I give this book 2 stars because several sources were listed that I found interesting, mainly because I'm a Stevie Nicks collector and love to look for magazine articles on her at eBay. This book names several magazine articles featuring Stevie. Unfortunately, this is the only place the author gets his info. His closest Stevie connection is a woman who would run occasional errends for Stevie. The book reads like a first grade book report on someone famous. The author seems like a huge Stevie fan, but not a real journalist. The pictures are worth more than the words, but it's not marketed as a "Stevie Photo Book"....

If you are a long time fan of Stevie Nicks, or are just discovering her and trying to get your hands on anything you can about her, then go ahead and buy this book. If you could care less about how many photos you have of Ms. Nicks, then this book is a definite pass.The photos are great, but the actual publication of the book could have been better. Some of the illustrations and page set-ups are rather "cheesy" (for lack of a better word)...and in my opinion, if you are going to publish a book with such little text, you should do more research and make sure that text is correct, instead of reaching to find anything to support your claim.For example, this book is based on Stevie's mysticism, and believe me, EVERYTHING is done to bring this out in the book. For example, they have the words to "Gold Dust Woman" as "Hail shadow of a woman/Hail shadow of a dragon" when the words in reality are "Pale shadow of a woman/Pale shadow of a dragon"...then it goes on to explain how Stevie might have slipped here with bringing out spirits...C'mon now, we know better...Stevie has said herself that "Gold Dust Woman" is about the drug/cocaine addictions, not about raising some dead witch from the grave to help her cast her spells...Christine's "affair with mysticism" is also thrown in for good measure, and I KNOW we know better on this one...I say stick to the facts and people will find you more credible - even if it is a book just based on photos...

This book was good, I received it for Christmas..I wasn't expecting to focus so much on Stevie's mystical side although, as much as it did. THe photos are wonderful, but the info is a little off..Like the interpretation of the ending of GOLD DUST WOMAN..its "Pale shadow of a woman" not "hail shadow of a woman" that made Stevie sound like a witch, which she isn't, casting spells through her songs, which she doesn't! It was worth a read though, but just not enough core info. I like the book, but the photos are the highlight, there are some GOOD ones in there.

A useless book that gives out 5 Stars as though it is water. Unbelievably uncritical, this book will not steer consumers to the very best work of an artist. Stick with the Penguin guide. It isn't perfect, but its vastly superior and pretty consistent regarding giving higher grades to the better albums and lower grades to the truly lesser works.

This book is incredibly dated, as the title makes clear -- it's not a Jazz CD Guide, but a Jazz Record Guide. Remember records? They were thin, 12-1/2 inch platters made out of vinyl that turned around on what they used to call "record players" or "turntables."

Unfortunately, the book does not accurately reflect which recordings are presently available by major jazz artists, because thousands of classic jazz works have been reissued since publication of this book over a decade ago. For example, there are at least a half dozen recordings of Kenny Dorham (my personal favorite) on a variety of labels which were reissued since this volume was published. Also, several works which were available in 1985 are no longer being marketed today. This is inevitable with a work of this type, especially in today's market, where reissued works are appearing faster than crabgrass after a summer rain.

Nevertheless, the book remains a valuable resource for anyone wishing to find out about the essential works of the greatest artists in the history of recorded jazz. I purchased it myself around '89 and have frequently turned to it for helpful guidance. The book contains alphabetically arranged entries for the principal artists in the entire spectrum of jazz, with listings of and a rating of the worth of each recording -- one to five stars. While some subjectivity invariably comes into play in the rating process, it is generally honest and reliable.

Do you wish to know which recordings are generally considered the finest from Coltrane's later years? What's the "must-have" album by Monk? Have artists such as Grover Washington, John Klemmer, and Bob James ever made any real contributions to jazz, or would your money be better spent on something by Lee Morgan, Clifford Brown, or Art Blakey? This book provides answers to these and many other related questions.

I would love to see the publisher expand and update this useful work.

I like the idea behind this book - the working relationship of McCartney and Lennon would be interesting if it was done well. The many errors in the book and the author's very obvious hatred of McCartney and adoration of Lennon tend to destroy any attempt at objectivity. An example - page 115 - John & Yoko "made love"; page 126 - Paul & Linda "shack up". Things John said are the truth - thing Paul said are lies or attempts to make himself look good. I also find the author's put-downs of Beatles merchandising pretty funny - he seems to have quite a bit of Beatles merchandise (books) himself. It's a shame. This could have been a good book.

