A Lifetime To Get Here: Diana Ross: The American Dreamgirl

Book Description

This unauthorized biography of entertainment legend Diana Ross strives to give a balanced account of her life and career while giving her the historical due that seems to have escaped her previously. Captured in vivid detail are her groundbreaking performances leading the Supremes, the renowned concert in Central Park amidst a raging thunderstorm, and the peaks and valleys of the more than 40 years of her ongoing stage, studio, and screen career. The book steers clear of dry biography, in that it is interspersed with entertaining essays that capture the effect her life and career have had on fans throughout the years. This book is a must-read for anyone with an appreciation for popular culture over the last half century.

Customer Reviews:

BEST BOOK ON ROSS YET.......2007-09-29

COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN. MY ONLY COMPLAINT WAS THE AUTHORS'S CONSTANT ATTACKS ON MARY WILSON.
HE BLAMES MOST OF THE BAD PRESS ON HER....AND DOES NOT PUT SOME OF THE BLAME ON MISS ROSS, WHO I AM SURE WAS NO ANGEL.
HE DEFENDS DIANA SO MANY TIMES THAT IT BECAME OVERKILL.
OTHERWISE VERY WELL WRITTEN.

Call Her A Survivor.......2007-08-23

This book is an antidote to Mary Wilson's "tell-not-a-whole-lot" book from the mid-1980s and much of the subsequent negative press Diana received in part because of it. With 2006's "Dreamgirls" and Diana's high profile TV appearances and successful concert tour this year, it's seems time to recognize her for her accomlishments. While some of the facts presented here are without attribution, the book's a fun read. And love Diana or hate her, Adrahtas makes a few very compelling points (with supporting evidence) about her assention to Motown's throne and her ability to stay there for so many years. While lesser divas fell by the wayside as trends in the music industry shifted, Ross survived, and in doing so paved the way for two generations of singers, actors, and performers.

Supreme Book About the Career of Diana Ross.......2007-07-22

As a longtime fan of Diana Ross, I just finished reading this very satisfying account of her career and its impact on fans and admirers around the world. I have read all of the prior (as of this writing) customer reviews of this book; and, like many of the earlier reviewers, I must say this account is certainly years over due!
I do think, to a large degree, that the sad fact that her music has not been as commercially successful in America, from the 1990s on, has much to do with the sad shape of the American music industry in general. Diana is one of only many well-established American acts who have continued to be very successful in other countries, including England, while being ignored here at home (think Donny Osmond, Tina Turner, the group Toto--almost anyone who is over 30 years old and, actually, sings as opposed to raps). I know there are many, many Americans who feel like they can no longer hear good music on the radio any more, unless they are listening to an oldies station.
As far as this book goes, I did find it interesting that the author J. Randy Tarabelli used to work with Martha Reeves. I think his books are about as factual as the National Enquirer or Globe Magazine. And, Mary Wilson--the former Supreme (that nobody ever paid much attention to)--comes across as less than honest and having a huge chip on her shoulder! Look at the chapter on the 2000 Diana Ross & the Supremes "Return to Love" tour.
When I think of the Supremes, I will always think of Diana Ross. After all, she was the voice of all of their most memorable hit songs. I have long admired her. And, after reading (towards the end of this book) about some of the personal difficulties she has had to endure the last few years, it makes my admiration of her grow to see her now touring and promoting the new "I Love You" album in the year 2007.
Author Tom Adrahtas has contributed a much-needed book on the legacy of Diana Ross. She is THE supreme entertainer!

Simpler and to the point.......2007-05-12

Most biographical books whether authorized or not, tend to give you lots of facts all compiled with descriptions too long and confusing at times, that make reading and believing what you read very difficult, but this book not only gives you facts, quotes, moments, dates, situations that you can compare to other books outthere published about the same subject or person and make a fair decision as to who is telling the truth and who it exagarating on the truth or who is lying.
I love Diana Ross and the members of The Supremes, which of course Mary Wilson is one of them, but when I read Mary's two books, I was stunned and could not believe what I was reading, but still need to hear or read the other side of it, and this book does that, and puts thing in prespective. I recommend for those who are fans to buy it, and those who are curious to buy it, and for those who enjoy reading and gossip and conflict to buy it. It is good reading, lots of pictures.

