A brilliant view of all that disco represented in the 70s - the explosion of sound, light, rhythm, drugs, clubs, celebrities and lifestyles of an era. For Goldman, discomania was just another outburst of what he called 'the buried life' - the underground tradition of primitive tribal religious rites, the Greek dionysiac cults and bacchanals. He therefore considered disco as a manifestation of the dancing sickness or the ever-renewing quest for ecstacy and transcendence. The difference with the rock experience was that the dancers themselves became the stars, instead of the performers up on stage. Goldman describes the scene from the perspective of a psychologist, sociologist, musicologist, anthropologist and participant, and it is this last view which makes this book such and excellent and highly readable document of an era. He talks about the personalities, the clubs, the producers and the music in an intelligent but engaging, almost chatty style. Disco genres and musicians like Donna Summer, Giorgio Moroder, Cerrone, Alec Castandinos, Kraftwerk, Meco and others, and the Saturday Night Fever phenomenon. The black & white photographs enhance the enjoyment of reading, and the middle section holds stunning colour pics of disco fever in action, celebrities and musicians like Grace Jones. I think Goldman has succeeded well in preserving a lively and cinematic record of a happy era. It's also interesting to discover the roots of the techno-rave movement in these pages. Of course, the abundant varieties of today's House music have not only their roots, but their spirit as well, in good old disco.

The origins of disco music are the central issue of this book, which was written in the late seventies. The idea of discotheque was originally created in France and was taken to America in the early sixties. The first disco DJ in America was Slim Hyatt. DJ Terry Noel, however, took deejaying to another level and eventually, in the late sixties, Francis Grasso introduced the technique of slip-cueing, which orginated modern mixing. Also, very popular discotheques like Studio 54, Loft, etc. are treated here. Besides, Goldman focuses on the disco stars, i.e. figures like Donna Summer, Giorgio Moroder, Cerrone, Alec R. Costandinos and so forth. Highly recommended if you are interested in how disco came about.

A prolific writer of both opera and prose, Wagner has always been engulfed in controversy. Over the past century and a half, a great deal has been written about him; the book stores are full of such works. After a while, one gets tired of constantly reading what other people think of Wagner. In this book, you can read his own words.

His collected prose extends to 8 volumes of densely packed type. Wading through them is a daunting task. This book is a carefully chosen selection of those writings where Wagner specifically talks about music, opera, or drama. If you are more interested in Wagner the musician than Wagner the political polemicist, this book is for you.

This is a reprint of the 1964 edition by Dutton. It contains the following sections: Cultural Decadence of the Nineteenth Century; The Greek Ideal; The Origins of Modern Opera, Drama, and Music; The Artwork of the Future; Wagner's Development; Bayreuth; Politics. You will find gems such as the original plot for The Ring, and an interesting essay where Wagner describes how he "fixed" some of Beethoven's symphonies.

Is Wagner a brilliant, far-reaching visionary who changed the course of art and philosophy for the next century, or a superficial, self-centered despot with a mercurial thought process? Now, you can decide for yourself.

Why is this book so much more engrossing than Goldman's other biographies (Elvis and John Lennon)? Mainly because both of those subjects had been done thoroughly during their lifetimes; by the time the books came out, most people who cared to read them already knew most of the book's content.

Not so with this epic book on comic Lenny Bruce. He died in 1966 and his personal life was unknown to most, mainly because his act was considered unfit for decent audiences and he was ignored by the media.

Goldman gets much of his material from reporter Lawrence Schiller (indeed, on the cover it sayd, "by Albert Goldman from the journalism of Lawrence Schiller"). The book carefully explores Bruce's youth as Leonard Alfred Schneider, his showbiz-oriented mother and quiet, serious father, and his starnge relationship with his stripper wife Honey. Goldman and Schiller analyze Bruce's comedy and whence it came, believing this was the key to understanding Lenny Bruce himself. The book progresses through Bruce's difficult first years in Manhattan nightclubs, then moves to Los Angeles and, finally, San Francisco, where Bruce became a star. It also deals heavily with the comic's insatiable appetite for IV drugs, his fall from a San Franciscco hotel room and his horrible legal battles, which haunted him till the end of his life.

