The "Now" part of this unique book is drawn from writer and film-maker Robin Bextor's exclusive interviews with Paul McCartney - during which he talked candidly of his private life, of his life as a singer, musician, composer and businessman, of The Beatles and why they broke up. While Tony Barrow, Beatles PR from 1962 - 1968, looks back on McCartney as he was then, offering his own fascinating account of life inside the Fab Four camp. Illustrated throughout with rare photographs, and with additional insights and recollections from those who have been closest to him throughout his career, "Paul McCartney Now and Then" creates a revealing and personal portrait of the one of the world's greatest living musical icons.

Alice Cooper: Golf Monster is the full account of how Cooper became one of the biggest rock stars on the planet with hits like "School's Out" and "Elected", nearly lost it all to alcoholism, and then turned things around by finding a healthy obsession (golf) to replace his unhealthy addiction to alcohol. While most will be familiar with his wild, mascaraed visage and vaudevillian on-stage theatrics, perhaps few will have been aware of the double life Alice Cooper leads. He still tours the world with his band, playing a hundred gigs a year; snake coiled round his neck, beheaded by guillotine at the end of every show...but three hundred days out of that year, Cooper is on the course. Alice Cooper: Golf Monster is an unlikely and captivating tale of wretched excess, life-saving redemption, ghoulish make-up, power chords, and five-irons to the centre of the green. Both humorous and candid, this book reveals another dimension to a man who has epitomised rock 'n' roll for the last forty years.

'When I first heard about this Faith No More biography, I didn't know what to think. But I have to give credit where it is due, it's a quality piece. The man has done his research and it shows. It provided me with more than a few revelations ... and I'm in the band.' -- Bill Gould, Faith No More Small Victories: The True Story of Faith No More is the definitive biography of one of the most intriguing bands of the late twentieth century. Written with the participation of the group's key members, it tells how such a heterogeneous group formed, flourished, and fractured, and how Faith No More helped redefine rock, metal and alternative music. The book chronicles the creative and personal tensions that defined and fueled the band, forensically examines the band's beginnings in San Francisco's post-punk wasteland, and charts the factors behind the group's ascent to MTV-era stardom. Small Victories strips away the mythology and misinformation behind their misanthropic masterpiece Angel Dust, explores the rationale behind the frequent hiring and firing of band members, and traces the unraveling of the band in the mid-1990s. It also examines the band's breakup and hiatus, explores their unwelcome legacy as nu-metal godfathers, and gives a behind-the-scenes view of their rebirth. Based on meticulous research and hundreds of interviews with current and former band members and other key figures, Small Victories combines a fan's passion with a reporter's perspicacity.

The Beach Boys pioneered the wildly popular "Surf Sound," selling more records than any other American band. And 2016 marks the 50th anniversary of their groundbreaking and hugely influential album Pet Sounds and its follow-up single, "Good Vibrations." This book offers the first fully illustrated, in-depth examination of the group's story, with a special emphasis on the creation of those two masterpieces and what came after. More than 150 images include classic and rarely published photographs, album artwork, and archive memorabilia. By examining the writing, recording, and performance of the band's entire catalogue, mostly created by Brian Wilson, the book presents a unique look at the times, trials, and tribulations that went into making the Beach Boys, both before and after their 1966 triumphs.

* The first book to analyse every Queen song - giving equal weight to album tracks alongside the hits . * Includes analysis of about 20 classic songs using the original 24 track master tapes. * Queen remain ever popular and active, and continue to tour despite the death of Freddie Mercury in 1991. This book examines Queen's music, album by album, track by track, in detail. Where possible, recourse to the original multi-track master tapes has provided extra insight. Those familiar hits are revisited, but those classic album cuts - like `Liar', `March of the Black Queen', `Death on Two Legs', and `Dragon Attack', `are given equal precedence. The book also examines the changes that these same four musicians went through - from heavy and pomp rock to pop as the chart hits began to flow - with a keen and unbiased eye. Whether as a fan your preference is for the albums `A Night at the Opera', `Jazz' or `Innuendo' this detailed and definitive guide will tell you all you need to know. Queen had strength in depth. These are the songs on which a legend was built.

