honesty, humor, and originality found in his songs.
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Me Springsteen's book moved me beyond words...
- By Ellen O'Brien on 12-12-16
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Revolutionary singer, songwriter, producer, bandleader, and funk icon George Clinton travels the rich cosmos of his musical history. As the second most sampled artist in the world (right behind James Brown), Clinton examines his incongruous path from delivering milk to Sarah Vaughan on Avon Avenue in Newark, New Jersey, to embodying funk as we know it—from Motown to the Mothership. Clinton’s experiences as the mastermind behind his bands Parliament and Funkadelic and as the foremost authority on all things funk make for a distinctive, humorous, and thoughtful journey through modern music.
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Too long to get to The Pretenders...
- By Greg on 04-20-16
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Let's Go (So We Can Get Back)
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Few bands have inspired as much devotion as the Chicago rock band Wilco, and it's thanks, in large part, to the band's singer, songwriter, and guiding light: Jeff Tweedy. But while his songs and music have been endlessly discussed and analyzed, Jeff has rarely talked so directly about himself, his life, and his artistic process.
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A best book of the year
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Who I Am
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From the voice of a generation: the most highly anticipated autobiography of the year, and the story of a man who wanted The Who to be called The Hair; wanted to be a sculptor, a journalist, a dancer and a graphic designer; became a musician, composer, librettist, fiction writer, literary editor, sailor; drank too much and nearly died; detached from his body in an airplane, on LSD, and nearly died; planned to write his memoir when he was 21; and published this book at 67.
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Glad To Meet You
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Testimony
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On the 40th anniversary of The Band's legendary The Last Waltz concert, Robbie Robertson finally tells his own spellbinding story of the band that changed music history, his extraordinary personal journey, and his creative friendships with some of the greatest artists of the last half century.
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Believable?
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The Philosophy of Modern Song
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Dylan, who began working on the book in 2010, offers his insight into the nature of popular music. He writes over sixty essays focusing on songs by other artists, spanning from Stephen Foster to Elvis Costello, and in between ranging from Hank Williams to Nina Simone. He analyzes what he calls the trap of easy rhymes, breaks down how the addition of a single syllable can diminish a song, and even explains how bluegrass relates to heavy metal. These essays are written in Dylan’s unique prose. And while ostensibly about music, they are really meditations on the human condition.
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Needs chapter headings
- By kaon on 12-22-22
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...And Your Ass Will Follow
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Revolutionary singer, songwriter, producer, bandleader, and funk icon George Clinton travels the rich cosmos of his musical history. As the second most sampled artist in the world (right behind James Brown), Clinton examines his incongruous path from delivering milk to Sarah Vaughan on Avon Avenue in Newark, New Jersey, to embodying funk as we know it—from Motown to the Mothership. Clinton’s experiences as the mastermind behind his bands Parliament and Funkadelic and as the foremost authority on all things funk make for a distinctive, humorous, and thoughtful journey through modern music.
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Give me more
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Reckless
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Chrissie Hynde, the songwriter and front woman of The Pretenders in its various incarnations, has for 35 years been one of the most admired and adored and imitated figures in rock. This long-awaited memoir tells her life story in full and utterly fascinating detail, from her all-American Ohio '50s childhood to her classic baby-boomer seduction by the rock of the '60s to her sojourn in the crucible of punk that was '70s London to her instant emergence with her band, The Pretenders, in 1980 into stardom as a frontwoman and songwriter.
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Too long to get to The Pretenders...
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Let's Go (So We Can Get Back)
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Few bands have inspired as much devotion as the Chicago rock band Wilco, and it's thanks, in large part, to the band's singer, songwriter, and guiding light: Jeff Tweedy. But while his songs and music have been endlessly discussed and analyzed, Jeff has rarely talked so directly about himself, his life, and his artistic process.
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A best book of the year
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From the voice of a generation: the most highly anticipated autobiography of the year, and the story of a man who wanted The Who to be called The Hair; wanted to be a sculptor, a journalist, a dancer and a graphic designer; became a musician, composer, librettist, fiction writer, literary editor, sailor; drank too much and nearly died; detached from his body in an airplane, on LSD, and nearly died; planned to write his memoir when he was 21; and published this book at 67.
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Glad To Meet You
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By: Pete Townshend
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Testimony
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On the 40th anniversary of The Band's legendary The Last Waltz concert, Robbie Robertson finally tells his own spellbinding story of the band that changed music history, his extraordinary personal journey, and his creative friendships with some of the greatest artists of the last half century.
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Believable?
