Joel Selvin

“Golland leaves no stone unturned in this fine-grained chronicle of the rock group Journey.... Golland’s passion and precision make this a pleasure.” – Publishers Weekly, Starred Review “A welcome study of one of rock’s most enduring musical fusions.” – Salon Since exploding on the scene in the late 1970s, Journey has inspired generations of fans with hit after hit. But hidden under this rock ‘n’ roll glory is a complex story of ambition, larger-than-life personalities, and clashes. David Hamilton Golland unearths the band’s true and complete biography, based on over a decade of interviews and thousands of sources. When Steve Perry joined jazz-blues progressive rock band Journey in 1977, they saw a rise to the top, and their 1981 album Escape hit #1. But Perry’s quest for control led to Journey’s demise. They lost their record contract and much of their audience. After the unlikely comeback of “Don’t Stop Believin’” in movies, television, and sports stadiums, a new generation discovered Journey. A professional historian, Golland dispels rehashed myths and also shows how race in popular music contributed to their breakout success. As the economy collapsed and as people abandoned the spirit of Woodstock in the late 70s, Journey used the rhythm of soul and Motown to inspire hope in primarily white teenagers’ lives. Decades later, the band and their signature song remain classics, and now, with singer Arnel Pineda, they are again a fixture in major stadiums worldwide.

An all-access account of the Who's 1968 and 1976 appearances at the Winterland arena in San Francisco In February 1968 and March 1976, the Who performed shows in the same venue, almost ten years apart: San Francisco’s Winterland. Generally considered as two marginal years in the Who’s career, they are only apparently so. These two years represent a screen grab of the band taken in its purest form: live, and harder than ever, right before and right after the huge success the Who struggled to live with in the years between. Winterland was the perfect setting to see the band live in the city that welcomed them as a second home, San Francisco. At the Who’s first Winterland show in February 1968, just a few hundred hippies turn up. Eight years later, in March 1976, the venue was crammed to capacity—5,000 tickets sold. Still, as the Examiner noted, “The Who could have sold eight times as many,” since there were 43,000 requests for tickets. Teenage Wasteland is an all-access look at those two shows is a glimpse of what it was like to see the Who at Bill Graham’s legendary concert venue, and features firsthand accounts and previously unpublished photos by fans at the shows, as well as details the band behind the scenes and onstage. Included are over 500 never-seen-before photos from previously unreleased archives and private collections.

The blazing rock opera of the greatest drummer of all-time, Jim Gordon, from the legendary Wrecking Crew to redefining rock on the Seventies' biggest hits and outrageous tours, and ultimately to the most shocking crime in rock history—a story of musical genius, uncontrollable madness, and the big fill Jim Gordon was the greatest rock drummer of all-time. Just ask the world-famous musicians who played with him—John Lennon, George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Tom Petty, Frank Zappa, Steely Dan, Ringo Starr, Harry Nilsson, Joe Cocker, and many more. They knew him for his superior playing, extraordinary training and technique, preternatural intuition, perfect sense of time, and his big fill—the mathematically-precise clatter that exploded like detonating fireworks on his drum breaks. And as best-selling author and award-winning journalist Joel Selvin reveals, the story of Jim Gordon is the most brilliant, turbulent, and wrenching rock opera ever. This riveting narrative follows Gordon as the very chemicals in his brain that gifted him also destroyed him. His head crowded with a hellish gang of voices screaming at him, demanding obedience, Gordon descended from the absolute heights of the rock world—playing with the most famous musicians of his generation—to working with a Santa Monica dive-bar band for $30 a night. And then he committed the most shocking crime in rock history. With full cooperation from the late Gordon's family, and based on his trademark extensive, detailed research, Joel Selvin's account is at once an epic journey through an artist's monumental musical contributions, a rollicking history of rock drumming, and a terrifying downward spiral into unimaginable madness that Gordon fought a valiant but losing battle against. One of the great untold stories of rock is finally being told.

