Gil Scott-Heron, RIP

Summertime 33 1/3 Love on Flavorpill

The folks over at flavorpill sure know what's up. They've recommended all three new 33 1/3s for their 10 Most Anticipated Summer Reads list.

http://flavorwire.com/180879/flavorpills-most-anticipated-summer-reads/4#post_body

81... 82... 83

Three brand new volumes, fresh from the printers. These are advance copies so it's still, I expect, another couple of weeks before the books are on sale through the usual outlets.

In the meantime, more information can be found here:

Marquee Moon

Some Girls

You're Living All Over Me

Enjoy!

Look out, kid.

Here's a quick roundup of some nice Bob-related press surrounding Dylan's 70th birthday that people have sent my way... Feel free to add your own links in the comments!

• David Hajdu in the NY Times.
• John Harris in the Guardian.
• A fantastic Dylan audio slideshow from the BBC (featuring our own Michael Gray).
• A link to Continuum's books on Dylan from this blog.

And I'm sure there are others, but I'm at work here, people.

Beyond and Before - A Prog Rock Sampler

The publication of our much-anticipated Prog Rock book is fast approaching. We expect to see the book in stores during the first week of June.

Martin Halliwell and Paul Hegarty have put together a really brilliant book detailing the history of Prog Rock, or at least that's what Simon says.

"Examining every aspect of progressive rock - words and music, theatre and politics - Hegarty and Halliwell deftly unpick the tangled threads of tradition and radicalism that make up the genre's tapestry. In addition to shedding vital new light on an often maligned and misunderstood phase in rock's history, this probing and incisive study tracks prog's continued and unexpected reverberations through popular music long after punk had supposedly vanquished and banished it." Simon Reynolds, author of Retromania: Pop Culture's Addiction to Its Own Past and Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-84

We've got a little treat for you as well. Clicking the link below will direct you to a sample of the book which included the introduction, Chapter 13 and various bibliographies.

http://www.scribd.com/fullscreen/56070053?access_key=key-1ij9pnr06noktb5hr0aa

And if you'd like to be alerted when the book becomes officially available (a one-time only deal - we promise never to email you again after the book is published!), send a quick note to:

progrocksampler@yahoo.com

Serendipitous reading

It was kind of nice to read this great overview of 4AD and Vaughn Oliver at WFMU's blog right before reading this Peter Mendelsund blog post about book production quality and design. Seems to be a similar vein running through the two... I'm always interested in brands/labels/imprints whose design sensibility works in tandem with what is between the covers to command a following.

Quickly...

The Paris Review has a really interesting interview with Michael Azerrad, author of the fantastic book Our Band Could Be Your Life.

"Shoulda, but didna..."

Following up on last Wednesday's post, the Carnival Saloon has invited Tony Tost to list his top 5 songs that Johnny Cash should have covered before he died. The link is here. The original versions of the songs are helpfully embedded in the post for your convenience.

Happy Birthday, Bob!

Bob Dylan turns 70 years old on May 24th. (Click the covers for more information.)







In Bob's own words:
"Everybody knows by now that there's a gazillion books on me either out or coming out in the near future. So I'm encouraging anybody who's ever met me, heard me or even seen me, to get in on the action and scribble their own book. You never know, somebody might have a great book in them."

Carnival Saloon, Cash, & Tost

Carnival Saloon has a really lovely and enlightening interview with Tony Tost about his 33 1/3 volume on Johnny Cash's American Recordings, the album's producer Rick Rubin, social justice, and songwriting.

Do you think the film Walk the Line would have been made if Johnny hadn’t made American Recordings?

I don’t think Walk the Line gets made without the Rick Rubin resurrection narrative, no. And American Recordings was the start of that. Walk the Line is basically the prequel to the Hurt video. And we don’t get the Hurt song or video without the preceding stunt covers of Danzig, Soundgarden, Beck, Depeche Mode that Rubin encouraged.

I’m waiting for the sequel to Walk the Line, which I think would be a very different kind of movie. You’d have Cash’s career decline and missteps back into addiction and into adultery. You’d have Johnny and June’s corresponding religious fervor. There’s the traumatic robbery they suffered in Jamaica, when their son John Carter was held at gunpoint while thieves ransacked the place. There’s the infamous ostrich attack on the Cash property, with Johnny getting sliced open after picking a fight with the bird. That’s also a part of the Cash story. I’m interested in how one generates meaning and identity in the midst of all of this tawdry kind of crap, as opposed to the fairy tale of Walk the Line, that somehow suggests all the crap is erased by the redemptive powers of true love.

Tom Waits Tour Bus Rides Again

It's springtime, which means that David Smay (author of Tom Waits' Swordfishtrombones, which you can buy here) is coming back to Los Angeles to lead his Tom Waits bus tour again! Link Here: http://www.esotouric.com/waits

This is the definitive tour of Tom Waits' formative creative life in Los Angeles, and the people, places and late night pastries that shaped it.

Calling all rain dogs, gin-soaked boys and Gun Street girls! Climb aboard as your hosts David Smay and Esotouric's Kim Cooper (a Zoetrope Studios intern who'll tell how she used teenage subterfuge to arrange a private concert by Tom) lead you on a scrupulously researched ride through Tom's epic misdeeds and shenanigans, from the Trashing of the Troubadour to epic nights at the Tropicana.

June is going to be a great month...

click on the covers for more info.