Listen to New Releases Audiobooks in Arts & Entertainment, Music

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Title: Linthead Stomp

Subtitle: The Creation of Country Music in the Piedmont South

Author: Patrick Huber

Narrator: Dick Terhune

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-14-14

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 4 votes

Genres: Arts & Entertainment, Music

Publisher's Summary:

Contrary to popular belief, the roots of American country music do not lie solely on southern farms or in mountain hollows. Rather, much of this music recorded before World War II emerged from the bustling cities and towns of the Piedmont South. No group contributed more to the commercialization of early country music than southern factory workers. Huber explores the origins and development of this music in the Piedmont's mill villages and offers vivid portraits of a colorful cast of Piedmont millhand musicians, including Fiddlin' John Carson, Charlie Poole, Dave McCarn, and the Dixon Brothers.

Members Reviews:

Linthead Stomp

A good book but somewhat hard to follow as there are only a couple of chapters in the 440 page book, and rare are the breaking off points where one can pick up again tomorrow. A chronicle of who, what, and when of hillbilly music coming out of the textile mills of pre-WWII. Overall a good book, especially if you're into history or music....or both.

Wonderful

The most interesting "old time music" book I have read in quite some time. The author manages to place several icons of early country music into a cultural context not done before... the millhands of the Southeast United States. Another reason to lament the loss of the cotton mills. I was also introduced to Dave McCarn, a hard living and seldom heard artist. A wonderful study, and I have added "linthead" to my vocabulary.

Jim Linderman "Dull Tool Dim Bulb"Take Me to the Water: Immersion Baptism in Vintage Music and Photography 1890-1950

Five Stars

Great experience!~

Five Stars

Enjoyable read

The Richness of Country Music Required Factories as Well as Farms and Mountains....must read music history

Linthead Stomp: The Creation of Country Music in the Piedmont South by Patrick Huber (University of North Carolina Press, 2008, 440 pages, $35.99/19.99) tells the story of how workers in cotton mills and other industrial settings in the Piedmont were essential to the development of what we know as country and bluegrass music just after World War II. Focusing on the lives of four seminal mill hands during the 1920's and 1930's, Linthead Stomp argues persuasively that without the intermediary insertion of the factory experience, country and bluegrass music could not have developed. The legend says that the music grew and developed on the back porches and parlors of farms in the mountains of Appalachia. This myth has been ably reinforced by the heavy emphasis upon the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers important recordings during the 1927 Bristol sessions held by Ralph Peer of the Victor Recording Company, whose newspaper advertisements invited country musicians to come make recordings, many of which soon became "Hillbilly" hits.

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Title: Democracy of Sound

Subtitle: Music Piracy and the Remaking of American Copyright in the Twentieth Century

Author: Alex Cummings

Narrator: Aaron Abano

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 21 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-30-14

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 7 votes

Genres: Arts & Entertainment, Music

Publisher's Summary:

It was a time when music fans copied and traded recordings without permission. An outraged music industry pushed Congress to pass anti-piracy legislation. Yes, that time is now; it was also the era of Napster in the 1990s, of cassette tapes in the 1970s, of reel-to-reel tapes in the 1950s, even the phonograph epoch of the 1930s. Piracy, it turns out, is as old as recorded music itself. In Democracy of Sound, Alex Sayf Cummings uncovers the little-known history of music piracy and its sweeping effects on the definition of copyright in the United States. When copyright emerged, only visual material such as books and maps were thought to deserve protection; even musical compositions were not included until 1831. Once a performance could be captured on a wax cylinder or vinyl disc, profound questions arose over the meaning of intellectual property.

Is only a written composition defined as a piece of art? If a singer performs a different interpretation of a song, is it a new and distinct work? Such questions have only grown more pressing with the rise of sampling and other forms of musical pastiche. Indeed, music has become the prime battleground between piracy and copyright. It is compact, making it easy to copy. And it is highly social, shared or traded through social networks - often networks that arise around music itself.