EXCELLENT.......2007-04-16

FINALLY, someone has written a book that defends Diana Ross where she would never defend herself. The truth about her time with the Supremes and what really took place proves that what others have written were fantasy; stories made up over the years to discredit Diana Ross. If you never read another book about her, THIS is the book to read. You will finally understand what happened in the past and present and you will fall in love with her all over again.
The last chapters had me in tears reading the pain and heartache Diana had gone through the last few years. It's a miracle she survived at all, proving she Is the strong woman we all knew she was. Mary should read this book, as well as others who wrote hurtful stories about her; they'd all have to apologize and ask to be forgiven.
Bravo to the author!!!!!

Sergei Rachmaninoff: A Lifetime in Music (Russian Music Studies)

Average customer rating:

This book is excellent
A must-have for any Rachmaninoff lover.

Sergei Rachmaninoff: A Lifetime in Music (Russian Music Studies)
Sergei Bertensson , Jay Leyda , and Sophia Satina
Manufacturer: Indiana University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0253214211

Book Description

When Bertensson and Leyda's 1956 biography appeared, it lifted the veil of secrecy from several areas of of the intensely private Sergei Rachmaninoff's (1873-1943) life, especially concerning the genesis of his compositions and how their critical reception affected him. David Cannata's new introduction summarizes what has happened in Rachmaninoff scholarship since the book was first published.

Customer Reviews:

This book is excellent.......2002-05-23

I found this book extremely helpful and a joy to read. I have used it as a resource for a Rachmaninoff class that i am creating and also for my own pleasure. It spans through Rachmaninoff's life, going in-depth to look at glimpses of Rachmaninoff's life with family, and then meticulously explores his music career.It looks into what inspired him, his meetings with other famous composers, his performances, and includes many letters about his personal life that he wrote to his family and friends. Overall, an excellent look into the life of a composer about whom we do not know much.

A must-have for any Rachmaninoff lover........2001-11-28

This book is very thouroughly written, drawing on resources of Rachmaninoff's relatives, letters that Rachmaninoff himself wrote, and of personal interactions. It gives a glimpse into Rachmaninoff's private life, which very little is known about, and shows Rachmaninoff for the true musical genius that he is.

Average customer rating:

Janet Paschal - Songs for a Lifetime
Janet Paschal
Manufacturer: Hal Leonard Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0634012282

Book Description

Features 12 favorite songs from this acclaimed artist: Another Soldier's Coming Home * Been Through Enough * The Body and Blood * Born Again * Faithful Father * God Is Up to Something * God Will Make a Way * I Am Not Ashamed * I Give You Jesus * If I'd Had My Way * My Soul Is Anchored to the Rock * Written in Red.

Lifetime Contracts: Ideas for Running Your Own Independent Record Label

Average customer rating:

Excelent

Lifetime Contracts: Ideas for Running Your Own Independent Record Label
Levelt Musgraves
Manufacturer: Trafford Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1412020514

Book Description

Lifetime Contracts... A book designed to help you get your feet through the door of the Music Industry...With knowledge, time and dedication, you will be able to come up with new ideas for running your own Independent Record Label. Learning to build a company that can generate millions!!! This book is written in a simple format in which everyone is able to comprehend.

Lifetime-Contracts offers an explanation of The Five Exclusive Rights of publishing:

The right to reproduce the work in copies or phonorecords...
The right to prepare derivative works based upon the copy right work. Works based on pre-existing works... can be transformed or adapted.
The right to distribute... to the public for sale, rental, lease, or lending.
The right to perform the work publicly....
The right to display the work publicly...

Plus, much much more. So don't waste time! Pick up your copy of Lifetime Contracts and learn how to be effective in the market.

My knowledge came in the form of a blessing that can now be passed on to you. Think about your future and achieve your goals. That could happen overnight or take a lifetime.

