This is a little book! Do not expect hours of engrossing reading. For most people this can be read in the car on the way down to the rocks. However the information it does offer is very good and thorough, though obviously limited in the number of topics covered.

The reason to buy this book is in the chapters about belaying and rope tricks. The section about equipment is quite extensive as well, but unfortunately there is a lot of information here that is either incomplete, just plain wrong, or prone to misunderstanding. Therefore I would advise not to trust just this book as your source of information about gear.

I think this book should be added to 'Sport Climbing' to make one complete reference for sport climbing, but at the moment we will have to stick with two separate volumes.

If you are a beginner starting out of the gym onto the rock, definitely get this book, if only for the belaying hints!

Climb safe! Slim

This book takes the scariness once associated with the clip and go routes. This book has greatly improved my climbing. Thanks

The drawings alone are worth the $6 cost. Considering that this and Robyn Erbesfield's "Sport Climbing with Robyn Erbesfield" (possibly overpriced at $14.95, 92 pages, paperback) are the main books on this new facet of climbing, you can't go wrong with John and Duane's. They advise that this book is NOT for beginners, as clip-and-go routes under 5.10b are the exception and it does NOT teach you how to clasp holds and use your feet. But they do cover all the basics of sport climbing in sufficient detail to help you get into this arena

This is an informative book for anyone interested in one of the jazz giants of all times. The book is of particular interest if first person narratives are to your liking since there are several sections with Trane talking about his music. For example, the interview for the Jazz Review in 1958 is as free flowing as the notes that blow through his horn. Also useful is an interview he did for a French magazine entitled Jazz Magazine where his international appeal comes forth. I also enjoyed the interview with Frank Kofsky where Trane explores topics such as Black Nationalism and the then current(60's) social and political relationship between music and politics. There are several sections taken from Downbeat Magazine and notable profiles by Ira Gitler, Ralph Gleason and Nat Hentoff. Although not limited to interviews the book also has various writers give the usual and unusual analysis of his music; there are recolllections from associates in the form of praise and critique. The other sections that deal with reviews of his concerts are interesting but not as riveting as the man in his own words. The breakdown of the recording periods is concise, factual and informative, as is in general the layout and organization of this book . Not intended as a biography this book does a good job of revealing Trane through the eyes of others as well as himself. Recommended for those wanting to go beyond the music; the man in his own words reveals the gentle giant of the saxophone.

This is a generally useful book for those interested in Coltrane's relatively brief life and musical career, although those already familiar with the saxophonist will find few surprises.

The book gathers together interviews, reminiscences, and critical commentary, as well as discographic and bibliographic references. Of the interviews, one of the best, for me, was a relatively brief one conducted with Bob Thiele, Coltrane's producer at Impulse Records. Thiele speaks in understated, yet moving tones of his relationship with Coltrane and makes clear the admiration he felt for the musician without being in the least bit sentimental. Joe Goldberg, a longtime admirer of Coltrane who became critical of the challenging material Coltrane produced late in his life, also offers a balanced view of the music. Peter Watrous's 1987 retrospective on Coltrane does a nice job of putting Coltrane's career in perspective and convincingly making the argument that Coltrane's music was as compelling 20 years after his death as it was when he was alive.

Another strength of the book are the sections that offer detailed information on each Coltrane release from the three major labels for which he recorded: Prestige, Atlantic and Impulse. Less useful, however, is the discography, which is a selected list. Why not just list everything?

Another weakness lies in the organization, or lack thereof. Sure, the book is divided into critical commentary, Coltrane in his own words, the releases, and so on. But some of the material is repetitive. Comments about his time with Monk, Miles, his practicing regimen, and so on crop up in the same language in different articles. Quotes and stories are recycled as well. Editor Woideck would have done well to consider a more thematic approach and to find some unifying thread that would better tie the material together.

Coltrane himself probably revealed why efforts to chronicle his life have been fairly difficult. As his musical stature and influence grew, he became less and less concerned with what was said about his music. He simply wanted people to listen. He was as sparing with his words as he was prolific with his notes. We're all probably best served by getting his music and listening rather than reading about him. Still, those of us who want to know as much as we can about his genius can find nuggets in books such as this.

