Elvis Presley's clever manipulation of his numerous interests remains one of the music world's great marvels. His synthesis of country, rhythm & blues and gospel resulted in an inventive mixture of hair-raising rock & roll and balladry. This book focuses on the music of Presley's groundbreaking early years and includes a comprehensive analysis of every Presley recording session from the 1950s. Chapters show how Presley, with one foot in delta mud and the other in a country hoedown, teamed with Scotty Moore and Bill Black to fuse two distinctly American musical forms--country and blues--to form what would come to be known as "rockabilly." Also detailed is Presley's influence on music and how his contributions are still celebrated today.

Life is predictably random, and no one knows that better than the recently retired Rob Turner who spends his days watching reruns on TV, sitting on his patio deck drinking whisky, and waiting for his wife Susan to return home from work. His carefree (ok, boring) existence is shattered when his doctor delivers the devastating news that he has less than a year to live. Hoping to spare his family the pain of waiting for him to die, Rob decides to keep his diagnosis to himself. When Susan comes home from work one day and finds Rob deep in conversation with a squirrel, she suggests he get out of his rut by taking a trip. Rob jumps at the opportunity, and within days he embarks on a month-long bucket list-adventure to Scotland. Though his looming death is constantly on his mind, Rob enjoys a couple of weeks touring the distilleries, lochs, and castle ruins of the Scottish Highlands. The last stop on his tour is the Isle of Islay, and it’s there that he meets two people who will change his outlook on life: Mia, an attractive British widow who brings him to the brink of temptation, and Moses, a Scottish shaman of sorts who, upon hearing of Rob’s impending death, predicts a much happier ending for him. Rob boards his flight back to LA feeling renewed, refreshed, and ready to face his destiny, whatever it may be. He can’t wait to see Susan and share a few surprises he has for her, not the least of which is coming clean about his diagnosis. Will it be the reunion made in heaven that he’s hoping for? When life is predictably random, it’s anybody’s guess.

A vibrant, sympathetic portrait of the once and future king of rock 'n' roll by the award-winning author of Shiloh and In Country To this clear-eyed portrait of the first rock 'n' roll superstar, Bobbie Ann Mason brings a novelist's insight and the empathy of a fellow Southerner who, from the first time she heard his voice on the family radio, knew that Elvis was "one of us." Elvis Presley deftly braids the mythic and human aspects of his story, capturing both the charismatic, boundary-breaking singer who reveled in his celebrity and the soft-spoken, working-class Southern boy who was fatally unprepared for his success. The result is a riveting, tragic book that goes to the heart of the American dream.

Jethro Tull was one of the truly innovative rock bands to emerge from the late 1960s. At their peak the idiosyncratic group, fronted by multi-instrumentalist Ian Anderson, resembled a troupe of roving English minstrels. Crafting a signature progressive rock sound that resisted easy categorization, they were often derided by critics as too British, too eccentric, too theatrical. Over the span of a decade, Tull released a string of sublime albums featuring intricate compositions in a wide range of musical styles, with little regard for the showbiz maxim "give the public what it wants." Focusing on the years 1968-1980, this history includes insider accounts based on exclusive interviews with key members and rare photographs from Ian Anderson's personal collection.

From Elvis's definitive chronicler and Ernst Jorgensen, the premier archivist and reissue producer of Elvis's recordings, comes a unique portrait of Presley's life and music. 300+ photos.

Although it concentrates on Chicano soul music in San Antonio and the Los Angeles area, this book also covers the music scene in Albuquerque, Phoenix, Dallas, El Paso, and other locations.

The first collection of academic essays focused entirely on the musical, historical, cultural and media impact of the Rolling Stones.

The first biography of the artist who “essentially invented indie and alternative rock” (Spin) A brilliant and influential songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist, the charismatic Alex Chilton was more than a rock star—he was a true cult icon. Awardwinning music writer Holly George-Warren’s A Man Called Destruction is the first biography of this enigmatic artist, who died in 2010. Covering Chilton’s life from his early work with the charttopping Box Tops and the seminal power-pop band Big Star to his experiments with punk and roots music and his sprawling solo career, A Man Called Destruction is the story of a musical icon and a richly detailed chronicle of pop music’s evolution, from the mid-1960s through today’s indie rock.

When tech nova Reid Temple and his partners announce they have developed a revolutionary energy source to reverse the ravages of global climate change, a stunned world rejoices. Privately, Temple battles to contain a malignant computer virus that has infected the new energy source and threatens the world with nuclear devastation. When Temple turns up missing, it falls to the woman he loves, Los Angeles news anchor Maddy Daniel, to piece together clues to the threat and the vile force behind it -- a murderous cult with a chilling ultimatum. Comply with our demands or three great cities will be destroyed. Your choice.

"From the hoodoo-inspired sounds of Elvis Presley to the Eastern odysseys of George Harrison, from the dark dalliances of Led Zeppelin to the Masonic imagery of today's hip-hop scene, the occult has long breathed life into rock and hip-hop--and, indeed, esoteric and supernatural traditions are a key ingredient behind the emergence and development of rock and roll ... [and in this book] writer and critic Peter Bebergal illuminates this web of influences"--Amazon.com.