This book is dedicated to the late Eric L. Wright, a.k.a "Easy-E", the business mogul... also standing as the GODFATHER of entrepreneurship in Hip-Hop! The credit is long overdue...

A portion of the proceeds from this book are being donated to Oprah's Angel Network.

Customer Reviews:

Excelent.......2006-05-15

If you like the idea of an independent record label and don't know where to start with you'll find some interesting ideas in this book, all explained and detailed with a vivid and interactive structure. The full structured guide features a multitude of ideas and the methodology of running a record label with testimonies from people that have been doing this for years and full analysis on the development of their company. I recommend this guide for all who want to know the secrets record label management and want to start a successful company quickly

Average customer rating:

The Man Who Made Strange Music

Mantovani: A Lifetime in Music
Colin MacKenzie
Manufacturer: Melrose Book Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Customer Reviews:

The Man Who Made Strange Music.......2006-04-03

A new full-length biography of Annunzio Paulo Mantovani by Colin MacKenzie explains the "strange" dynamics and rubato that set apart Mantovani's music from others, and surprises the reader with facts and figures never before known about this less heralded British musical phenomenon of the twentieth century. The music Mantovani made in the fifties was as strange, exotic, newfangled, unheard of, and unfamiliar as any produced by Elvis in that decade, and Lennon and McCartney in the next.

Venetian born, British educated, and classically trained in music, Mantovani and his imaginative new sounds for light orchestra brought instant name recognition and a modest fortune to one man, and inexplicable pleasure to millions who rushed to install newfangled stereo speakers to their record players and flocked by the thousands to glamorous concert halls and stark gymnasiums to enjoy popular and light classical music like it was never played or heard before.

Mantovani's "new music" evolved from an upbringing weaned on perfection. His classical musician father, coincidently named "Bismarck" Benedetto, insisted upon excellence, order, and discipline. Discipline would be one of the hallmarks ingrained in his son's approach to music. The "feeling" Annunzio always wanted his music to convey likely came from the warmth and confidence of his mother, Iparia. MacKenzie makes a striking connection between Bismarck's wariness of his son's abilities to meet certain "standards" in his musicianship and the workaholic tendencies that dominated Annunzio's recording and performance standards since his entry on the music scene in glitzy hotels in the 1930's and in Noel Coward's orchestra pit in the 1940's. Accordingly, we see Mantovani as a man always on the move, always willing to attempt something new, something more, and working hard to stay fresh and successful.

MacKenzie also connects a fledgling fear that success may be fleeting as driving Mantovani to higher expectations of himself as well as others. The amusing colloquies he includes in this biography between the maestro and his musicians during recording sessions and concert rehearsals not only entertain us, but inform our understanding about his subject's personality, a man with "a British head and an Italian heart."

The author meticulously places Mantovani and the sound revolution he instigated in the context of his times. With bountiful details and a wealth of personal recollections, MacKenzie provides enormous insight into the budding recording industry of popular music and the fascinating lives of musicians, arrangers, producers, engineers, "fixers", and yes, even sales distributors, whose energies and individual talents symbiotically seized the "sound" Mantovani had in his head and advanced its creation and promotion in all the world's continents.

One such talent deserving long overdue focus was Ronald Binge, whose early collaboration with Mantovani is fully and fairly illuminated here. The author's objective account graciously invites closure on the debate over who should receive "credit" for the unique "layered string sound" that reverberated in the radio airwaves in the early fifties with "Charmaine", "Greensleeves", "Wyoming", and other lilting waltz melodies that launched Mantovani's meteoric rise on the Billboard charts.

Thanks to MacKenzie's prolific research, readers will also get to know other unknown or little remembered musicians like trumpeter Stan Newsome, percussionist Charles Botterill, flautist Lionel (Solly) Solomon, accordionist Emile Charlier, violinist (and father of "The Man from Uncle") David McCallum. All of these and others whose brilliant solo performances were wisely featured by Mantovani in his repertoire, enriched the distinctive lush sound of the world's most mesmerizing orchestra.