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Needs chapter headings
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Thanks a Lot, Mr. Kibblewhite
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The result of this Roger Daltrey's introspection is a remarkable memoir, instantly captivating, funny and frank, chock-full of well-earned wisdom and one-of-kind anecdotes from a raucous life that spans a tumultuous time of change in Britain and America. Born during the air bombing of London in 1944, Daltrey fought his way (literally) through school and poverty and began to assemble the band that would become The Who while working at a sheet metal factory in 1961.
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Wonderful storytelling
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How Music Works is David Byrne’s incisive and enthusiastic look at the musical art form, from its very inceptions to the influences that shape it, whether acoustical, economic, social or technological.
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Kind of all over the place
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The Gospel According to Luke
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In this incisive memoir, Steve Lukather tells the complete Toto story. He also lifts the lid on what went on behind the closed studio doors, shedding light on the unique creative processes of some of the most legendary names in music: from Quincy Jones, Michael Jackson, Paul McCartney, Stevie Nicks, and Elton John to Miles Davis, Joni Mitchell, Bruce Springsteen, and Aretha Franklin. Lukather’s extraordinary tale also encompasses the dark side of stardom and the American Dream. Frank, engaging, and often hilarious, The Gospel According to Luke is no ordinary rock memoir.
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Wow Best Rock Biography Ever
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Musician, actor, activist, and the iconic face of New York City cool, Debbie Harry is the front woman of Blondie, a band that forged a new sound that brought together the worlds of rock, punk, disco, reggae, and hip-hop to create some of the most beloved pop songs of all time. As a muse, she collaborated with some of the boldest artists of the past four decades. The scope of Debbie Harry’s impact on our culture has been matched only by her reticence to reveal her rich inner life - until now.
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Sonic Life
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Thurston Moore moved to Manhattan’s East Village in 1978 with a yearning for music. He wanted to be immersed in downtown New York’s sights and sounds—the feral energy of its nightclubs, the angular roar of its bands, the magnetic personalities within its orbit. But more than anything, he wanted to make music—to create indelible sounds that would move, provoke, and inspire. His dream came to life in 1981 with the formation of Sonic Youth, a band Moore cofounded with Kim Gordon and Lee Ranaldo.
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Disembodied Art and Intellect
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Remain in Love
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In Remain in Love, Frantz writes about the beginnings of Talking Heads - their days as art students in Providence, moving to the sparse Chrystie Street loft Frantz, Weymouth, and Byrne shared where the music that defined an era was written. With immersive vivid detail, Frantz describes life on tour, down to the meals eaten and the clothes worn - and reveals the mechanics of a long and complicated working relationship with a mercurial frontman.
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Enjoyable, if sometimes perfunctory
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Wild Tales
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From Graham Nash - the legendary musician and founding member of the iconic bands Crosby, Stills & Nash and The Hollies - comes a candid and riveting autobiography that belongs on the reading list of every classic rock fan.
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The Best of the Recent Rock Biographies
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Girl in a Band
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Kim Gordon, founding member of Sonic Youth, fashion icon, and role model for a generation of women, now tells her story - a memoir of life as an artist, of music, marriage, motherhood, independence, and as one of the first women of rock and roll, written with the lyricism and haunting beauty of Patti Smith's Just Kids.
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Maskenfreiheit: The Freedom Conferred by Masks
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Life in the Fast Lane
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- Narrated by: Al Kessel
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- Unabridged
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"Surely make you lose your mind . . ." So the Eagles warn us about the outrageous and ruthless lifestyle of the ambitious rock-n-roller. In fact, Don Henley could barely listen to the track "Life in the Fast Lane" when they were recording it. He was so high that it made him sick. The band that embodied the American dream with globe-straddling success, impossibly luxurious lives, and almost supernatural talent also descended into nightmare with betrayal, hate-filled hubris, the skeletons of perceived enemies, brutally discarded lovers and former band mates left unburied in the road behind them.
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Welcome Overview
- By Stephen on 11-09-23
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Punk Rock Blitzkrieg
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- Unabridged
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Having outlived his bandmates, Marky is the only person who can share the secrets and stories of the Ramones' improbable rise from obtuse beginnings to induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. But it wasn't all good times and hit songs, and Marky doesn't shy away from discussing his own struggles.
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Dedicated Punk Fans Must Read
- By Leostriple on 03-26-15
By: Rich Herschlag, and others
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Into the Void
- From Birth to Black Sabbath—And Beyond
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- Narrated by: Geezer Butler
- Length: 8 hrs and 31 mins
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With over 70 million records sold, Black Sabbath, dubbed by Rolling Stone “the Beatles of heavy metal,” helped create the genre itself, with their distinctive heavy riffs, tuned down guitars, and apocalyptic lyrics. Bassist and primary lyricist Geezer Butler played a gigantic part in the band’s renown, from suggesting the band name to using his fascination with horror, religion, and the occult to compose the lyrics and build the foundation of heavy metal as we know it. In Into the Void, Butler tells his side of the story.