But such networks also pose a counter-argument: as channels for copying and sharing sounds, they were instrumental in nourishing hip-hop and other new forms of music central to American culture today. Piracy is not always a bad thing. An insightful and often entertaining look at the history of music piracy, Democracy of Sound offers invaluable background to one of the hot-button issues involving creativity and the law.

Members Reviews:

How music and intellectual property evolved to the modern era.

If you love music you should read this book. It is a fantastic way to understand how the music industry has become what it is.

Democracy of Sound

The book is well written and researched and delivers both sides of the issue. A great book for students of history.

It is a great book for music enthusiasts and for those who are ...

Alex Sayf Cummings takes us through the entire history of piracy and, most important, copyright of music. He introduces us to some of the more fascinating characters, the notorious pirates, the music lovers who started the idea of sharing music and collecting the work of the greats from Jelly Roll Morton to the Grateful Dead. He takes us through the rapidly changing technology of recording sounds/music, showing us the difficulty the legal system had and still has in trying to keep up and understand the implications of technological changes and how copyright and property rights intersect as politics changed. It is a great book for music enthusiasts and for those who are interested in the concept of intellectual property and what is means in todays digital age.

History Repeating While You Watch

The story of music copyright is a subset of the story of the total disregard for intellectual property rights in the USA. This is explored to the fullest in the Smuggler Nation. Music copyright has its own twisted story, but the model fits right in, and is an important aspect of the sordid history of appropriation in the USA.

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Title: How the Beatles Rocked the Kremlin

Subtitle: The Untold Story of a Noisy Revolution

Author: Leslie Woodhead

Narrator: Simon Prebble

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-06-13

Publisher: Audible Studios for Bloomsbury

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 4 votes

Genres: Arts & Entertainment, Music

Publisher's Summary:

Imagine a world where Beatlemania was against the law - recordings scratched onto medical X-rays, merchant sailors bringing home contraband LPs, spotty broadcasts taped from western AM radio late in the night. This was no fantasy world populated by Blue Meanies, but by the USSR, where a vast nation of music fans risked repression to hear the defining band of the British Invasion. The music of John, Paul, George, and Ringo played a part in waking up an entire generation of Soviet youth, opening their eyes to seventy years of bland official culture and rigid authoritarianism. Soviet leaders had suppressed most Western popular music since the days of jazz, but the Beatles and the bands they inspired - both in the West and in Russia - battered down the walls of state culture. Leslie Woodhead's How the Beatles Rocked the Kremlin tells the unforgettable - and endearingly odd-story of Russians who discovered that all you need is Beatles. By stealth, by way of whispers, through the illicit late night broadcasts on Radio Luxembourg, the Soviet Beatles kids tuned in. "Bitles," they whispered, "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah."

Members Reviews:

Beatles

What can I say? My husband loves anything about the Beatles. Most of the books share the same stories but my husband was very impressed with the history that was attached with this one.

The Beatles rocking the Kremlin...

well written, entertaining. a great gift for anyone interested in the great music of the sixties!!! I totally recommend this book.

How the Beatles Rocked the Kremlin

Subtitled, "The Untold Story of a Noisy Revolution", this is the remarkable story of a youth revolution centred around a seemingly unquenchable passion for the Beatles. In 1962, the author was working as a young researcher for Granada television. A jazz fan, he was nevertheless looking for a local rock and roll band for a progamme, and a friend directed him to a cellar in Mathew Street, where he filmed the famous clip of the Beatles playing at the Cavern ('Some Other Guy', "We want Pete!" - yes, that one). Without having any real fondness for rock and roll before, he was, like countless others before and since, interested enough in the band to see other concerts and helped arrange their first live spot on Granada television. By the end of that year they had their first single out, by the end of the following year Beatlemania had begun and by the year after that, they had more or less conquered the whole world. Except in the Soviet Union, where they were considered a bad influence and banned by the powers in charge. Years later, Leslie Woodhead found himself filming documentaries in Russia and he was fascinated by the loyal legion of underground fans of those four boys from Liverpool. This then, is the story of the Soviet Union's love affair with the Beatles.