Indeed, this biography is as revealing about one life as it about the lives of those who helped make Mantovani a music legend. Nonetheless, MacKenzie provides compelling evidence that Mantovani's success resulted primarily from his own ability to inspire and impose his will on musicians and business collaborators. Not a mean feat in an industry filled with strong wills and artistic egos. But Mantovani commanded such a high degree of respect for his unwavering commitment to standards of excellence that relatively few with whom he worked became grossly offended or alienated. Besides, who could complain when the popularity of the Mantovani sound and the novel attraction to stereo and the rise of FM radio stations in America fed off each other to produce a lucrative money engine for so many, some of whom including British tax collectors benefiting more than the maestro himself.

Few today recall that Mantovani was the first recording artist to sell one million stereo records and whose success as a British musical act in America was incomparable until the Beatles stepped ashore. And who knew Mantovani and the Rolling Stones shared at one point the same record label and recording studio, continuously swapping the amount of echo for their respective sessions. How ironic it is that record company profits from the unprecedented sales of Mantovani recordings fueled the advance of Mick Jagger's career.

Colin MacKenzie's startling revelations make this biography provocative and groundbreaking. It shatters myths and misinformation, and sheds new light on a subject who has long been obscured and the target of rappers' razzing, jazzers' jabbing, classical musicians' contempt, and deejays' disdain. That pretty much covers everyone, except those millions who actually listened (and some who still are) and mystifyingly attracted to the way Mantovani's strange music weaves magical memories and sweet dreams out of fervently resilient melodies. For them, the laughter from others is worth every listening moment.

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Liturgy and Music: Lifetime Learning

Manufacturer: Liturgical Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0814625010

What a Wonderful World: A Lifetime of Recordings

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TOP-FLIGHT BOOK ABOUT THE RECORD BUSINESS

What a Wonderful World: A Lifetime of Recordings
Bob Thiele
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The House That Trane Built: The Story of Impulse Records

ASIN: 0195086295

Book Description

Music industry legend Bob Thiele will never forget the first time he heard a demo tape from a group of unknowns from New Mexico billed as Buddy Holly and the Crickets. "I was never as confident in my life anything would be a hit record as I was about 'That'll Be the Day'," remembers the record
executive and producer who also worked with Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Jackie Wilson, Henry Mancini, and a constellation of other greats on some of their most memorable recordings. But Thiele's employers at Coral Records wouldn't touch Holly and his "hillbilly garbage," and
neither would any of the big major labels. Finally Thiele convinced the powers that be at Coral that they just had to release "That'll Be the Day," if only to keep him happy. The result was a monster hit that launched Holly's career and stayed on the charts for half a year.
The discovery of Buddy Holly is just one of the riveting stories Thiele has to tell in What a Wonderful World, a rollicking, no-holds-barred account of an unforgettable life in music, as told to Thiele's friend and collaborator Bob Golden. Over a still-ongoing career spanning six decades, Thiele
has been a musician, dance band leader, publisher of one of the first jazz magazines in the world, a record producer, a DJ, a record label owner (several times), an A & R man, and a songwriter. Indeed, Thiele's songwriting credits include the beloved Armstrong classic from which this book takes its
title. From his precocious adolescence in Queens, where he began hosting his first radio jazz show at the tender age of 14, Thiele's career has been driven and defined by a genuine love and respect for great music. He tells how he discovered Jackie Wilson, jazz immortal Erroll Garner, Buddy Holly,
and others, and takes readers behind-the-scenes to legendary recording sessions with Ellington, Armstrong, John Coltrane, Teresa Brewer (Thiele's wife of 26 years), Jack Kerouac, Steve Allen, the McGuire Sisters, Pat Boone, Frankie Laine, and many other artists. Thiele captures the free-wheeling,
anything-could-happen-and-usually-did atmosphere of the jazz and pop recording worlds of decades gone by, and shares uproarious recollections of the heavy-hitting movers and shakers he has locked horns with over the years. Equally important, as an enduring and inventive force in American music,
Thiele offers candid and perceptive observations on the increasing corporatization of the business he loves.
A fascinating journey from the days before rock 'n' roll to today, What a Wonderful World could only have been written by a true insider's insider. It will delight music lovers everywhere.