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Geezer, The Only Member Of Sabbath You Can Trust.
- By monday night by satellite on 06-15-23
By: Geezer Butler
What listeners say about Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- rbn
- 10-13-15
Elvis by Elvis -- Best of the Best!
Would you consider the audio edition of Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink to be better than the print version?
Of course I'll own both, but I'm soooooooo enjoying my private audience with the author as he shares the highs, the lows, the excesses and the achievements of an amazing life and career.
I've had the pleasure of listening to Elvis Costello's music (live and recorded) for nearly 40 years, with insights he's shared here and there into some of the inputs and inspirations behind his massive catalog.
Who was your favorite character and why?
Um, let me think...Elvis Costello? ;-)
What about Elvis Costello’s performance did you like?
I can't imagine enjoying anyone ELSE narrating this particular book. This is the tour Elvis has chosen to give us through HIS life, and his narrative style is comfortable and accessible.
This Elvis is so far removed from the Elvis I encountered in late '70s concerts, where the music did the talking and Elvis said little, if anything, to the audience. He's opened up over the ensuing decades, and now we've got over 18 hours (or 688 pages, or both) of this incredible wordsmith generously (and, I'm sure, selectively) using his words to illuminate other words and their origin.
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- William
- 10-31-15
A Masterful Wordsmith
An extraordinary view into the life of an artist consumed by the experience of music & history. Not the standard birth to present day summation but a kaleidoscope of times & places, not unlike his lyrics.
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9 people found this helpful
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- Joe Streno
- 10-28-15
Thank You Uncle Declan For the Engaging Bedtime Tale
Mother, Father, I'm here in the zoo
I can't come home 'cause I've grown up too soon ...
Listening to Mr MacManus recount the winding path through his life, is nothing short of bewitched, bemoaned and bedazzled. The road map may not be linear, but for every detour and track back, the journey is certainly worth the effort an final destination. Not unlike his music, we listen and are challenged, listening intently — willingly.
To hear the storyteller's deep rich voice carry us through a lifetime of shared musical heritage and fatherly love, is oddly disconcerting, but also very endearing. We as listener, not only get to hear the written word, we get to hear it with inflections, warmth, wrath, and beguiling charm of the author himself.
Uncle Declan's bedtime tale shines heart warming light on details about his relationship with his father, his father's, and grandfather's love and commitment to music and performing, and by proxy, how they influenced the narrator himself.
The tale is full of surprises, relationships, both musical and personal, that the listener may not ever dreamed Uncle Declan was capable of — if we all viewed his life by the neurotic "character" portrayed in his first recordings.
It's these surprises, twists, mea culpas and contortions that unveils the more "human" side of the narrator, author, subject.
Having been an Audio Book virgin — up until this point — I'm certainly glad it was Uncle Declan who read me his story. It was so worth the time.
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- William Magoolaghan
- 12-21-15
Beyond Belief
What did you love best about Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink?
If you are an Elvis fan, this is your gospel ... an incredible history of music from the days when his dad sang in clubs around Liverpool (about the time my Great Grandfather was working the ships there) to his most recent goings on. The best thing is this: Elvis is an amazing writer, and this book gives you the glimpse into his soul that you've always wanted, and he startles you with his frankness, makes you laugh with his uncontrollable wit, and brings you to tears more than once with his devastating lines. This book brings life to the lyrics he has spent a lifetime carving, telling of his loves and woes, and it lets you get to know him as more than a musician, but as a dutiful son, a crappy husband (ouch) and an amazing father.
What did you like best about this story?
The music. The people. I am walking away with my appreciation for music enhanced by over 1,000%. I listened to the audio book and then went out and bought the accompanying CD and then bought a paper copy of the book too so I could reread it and highlight songs and artists I want to go back and listen to. Elvis is a musical genius, and a bit of that rubs off on you when you read this. It has to, you have no choice, you will succumb, this book is infectious.
What about Elvis Costello’s performance did you like?
Why would you read this book if you can have Elvis Costello read it to you? He's hysterical and forlorn, he's clever and sedate, he's mixed up and clear. He's everything you ever thought he would be and much more, and if you think he writes incredible lyrics, wait until you hear his short fiction and poetry. It took me twice as long to listen to this book because I kept backing up to re-listen to different parts.
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
My brother bought us tickets to see Elvis at the Mesa Amphitheater in Arizona in 1982, and I was so tired at work the next day I nearly fell asleep in front of the microfiche machine. That concert was both exhaustion and eye-opening bliss. The music! Steve Nieve! OMG! I saw Elvis again a few months ago opening for Steely Dan at the Shoreline -- my reaction to this was: Elvis doesn't OPEN for anyone. WTF?! He was just as amazing. This book seems to bring it all home, as I've seemingly lived my life around a soundtrack of Elvis' songs from the confusion of youth, the heartache of relationships, the joys of being alive. It's like he's got a telescope into my bedroom window and has seen everything for the last 35 years. Everything. I am so ashamed, but at least I have someone to share this with.