John Coltrane was a great musician, and a huge influence on the jazz music that followed him. This book does an excellent job of compliling interviews and articles that get his insights into the music, but more fascinating, into Coltrane as a person. Coltrane was a spiritual, intelligent and talented man, and both he and his music are sometimes misunderstood. This book lends insight into his goals and motivations. The book tends to get repetitive, however, as many of the same quotes come up time and again. Still, it is a sort of best of so there will be repitition, and has a great chronology and discography.

There are only specious connections to U2's music in this book. Don't be fooled by the nice cover.

This work aims to trace and muse on the experience of being Irish as reflected in the work of U2. As such, it is not an easy-read band bio, and is written at let's say college level. However, the long interviews, especially of Bono, cover material that is just not found anywhere else; U2's remarks here have an uncensored, just-between-Irishmen feel that is rare.

The book, as hard as it is to find, is an absolute must-read for anyone interested in U2's Irishness, in their literary/cultural connections, or in their spiritual history -- it's full of amazing insights on all three. Generalist fans of the band should, of course, look elsewhere.

This book is an accessible biographical work. It doesn't get bogged down too much in the details which is good for people who have short attention spans (like me).

I liked it. I've read it a few times.

all these reviews got me hyped up about this book...saying its a must have...but im 17 years old...and consider myself in the advanced catagory....the exercises in this book are so elementary its not even funny...i looked at it the day i got it...and havnt looked at it since...its not full of great exercisses..i mean it has some in it..but not enough to advance someone drastically..dont get my wrong..john petrucci is an awesome guitarist..but the book just isnt very impressive...

This instructional media is an awesome one. Starting with physical excercises that would make you comfortable while playing for hours, and it even touches on several church modes. Even if you're just looking for playing backing, vamps, rhythms, and etc, this media will teach you about chord formations and theories which will add your piece of art more colors. However, I wouldn't recommend it for NOT serious players, because one would need ample amount of time/effort to accomplish Petrucci's lessons. Otherwise, a fabulous book every guitarists must have.

If you are serious about investing your life time in developing discipline, efficiency and mastering the guitar (or any 6-string instrument for that matter), this is IT. It's nice to get the video as well, but not a must. What IS a must, however, is DISCIPLINE. You have to become this book, you can't be lazy about the material, if you want to get the most out of it. It's a do-or-don't situation. It pays of beyond words. That's really all i can say.. :) GET IT GET IT GET IT GET IT but do not expect it to do everything for you, it is all up to you. And it's FUN!!Provided you are able to think clearly, to concentrate, to practice in 15-minute segments, to practice with a metronome.. you really need to do all those things, like i said, do or don't. It covers everything you need to know as an aspiring advanced player. One important thing that's not covered in the book, yet covered in the video (for those of you wanting to get only the book) - stretching bodyparts other than the fingers but heavily involved in playing the guitar, and proper posture while practicing (and at any time, obviously). So my advice is, YOU NEED THIS BOOK!! But it will only work if you bite through the hard bit at the beginning, if you're WILLING to master discipline and clarity of thought for yourself. It's all about this willingness. The rest follows automatically. The cd it great too, it's basically the audio from the video that you need. Some parts from the video are removed (like when you can hear john burp and fart and snore away) so.. BUY IT!! NOW!! :)

Beat the Heat, a Radical Survival Handbook is a relic from days gone by. The book is intended as a guide to those involved in the revolutionary struggle against repression that was said to have begun in the late sixties. Content in the four standard sections of any revolutionary guide book, People's Law, Community Organization Guide, First Aid for Activists and Firearms and Self-Defense is detailed and full of common sense.
Beat the Heat will guide you step by step through such experiences as being busted by the pigs for drugs, how to print your own demonstration leaflets, how to avoid the diseases of communal living, first aid for confrontation situations, firearm selection and tactical defensive firearm use. Overall, the book is detailed, and is a basic common sense approach to avoiding trouble while doing illegal things. What it lacks in originality, it certainly compensates for in volume.