Customer Reviews:

TOP-FLIGHT BOOK ABOUT THE RECORD BUSINESS.......1999-09-07

Bob Thiele's career makes for very entertaining reading. Ranging from the great jazz artists of the 1940's to rock & rollers like Buddy Holly, Bob played a large part in many notable careers. I was especially touched by the love story of Bob and singer Teresa Brewer --- who eventually became Mrs. Thiele --- and thoroughly fascinated by the incredible behind the scenes machinations (sometimes funny, sometimes deadly), of the music business. Most particularly the attempts by mobsters to take control of popular singer Alan Dale, and Dale's stubborn refusal to submit. Thiele claims that this cost Dale his career, and almost his life. A fascinating book from one of show business' "good guys".

Katharine the Great: A Lifetime of Secrets Revealed... (1907-1950)

Average customer rating:

AWFUL.....!!!
Ew.
should have been better
Admiralby researched and exquisitely written
All the negative reviews removed...hmmm

Katharine the Great: A Lifetime of Secrets Revealed... (1907-1950)
Darwin Porter
Manufacturer: Blood Moon Productions
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0974811807

Book Description

Compiled over a period of 45 years, and based on hundreds of interviews with people who knew her, this is the best and most unapologetic biography of Katharine Hepburn's early career ever penned. You've read what KATE REMEMBERED....Here's what Katharine Hepburn wanted to forget.

FOREWORD Magazine, a respected literary review based in Michigan, nominated it as one of ten finalists for BEST BIOGRAPHY OF 2004 in their Book of the Year Awards. The winner of that contest will be announced in NYC in June of 2005.

Customer Reviews:

AWFUL.....!!!.......2007-06-01

I couldn't even finish this book because I found myself either rolling my eyes and saying "Oh please" as I was reading it. There were more stories about the alleged gay trysts of Hollywood actors than about Katharine Hepburn herself. Where does this author get his information? This book is full of untruths and gossip. This book basically says that all men in Hollywood were either gay or bisexual. Everyone from Desi Arnaz to Jimmy Stewart to Gary Cooper were all into men and sleeping with one another. Sheesh. Wishful thinking on the authors part? If the male actors were friends they were also lovers according to this author. Amazingly, all the handsome actors in Hollywood were gay or bisexual. The less attractive male celebrities were never mentioned as being anything but straight. This book is supposed to be about Katharine Hepburn not the supposed same sex flings of Hollywood actors.
In the book, Ms. Hepburn comes off as a gossipy, jealous, nympho who is either sleeping with everyone(male or female) who comes in her path or stabbing them in the back. I'm not saying Katharine Hepburn was a saint but the lies and misinformation in this book are just too hard to take. For instance, the book says Jimmy Stewart was born in the state of Indiana but he in fact was born in Indiana, Pennsylvania. The author can never seem to get his facts together. This book is more like the Enquirer or the Star magazine than an actual biography.
If you like trashy, sleazy, mostly fictional books that try and masquerade as biographies then this book is for you.
If you want to read a real biography on this legendary actress' life, look elsewhere.

Ew........2006-12-31

Just ew. In addition to being truly painfully written, this is gross. Nothing is sourced, all the dialogue (no matter who allegedly spoke it) uses exactly the same vocabulary, intonation, etc., and overall the book seems to be more about the author (whom I now believe is in desperate need of psychiatric help) than about Katharine Hepburn. Interesting, also, that all the so-called "scandalous" material seems to come from only a few people, none of whom have ever been anything but remotely associated with Hepburn. The author seems to be in constant need to drive home the shock value of his assertions: Hepburn was bisexual! She was promiscuous! and etc. Even if she was (which he definitely has not managed to prove), so what? She still stands as one of the greatest and most talented actors of all time, and people still get enormous enjoyment out of her movies. In addition to this, she was a far better and more interesting writer than the author of this fictional book.
The existence of this book makes a sweeping negative statement about us as a society--that a sick, pathetic individual like this author could publish anything, and that he would be able to continue publishing trash. After reading 100 pages I feel as though I need a shower--I am incredibly ashamed of myself for reading even one page.
Besides the disgustingness and nonexistent research of this book, it was incredibly boring. It exists mostly as a laundry list of supposed affairs and dissipations, all written in ungrammatical boring prose. This is probably this book's greatest sin--no matter how unconventional Katharine Hepburn's life was, I don't think anyone would argue that it was boring.