A long-overdue and definitive account of America’s timeless rock bandSince exploding on the scene in the late 70s, Journey has continued to inspire generations of fans with “Don’t Stop Believin’” and other hits. Celebrating the band’s fiftieth anniversary, David Hamilton Golland unearths the band’s true and complete story, incorporating exclusive interview material with band members. When Steve Perry joined jazz-blues progressive rock band Journey in 1977, they saw a rise to the top, and in 1981, Escape hit #1. But Perry’s quest for control led to Journey’s demise. Perry refused to tour, and the band lost their record contract and much of their audience. After the unlikely comeback of “Don’t Stop Believin’” in movies, television shows, and as an underdog sports anthem, a new generation discovered Journey. Now, with singer Arnel Pineda, they are, again, a fixture in major stadiums worldwide. A professional historian, Golland dispels some of the rehashed myths, diving deep into Journey’s complex biography, and also looks at how race in popular music contributed to their breakout success. As the economy collapsed and as people abandoned the spirit of Woodstock in the late 70s, Journey spoke to the darkness of white teenagers’ lives as well as their hopes for a better future. Decades later, the band and their signature song remain classics.

A visual storytelling celebration of American roots music in its rich variety, through unseen and newly scanned photographs by the founder of the legendary Arhoolie records. Founded in 1960 by Chris Strachwitz, the one-man operation of Arhoolie Records eventually produced more than 400 albums during more than forty years in operation, exploring the far corners of American vernacular music - blues, gospel, Cajun, zydeco, hillbilly, Texas-Mexican norteno music, and more. From the very beginning, Strachwitz brought his camera along with recording equipment as he met and recorded now-legendary artists such as Lightnin' Hopkins, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Clifton Chenier, and Big Joe Williams. This book collects more than 150 of his best, most intimate and exciting images - many never-before seen - each with rich captions by Strachwitz and award-winning music journalist Joel Selvin, along with a substantial 20,000 word essay about Arhoolie, Strachwitz, and the music by Selvin.

Their music changed pop history, but we’ve never known much about the people who made it…until now. “...a first-hand account of both the kaleidoscopic talent that drove Stone to the top and attracted so many people to him, and the madness that he soon descended into and never truly returned from, a victim of ego, drug abuse sycophants and the era.... It amounts to a definitive history of one of the rock generation’s greatest and most tragic artists.” —Jem Aswad, Variety, “The Best Music Books of 2022” “…the musical trajectory of Sly & The Family Stone, and especially its namesake and leader, Sly Stone (born Sylvester Stewart), makes even the most shocking episode of Behind the Music look like Nickelodeon programming. Esteemed music journo Joel Selvin chronicles the good, the bad, the ugly (and the really ugly), in a new reissue of his 1998 book, Sly & The Family Stone: An Oral History.” —Bob Ruggiero, Houston PressSly Stone shook the foundations of soul and turned it into a brand new sound that influenced and liberated musicians as varied as Miles Davis, Stevie Wonder, and Herbie Hancock. His group—consisting of Blacks and whites, men and women—symbolized the Woodstock generation and crossed over to dominate pop charts with anthems like “Everyday People,” “Dance to the Music,” and “I Want to Take You Higher.” Award-winning journalist and bestselling author Joel Selvin weaves an epic American tale from the voices of the people around this funk phenomenon: Sly’s parents, his family members and band members (sometimes one and the same), and rock figures including Grace Slick, Sal Valentino, Bobby Womack, Mickey Hart, Clive Davis, Bobby Freeman, and many more. In their own words, they candidly share the triumphs and tragedies of one of the most influential musical groups ever formed—“different strokes” from the immensely talented folks who were there when it all happened. “Joel Selvin, the veteran music critic of the San Francisco Chronicle, published a thoroughgoing, book-length oral history of the group in 1998 that is as disturbing and chilling a version as you'll ever find of the ‘dashed ’60s dream’ narrative: idealism giving way to disillusionment, soft drugs giving way to hard, ferment to rot.” —David Kamp, “Sly Stone’s Higher Power” Vanity Fair, August 2007 Available for the first time in years, Sly & the Family Stone: An Oral History, is an unflinching look at the rise and fall one of music’s most enigmatic figures.