Chameleon, entertainer, actor, and iconoclast. It would be difficult to think of a rock star who has had a more varied and influential career than David Bowie and the list of bands and musicians who have been influenced by Bowie reads like an A to Z of popular music. But Bowie himself has skillfully and consistently maintained his credibility as the most innovative performer of his generation by staying one jump ahead of the many who seek to imitate him. Classic Tracks: David Bowie explores this icon in detail. While his many artistic incarnations are known, few know David Bowie the man, and as this book will show, through its exploration of his diverse body of work, the only real constant factors in his career are his incredible voice, his imagination and his supreme talent for artistic reincarnation. Every track of each of his albums is examined in great detail, giving you an insight to both the music, and the enigmatic man who created it.

*** *** THE TRUE STORY BEHIND THE OSCAR-WINNING, GOLDEN-GLOBE-WINNING FILM. 'Exactly the sort of tribute Mercury himself would have wanted' Spectator'No one has captured better than Lesley-Ann Jones the magical, enchanting dualism of Freddie Mercury' The Times 'Truly definitive, truly Freddie, an energetic, entertaining and essential account' Sir Tim Rice 'This book grabs you with its opening, then builds. Insight and anecdote in perfect harmony' Simon Napier-Bell 'At last a massive tribute to a massive talent' Steve Harley, Cockney Rebel This is the definitive biography of Freddie Mercury, written by award-winning rock journalist Lesley-Ann Jones, who toured widely with Queen and formed lasting friendships with the band. Now, having secured access to the remaining band members and those who were closest to Freddie from childhood to death, Lesley-Ann has written the most in-depth account of one of music's best loved and most complex figures. Meticulously researched, sympathetic, unsensationalised, the book focuses on the period in the 1980s when Queen began to fragment, before their Live Aid performance put them back in the frame. In her journey to understand the man behind the legend, Lesley-Ann Jones has travelled from London to Zanzibar to India. Packed with exclusive interviews and told with the invaluable perspective that the twenty years since Mercury's death presents, Bohemian Rhapsody is the most up-to-date portrait of a legendary man.

In his graphic biography Nick Cave: Mercy on Me, Reinhard Kleist paints an expressive and enthralling portrait of the musician, novelist, poet and actor. It is, according to Nick Cave himself, "a complex, chilling and completely bizarre journey into Cave World". Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds: An Art Book collects Kleist's moody and expressive portraits of the musician and his band, spanning thirty years of writing, recording and live performance. Kleist also returns us to Nick Cave's imaginative world with comic book reimaginings of "Deanna", "The Good Son" and "Stagger Lee" Filled with visual delights, this record-sized art book is a kaleidoscopic portrait of Nick Cave's wide-ranging career as a storyteller, musician and cultural icon.

Blue OEyster Cult On Track is a song-by-song analysis of the discography of Long Island's greatest sons, the Blue OEyster Cult. Dubbed "the thinking man's heavy metal band" and celebrated by critics, fans and musicians since their debut album in 1972, the band carved a unique path in hard rock history by combining chops, humour, occultism, poetry, jazz chords and pop sensibilities. Best known for their FM radio hits ""(Don't Fear) The Reaper"" and ""Burnin' For You"", Blue OEyster Cult's discography is in fact a treasure trove of fascinating, ever-evolving music by a band that was never afraid to explore, and never had the slightest respect for genre boundaries. The band's influence stretches from seminal metal bands like Metallica to cult act like Current 93 and their music has been heard in movies like ""Scream"" and ""Halloween"" and has been quoted by Stephen King. This book combines the author's analyses of Blue OEyster Cult's songs with insights from band members and people who worked with the band through the years. It is the ultimate companion for a deep dive into the catalogue of a band whose music is both inscrutable, fascinating and rewarding. From the canonized first 4 albums through their controversial 80s output and all the way to their revitalization and comeback in the late 90s, this book treats every era of the band with equal respect.

The relationship between Freddie Mercury and Jim Hutton evolved over several months in 1984 and 1985. Even when they first slept together Button had no idea who Mercury was, and when the star told him his name it meant nothing to him.;Hutton worked as a barber at the Savoy Hotel and retained his job and his lodgings in Sutton, Surrey, for two years after moving in with Mercury, and then worked as his gardener. He was never fully assimilated into Mercury's jet-setting lifestyle, nor did he want to be, but from 1985 until Mercury's death in 1991 he was closer to him than anyone and knew all Mercury's closest friends: the other members of Queen, Elton John, David Bowie, Phil Collins to name a few.;Ever present at the countless Sunday lunch gatherings and opulent parties, Hutton has a wealth of anecdotes about as well as a deep understanding of, Mercury's life. He also nursed Mercury through his terminal illness, often held him throughout the night in his final weeks, and was with him as he died. No one can tell the story of the last few years of Mercury's private life - the ecstasies and the agonies - more accurately or honestly than Jim Hutton.

