Following his 2016 smash hit “Anatomy of a Song”, acclaimed music journalist Marc Myers has collected fifty-five new oral histories of iconic songs from his popular Wall Street Journal column.

Songs that sell the most copies become hits, but some of those hits become something more—iconic recordings that not only inspire a generation but also change the direction of music. In “Anatomy of 55 More Songs”, based on his column for the Wall Street Journal, music journalist and historian Marc Myers tells the story behind fifty-five rock, pop, R&B, country, and soul-gospel hits through intimate interviews with the artists who wrote and recorded them.

Part oral history, part musical analysis, “Anatomy of 55 More Songs” ranges from Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Bad Moon Rising” to Dionne Warwick’s “Walk On By,” The Beach Boys’ “Good Vibrations,” and Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid.” Bernie Taupin recalls how he wrote the lyrics to Elton John’s “Rocket Man;” Joan Jett remembers channeling her rage against how she had been unfairly labeled and treated as a female rocker into “Bad Reputation;” and Ozzy Osbourne, Elvis Costello, Bob Weir, Sheryl Crow, Alice Cooper, Roberta Flack, John Mellencamp, Keith Richards, Carly Simon, and many others reveal the emotions and technique behind their major works.

Through an absorbing chronological, song-by-song analysis of the most memorable post-war hits, “Anatomy of 55 More Songs” provides a sweeping look at the evolution of pop music between 1964 and today. This book will change how you listen to music and evaluate the artists who create it.

Marc Myers is a regular contributor to the Wall Street Journal, where he writes about music and the arts. He is the author of the critically acclaimed books “Anatomy of a Song”, “Why Jazz Happened”, and “Rock Concert”. You can hear Mark talk about that book in episode 31 of Booked On Rock. Marc also posts daily at JazzWax.com, a three-time winner of the Jazz Journalists Association’s award for Jazz Blog of the Year.

Purchase a copy of "Anatomy of 55 More Songs: The Oral History of 55 Hits That Changed Rock, R&B, and Soul" through Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Anatomy-55-More-Songs-History/dp/0802160204/ref


Listen to a playlist of the music discussed in this episode at Marc Myers' official website: https://marcmyers.com

Listen to Marc Myers in episode 31 of Booked On Rock: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7FqROfsQrbSFPagSJQxAhS

The Booked On Rock Website: https://www.bookedonrock.com


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