When Rust in Peace was released in 1990, the future of Megadeth was uncertain. Fresh off their performance at the record-breaking Monsters of Rock festival, and with knockout new albums from Slayer, Anthrax, and Metallica dominating the charts, the pressure to produce a standout statement record was higher than ever. In Rust in Peace: The Inside Story of the Megadeth Masterpiece, the band's lead vocalist and guitarist, Dave Mustaine, gives readers a never-before-seen glimpse into the artistry and insanity that went into making the band's most iconic record. He recounts the arduous task of hiring the band and supporting cast, of managing egos and extracurriculars during the album's ensuing success, and succumbing to the pressures of fame and fortune-which eventually forced the band to break up. And yet, Megadeth's demise was just the beginning; the birth pangs of the record were nothing compared to what came next. Alcohol, drugs, sex, money, power, property, prestige, the lies fed to the band by the industry-and the lies they told each other-threatened to eat away at the band's bond like rust, devouring it until only the music survived. Featuring a foreword by Slash

Featuring striking images of twentieth-century icons, such as Janis Joplin, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Timothy Leary, Allen Ginsburg, Grace Slick, and others, The Haight is an indispensable gallery of legendary photographer Jim Marshall's iconic sixties-era San Francisco photography--now available in a smaller, easy-to-carry size perfect for students, tourists, and other readers on-the-go. The counterculture movement of the 1960s is one of the most continually fascinating and endlessly examined milestones of the twentieth century. The footprint of that movement reverberates strongly today in music, fashion, literature, art, and society as a whole. Widely regarded as the cradle of revolution, California's Haight-Ashbury grew in the sixties from a small neighborhood in San Francisco to a worldwide phenomenon--a concept that extended far beyond the boundaries of the street intersection itself. Jim Marshall visually chronicled the neighborhood as perhaps no one else did. Renowned for his powerful portraits of some of the greatest musicians of the era, Marshall covered Haight-Ashbury with the same unique eye that allowed him to amass a staggering archive of music photography and Grammy recognition for his lifework. In this one-of-a-kind book, the full extent of Marshall's Haight-Ashbury archive is stunningly displayed; powerful candids, intimate portraits, and images of live concerts, street scenes, crash pads, alleyways, and the Human Be-In are collected in the definitive photographic record of a watershed moment in time. Featuring hundreds of striking images of icons, ranging from Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Bill Graham, Grace Slick, and the Jefferson Airplane to the Beatles, Allen Ginsberg, Timothy Leary, and Bob Dylan, The Haight tells the complete and comprehensive story of the street, creative, cultural, and revolutionary aspects of the day. Written by best-selling San Francisco music journalist Joel Selvin, the story behind each and every one of these incomparable images is disclosed through an intimate and revealing narrative, lending the images a fascinating context and perspective. Bold and beautifully crafted, The Haight captures the full scope and nuance of Marshall's San Francisco photography and offers fresh insight into the Summer of Love, Haight-Ashbury, and beyond.

From the Beach Boys and Jan & Dean to the Byrds and the Mamas & the Papas, acclaimed music journalist Joel Selvin tells the story of a group of young artists and musicians who came together at the dawn of the 1960s to create the lasting myth of the California dream. From surf music to hot-rod records to the sunny pop of the Beach Boys and the Mamas & the Papas, Hollywood Eden captures the fresh blossom of a young generation who came together in the epic spring of the 1960s to invent the myth of the California Paradise. Central to the story is a group of sun-kissed teens from the University High School class of 1959 -- a class that included Jan & Dean, Nancy Sinatra, and future members of the Beach Boys -- who came of age in Los Angeles at the dawn of a new golden era when anything seemed possible. These were the people who created the idea of modern California for the rest of the world. From the Beach Boys' "California Girls" to the Mamas & the Papas' "California Dreamin'," they crafted an image of the West Coast as the promised land -- a sun-dappled vision of an idyllic life in the sand and surf. But their own private struggles belied the paradise portrayed in their music. What began as a light-hearted frolic under sunny skies ended up crashing down to earth just a few short but action-packed years later, as, one by one, each met their destinies head-on. Compelling, evocative, and ultimately tragic, Hollywood Eden travels far beyond the music into the desires of the human heart and the price of living out a dream. A rock 'n' roll opera loaded with violence, deceit, intrigue, low comedy, and high drama, it tells the story of a group of young artists and musicians who bumped heads, crashed cars, and ultimately flew too close to the sun.