Everything you need to know to start playing drums. Over 100 audio tracks, quick guide videos and 12 lessons in 6 different styles.

'...a fabulous book' Chris Evans (BBC Radio 2) A stunning collection of rare and unseen photographs and stories charting Ed Sheeran's rise to global superstar, by long-time collaborator Christie Goodwin. Featuring a foreword and additional photo captions by Ed's father, John Sheeran."When I first met Ed Sheeran he was unknown and unsigned - just a young busker trying to make it big. But I could see something special in Ed. I agreed to photograph him for free to help him on his way to the top. That was the beginning of a 10-year collaboration, with the two of us crossing paths as Ed became one of the biggest stars on the planet - a story told here, through my camera. Including images and stories I'm sharing for the first time, with additional captions by Ed's father John, this is an up-close and intimate view of Ed Sheeran." Christie Goodwin

The Beatles and Duke Ellington's Orchestra stand as the two greatest examples of collaboration in music history. Thomas Brothers delivers a portrait of the creative process at work, demonstrating that the cooperative method at the foundation of these two artist-groups was the primary reason for their unmatched musical success. While clarifying the historical record of who wrote what, with whom and how, Brothers brings the past to life with photos, anecdotes and more than thirty years of musical knowledge, and analysis of songs from "Strawberry Fields Forever" to "Chelsea Bridge". Help! describes in rich detail the music and mastery of two cultural leaders whose popularity has never dimmed, and the process of collaboration that allowed them to achieve an artistic vision greater than the sum of their parts.

Rich Cohen enters the Stones epic as a young journalist on the road with the band and quickly falls under their sway - privy to the jokes, the camaraderie, the bitchiness, the hard living. Inspired by a lifelong appreciation of the music that borders on obsession, Cohen's chronicle of the band is informed by the rigorous views of a kid who grew up on the music and for whom the Stones will always be the greatest rock 'n' roll band of all time. This is a non-fiction book that reads like a novel filled with the greatest musicians, agents and artists of the most indelible age in pop culture. It's a book only Rich, with his unique access, experience and love of the band could write.

A ROUGH TRADE MUSIC BOOK OF THE YEAR 'Beautifully judged account of the Manchester scene . . . There is something of the fairy tale about Dave Haslam's sage joyful testament to the kind of life that nobody could ever plan, a happy aligning of a cultural moment and a young man who instinctively knew that it was his once upon a time' Victoria Segal, Sunday Times 'Witty, sometimes dark, revealing, insightful, everything one could hope for from one of those folk without whom independent music simply wouldn't exist' Classic Rock Sonic Youth Slept on My Floor is writer and DJ Dave Haslam's wonderfully evocative memoir. It is a masterful insider account of the Hacienda, the rise of Madchester and birth of the rave era, and how music has sound-tracked a life and a generation. In the late 1970s Dave Haslam was a teenage John Peel listener and Joy Division fan, his face pressed against a 'window', looking in at a world of music, books and ideas. Four decades later, he finds himself in the middle of that world, collaborating with New Order on a series of five shows in Manchester. Into the story of those intervening decades, Haslam weaves a definitive portrait of Manchester as a music city and the impact of a number of life-changing events, such as the nightmare of the Yorkshire Ripper to the shock of the Manchester Arena terror attack. The cast of Haslam's life reads like a who's who of '70s, '80s and '90s popular culture: Tony Wilson, Nile Rodgers, Terry Hall, Neneh Cherry, Tracey Thorn, John Lydon, Johnny Marr, Ian Brown, Laurent Garnier and David Byrne. From having Morrissey to tea and meeting writers such as Raymond Carver and Jonathan Franzen to discussing masturbation with Viv Albertine and ecstasy with Roisin Murphy, via having a gun pulled on him at the Hacienda and a drug dealer threatening to slit his throat, this is not your usual memoir.

