Gillian G. Gaar

Though Nevermind was Nirvana's most commercially successful album, and the record that broke them  and the grunge phenomenon  internationally, In Utero has increasingly become regarded as the band's best album, both by the critics and the band members themselves. Instead of sticking to the "grunge pop" formula that made Nevermind so palatable to the mainstream, Nirvana chose instead to challenge their audience, producing an album that the band's creative force, Kurt Cobain, said truly matched his vision of what he had always wanted his band to sound like. Here, the full story behind the creation of In Utero is told for the first time.

Nirvana's In Utero

Gaar's critically acclaimed, breakthrough book became an instant classic upon its publication in 1992. Arranged chronologically and told with impassioned detail, "She's A Rebel" charts a half century of women performers. 75 photos.

The Histroy of Women in Rock and Roll

She's a Rebel

María José Espinoza Saavedra

Nirvana

Accompanied by 19 removable facsimiles of memorabilia including flyers, posters, tickets, and set lists.

Treasures of Nirvana

A unique and lavishly produced celebration of the iconic rocker, Tom Petty: The Life & Music examines an extraordinary career through the lens of 75 key events and releases.

The Life & Music

Tom Petty

Authoritatively written and featuring rare photography and memorabilia, this beautiful slipcased hardcover is the only illustrated gift book to examine Queen’s most iconic album, A Night at the Opera. In 1975, Queen released what would become their best-selling album, which also happened to introduce their most enduring song, “Bohemian Rhapsody.” A Night at the Opera has gone on the sell over 11 million copies worldwide and counting. In Queen and a Night at the Opera, rock historian Gillian Gaar takes a deep dive into the legendary English band’s most famous album on its 50th anniversary. Chapters cover: Queen’s formation and history up to A Night at the Opera, including the three albums that preceded it The recording sessions that resulted in the album Track-by-track analyses of each side The tour to support the album, and awards and accolades The band’s career after the album—and after the death of Freddie Mercury In addition, numerous sidebars cover topics such as the “Bohemian Rhapsody” video, producer Roy Thomas Baker, Brian May’s “Red Special” guitar, and more. There are even capsule bios of Mercury and May, as well as bassist John Deacon and drummer Roger Taylor. IIlustrated with performance and off-stage photography as well as rare memorabilia, Queen and A Night at the Opera is a definitive and beautifully produced tribute to a legendary album from a legendary performer and artist. The Great Albums series presents authoritative explorations of rock’s most revered records, beautifully packaged for fans to treasure. Delve into even more groundbreaking releases with: Pink Floyd and The Dark Side of the Moon, The Who & Quadrophenia, Prince and Purple Rain, and Bruce Springsteen and Born to Run, with more to come.

50 Years

Queen & A Night at the Opera

The Rough Guide to Nirvana uncovers the magic and tragedy of this iconic 90's grunge band - from small-town gigs to the last days of Kurt Cobain, delve into the story of the life and afterlife of this extraordinary, all too short-lived group. This essential guide for Nirvana fans is written by Gillian G. Gaar, a Seattle music journalist who has personally interviewed many of those involved in the story. No other book explores and documents Nirvana's history, critiques every Nirvana album, single, EP and compilation, including the rare, stray Nirvana tracks and solo projects, and summaries the array of other Nirvana books and Nirvana films, in one volume. From Nirvana's early days on the burgeoning Seattle music scene, the birth of grunge, their global success from Smells Like Teen Spirit and Nevermind to In Utero and the untimely death of lead singer Kurt Cobain, The Rough Guide to Nirvana delivers a wealth of musical insight as the definitive guide to Nirvana.

The Rough Guide to Nirvana

Though Nevermind was Nirvana's most commercially successful album, and the record that broke them - and the grunge phenomenon - internationally, In Utero has increasingly become regarded as the band's best album, both by the critics and the band members themselves. Instead of sticking to the "grunge pop" formula that made Nevermind so palatable to the mainstream, Nirvana chose instead to challenge their audience, producing an album that the band's creative force, Kurt Cobain, said truly matched his vision of what he had always wanted his band to sound like. Here, the full story behind the creation of In Utero is told for the first time.

Founded in the late 1980s by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman, Seattle-based Sub Pop Records released early recordings by then-upstart regional bands such as Green River, Soundgarden, Mudhoney, Tad, Nirvana, Flaming Lips, Afghan Whigs, and Screaming Trees. When the world went grunge crazy in the 1990s, Sub Pop was suddenly the epicenter of Seattle cool. Emerging organically from Bruce Pavitt's Subterranean Pop fanzine, the story of Sub Pop Records is the story of a couple of irreverent music lovers who stumbled into the record business because they simply loved working with bands they wanted to listen to themselves. From barely paying the bills to the trappings of major music industry success to the inevitable fallout, this is the inside story of the musicians, producers, staffers, and stars who built Sub Pop into an independent powerhouse. World Domination takes you deep inside the chaotic early days of the label's founding, all the way to the present. It's a fascinating snapshot of a label that has promoted Death Cab for Cutie, the White Stripes, the Shins, Iron & Wine, the Postal Service, Sleater-Kinney, Band of Horses, Flight of the Conchords, Fleet Foxes, Sunny Day Real Estate, Shabazz Palaces, the Head and the Heart, Father John Misty, and many others. Author Gillian G. Gaar, a longtime Seattle-based writer, draws on firsthand interviews, deep research, and her years of covering the Seattle scene as a local music journalist to bring together the first in-depth historical narrative of one of America's more influential independent record labels.