Rust in Peace details the making of Megadeth's iconic record, Rust In Peace, which was released in 1990, at an incredible time of flux and creativity in the rock world. Relayed by the lead vocalist and guitarist songwriter of Megadeth himself, Dave Mustaine, the book covers the process of hiring the band and supporting cast, of trying to handle the ensuing success, and ultimately the pressure of fame and fortune-which caused the band to finally break-up. In short, it's a true story of groundbreaking anti-pop that was moving toward the mainstream (or the mainstream that was moving toward the band), at a time of great cultural change, power, ego, drugs, and other vices that went hand-in-hand with Rock N' Roll, circa the late eighties-early nineties. Little did Mustaine know that the birth pangs of the record were nothing compared to the oncoming pain and torment that would surround it. Alcohol, drugs, sex, money, power, property, prestige, the lies the band was told by the industry--and the lies they told each other--were just beginning, and much like rust in real life, these factors would ultimately eat away at the band's bond until only the music survived. Rust in Peace is a story of perseverance, of scraping off the rust off that builds over time on everything: ourselves, our relationships, pop culture, art, and music.

Influenced by Bessie Smith, Janis Joplin became a rock star in San Francisco’s Big Brother & The Holding Company, and enjoyed a meteoric solo career before her untimely death from a drug overdose in Los Angeles. She was the most compelling female blues singer of the 1960s with a thrilling, emotional depth and a fiery stage presence that dominated albums such as Big Brother’s Cheap Thrills (1968) and the posthumous, chart-topping Pearl (1971). She became the voice of a generation with her weary, cynical tone, one that still resonates with the curious and wistful youth of today who are faced with a music scene saturated by rap. Janis Joplin sadly passed away in time to join the infamous 27 club of artists and musicians who died in their 27th year. She joined, amongst others, Robert Johnson, Jim Morrison and Brian Jones. The 50th anniversary of Joplin’s death is in October 2020. This new book in the Flame Tree Rock Icons series covers her life, recordings and live performances, accompanied by a wide range of posters and photos.

A tell-all biography of the epic in-fighting of the Grateful Dead in the years following band leader Jerry Garcia's death in 1995The Grateful Dead rose to greatness under the inspired leadership of guitarist Jerry Garcia, but the band very nearly died along with him. When Garcia passed away suddenly in August of 1995, the remaining band members experienced full crises of confidence and identity. So long defined by Garcia's vision for the group, the surviving 'Core Four,' as they came to be called, were reduced to conflicting agendas, strained relationships, and catastrophic business decisions that would leave the iconic band in shambles. Wrestling with how best to define their living legacy, the band made many attempts at restructuring, but it would take twenty years before relationships were mended enough for the Grateful Dead as fans remembered them to once again take the stage. Acclaimed music journalist and New York Times bestselling author Joel Selvin was there for much of the turmoil following Garcia's death, and he'll offer a behind-the-scenes account of the ebbs and flows that occurred during the ensuing two decades. Plenty of books have been written about the rise of the Grateful Dead, but this final chapter of the band's history has never before been explored in detail. Culminating in the landmark tour bearing the same name, Fare Thee Well charts the arduous journey from Garcia's passing all the way up to the uneasy agreement between the Core Four that led to the series of shows celebrating the band's fiftieth anniversary and finally allowing for a proper, and joyous, sendoff of the group revered by so many.