"They changed everything," asserts Stas Namin, a Russian musician. "They were very dangerous for the regime, because (the leaders) knew the Beatles gave Beatles kids some kind of freedom inside." As well as discussing the fans and the obsessive lengths they went to in order to hear the Beatles music (flexi discs produced on x-rays for example and sold on street corners, with the risk of arrest if caught) this is also a history of the cultural musical assault from the West.

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Title: The Saddest Music Ever Written

Subtitle: The Story of Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings

Author: Thomas Larson

Narrator: Gregory St. John

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 46 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-29-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 2 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Arts & Entertainment, Music

Publisher's Summary:

An exploration of the cultural impact of Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings, the Piet of music, and its enigmatic composer. In the first book ever to explore Samuel Barbers Adagio for Strings, music and literary critic Thomas Larson tells the story of the prodigal composer, his seminal masterpiece and its fascinating history as America's secular hymn for grieving our dead.

The Adagio's sonorous intensity also speaks of the turbulent inner life of its composer, a melancholic who, in later years, descended into alcoholism and severe depression. Part biography, part cultural history, part memoir, The Saddest Music Ever Written captures the deep emotion Barber's great elegy has stirred throughout the world during its seventy-five-year history, becoming an icon of our national soul.

Editorial Reviews:

Even if you dont think you know Samuel Barbers iconic "Adagio for Strings" by name, chances are extremely high youll recognize it when you hear it.

This most mournful song, often played at funerals and similarly somber occasions, is explored in depth in The Saddest Music Ever Written: The Story of Samuel Barbers Adagio for Strings. Narrated with kind enthusiasm by Gregory St. John, it is both a critical analysis of the famous piece and a biography on the complicated life of its American born composer, Samuel Barber.

A very intriguing and enlightening listen recommended for anyone appreciative of classical music history.

Members Reviews:

This has to be the most different "music" book I've ...

This has to be the most different "music" book I've ever read, and I've read a lot of them. *The Saddest Music Ever Written* is not simply another "bio and analysis" music bookâit is that, but much, much more. It's also a social commentary of American culture from the 1930's up until the present. Music is not an art that exists in a bubble by itself, it is always created within a contextâand it lives and breathes meaning within and because of that context. Larson does a masterful job of describing a decades long context for the "Adagio's" staying power as an American elegy. But what makes this book different, in my opinion, is how the author connects the dots to the "Adagio's" affect upon himself and his family. I found it to be a very thoughtful and insightful book.

An Adagio is Worth a Thousand Words or More

A lot can be said about Barber's Adagio and Larson has said a lot, a lot, and even more. Perhaps some music professionals could say more more, but I was daunted sometimes by the language already in place, its complex and fine grammar of musical description or what sounds like it to my very naive ear. Yet there is no denying the sweep of the book and the author's wide-ranging passion for and yes, obsession with, Barber and his amazing sound. This may not be a book to be read in one sitting; it reads like an opera--many characters, many settings, many themes but one tone--of lament; and it can be annoying when it depends on imaginative speculation, but it makes its own kinda of tribute that is eventful.

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Title: Songlab

Subtitle: A Songwriting Playbook for Teens

Author: Alex Forbes

Narrator: Alex Forbes

Format: Original Recording

Length: 3 hrs and 46 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-17-13

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 13 votes

Genres: Arts & Entertainment, Music

Publisher's Summary:

Created exclusively with and for teen musicians, this hands-on, step-by-step program uses insight, enthusiasm, and humor to teach teens how to brainstorm ideas, craft effective lyrics, and put those lyrics to music.

An award-winning and Billboard-charting songwriter and teacher, Alex Forbes has taught dozens of teens via her Manhattan workshops and coaching sessions how to turn their thoughts and feelings into incisive, evocative songs. Her music has also been heard in feature films and on television shows like MTVs smash teen docudrama The Hills.