Be warned: if you are not fascinated by showbiz and the lives of the famous and notorious, this book will bore you senseless. There are absolutely no pictures and the book carefully dissects every aspect of Lenny Bruce's life. Finally, this is a book unlike any bio or showbiz book ever written; it is a peek into a world long gone and well known only to very few.

At the end, I had to shake my head. I saw this life as a waste in the same way as Charlie Parker's. Brilliance and genius subverted by drugs and egomania. The book comes across reasonably unbiased, but Lenny is painted as a martyr but also as the architect of his own demise. This book was a fascinating journey, and many names are dropped along the ride. After the 3/4 point in this book I began to see Lenny as a drug-addicted loser who had a gift for convincing people to do his will. Sounds exactly like Charlie Parker, and there are many parallels to the life of the jazz musician of the same period.
While this book was being written (completed in 1974), Goldman states that Bob Fosse was working on a film based on Lenny's life. I saw the result "Lenny", many years before reading this book, and though an entertaining film, it has little to do with the story told here. the main problem is that it is ultra-condensed, while the book tends to be excessively detailed.
Lenny had a gift, but like many geniuses had not the equivalent gift to manage it. The book does manage to give an impression of the highs and lows of Lenny's life. After reading it I searched for recordings of Lenny Bruce, and managed to find the unedited recording of the Carnegie Hall concert, know to be his most spontaneous and "best" performance. Reading the book put this into perspective. When you listen to Lenny, you may find his humour to be obscure, sort of in-jokes that you don't get right away. His appeal was more to the hip jazz musician crowd, and to them he made total sense. To the rest of the audience, it was the shock value they came for, and this is where his tragic conflict begins to eat his career, trying desperately to prove he wasn't a "dirty" comic. Lenny was not so much a comic, but a revolutionary, who went against the norms and held everything up for criticism. In the post-war era he moved in, this would be a tough apple-pie crowd for him to get on his side. Very intense story. If you were aware of Lenny's work before, the book will interest you. Otherwise it will be a long ride with an inevitable ending for those who mix hard drugs with a fast life.

I found Goldman's brief depiction on the history of weed from the countries Mexico, Jamaica, and Colombia to the weed transportation to the U.S. very interesting. I also complement on his kind way of making Colombians seem victims of their own history caused by conquistadores, foreign policy, and drug mafia. He talks a great deal, about 3 chapters, on the secret procedures of Colombian drug cartel as he took part in it during the late 1970's. I'm sure not much has changed.

This book covers it all...the history of marijuana and how it became the "drug of choice" in America; the laws and decriminalization (at the time of publishing); how smugglers get it into the country and how the government tries to stop it (with practically no success); different ways it is grown; it is all here, with humor thrown in. Just about any question you have will be answered. Albert Goldman has definitely done his homework on this subject. He not only researched the subject through the literature available to him, but he also experienced it first-hand. From talking to potheads and sharing a joint with them to actually going to Columbia and seeing for himself how the smuggling operations work. This book is an accurate and honest work of the pros and cons of marijuana in America. If you want to know the truth about the weed, this book is for you!

The late Goldman was one of those writers from the jazz generation, like Ralph Gleason or Nat Hentoff, who discovered rock and brought his experienced vocabulary to it. But he discovered rock late (1967) and never really got it. His feel for black music--blues, soul--comes through in his James Brown, B.B. King and others in this anthology of his pieces for Life, the New York Times and other mainstream publications circa 1968-70, but his incredibly naive take on the "new rock" makes one wonder why these pieces are being reprinted now, of all times, after his biographies of Elvis and John Lennon have been so thoroughly discredited. (His book on Disco, probably his best, hardly ever gets mentioned...) He wields a lot of classical allusions, but could use a few lessons from Meltzer in how to apply them: do we really need to know that Stevie Winwood "went through metamorphoses not found in Ovid"? With a definite talent for the descriptiive phrase, he paints a true-seeming portrait of Paul Butterfield, then goes on to dismiss his amazing band--not even mentioning Michael Bloomfield! Unnecessary. Compare to Ellen Sander's or Paul Williams' much superior essays of the same period.

