The Birth of Loud

The Birth of Loud
Author: Ian S. Port
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 352
Release: 2019-01-15
Genre: Music
ISBN: 1501141767

“A hot-rod joy ride through mid-20th-century American history” (The New York Times Book Review), this one-of-a-kind narrative masterfully recreates the rivalry between the two men who innovated the electric guitar’s amplified sound—Leo Fender and Les Paul—and their intense competition to convince rock stars like the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, and Eric Clapton to play the instruments they built. In the years after World War II, music was evolving from big-band jazz into rock ’n’ roll—and these louder styles demanded revolutionary instruments. When Leo Fender’s tiny firm marketed the first solid-body electric guitar, the Esquire, musicians immediately saw its appeal. Not to be out-maneuvered, Gibson, the largest guitar manufacturer, raced to build a competitive product. The company designed an “axe” that would make Fender’s Esquire look cheap and convinced Les Paul—whose endorsement Leo Fender had sought—to put his name on it. Thus was born the guitar world’s most heated rivalry: Gibson versus Fender, Les versus Leo. While Fender was a quiet, half-blind, self-taught radio repairman, Paul was a brilliant but headstrong pop star and guitarist who spent years toying with new musical technologies. Their contest turned into an arms race as the most inventive musicians of the 1950s and 1960s—including bluesman Muddy Waters, rocker Buddy Holly, the Beatles, Bob Dylan, and Eric Clapton—adopted one maker’s guitar or another. By 1969 it was clear that these new electric instruments had launched music into a radical new age, empowering artists with a vibrancy and volume never before attainable. In “an excellent dual portrait” (The Wall Street Journal), Ian S. Port tells the full story in The Birth of Loud, offering “spot-on human characterizations, and erotic paeans to the bodies of guitars” (The Atlantic). “The story of these instruments is the story of America in the postwar era: loud, cocky, brash, aggressively new” (The Washington Post).

Play It Loud

Play It Loud
Author: Brad Tolinski
Publisher: Anchor
Total Pages: 344
Release: 2016-10-25
Genre: Music
ISBN: 0385541007

The inspiration for the Play It Loud exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art "Every guitar player will want to read this book twice. And even the casual music fan will find a thrilling narrative that weaves together cultural history, musical history, race, politics, business case studies, advertising, and technological discovery." —Daniel Levitin, Wall Street Journal For generations the electric guitar has been an international symbol of freedom, danger, rebellion, and hedonism. In Play It Loud, veteran music journalists Brad Tolinski and Alan di Perna bring the history of this iconic instrument to roaring life. It's a story of inventors and iconoclasts, of scam artists, prodigies, and mythologizers as varied and original as the instruments they spawned. Play It Loud uses twelve landmark guitars—each of them artistic milestones in their own right—to illustrate the conflict and passion the instruments have inspired. It introduces Leo Fender, a man who couldn't play a note but whose innovations helped transform the guitar into the explosive sound machine it is today. Some of the most significant social movements of the twentieth century are indebted to the guitar: It was an essential element in the fight for racial equality in the entertainment industry; a mirror to the rise of the teenager as social force; a linchpin of punk's sound and ethos. And today the guitar has come full circle, with contemporary titans such as Jack White of The White Stripes, Annie Clark (aka St. Vincent), and Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys bringing some of the earliest electric guitar forms back to the limelight. Featuring interviews with Les Paul, Keith Richards, Carlos Santana, Eddie Van Halen, Steve Vai, and dozens more players and creators, Play It Loud is the story of how a band of innovators transformed an idea into a revolution.

The Loud Book!

The Loud Book!
Author: Deborah Underwood
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Total Pages: 37
Release: 2011
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 0547390084

From the blare of an alarm clock in the morning to snores and crickets in the evening, simple text explores the many loud noises one might hear during the course of a day.

Fender

Fender
Author: Richard Rayhill Smith
Publisher: Hal Leonard Corporation
Total Pages: 332
Release: 2009
Genre: Music
ISBN: 9781423462798

book for musicians, instrument collectors, and fans of Fender. This, at last, is the complete Fender story." --Book Jacket.