should have been better.......2006-10-10

The book gets 3 stars because of sloppy editing and proofreading (i.e.p.148: "He housed Kate and Laura and the Hays-Adams Hotel" and clearly wrong information: p. 138 "In the late 1930s, when she was a struggling actress, Katharine Hepburn had waited for an interview...in Harris's offices above the Moresco Theatre." ; p. 141 "In 1933, several years after her stint as Harris's driver, ...Kate arrived, fresh from California, at Harris's offices above the Moresco Theatre." Hepburn was a struggling actress in the late 1920s, not the late 1930s.

At times, pages read as if they had been written by assistants who did not keep up with what had preceded their contribution. Information is needlessly repeated. And, the writing is inconsistent. veering from good to sophomoric to good to bad to good again.

Hepburn deserved better.

Admiralby researched and exquisitely written.......2005-04-03

This book gives up the charming, remarkable Katharine Hepburn as no other book has before. So far, it's the most fascinating celebrity biography I've ever read, although it seems to have outraged her most diehard fans. Too bad. It's a great read. Although Miss Hepburn was a rather bony woman, Darwin Porter gives her flesh and bones in this remarkable, riveting portrait. Shrewdly objective, yet sympathetic in tone, the book re-creates her life and times and does so exceedingly well. The book should be read for the new light it sheds on the character, career, and armours (both male and female) of this remarkable American woman, who was my all-time favorite movie star. I'm delighted to know that she had a private life, too, although one filled with her share of woe like all of us experience. A vivid and perceptive portrait of the greatest female film star of the 20th Century.

All the negative reviews removed...hmmm.......2005-01-18

[...]

Don't be fooled. There is nothing well written or insightful about this awful book. You can't libel the dead, so Porter goes to town on just about everyone, with pages and pages of supposed "notes" that are nothing but a list of names with no attributable quotes.

There are also those who claim that the book's detractors (and trust me, they outnumbered these paid hacks by a large margin at one time) just can't believe that there were gay golden age Hollywood starts who slept around. As a gay man I find this the most insulting aspect of this whole enterprise. Darwin Porter seems almost pathological in his need to validate his own orientation by asserting that EVERYONE in old Hollywood was gay. It seems silly and more than a little pathetic that anyone would need to work this hard to quiet his own demons, but this book says a lot more about the author than it does about Katharine Hepburn.

On a final note, take a look at the other "reviews" by the people on this page. You'll find more than a few of them who only seem to review Darwin Porter books. Curious, very curious.

Still, Amazon has chosen to leave these while removing the honest reviews from real people. Even more curious.

Role of a Lifetime: Four Professional Actors and How They Built Their Careers

Average customer rating:

A fascinating view of the life's work of four actors.
An engaging celebration of actors and their profession.
A wonderful, powerful look at the life of an actor.
The Life of an actor

Role of a Lifetime: Four Professional Actors and How They Built Their Careers
Robert Simonson
Manufacturer: Watson-Guptill Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0823078329

Customer Reviews:

A fascinating view of the life's work of four actors........1999-04-04

Thoroughly enjoyable! This is a book I will definitely read again. The perspectives of four hard-working actors in Role of a Lifetime are analogous to many careers, it's just so much more interesting to read about an individual's decisions, sacrifices, successes, and determination in the realm of stage and screen. Well-written chronicles of four fascinating journeys!

An engaging celebration of actors and their profession........1999-04-04

I highly recommend this engaging compilation of mini-biographies! Each of the four chapters gives the reader such interesting insight into the professional life of a consistently working actor who has performed for decades on the edge of the limelight. Role of a Lifetime celebrates actors and their profession while telling four great stories.