Chapter by chapter, Alex goes through the basic elements of the craft, including song form and dynamics, lyrics and melodies, chord construction, and killer hooks. Filled with lots of fun exercises to strengthen your abilities and your confidence, Songlab is the ideal teens guide to making your songwriting dreams come true!

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.

Members Reviews:

Pay Attention: PDF workbook not provided

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

This is a great audiobook, BUT what makes it only 1 star is that the workbook PDF mentioned time and time again during the different chapters and exercises IS NOT included in the Audible audiobook edition. So when the narrator keeps referring to the PDF exercises and sheets, the listener has to imagine it all.

That makes the whole difference; from being a potential instructional and inspirational audiobook with clear and concise call-to-actions it becomes a couple of hours of mere entertainment. That's to bad...

What was one of the most memorable moments of Songlab?

There are very good moments of motivation and brainstorming ideas, and good analytics tools as well.

What about Alex Forbess performance did you like?

The narrator is very engaged in the performance.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Songlab?

The last part about the music business and how to make money on songwriting is a bit to superficial and becomes obsolete; the mission of the book is more to get the audience to crank up their creative songwriting. When first the songs get rolling, the businiss part is its own project.

Any additional comments?

It remains a mystery to me - in this age of digital distribution - that a content provider is not able to provide essential - digital - content (a PDF) being of great importance to the audiobook...

Not just for teenagers or beginners!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes. I know numerous songwriters and people who aspire to be. The book has some brilliant suggestions on how to get ideas down on paper, developing them, and even advice on how to tackle the inner voice of discouragement that can plague songwriters who are over critical of their work.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Songlab?

For me it had to be the suggestions on getting songs ideas down. I'm a professional songwriter but have hit a wall of writer's block that I really needed to get over.

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Title: The Story of Music

Author: Howard Goodall

Narrator: Howard Goodall

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 36 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-21-13

Publisher: Random House Audiobooks

Ratings: 2 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Arts & Entertainment, Music

Publisher's Summary:

Accompanies BBC2's major new TV series and The Story of Music in 50 Pieces on Radio 3

In his dynamic tour through 40,000 years of music, from prehistoric instruments to modern-day pop, Howard Goodall does away with stuffy biographies, unhelpful labels and tired terminology. Instead he leads us through the story of music as it happened, idea by idea, so that each musical innovation harmony, notation, sung theatre, the orchestra, dance music, recording, broadcasting strikes us with its original force.

He focuses on what changed when and why, picking out the discoveries that revolutionised man-made sound and bringing to life musical visionaries from the little-known Pérotin to the colossus of Wagner. Along the way, he also gives refreshingly clear descriptions of what music is and how it works: what scales are all about, why some chords sound discordant and what all post-war pop songs have in common.

The story of music is the story of our urge to invent, connect, rebel and entertain. Howard Goodalls beautifully clear and compelling account is both a hymn to human endeavour and a groundbreaking map of our musical journey.

Members Reviews:

Disappointing

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Since this was a book about music and it was an audio copy, AND a tv series exists, the book should have been illustrated with musical excerpts. How can one relate to theoretical information about the structure and development of music, without auditory examples? Very, very disappointing.

Would you ever listen to anything by Howard Goodall again?

No -

Exactly the book I wanted to hear

I'm musical challenged in so many ways having just start to learn my first musical instrument in my 45th year. I decided I would like to catch up on why music is so embedded in our lives and I searched for 'the history of music' and got 'the story of music'. I found the book interesting from start to finish and I've made multiple notes of other books and biographies I will follow it up with. I listened to it with spotify open and as I needed to reference a piece of music I just added it to a playlist. Well written and at a decent pace throughout.

Good book, shame about the lack of music.

What did you like about this audiobook?

Howard Goodall's take on the history of music is fascinating and his descriptions of historical music engaging.

How has the book increased your interest in the subject matter?

The book helped me consolidate my interest piqued by Howard Goodall's TV series of the same name.

What did you find wrong about the narrator's performance?