With their catchy hooks, good looks and irresistible pop-metal sound, Bon Jovi became one of the bestselling bands of all time. This book is the first fully illustrated, comprehensive book paying tribute to the mega-popular group, from their beginning 30 years ago - when they shot to stardom with the release of their multi-platinum smash album 'Slippery When Wet' - to the present day. Containing original interviews and memorabilia, this unofficial volume is a must-have for every Bon Jovi fan.

Since his death in 1971, friends and band members have produced several biographies describing various aspects of Jim Morrison's life and career. Now James Riordan and Jerry Prochnicky examine with insightful clarity the entire story of Morrison's roots, his early family life, the intellectual foundations of his music, his wild days with The Doors, his private life, and the mystery that still surrounds his death.

In Break On Through, we see Morrison's angry relationship with his father and how a horrifying, deadly car accident Morrison witnessed as a small boy influenced his songs and poetry. We witness The Doors' exhilarating early days of struggle and the infamous Miami trial, where Morrison stood charged with obscenity. And here is the real story of Morrison's death in Paris, based on interviews with new sources who conclusively disprove the official finding of death by heart attack.

Break On Through is more than an insightful look at a rock legend whose cult following never stops growing. With dozens of rarely published photographs, this is the authoritative portrait of the man and his career.

When Mark Radcliffe was born in the late 1950s, Britain was trying to find its own version of the dangerously sexy Elvis ... we gave the world Cliff Richard but by the time Mark was old enough to recognise pop songs on the radio, the UK was exploding into the world's most exciting place to be for a young music fan. In this, his eagerly awaited new book, Mark Radcliffe takes a record from each year of his life, using the song as a starting point from which to reach out and pull together a wonderfully entertaining catalogue of memories and asides about British culture. And, as one would expect from this unique and popular broadcaster, the tunes he lists are not the usual suspects. From The Kinks' 'See My Friends', through Slade's 'Coz I Luv You' to Kraftwerk's 'Europe Endless' and Joy Division's 'Atmosphere', Mark's selections bring forth a diverse collision of styles from eras uniquely defined by their musical genres and fashions. Bringing his choices right up to the present day, we see the inclusion of artists such as Richard Hawley, Elbow and Fleet Foxes. Mark's hugely entertaining and affectionate trawl through his favourite music of the past 50 years is guaranteed to surprise and delight his many fans.

'Genuinely funny; indeed, the story will keep you entertained for a very long time' Sunday Times Joy Division changed the face of music. Godfathers of the enduring alternative scene, they reinvented rock in the post-punk era, creating a sound - dark, hypnotic, intense - that would influence U2, Morrissey, R.E.M., Radiohead and many others. This is the rollercoaster story of Joy Division - the friendships, fights, fall-outs; the rehearsals and recording sessions; the larger than life characters - told by the band's legendary bassist, Peter Hook. 'Hook has restored a flesh-and-blood rawness to what was becoming a standard tale. Few pop music books manage that' Guardian 'An honest, enthusiastic account . . . it's a window like no other into the reality of life in this most aloof of bands' Metro 'An immense account of Joy Division's rise . . . having read Hook's book, you'll feel like you were the fifth member of the band' GQ 'A bittersweet, profanity-filled recollection . . . if you like Joy Division, you really have to read it' Q Magazine 'Hook lifts the lid on the real Ian Curtis' NME 'He's frank, incredibly funny, and it isn't shy' Artrocker

WINNER OF THE 2016 NOBEL PRIZE FOR LITERATURE `100 Songs is a good start, for anybody lucky enough to be starting out with such a genius' The London Evening Standard A new collection of Bob Dylan's most essential lyrics - one hundred songs that represent the Nobel Laureate's incredible musical range through the entirety of his career so far. `The Nobel acknowledges what we've long sensed to be true; that Mr. Dylan is among the most authentic voices America has produced, a maker of images as audacious and resonant as anything in Walt Whitman or Emily Dickinson.' Dwight Garner, New York Times 'The Nobel committee got this right - Dylan's ongoing achievement in American song is a literary feat to celebrate in his gaudiest of ways.' Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone Bob Dylan is one of the most important songwriters of our time and the first musician in history to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. In 100 Songs, Dylan delivers an intimate and carefully curated collection of his most important lyrics that spans from the beginning of his career through the present day. Perfect for students and younger readers as well as long-time fans, this portable, abridged volume of Dylan's lyrics shines a light on the songs that mean the most from a music and cultural legend.