Guitar: an American life

Guitar: an American life
Author: Tim Brookes
Publisher: Grove Press
Total Pages: 374
Release: 1979
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9780802142580

Reunion is the awkward, tender meeting between a father and daughter after nearly twenty years separation. Dark Pony is the telling of a mythical story by a father to his young daughter as they drive home in the evening.

Born with Teeth

Born with Teeth
Author: Kate Mulgrew
Publisher: Little, Brown
Total Pages: 291
Release: 2015-04-14
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0316334308

Raised by unconventional Irish Catholics who knew "how to drink, how to dance, how to talk, and how to stir up the devil," Kate Mulgrew grew up with poetry and drama in her bones. But in her mother, a would-be artist burdened by the endless arrival of new babies, young Kate saw the consequences of a dream deferred. Determined to pursue her own no matter the cost, at 18 she left her small Midwestern town for New York, where, studying with the legendary Stella Adler, she learned the lesson that would define her as an actress: "Use it," Adler told her. Whatever disappointment, pain, or anger life throws in your path, channel it into the work. It was a lesson she would need. At twenty-two, just as her career was taking off, she became pregnant and gave birth to a daughter. Having already signed the adoption papers, she was allowed only a fleeting glimpse of her child. As her star continued to rise, her life became increasingly demanding and fulfilling, a whirlwind of passionate love affairs, life-saving friendships, and bone-crunching work. Through it all, Mulgrew remained haunted by the loss of her daughter, until, two decades later, she found the courage to face the past and step into the most challenging role of her life, both on and off screen. We know Kate Mulgrew for the strong women she's played -- Captain Janeway on Star Trek ; the tough-as-nails "Red" on Orange is the New Black. Now, we meet the most inspiring and memorable character of all: herself. By turns irreverent and soulful, laugh-out-loud funny and heart-piercingly sad, Born with Teeth is the breathtaking memoir of a woman who dares to live life to the fullest, on her own terms.

Gibson Guitars

Gibson Guitars
Author: Walter Carter
Publisher: Alfred Music
Total Pages: 328
Release: 2003-03
Genre: Music
ISBN:

A collectively authored work, although Carter, one of the contributors, is inexplicably given full credit for authorship on the title page and in the jacket copy and CIP (perhaps he's the editor). The history of Gibson guitars and the famous people who have played them is documented with abundant photos accompanied by explanatory text and captions. A splashy, flashy-looking book for the guitar and rock music enthusiast; over-exuberant page design makes for poor readability in some sections (e.g. text on top of not-quite-faded- enough maps). Published by General Publishing Group, 3100 Airport Ave., Santa Monica, CA 90403. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Guitar Genius

Guitar Genius
Author: Kim Tomsic
Publisher: Chronicle Books LLC
Total Pages: 57
Release: 2019-04-09
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 1452176035

The story of Les Paul—tinkerer, inventor, and rock and roll legend: “An exuberant introduction to a musician and creative genius.”—Kirkus Reviews A New York Public Library Best Book of the Year A beautifully-illustrated true story of rock and roll legend Les Paul: This is the story of how Les Paul created the world’s first solid-body electric guitar, countless other inventions that changed modern music, and one truly epic career in rock and roll. How to make a microphone? A broomstick, a cinderblock, a telephone, a radio. How to make an electric guitar? A record player's arm, a speaker, some tape. How to make a legendary inventor? A few tools, a lot of curiosity, and an endless faith in what is possible. This unforgettable biography, with pictures by a New York Times–bestselling children’s book illustrator, will resonate with inventive readers young and old. “Les Paul was an innovator and musical force for the ages—he changed the world in a very real way. His story is a lesson from which kids of all ages can derive inspiration.” —Billy Gibbons, lead guitarist of ZZ Top “Delightfully told . . . Text and illustrations radiate exuberance and joy. Readers will marvel at the perseverance and ingenuity Paul demonstrated throughout his life . . . An excellent choice for STEM programs.” —School Library Journal

Happy Birth Day!

Happy Birth Day!
Author: Robie H. Harris
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Total Pages: 32
Release: 2002
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 9780763609740

A mother tells her child about its first day of life from the moment of birth through the end of the birth day.