Legends take on a life on their own, and that is as true with Alan Freed as with anyone in the early rock years. Much of the mis-information, hype, lies and distortions have surfaced from his ardent fans and his vitriolic enemies, and some of the mis-information (i.e. hype) came from Freed himself.
But, then, he WAS a showman, after all. This book cuts through much of the haze, hype and harangues and gets to the real Freed. Interviewing many family members and close friends, this is a thoroughly interesting and readable story, even for those who THINK they know what the story is.
From the early days in Ohio on to the "heyday" at WINS and then, all too quickly to the debacle in Boston, which caused all the "rats" within the industry to bail out on Freed, this is a story all true music fans should read.

But, regardless of the money and favors that changed hands during the birth of rock and roll, it seems likely that Freed never played anything that he didn't have faith in musically. Much as Lenny Bruce became the "fall guy" for un-censored social commentary, Freed paid the price for a new kind of music, and also paid the price because that music was a key factor in bring ing the races together.
When Alan's death came just a few scant years after his fame was ripped from him by the rock-n-roll foes, it was undoubtedly his heavy drinking and a weakened liver that was the actual cause of death. Emotionally, a broken man at the young age of 43, Alan Freed was actually far more influential than he could have ever imagined himself. In those incendiary moments at the live shows that he so artfully orchestrated, and in the telephone book-pounding and sing-along fervor of his radio shows,it is doubtful that even he could have known how far his ground-breaking work would influence and change the world of music in the ensuing decades.

Photo quality is average (not the best at times), basic info for a general fan, nothing too deep. Good intro to Buddy in general & short in length for those with an average interest.

I have read some biographies before this one, but I think that this one was the best so far. THe reason for that is that it is a lot more shorter than most biographies but it still has all the information I need, and some extra too like the part about the movie called Buddy Holly Story. Overall it is a good book and I recomend it to everyone who is interested about the real King and Creator of Rock'n'Roll, Buddy Holly.

The Beatles were more than just a rock band. In historical context, they were part of a huge government engineered social event which has been overseen through the years by secret societies and unknown branches of U.S. and British governments. The engineering continues to evolve today.

As John Lennon has stated, one moment they were playing all kinds of seedy bars, strip joints, and dance clubs across the UK and Europe. A gritty covers band with an attitude and ability to play. The next thing he knew, they were meeting the Queen of England and heads of state across the globe as they toured. Transforming them from a heavy rock band into a cute, loveable teen sensation almost overnight was what their manager Brian Epstein did, as he promised if they did this they'd be rich beyond their dreams and be bigger than Elvis. But it went way beyond even that as their importance ballooned into political issue and their effect on the 'youth culture'. Heads of state took notice of their citizen's enchantment with the band. The 'clean' image Epstein marketed got them into family rooms around the globe; where for the band was where the money they were promised was; and for Tavistock, a worldwide opportunity to capture the minds of the entire world's youth.

What the Beatles got themselves into through Epstein's contracts and guidance, unbeknownst to them, was a role in the New World Order's plans to test out mass mind control. You'll learn about England's top secret Tavistock facilities (which as predicted in the book, now monitors all communications passing in and out of England), and how it secretly helped engineer the Beatles 'invasion' of the U.S. and then the world and why. A discussion of the Beatles' early music, and it's hypnotic "12-atonal" quality attempts to explain the reason their music seems to elicit senses within the brain common in many humans, especially those in a certain age group.

The subject of the group's decision to use and publicize their use of LSD and cannabis marijuana as they began to move in their own direction beyond their manager's initial Beatlemania-era "cute" image, and into the psychedelic-rock/hard rock era, is discussed in detail. Previously unpublished photos of the band using LSD and them performing at their last concerts appear in the book for the first time.

Secret documents are exposed from FBI, CIA files. Social engineering, the mark of the beast, Waco, black choppers, militia, mind control, the drug trade, Nazi connections, UFO and alien appearances, backwards messages. The modern multimedia presentation of music and marketing began here.