A wonderful, powerful look at the life of an actor........1999-03-22

Not since Simon Callow's BEING AN ACTOR has a book so thoroughly explored the life, the passion, and the plight of being in the theater.

Simonson has selected a quartet of very talented but lesser-known performers and created insightful, sensitive but unflinching portraits of each. One closes the book having been exposed to the erratic and always challenging life of an actor. Simonson writes with authority but allows the individual personalities to shape each of the sections.

It is a book not just to be read but to be re-read. I hope that it will soon become a staple in acting classes on all levels as well as for the generally curious.

The Life of an actor.......1999-03-14

Robert Simonson has taken 4 working actors and takes us on a wonderful journey about their career and lives. The actors he interviewed are Austin Pendleton, Lois Smith, Gloria Foster and Ron Rifkin. While giving us all the necessary biographical statistics, the actors tell us how they built their careers and how they approached various roles. The thing that makes this book so interesting is the fact that these are not celebrities. They are hard working and respected actors in their profession. Anyone interested in acting or theatre should read this book. It is a great read!!!!

Talking Heads - Once in a Lifetime: The Stories Behind Every Song

Average customer rating:

Colorful photos, but sparse descriptions of songs
A terrible waste of time-- just look at the pictures

Talking Heads - Once in a Lifetime: The Stories Behind Every Song
Ian Gittins , and Talking Heads
Manufacturer: Hal Leonard
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0634080334

Book Description

A superbly illustrated, in-depth examination of the stories, events, places, and characters that inspired the songs of the Talking Heads, arguably the most significant band to emerge from the late-'70s New York punk scene based around CBGB's club. Led by guitarist-vocalist David Byrne, the band enjoyed major chart success on both sides of the Atlantic with infectious, incendiary singles like "Road to Nowhere," "Psycho Killer," and "Once in a Lifetime." During their influential seventeen-year career, Talking Heads assembled a body of raw yet intellectual rock music second to none. Then in 2002, having vowed to never work together again, the four original Heads reconvened and played live when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Customer Reviews:

Colorful photos, but sparse descriptions of songs.......2005-04-01

Gittins is effective at giving the reader the story of Talking Heads as a group and the trials and tribulations that occurred between albums. However, the "stories behind every song" are pretty sparse. For instance, a total of 7 sentences is dedicated to the song "Memories Can't Wait" and only 8 sentences are written about "Heaven." Instead of writing about every song on every Heads' album, I think it would have been better to write more thoroughly about the better known songs only.

While the color photos are nice, some of them are barely relevant (a half-page photo of the Carpenters in a Talking Heads book?). Also, the editing/proofreading could have been better. For example, on page 9 there's a photo of Jerry Harrison and David Byrne, but the label for the photo says "Chris Frantz and David Byrne." This can cause major confusion for people not too familiar with the Heads, like myself, especially when the photo is near the beginning of the book.

One last criticism has to do with the author's writing style. He seems to use unusual words and descriptions just to be different, but it comes off as pretty annoying in my opinion. On page 83, he's describing "Girlfriend Is Better" and says Tina Weymouth's bass playing "is as near to phat as it ever gets but still sounds parping and hesitant rather than enjoyably flatulent..." And I know we all like our bass playing to sound flatulent. Finally, if you've never heard of the word 'skewwhiff' before, you might wanna steer clear since Gittins uses it about 20 times in this book.

A terrible waste of time-- just look at the pictures.......2005-03-07

While the photographs in this book are fabulous, the book itself is poorly written, poorly edited, and poorly researched. There are many typos and grammatical errors in the text. Most of the "research" was just taken from other books about the Talking Heads. The thing I find most offensive is that the book is titled, "The Stories Behind Every Song" but the "stories" are no more than guesses made by the book's author as to what he thinks the songs could be about. "Oh ummm David Byrne was PROBABLY dating Adelle Lutz when Speaking In Tongues was recorded so I think she was the girlfriend in Girlfriend is Better!!". Ridiculous! This book is total trash. Leaf through it for the pictures at the store, but don't waste your money.

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