The very first and definitive biography of Peter Tosh, rude boy, founder member of the Wailers and a compelling recording artist in his own right >Tosh was Jamaica’s most controversial reggae star.For the Mystic Man, music was the message. A fiery advocate of Rastafari and African nationalism as well as the legalization of marijuana, his uncompromising political stance has won him a reputation as Jamaica’s Malcolm X. One of reggae’s most extraordin...

The music that developed as rocksteady and early reggae gave birth to deejays, dub, rockers, lovers rock, early dancehall and 2 Tone was by turns brutal and revelatory. Including an extensive analysis of the decade’s major singles and albums, Pressure Drop includes eyewitness accounts and experiences of the decade from the likes of Burning Spear, Chris Blackwell, Gregory Isaacs, Bunny Wailer, Jimmy Cliff, Black Uhuru, U-Roy, Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, Augustus Pablo, Toots and the Maytals, Desmo...

This full-blooded story of The Wailers puts the life, music and death of the legendary Bob Marley into a razor-sharp new perspective.The Wailers played with Marley on all of the hit singles and albums that made him a legend, yet their story since his death is a little-known saga of betrayal, greed and murder that is told here in its entirety for the first time.Written in collaboration with Aston 'Family Man' Barrett and other surviving band members, the book explores Marley...

The very first biography of Peter Tosh, rude boy, founder member of The Wailers and a compelling recording artist in his own right.Tosh was Jamaicas most controversial reggae star. A fiery advocate of Rastafari and African nationalism as well as the legalisation of marijuana, his uncompromising political stance won him a reputation as Jamaicas Malcolm X.Now revered second only to Bob Marley among reggae audiences worldwide, Tosh was awarded the Order of Merit, Jamaicas third highest honour...

This full-blooded story of The Wailers puts the life, music and death of the legendary Bob Marley into a razor-sharp new perspective.The Wailers played with Marley on all of the hit singles and albums that made him a legend, yet their story since his death is a little-known saga of betrayal, greed and murder that is told here in its entirety for the first time.Written in collaboration with Aston 'Family Man' Barrett and other surviving band members, the book explores Marley...

Rory Gallagher is a hero and icon of rock music. He inspired guitar players from The Edge to Johnny Marr, Slash to Gary Moore, Johnny Fean to Philip Donnelly, Declan Sinnott to Brian May. He toured incessantly and sold over 30 million albums worldwide. Acknowledged as one of the world's leading guitarists, he collaborated with his boyhood hero Muddy Waters, and played with Jerry Lee Lewis, Albert King and Lonnie Donegan. In this compelling biography, contemporaries, fellow musicians, film ...

A vibrant biography of one of the greatest rock 'n' rollers, the America that made him, and the America he made.Smart and incisive, this unique book takes us through Bruce Springsteen’s life by tracing the cultural, political, and personal forces that shaped his music. Beyond his constant stylistic adaptations, Springsteen developed over the decades from expressing the voice of a guy from working-class New Jersey to writing about the larger issues facing the country, including war,...

There are dozens of books about the Boss, exploring every facet of his career. So what's left to say? Nothing objective, perhaps. But when it comes to music, objectivity is highly overrated. Robert Wiersema has been a Springsteen fan since he was a teenager. By most definitions, he's a fanatic: following tours to see multiple shows in a row, watching set lists develop in real time via the Internet, ordering bootlegs from shady vendors in Italy. His attachment is deeper tha...

SHORTLISTED FOR THE PENDERYN MUSIC BOOK PRIZERoots, Radicals & Rockers: How Skiffle Changed the World is the first book to explore this phenomenon in depth - a meticulously researched and joyous account that explains how skiffle sparked a revolution that shaped pop music as we have come to know it.It's a story of jazz pilgrims and blues blowers, Teddy Boys and beatnik girls, coffee-bar bohemians and refugees from the McCar...

Goodnight and Good Riddance: How Thirty-Five Years of John Peel Helped to Shape Modern Britain is a social history, a diary of a nation's changing culture, and an in-depth appraisal of one of our greatest broadcasters, a man who can legitimately be called the most influential figure in post-war British popular music.Without the support of John Peel, it's unlikely that innumerable artists - from David Bowie to Dizzee Rascal, Jethro Tull to Joy Division - would have received...

A searing portrait of Bob Marley and the making of Exodus, Time’s best album of the twentieth century—and an acutely perceptive appreciation of his musical and spiritual legacy“Finely reported, vividly written, and politically astute, Vivien Goldman travels with Bob Marley on the intimate journey that led him to become the voice of the Exodus.” —Mariane Pearl, author of A Mighty Heart: The Brave Life and Death of My Husband, Danny Pearl

In 1976 music changed forever with the arrival of a self-empowering alternative to the bloated, sterile rock music of the day. From Cardiff to Caithness, from Portrush to Plymouth, bands promoted their own gigs, designed their own artwork and organised their own pressing and distribution. This exhaustive book, based on over 200 interviews with the participants, chronicles not only the good and the great, the icons of the punk movement, but celebrates some of the fantastic lost bands and mu...