Any additional comments?
There should be some secret way of giving a book an extra star to two. I try to be careful about giving 5 stars, but in this case, 5 stars is simply not enough. It's a bloody 10 star book in my opinion, and I am humbled.
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- ifthenwhy
- 08-01-17
I Don't Wanna Go To....
Any additional comments?
Simply put, if one is deeply interested in Costello's upbringing before his artistic breakthrough in the seventies, then this book should satisfy.
Sadly, I found this writing to be in desperate need of an editor as it reminded me of being caught in the corner of a party, having someone that you like hold you captive with a one-sided "conversation" that you just can't break away from.
Luckily Amazon doesn't require me to be polite.
I'm a HUGE Costello fan, but this book was a terrible slog.
Color me disappointed
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- Alison
- 11-21-15
Amazing, rich, and riveting
EC's way with words is evident in his songs and no less so in this book. He weaves the story of his life, his musical accomplishments, and his personal life in his unique style. The audiobook is much richer than the printed book because he reads it himself, and he conveys meaning beyond words in his speaking voice the way his does in his singing.
Even longtime fans will come away impressed with the breadth and depth of his work, some of it virtually unknown in the mainstream of popular music. He tells with his many collaborations and tremendous respect and affection for artists in every corner of the music business. He writes of his roots, his family, his loves and misadventures.
This is a book that is well worth the time and effort of listening to rather than reading on the printed page. It is truly a spectacular memoir.
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- tru britty
- 11-04-15
Elvis has become unstuck in time
Great music memoir, only Elvis is like that Vonnegut character: unstuck in time. We go from his childhood to Joe Strummer helping fans over a barricade to his childhood to Paul McCartney at a performance to remember Linda to Elvis's childhood.
Yet the disjointed narrative adds a surreal quality that blends with this memory flood of songs, conversations, near misses, obsessions, deaths, meetings.
Some of the most surreal encounters involve Dylan who pops out of a panel van at a Twin Cities race track and tells Elvis to jump in. They ride around, make plans to meet at a warehouse. They do.
They go to a party where partygoers' faces distort trying to put their big eyes on Dylan and insert their big ears into a chat between music men that gets quieter and quieter until it dissolves into silence.
Elvis is a great storyteller because he is equal parts participant and observer. And he has a wonderfully expressive voice. He reads like a dream. Now I have to wake up.
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- L.Dawg
- 10-13-15
F*** YEAH ELVIS
Would you listen to Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink again? Why?
Duh, yeah.
What other book might you compare Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink to and why?
None, it's in a class by itself.
What does Elvis Costello bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
Ahhh, those dulcet tones.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
1000% thrills
Any additional comments?
Buy it.
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- Michael Angelo Caruso
- 06-02-23
Every day he writes the book
The Zelig of the music industry details his remarkable life story. I enjoyed the ride, but the narrative jumps around a bit and I had trouble following.
Also, I would like to have learned less about Elvis’s family’s history and more about his tradecraft. Maybe in his next book!
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- Ray M
- 12-24-17
Enjoy the artist's journey
Elvis Costello was one of the first artists that I ever discovered for myself--I bought the eight track (yikes what a horrid format!) of his debut and fell in love with his passion and musicianship. Costello weaves a fascinating tale of the son of a singer who surpassed his father's accomplishments but admired his father enough to repeatedly acknowledge his contribution to his own career.
This is not the easiest book. Although the latter half of the book proceeds in a more or less chronological fashion, the first half is more the in and out weavings through time and childhood, adolescence, and adulthood tumble headlong into the strange reveries of a man looking back on several decades as a professional singer. Don't let this be an obstacle. Costello tells magical tales of being influenced as a performer, of collaborations with other artists (the sheer number of artists who have collaborated with Costello probably outnumbers those that he performed as the sole or leading singer).
This is less though a memoir of the man than a look at the development of an artist. Although there are biographical details (his account of his love for wife Diana Krall is truly sweet), this is more about the music and performers who inspired him and motivated him. I really enjoyed the chapter devoted to his love for the country music of Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, George Jones and company. This was revelatory to me and made me appreciate even more the chapters about his collaboration with Paul McCartney (the Beatles autograph story is memorable), Toussaint, and the Brodsky quartet.
All told, this book is a gem. As a final part of what makes this such a good book to have is the inclusion of so many of the lyrics to his songs. The only difficult part is that at times Costello drops his voice to a whisper so you get to at times rewind to capture what made the lines so urgent. Other than that, one of the best books read by the author.
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