This collection includes over a decade's worth of Albert Goldman's critical writings, and reads like a travel guide to a modern Inferno. Albert Goldman was the author of controversial music biographies, and this book includes his essays on Aretha Franklin, Elvis Presley and many more. Albert Goldman is also the author of the 1978 book on disco music.

It doesn't take a scholar to get the basic facts right and Goldman at least did that. It's clear that Goldman was attempting to create the same furor with Lennon as he did with his Elvis Presley biography. John Lennon was a flawed, complex human being and Goldman presents the flaws with as the emblishment one expects from yellow Journalism. Like most fiction and sensationalistic biographies it makes for fascinating reading.

What's most interesting is that the very people that would benefit from Lennon's reputation being smugged are the very people that deny it's accurate. The late Ray Coleman's biography of Lennon rings truer (although it was written with the co-operation of those Lennon knew)and manages to convey many of the flaws that Goldman's book does. Coleman's book also presents the positive side without diving into the mud like Goldman's book.

Was John Lennon a saint? Certainly not but he wasn't quite the insecure monster that Goldman presents him as being. It seems there's a bit of truth here but most of it is buried in speculation. A pity as Goldman is a fairly good writer.

The major flaw with this book is that Goldman chose to focous on Lennons post Beatle days, the days he thought would be most disturbing to Lennons fans, & he was right to think that.This book could have been 100% better if he had instead concentrated more on the years 1960-1963, the years when the Beatles were only known in Liverpool/Hamburg, before they cleaned up their image & John was their undisputed leader.He could have dug up an equall amount of sensationalistic journalism from those days (they were WILD in Hamburg)& it would have made for a far more interesting book - showing how the Beatles synthasized everything in rock & roll that had come before them & forged it into a newer, better sound.
I mean, I really dont care to know about Yoko, but it seems there is as much about her in this book as there is on John. That being said, the good news is that there are some fine chapters in the 1st half of the book, Goldman DOES have a clear understanding of why Lennon was so unique. If you do read this book, I would suggest you supplement it with 3 other books-
1. "The Beatles Live" by Mark Lewisohn
2. "Beatle" by Pete Best
3. "The man who gave the Beatles away" by Alan Williams

Okay, here's the thing with this book.

A)How do you know that what Goldman says isn't true? You're not the one who did six years of research. B)As much as I admire John Lennon, it was refreshing to read a book that was the opposite extreme of all the sappy, fan-clubby stuff that's written about him, and C)with brutal honesty, it sheds light on the fact that Lennon vacillated between a need for commercial success and a need for artistic integrity in his work, something that all artists go through but no one wants to admit to it, especially about the great artists like John Lennon because it's much easier to slap the label "genius" on them and move on.

Yeah, the book is mean, but for the most part, I find the meanness necessary in light of all the other sappy tripe that's been written about him- and maybe it'll pave the way for more middle of the road approaches. The only thing I don't like is, he totally takes these cheap shots at Yoko Ono... yeah, Goldman, like THAT'S really original. I happen to like Yoko Ono.

This author indeed has problems of his own. He has anger issues in which he needs to address. Therapy would be quite helpful for this author.
It was impossible to find anything credible in what he wrote because it was so obvious the contempt he had for his subject.
I understand that one of Elvis' so called friends, Lamar Fike, was one of Goldman's references, with friends like Fike no wonder Elvis was plagued with so many problems. If only Elvis had not trusted people like Fike maybe this entire scenario might have been different for Mr. Presley.
In spite of this trashy novel Elvis lives on in the hearts of his legion of fans and continues to gain more fans all the time. His legacy will go on forever whereas people like Goldman and Fike will cease to even be a footnote.

And you will too if you are among his legions of die-hard fans. This is definitely the most controversial (and I do mean HOTLY debated) Elvis bio. Goldman may indeed not be the most objective reporter out there (his bio of John Lennon came under massive attack as well). I found this book fascinating, however. It certainly focuses on Elvis' less memorable moments. We see Elvis shooting up combinations of drugs before going on stage at the MGM Grand. Elvis forgetting lyrics midway through a song. The infamous incident of Elvis shooting his television. Fat Elvis sweating profusely.

