Southern Rock

The Allman Brothers Band and Lynyrd Skynyrd helped usher in a new kind of southern music from Jacksonville, Florida. Together, they and fellow bands like Blackfoot, 38 Special, and Molly Hatchet would reset the course of '70s rock. Yet Jacksonville seemed an unlikely hotbed for a new musical movement. Michael FitzGerald blends eyewitness detail with in-depth history to tell the story of how the River City bred this generation of legendary musicians.

Levon is the dazzling, epic biography of Levon Helm - the beloved, legendary drummer and singer of The Band. 

In one month, I turn thirty-five with my virginity still intact. Is there anything more embarrassing than knowing most of my French students have gotten more action than me? Je suis triste. When I accidentally reveal this secret to my close friend and co-worker Seamus, South Rock's baseball coach, he offers to help me round the bases. It has to be a joke, because Seamus is one million percent straight. There's no way he'd want to fool around with a chubby language nerd like me, even though I've harbored a secret crush on him since the day he first walked into the teachers' lounge.

A long time ago, in a suburban high school not so far away, a closeted nerd (me) and a closeted soccer star (Hutch) fell in love and planned to make their public debut at prom. Until Hutch bailed at the last minute, leaving me with a broken heart and unworn tuxedo. Tale as old as time, right? I spent the past ten years working to forget Hutch, returning to our old high school to teach and make new memories that could erase ones of him. I thought Hutch was ancient history, off living his professional athlete life. 

I love watching chemicals bond, but I avoid the practice myself. When I'm not teaching, I'm hanging out with my cat and putting together puzzles. I shy away from romantic entanglements because I know firsthand the collateral damage they cause. Until I bump into Anton and Sebastian: best friends, business partners, and former wrestling superstars at South Rock High who could barely pass my class. Catching up turns into drinking, which turns into dancing, which turns into them practicing wrestling moves on me, sans clothing.

Kings of Rock and Roll is the story of Billy and Eddy King, one white, one black, and both musical prodigies. When joined by brothers Danny and Mickey Prince and drummer Phil Jester, they became Kings Court and became teenage music legends in the Deep South in the 1960s and '70s. Their collective stories weave a tantalizingly accurate picture of life in hundreds of textile towns across the Southeast during the era of civil rights and the Vietnam War.

The tragic and inspiring story of the leaders of Outlaw country and their influence on today’s Alt-County and Americana superstars, tracing a path from Waylon Jennings’ survival on the Day the Music Died through to the Highwaymen and on to the current creative and commercial explosion of...

This program is read by the author and contains more than 40 never-before-heard interviews with the band members. New York Times bestselling author Alan Paul's in-depth narrative look at the Allman Brothers' most successful album, and a portrait of an era in rock and roll and American history...

"A top-notch mystery from a writer to watch out for." - Bookish Jottings Mourning the death of her police inspector husband, Margot Renard moves to a small seaside town in the south of France. But when the body of a young boy washes up on a beach, Margot is drawn into a dangerous world of drug smugglers and people trafficking, and forced to cross paths with two feuding gangsters. Mystery combines with thrills in the first of an exciting new crime series set in the beautiful scenery of southern France. Ideal for readers of Martin Walker, Donna Leon, M. L. Longworth and Angela Wren. Praise ...

When a local businessman collapses after tasting Harper Lane’s famous Southern Comfort Stew, her beloved Magnolia Café becomes a crime scene—and Harper becomes the prime suspect. To clear her name, she teams up with Ranger, the sheriff’s droopy-eared bloodhound with a nose for trouble. As Harper uncovers blackmail, buried family secrets, and a trail leading straight to her estranged aunt, the quiet town of Sweetgum Ridge turns out to be full of surprises. Warm, witty, and wonderfully Southern, The Magnolia Café Mystery is a cozy whodunit filled with charm, community, and one ...