So far I had only read Lennon In America by Geoffrey Giuliano - a book that I absolutely hated. It was therefore that I wasn't expecting a lot from this book, but I must say that at least this one is better in style. An entertaining read.
The focus of the book is the relationship between Lennon & McCartney and how they collaborated on songs in (mainly) the early stages. Later on they didn't write together anymore (well hardly), but because of the rivalry that existed between them, each motivated the other to come up with some of the best songs ever written in this world.
George and Ringo hardly feature in the book, which seems a bit strange as the book deals with the career of Lennon / McCartney and The Beatles in a strictly chronological order and of course George and Ringo played a major role in that. To be fair though, in the author's notes Giuliano already announces that the book mentions the works of George and Ringo only in passing, without the amount of detail that is given to Lennon & McCartney.
The book describes how John and Paul met, started playing music in Julia's bathroom, wrote their first songs together, became The Beatles, how they worked in the studio, how their relationship grew from bad to worse and briefly describes their song writing after the Beatles broke up. All of this interspersed with quotes and bits of (mostly well known) interviews.
Right from the start, it is very clear that the author likes Lennon a lot better than McCartney. Lennon is always the genius, McCartney always has other motives in anything he does and is just waiting for a chance to take control of The Beatles.
Lennon's music is innovative and (often) provocative, while McCartney writes songs that are sugar coated and suitable for old age pensioners....
In summary, an entertainingly written book, but not a must have.

Regarding: "Read, Many Years From Now (Barry Miles), at least his book is intelligently researched and uses Paul McCartney as his main source of information." For ought I know "Many Years From Now" may be a perfectly fine book in its way, but anyone of discernment who's read a McCartney interview (or, say, the "McCartney" album press release, in which McCartney explains that he, McCartney, has quit the Beatles) knows that a book that "uses Paul McCartney as [its] main source of information" will be of doubtful veracity. In any case, "The Two of Us" is engagingly written, intelligent, and reasonably fair, I think, to all parties--probably the most readable Beatles book I've yet encountered. It doesn't contain much new information, but let's face it, how much new information is there possibly to be had? (I also like George Martin's "All You Need Is [?] Ears".)

This book doesn't faithfully reproduce the music as played by the band. Instead, each song features a chord progression and the lead part simply "tracks" the song's vocals as if your desire was to replace the vocals with guitar (ala Muzak). A complete waste of money and time for any guitarist who is an Eagles fan.

We all know Elton John has topped the charts of the music buisness, with masterpiece after masterpiece. What we really want to know is what is under this man's skin, beneath the bright suits and tinted spectacles. ELTON JOHN by Mick St. Michael is merely a timeline of Elton's musical accomplishments. Michael touches on the personal issues of John, but fails to uncover the deep side. To learn about how Sir Elton John got into the music business and teamed up with Bernie Taupin, read this book. If you are looking to find out what makes this fascinating man tick, and the personal experiences he has gone through, search elsewhere. On the good side, this book has many photographs and features a discography of Elton's work.

Most fans of Hendrix will be aware of John McDermott, and his involvement in recent years with 'Experience Hendrix', the company created to direct Hendrix's releases following the legal battle with Alan Douglas. Whilst McDermott has contributed liner notes to the re-released Hendrix albums, his major work on Hendrix (Hendrix: 'Setting the Record Straight') is an excellent examination of the man's life - although heavy on legal details and the contractual binds Hendrix suffered throughout his career. Along with 'Crosstown Traffic' by Charles Murray, it's the best book available on the man ('Electric Gypsy' has its moments, but stands as the 'No-One Here Gets Out Alive' take on Hendrix).

'The Complete Studio Recording Sessions' should be a monumental work - and the supreme testimonial - to Hendrix, but it is not. Unlike the similar, yet incomparably superior Mark Lewison book on 'The Beatles' recording sessions, which is packed with information, photographs and exceptional anecdotes, McDermott's book has little information other than what song Hendrix recorded - when, where and with whom. There is very little information on studio techniques, recording equipment, gear setups, Hendrix techniques or style, songwriting, etc. The book labours to account for every Hendrix recording session (a difficult task, given Hendrix's love of jamming and recording with other artists), but does not provide any in-depth information on the sessions themselves (and most of what is supplied was published in 'Setting the Record Straight' - disgraceful). For these reasons the book is a totally disappointing purchase. With the wealth of information (and speculation) on Hendrix out there, McDermott owed it to the man (and to the fans) to provide the definitive examination of Hendrix in the studio. He failed pretty spectacularly.

If you want to hear about Hendrix in the studio, find the 'Classic Albums' episode on 'Electric Ladyland'. Whilst far too short and simple, it is a much more enjoyable look at one of the greatest, and still misunderstood, American artists of the 20th century than this book.

KISS' successful reunion in 1996 has triggered a sudden wave of the so-called 'KISS experts'. These 'experts' tried their best to cash-in from the rejuvenated KISS mania that soared the demand for KISS memorabilia. This book is a perfect example of those who want to milk KISS fans for the money. There's no new story inside, no shocking truth, no new facts, even no new pictures. This book is more like a photo book, with giant pictures and little stories in between. Most of the photos came from the Creatures promo tour in the U.K. Most KISS fans must have read all those old stories and facts billion times by the time they read this book. Even worse, the discography section of this book is incorrect.