The book is not extremely organized in a comprehensible manner. It's best to take this book a chapter at a time. It seems the author may have crammed too much in one book that might have been meant for three since it says this is a trilogy. However you will learn so much more than you may want to know about how the Beatles fit into the cosmic conspiracy that you'll scare yourself. I think every major conspiracy theory is touched upon.

The book seems to weave in and out in this manner, to some great stories about the Beatles on tour and behind the scenes, with previously unpublished photos.

If any of this sounds slightly interesting, believe me, it is quite fascinating, and you should read this book immediately. What you think and saw was happening on the outside, was happening because of some very bizarre coincidences.

Interesting addendum: In 1996 An episode of the TV series "Dark Skies" was based on this book's chapter about the Beatles' first U.S. appearance on a live broadcast of the Ed Sullivan Show in February of 1964. Seen by 73 million viewers across the nation, (that's almost everyone who had a television set then), it was the perfect time to implant the message and test mass mind control. Was it Tavistock who masterminded it all? This book has the answers, and raises even more questions that still don't but one day we may know the answer as more government documents become declassified regarding these operations. (I'm hoping to see parts 2 and 3 of this trilogy get published with all of the events in Beatles and world history that have taken place since the book first came out in 1996.)

I"m glad to meet R. Lipack . His book look like
a nightmare .. but it is only a true analysis of
the real world you're living today ....
Big Brother is alive now , more terrific than
you can imagine...
Thanks Mister Lipack for open our eyes.

This book does more than just look at forty years of writing about Zappa. The "Companion" comes across as a sometimes scholarly journal of the times in which Zappa's music could actually get produced. Kostelanetz does a superb job of fitting together a diverse mixture of writings from various authors to draw a vivid picture of popular culture and real life in the last half of the 20th century. Through his clever arrangement and organization of these writings, Kostelanetz demonstrates that the youth culture, dada in art, and breakthroughs in recording technology helped shape an environment in which a stubborn, rebellious, and meticulous genius like Frank Zappa could make a forum for his unique talent. This book is thoroughly readable and contains little technical language, yet it does offer much that would be of interest to musicologists, sociologists, historians, and especially artists and musicians. Of course, Zappa fans will appreciate the wealth of details about the man, the composer, the musician, the guitarist, the politician, the social critic, etc. - you get the idea. BUY THIS THING!...

This book is an informative mish mash of different interviews and record reviews by various authors. It covers early Mothers stuff and goes right up through the 90s. Interesting interviews that originally appeared in Guitar, Rolling Stone, and many others. If ya don't know much about Frank and how he was percieved by the public, check this one out.

This book is pretty much a sequel of sorts to Steve Turner's "A Hard Day's Write," which remains the definitive book on the background of the Beatles' songs. Du Noyer was right to decide that Lennon's solo work deserved a similar reference of its own, but, unfortunately, it doesn't measure up to the Turner book. Using the same format, and even some of the same photos, Du Noyer takes us through Lennon's mainstream albums from Plastic Ono Band to Milk & Honey, but in the end can't come up with anything new; it's all a retread of the same old story - and Du Noyer can't decide whether he wants to believe Ray Coleman or Albert Goldman, so he just chooses to dodge the delicate question of whether Lennon, as a person, was an all-around wonderful guy (the 'St Lennon' of rock'n'roll myth) or a deranged, self-destructive hypocrite. Even worse, Du Noyer can't decide whether he's a fan of the music or not. He intersplices fan-like gushing over Lennon's best songs with snide put-downs directed at most of the rest of the repertoire. In the end, there's not much here for either the devoted Lennon fan or the newcomer, who may wonder what all the fuss is about if so much of Lennon's music merits all this criticism.

In the decade that elapsed between the Beatles' dissolution and his death in 1980, John Lennon wrote songs that were inspired by events which affected him personally. Here some light is shed on the biographical background to his solo work by veteran music journalist, Du Noyer, whose 'Q' and 'Mojo' credentials shine through in the magazine-style form and glossy photos.

I don't think that the author is necessary conflicted between the Coleman and Goldman views of Lennon's life so much as looking from the outside, considering all possibilites without claiming to "know" anything. Not as good as A Hard Day's Write, true, but still a very excellent companion to Lennon's life and works.