Rock isn't just music. It's a universal language that has crossed geographical, cultural, and generational boundaries, becoming the heartbeat of modernity. From Chuck Berry's first distorted chord in 1955 to Kurt Cobain's grunge riffs in the '90s, rock has told the story of contemporary humanity with a sincerity and emotional force that no other medium has managed to equal. This book traces forty-six years of musical, social, and technological evolution—a period when rock transformed from a rebellious youth phenomenon into a dominant cultural force. This isn't just about telling the story...

A fascinating history that examines how real estate, gentrification, community and the highs and lows of New York City itself shaped the city’s music scenes from folk to house music. Take a walk through almost any neighborhood in Manhattan and you’ll likely pass some of the most significant...

When bestselling author Megan Pressfield retreats to Morgan’s Rock to pen the sequel to her hit novel and rebuild her life after a devastating divorce, she expects peace and inspiration. Instead, she finds a mansion steeped in secrets—and a doorway to another time. In an old armoire, Megan discovers an exquisite 1930s gown. Slipping it on, she’s transported to 1932, where the jazz-age glamour of Hollywood collides with something far darker. Morgan’s Rock is haunted by restless spirits and the shadow of a disastrous party that left lives shattered and secrets buried. As Megan delves ...

The Powell brothers - Muir and Moody - are as different as Cain and Abel. Muir is an innocent, a shy young man with big dreams. Moody, the older and wilder brother - embittered by the death of his father, by years of fighting his mother, and by his jealousy of Muir's place in the family - takes to moonshine and gambling and turns his anger on his brother. Muir escapes by wandering, making his way around the country in attempts to find something - an occupation, a calling - to match his ambition. 

An epic tale of sex, drugs, and country music almost 40 years in the making, Gary Stewart: I Am From the Honky-Tonks is the eighth and final biography by Jimmy McDonough (Shakey: Neil Young’s Biography, Tammy Wynette: Tragic Country Queen), America’s greatest chronicler of popular culture...

In the west, sometimes your hero is your enemy... After her plantation burns to the ground by the hands of her Confederate father, Willow is then forced to escape Georgia aboard a wagon train heading west. When the Apache attack the wagons, capturing and brutalizing her, Willow copes by escaping reality. As her mind slips from the present into the past, confusion sets in. Willow no longer knows her enemies as she is tied and sacrificed for a man they call Yellow Rock. Dutch (Yellow Rock) knows a trap when he sees one. The crazy woman whistling Dixie up on that cliff can mean only one thing;...

Explore the untamed spirit of the Natural State, from its rugged origins to modern times. The definitive chronicle of Arkansas: Where heritage meets resilience in the American South. A richly-woven tale of Native lands, civil wars, and the indomitable character of Arkansans. In this comprehensive and engaging historical account, author Daniel Hardy takes readers on a fascinating journey through the rich heritage of the state of Arkansas. From the Native American societies that first inhabited the region, through the turbulent years of the Civil War and the complex 20th century era of civil ...

In the summer of 1964 Jacksonville, Florida teenager Ronnie Van Zant and some of his friends hatched the idea of forming a band to play covers of the Rolling Stones, Beatles, Yardbirds, and the country and blues-rock music they had grown to love. Naming their band after Leonard Skinner, the gym teacher at Robert E. Lee Senior High School who constantly badgered the long-haired aspiring musicians to get haircuts, they were soon playing gigs at parties, and bars throughout the South. 

The Best and the Worst Concert Ever: Why The Warning is Awesome, is an essay about a concert that was, as the title says, the best, and yet the worst concert ever. From writer James J. Caterino. the author of Cool Stuff, Reviews and Essays, True Stories, True Stories 2, Escape to Nowhere, and much more.

Something strange is happening in a small community in the Deep South. For many years, there has been a legend that Sasquatches are residing on a remote property a few miles away from town. A well-fortified privacy fence surrounds the private area, and outsiders are strictly prohibited from entering. The young people know little about the legend because the older generation refuses to discuss it. Three twelve-year-old boys decide to solve the mystery once and for all, as they have the all-night adventure of their lives. This is a coming-of-age story about the dangers of disobeying parents, ...