The narration was fine, but I was disappointed to have no music within the audiobook. Having seen the TV series by the same name, I thought there would be music. Remembering or imagining music while reading this audiobook wasn't useful for me.

Do you have any additional comments?

I would have paid more for an audiobook with all the music tracks included. I appreciate that the licencing costs for the music might be considered prohibitive, but I would have liked to have had the choice.

Needed Music!

I loved the BBC series, so was excited to find it on Audiobook. I was desperately disappointed to find that there was no music excerpts to illustrate the excellent narrative. I know you would not find this with the written book, but here it just feels wrong.

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Title: Tales from Country Music

Author: Paul Zamek, Gerry Wood

Narrator: Erik Davies

Format: Unabridged

Length: 6 hrs and 9 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-12-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 4 votes

Genres: Arts & Entertainment, Music

Publisher's Summary:

Follow Gerry Wood on his journey with country music's biggest stars, featuring Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Shania Twain and many more familiar names in the industry. Tales from Country Music will take you backstage and behind the scenes with some of your favorite country music singers.

Editorial Reviews:

Listeners may not know the name Gerry Wood when they begin Tales From Country Music, but even casual fans of country can rest assured Mr. Wood will know some of their favorite performersand some of those performers' craziest stories. All the greats are here -Willie Nelson as a young, clean-cut songwriter full of ambition, or Conway Twitty, who famously rules his tour bus like an ironfisted Mother Superior. The truth-is-stranger-than-fiction account of an ill-fated train ride to Nashville with Jimmy Buffet is worth the price of admission on its own. Narrator Erik Davies brings a clear and personable energy to this collection of stories that are by turns moving, incredible, and hilarious.

Members Reviews:

A solid book with some great stories

I would probably have enjoyed this book a little more if there were a few stories from this decade or more stories about my favorite classic artists. But, there are some great stories and it's a good look behind the curtain.

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Title: Perfect Youth

Subtitle: The Birth of Canadian Punk

Author: Sam Sutherland

Narrator: Kiff VandenHeuvel

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 31 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-07-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 4 votes

Genres: Arts & Entertainment, Music

Publisher's Summary:

While many volumes devoted to the punk and hardcore scenes in America grace bookstore shelves, Canadas contributions to the genre remain largely unacknowledged. For the first time, the birth of Canadian punk - a transformative cultural force that spread across the country at the end of the 1970s - is captured between the pages of this important resource. Delving deeper than standard band biographies, this book articulates how the advent of punk reshaped the culture of cities across Canada, speeding along the creation of alternative means of cultural production, consumption, and distribution. Describing the origins of bands such as D.O.A., the Subhumans, the Viletones, and Teenage Head alongside lesser-known regional acts from all over Canada, it is the first published account of the first wave of punk in places like Regina, Ottawa, Halifax, and Victoria. Proudly staking Canadas claim as the starting point for many internationally famous bands, this book unearths a forgotten musical and cultural history of drunks and miscreants, future country stars, and political strategists.

Editorial Reviews:

Sam Sutherland's history of Canadian punk explores not only the music and the principal players behind the northern first-wave scene, but also the innovation and the ultimate legacy of such bands as Teenage Head, D.O.A. (who first adopted the word "hardcore" to describe their sound), the Viletones, SNFU, and the Subhumans. Sutherland, a Toronto-based journalist, argues that although these bands were incredibly isolated geographically, they still managed to create a "transformative cultural force" in Canada.

American voice actor Kiff VandenHeuvel performs this rich and sometimes ribald (it is about punk, after all) tome with the voice of an impassioned intellectual who probably has a few Sudden Death 45s in his possession.

Members Reviews:

Skims the Surface

"Perfect Youth" explores some neglected history of the fungus known as punk. The chapters are short, and provide a rudimentary sketch of what was happening on the punk front in specific communities at a given time (ie approximately the beginning of their scene). Places like Regina or Edmonton get a chapter with a little history of some of the bands that were around and some anecdotes and a photograph. This is what is good about this book - as I know of no other book that references these neglected places. BUT - the quality of the information is very superficial, and so many relevant facts/scenesters that would help to understand the context of the time/place are unheard. I found the layout of the book confusing - it is not organized by a chronology of events or geography or even connected personalities. The writing style/skill is very simple, like a person with a solid B+ in grade 8 English wrote report on Canadian punk, one chapter at a time.