Elvis comes across half decently, however when compared to two figures that Goldman particularly targets. He depicts the Colonel as a rapacious, blood-sucking force of palpable evil, bent solely on drawing every last drop of lucre out of the Elvis machine. He single handedly thwarted Elvis' attempts at creativity, keeping the King focused solely on music that will be the most commercially palpable. The other great Villain is Dr. Nick, whom the author hints was actually responsible for Elvis' final inglorious demise on a toilet seat in his Graceland bathroom.

If you want to preserve your memory of Elvis as the leather-clad, vibrant performer of the Elvis Comeback Special, then I'd suggest this book is not for you. If you are curious about the more lurid details of an American icon's private life and the eclipse of an undeniably talented entertainer, give Goldman's book a try.

To quote Shakespere, the uproar this book caused was "Much ado about...." you guessed it. Okay, here's the story- Albert Goldman, a man who disliked Elvis intensely, wrote this acid account detailing The King's most intimate eating, dating, and bathroom habits. Just how Mr.Goldman acquired this information, I leave to one's own imagination. For good measure, he throws in descriptions of Graceland, Elvis' relationship with his mother- in short, his OPINIONS about Elvis Presley. However, through the years the book has taken on a life of its own. People in the "Memphis Mafia" and other inner circles who cooperated with its publication were scorned and cursed as "Judas" by die hard fans, and are to this day. Albert Goldman's book jacket picture was actually fashioned into a bull's eye by outraged Elvisphiles for the throwing of darts. Reading "THE Book", is akin to sacrilege for the Elvis-is-my-life fan, and Goldman is likened to Satan. My opinion? Whether you love Elvis, are indifferent to him, or could care less, this book is like chocolate- you hate yourself for consuming it, but you do it anyway. I was an Elvis fan before I read it, and after. Don't be afraid to challenge your idols. If they're as great as you say, they will stand up to it and it won't shake your admiration. Actually, the book itself is nothing earth shattering, and it certainly isn't one of your timeless classics. It's what it was meant to be- a trashy, dishy gossipfest. It's gotten more attention than it's worth, in my humble view, and so did its author, who, incidentally, was found dead,in his bedroom, bloated and under mysterious circumstances, an irony that was not lost on me.

Like it or not, this book was at times pretty entertaining,sad and shocking. I love Elvis(been to Graceland)and i don't like him portrayed as a pathetic man.Reading this book made me sad more than anything else.I don't believe that Elvis committed suicide, he was so sick he didn't need to.I also don't have any faith in the sources Goldberg uses throughout the book. I liked the picture of the floorplan of Graceland in the middle.So, make up your own mind.

For the mindless fan who refuses to believe Elvis was less than a god this book will be a disappointment. For anyone who can see Elvis as a human being, buy it. Goldmans research was the absolute best and most detailed there has ever been. Without his earlier, no less brilliant, book on Elvis no-one to this day would've known Colonel Parker was dutch.

Absolutely brilliant, along with his first book this is the greatest book on Elvis that will ever be written.

The late Albert Goldman has written another book that is hardly worth reading. In "Sound Bites" he collects some of his articles written over the last two decades and because of that we have already read all the stuff that this book contains. For example, the chapter on Elvis Presley has been published in Goldman's disgusting book "ELVIS" (1981) and the chapter on The Beatles has been published in the reprehensible book "The lives of John Lennon" (1988). What you can read in those (and most other "Goldman-trash-bio's" )books, you can read again in "Sound Bites". Goldman writes in his introduction that "one word can be worth a thousand pictures". Goldman himself obviously didn't understood what he wrote there, because he needs so many words to tell virtually nothing but his own traditionel negative opinion on the subject. Goldman does not describe his subjects, but he slates them down and he never shows respect for his subject. Then why this need to write biographies,Mr.Goldman? He probably needed the money and that's another reason why you should not buy this book.