The Sub Pop Records Story

World Domination

Find out how legendary musician Bruce Springsteen earned his monicker. There's only one Boss; his story is revealed here. Bruce Springsteen is a platinum-shifting, stadium-filling rock star, but he is also more nuanced than that. He is a man of the people, making conventional-and-proud-of-it rock music aimed at the American working class. A supreme songwriter, Springsteen is a rock 'n' roll legend, and this lavishly illustrated book is an examination of his life and music. A comprehensive overview of a fascinating and unique artist, Boss: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band - The Illustrated History is a tribute to Springsteen's body of work, from the rock anthem Born to Run to his sepia-toned analysis of working-class misery, The River. There's Springsteen's gnarly, Bonnie and Clyde-style tableaux Atlantic City, as well as his debunking of guys' yearnings for youthful Glory Days. Throughout it all, Springsteen has demonstrated that he knows how to create a classic track. Find out once and for all why his nickname is The Boss.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band - The Illustrated History

Boss

An in-depth look at The Doors through over 250 images, including candid concert shots, revealing offstage photographs, and images of memorabilia.

The Illustrated History

The Doors

Journey through the Graceland archives to get an inside look at the King of Rock and Roll. Featuring insightful text from a respected music journalist and Elvis expert, this authorized book explores Presley's personal life as well as his hit albums, movie career, and lasting legacy. Over 150 photographs capture him with friends and family, and display his jewelry, guitars, clothing, letters, and more.

The Authorized Book from the Graceland Archives

Elvis the Legend

This definitive, illustrated biography explores the life and career of the rock music legend with photographs, posters, and other ephemera. Every music critic to rank the Greatest Rock Guitarists of All Time agrees on one thing: Jimi Hendrix is number one. Hendrix enjoyed the international limelight for less than four years, but his innovative guitar playing and imaginative interpretations of blues and rock continue to inspire generations of musicians and music lovers. In Hendrix, music journalist Gillian Gaar explores the guitarist's life from his childhood in Seattle to his service as an Army paratrooper, his role as a sideman on the chitlin' circuit, his exile in the United Kingdom, his rise to superstardom, and his untimely death in 1970. The volume is enhanced throughout with rare archival photographs as well as posters, picture sleeves, and other assorted memorabilia.

The Illustrated Story

Hendrix

Bill DeMain

Mike McInnerney

Five decades on from its release at the height of the Summer of Love in 1967, Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band remains a keystone not just of the Beatles career but also of popular music as a whole.

Sgt Pepper at Fifty

Jaan Uhelszki

Coinciding with what would have been Jimi Hendrix's 75th year on this mortal coil, this (incredibly) is the first full-blown illustrated gift book exploring the life and career of the man most consider the greatest rock guitarist of all time. Hendrix enjoyed the international limelight for less than four years, but his innovative and imaginative interpretations of blues and rock continue to inspire guitarists and music lovers across ages and genre. Inside, Seattle-based music journalist Gillian Gaar examines the guitarist’s upbringing, his service as an Army paratrooper, his role as a sideman on the chitlin’ circuit, his exile in the UK, and his eventual reemergence in the US and the fame that followed until his untimely death in 1970. Featuring design as lavish as Hendrix’s music and carefully curated photography, posters, picture sleeves, and other assorted memorabilia, this is the ultimate Hendrix book experience.

The Lllustrated Story

By the end of 1968 Presley was artistically revitalised, re-emerging in a TV comeback special during December that year, slimmed down for the now iconic black leather suit, playing country-soul influenced rock like he meant it and loved it. In this second period of Presley's career, which lasted through to the end of 1970, he recorded some of his most enduring records, including "Suspicious Minds" and "In The Ghetto". Author Gillian Gaar shows how Presley reclaimed his rock and roll crown, making an extraordinary transition from fading balladeer to an engaged, vital artist.

Elivs [i.e. Elvis] Presley's Great Comeback

Return of the King

Return Of The King tells the story of a tumultuous period in the life of Elvis Presley. By 1967, The King Of Rock 'n' Roll was all but washed-up, thanks to a string of bland movie roles and lackluster records. But within a year he had roused himself, loosened the creative shackles imposed by his grasping manager, 'Colonel' Tom Parker, and reconnected with the rock audience through a riveting TV special. There followed a glorious but all too brief artistic flowering, in which he made some of his most enduring records, including 'Suspicious Minds' and 'In The Ghetto.' This meticulously researched and elegantly written book, based on a string of new interviews with colleagues, friends, fans, and observers of The King, sheds new light on the events of Elvis's great comeback.

Elvis Presley's Great Comeback

Return Of The King

(Book). On January 1, 1967, a contract between "Colonel" Tom Parker and his sole client, Elvis Presley, gave Parker a 50 percent cut of profits that Presley generated. It was a shameless grab for a bigger piece of a pie that had actually been shrinking for some time. Though Parker's plan to reestablish Presley as a star after he left the army proved successful at first (with the triumph of films like G.I. Blues and Blue Hawaii ), by 1967 Presley's singles struggled to break the top 20, and he hadn't hit number one for six years. Amazingly, by the end of 1968 he was artistically revitalized, reemerging in a TV comeback special and slimmed down for the now-iconic black leather suit. It was the pivotal moment of the second great period of Presley's career, which lasted through to the end of 1970, during which he recorded some of his most enduring records, including "Suspicious Minds" and "In the Ghetto." Return of the King document's Presley reclamation of his crown, making an extraordinary transition from fading balladeer to engaged, vital artist.

Chuck Crisafulli

Spawned in Seattle's fertile late-1980s grunge scene, Nirvana distinguished itself through the singular passion of its leader, Kurt Cobain. Renowned music journalist Gillian G. Gaar explores Nirvana's unique status through song lyrics and interviews with the band and their friends and colleagues. Look back at the early years, read reviews of their albums, and view remarkable images of everything from family photos to handwritten set lists.

Gillian G. Gaar

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