John Wetton has led a storied life as a progressive rock musician - his work with King Crimson is considered the high point of the band's career, and his subsequent work with UK, Asia, and his solo career has been strongly received - by fans if not always by critics. Kim Dancha's book attempts to give us a look into Wetton's life, but in the end, fans will be left wanting more. For starters, Dancha relies almost exclusively on three people for her quotes - Wetton, his then-wife Jill and musician Richard Palmer-James, Wetton's childhood friend. With Wetton's input, one would expect great insight; however, little is learned of him personally. Perhaps Wetton preferred to keep his life private; perhaps Dancha was afraid to ask. Whatever the reason, the lack of detail leaves us wondering, for example, what kind of relationship he had with his mother, which could have led to his writing the cathartic "Hold Me Now"? And what effect did his alcoholism (from which he is recovered) have on his music, his marriage, and his relationship with his bandmates? Dancha's book teases us with these topics, but doesn't follow through. The biggest disappointment, however, is the lack of input from Wetton's musical colleagues - aside from a few quotes from Palmer-James and Geoff Downes (and a quote from Bill Bruford's own autobiography), we hear from none of Wetton's former bandmates or contemporaries. How much richer this book could have been had the likes of Phil Manzanera, Carl Palmer, Robert Fripp, Steve Howe or Eddie Jobson thrown in their two cents worth. In the end, Dancha's book proves to be a good primer for those unfamiliar with Wetton's work; for those of us who consider ourselves "die hard" fans, however, we will be left wondering what might have been.

I really felt the need to wash my hands after reading this prurient waste of paper.
If only a tenth of this book were true (and I doubt even that to be the case)Lennon must heve been a true monster.As it is the "author" indulges in wild speculation generally from unnamed sources or from bitter ex-insiders with definite axes to grind or unlikely stories to sell.
Giuliano purports to glean much of this insight from Lennons personal diaries,but as he is unable to show direct quotes his integrity must be questioned.
He shows little or no musical insight (rather a prerequisite I would have thought)and most of the time reads like a gossipy matron spreading dirt over a garden fence.
..makes Albert Goldmans book read like literature.Avoid

Geoffrey Guiliano's book " Lennon in America" is a devious piece of lowly thrash out to make a few quick bucks.
Mr. Guiliano has dedicated this book to his mentor and master A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada of the KRSNA consciousness. Being a hindu myself, i wonder how a genuine disciple of " KRSNA Consciousness" can sink to such prurient depths... or is it just the author living out his bad karma?
As a Lennon follower one is left cheated because most of Lennon's supposed escapades ( as recounted by the author) are nothing but cooked-up hogwash without proof or substance.
It is easy to write such books. I paid Rs 500/- for this garbage and i don't suppose Mr Guilaino will return the money back.

This book, like many books on Lennon, is full of tales regarding his excessive sexual appetite, his constant drug and alcohol abuse and details of his seemingly unconventional relationship with Yoko Ono. However, where the book differs is the context and spirit in which these details were written.

The claims regarding Lennon's sex life come across very strongly as tabloid garbage, and many details appear to be thrown in to satisfy the wish of the author to be seen as controversial. Beyond these claims, this book amounts to nothing more than a fairly average read.

Lennon's drug and alcohol abuse is well documented in many texts; this particular biography focuses largely on the gossipy details of what was a huge problem in Lennon's life. There is nothing even vaguely interesting in reading that John went on a bender or got high repeatedly. We know that - it's nothing new. There is no depth at all to this retelling of facts and trivial events.

I strongly advise against buying this book. If you're considering buying it as an honest representation of Lennon, I can say in all fairness that it is not worth your time. I bought the book under the same pretense and found that it was a very uneven portrayal; there is no balance in discussion and seems to be working to the sole purpose of painting a very unpleasant picture.

This might make for fine sensational reading and help sell a few books, but there is better quality, more honestly written work out there. Not all of it is very favorable to Lennon, but it at least avoids over-speculation, which this book is full of.

There is no imagination or storytelling in this book. It's a dry chronicle that doesn't give you the feeling of his life.

This book is historically incorrect. It states that Sean Lennon was born in 1972 when he was actually born in 1975. It also states that John and Yoko broke up during the time after Sean was born. This bothers me, so I would not recommend this book at all.

Though, I would not recommend this book for anyone looking for leisure, it is a good book for anyone doing a research project, or looking for facts on John Lennon. I must admit, the book wasn't exactly exciting, but it was highly informative. The basics of the Beatle's starting points were discussed, and a little of John's past as well. Pictures are included, making it a little more interesting. Easy and fast read as well.