I wanted to like this book more than I did, but truthfully it felt like a box of notes that someone shuffled into a book. It has a lot of basic facts about some of the major players, with a few tepid tales that just sound like clunker lies (and I was there for some of it!). Ultimately it felt like so much relevant information was missing, and that the author just didn't get the experience of being a part of a maligned subculture, especially in a place that was not Toronto or Vancouver.

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Title: Rock Your Business

Subtitle: What You and Your Company Can Learn from the Business of Rock and Roll

Author: David Fishof

Narrator: Andrew Danish

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-07-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 7 votes

Genres: Arts & Entertainment, Music

Publisher's Summary:

Would you like your business......to burst into public awareness like Lady Gaga?...to have the long-lived success of Mick Jagger?...to demonstrate the creativity of The Beatles?

We dont normally think of the music business as a source of entrepreneurial insight, but we should. The best bands have longevity, a depth of customer loyalty, and a level of profitability that puts most businesses to shame. And what they know about marketing, partnerships, the power of bartering, and overcoming obstacles isnt taught in any business school.

David Fishof has lived at the center of the music business for more than 25 years. From his early successes in reuniting The Monkees and convincing Ringo Starr to launch his All Starr tour, to his current megasuccess as founder and CEO of Rock n Roll Fantasy Camp, Fishof has learned from the leading minds in the music business and has applied this learning in one entrepreneurial venture after another. Filled with insights from Fishofs amazing exploits in the music industry and seasoned with business tips from music legends, Rock Your Business provides important and original business insights from an unlikely source - the world of rock and roll.

Members Reviews:

Great learning material

Great stories of how he became successful and mistakes he made along the way. But unless you are a sports agent or concert promoter you've got to figure out how to implement his stories to your situation.

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Title: Electric Ladyland: Women and Rock Culture

Author: Lisa L. Rhodes

Narrator: Laura Faye Smith

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 21 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-28-12

Publisher: University Press Audiobooks

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 4 votes

Genres: Arts & Entertainment, Music

Publisher's Summary:

With the explosion of rock music in the mid-1960s, women arrived - as performers, critics, and fans. While operating in radically different ways within rock culture, female musicians, journalists, and groupies rewrote women's roles on and off the stage in the 1960s and 1970s.

Electric Ladyland is a social and cultural history of this formative era in rock and roll, examining how the changing roles of women were intertwined with the evolution of the music. Articles and reviews from Rolling Stone and the Village Voice provide a window on a time when female musicians such as Janis Joplin, Aretha Franklin, and Joni Mitchell battled sexism from concert promoters and mainly male reviewers. Feminist rock journalists, however, were coming into their own. In particular, Ellen Willis, music critic for the New Yorker, and Lillian Roxon, author of the influential Rock Encyclopedia, transformed the way society perceived sometimes marginalized female performers.

The groupie was born at the same time, and Rhodes devotes considerable attention to the rise of this phenomenon. Through journalistic accounts as well as personal interviews with groupies of the 1960s and 1970s, she explores these women's dual legacy of self-assertion and promiscuous behavior that resonates to this day through the popularity of such films as Almost Famous.

Deeply informed by critical media studies and drawing on diverse and rich sources, Electric Ladyland assesses the lasting effects of cultural representations on female sexuality and gender roles.

The book is published by University of Pennsylvania Press.

Critic Reviews:

"Electric Ladyland adds an important layer to the study of rock's Golden Age and that era's pervasive influence on the attitudes still prevalent in popular music today." (Ann Powers, former New York Times music critic and senior curator, Experience Music Project)

Members Reviews:

Extremely thorough

This seems to be a fair and balanced analysis of the roles of women in the rock culture, past and present.