A tell-all biography of the epic in-fighting of the Grateful Dead in the years following band leader Jerry Garcia's death in 1995The Grateful Dead rose to greatness under the inspired leadership of guitarist Jerry Garcia, but the band very nearly died along with him. When Garcia passed away suddenly in August of 1995, the remaining band members experienced full crises of confidence and identity. So long defined by Garcia's vision for the group, the surviving "Core Four," as they came to be called, were reduced to conflicting agendas, strained relationships, and catastrophic business decisions that would leave the iconic band in shambles. Wrestling with how best to define their living legacy, the band made many attempts at restructuring, but it would take twenty years before relationships were mended enough for the Grateful Dead as fans remembered them to once again take the stage. Acclaimed music journalist and New York Timesbestselling author Joel Selvin was there for much of the turmoil following Garcia's death, and he'll offer a behind-the-scenes account of the ebbs and flows that occurred during the ensuing two decades. Plenty of books have been written about the rise of the Grateful Dead, but this final chapter of the band's history has never before been explored in detail. Culminating in the landmark tour bearing the same name, Fare Thee Wellcharts the arduous journey from Garcia's passing all the way up to the uneasy agreement between the Core Four that led to the series of shows celebrating the band's fiftieth anniversary and finally allowing for a proper, and joyous, sendoff of the group revered by so many.

In this breathtaking cultural history filled with exclusive, never-before-revealed details, celebrated rock journalist Joel Selvin tells the definitive story of the Rolling Stones' infamous Altamont concert, the disastrous historic event that marked the end of the idealistic 1960s. In the annals of rock history, the Altamont Speedway Free Festival on December 6, 1969, has long been seen as the distorted twin of Woodstock-the day that shattered the Sixties' promise of peace and love when a concertgoer was killed by a member of the Hells Angels, the notorious biker club acting as security. While most people know of the events from the film Gimme Shelter, the whole story has remained buried in varied accounts, rumor, and myth-until now. Altamont explores rock's darkest day, a fiasco that began well before the climactic death of Meredith Hunter and continued beyond that infamous December night. Joel Selvin probes every aspect of the show-from the Stones' hastily planned tour preceding the concert to the bad acid that swept through the audience to other deaths that also occurred that evening-to capture the full scope of the tragedy and its aftermath. He also provides an in-depth look at the Grateful Dead's role in the events leading to Altamont, examining the band's behind-the-scenes presence in both arranging the show and hiring the Hells Angels as security. The product of twenty years of exhaustive research and dozens of interviews with many key players, including medical staff, Hells Angels members, the stage crew, and the musicians who were there, and featuring sixteen pages of color photos, Altamont is the ultimate account of the final event in rock's formative and most turbulent decade.

 I don't know where he's buried, but if I did I'd piss on his grave."  Jerry Wexler, best friend and mentor. Here Comes the Night: The Dark Soul of Bert Berns and the Dirty Business of Rhythm and Blues is both a definitive account of the New York rhythm and blues world of the early  60s, and the harrowing, ultimately tragic story of songwriter and record producer Bert Berns, whose meteoric career was fueled by his pending doom. His heart damaged by rheumatic fever as a youth, doctors told Berns he would not live to see twenty-one. Although his name is little remembered today, Berns worked alongside all the greats of the era  Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, Ahmet Ertegun and Jerry Wexler, Burt Bacharach, Phil Spector, Gerry Goffin and Carole King, anyone who was anyone in New York rhythm and blues. In seven quick years, he went from nobody to the top of the pops  producer of monumental r&b classics, songwriter of  Twist and Shout,"  My Girl Sloopy" and others. His fury to succeed led Berns to use his Mafia associations to muscle Atlantic Records out of a partnership and intimidate new talents like Neil Diamond and Van Morrison he signed to his record label, only to drop dead of a long expected fatal heart attack, just when he was seeing his grandest plans and life's ambitions frustrated and foiled.

Covering one of the most unforgettable moments in modern history—and including striking images of twentieth-century icons such as Janis Joplin, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Timothy Leary, Allen Ginsburg, Grace Slick, and more—The Haight is an indispensable gallery of legendary photographer Jim Marshall’s iconic Sixties-era San Francisco photography. The counter-culture movement of the 1960s—and the wellspring of creativity it fostered—is one of the most continually fascinating and endlessly examined moments of the twentieth century. The footprint of that movement reverberates strongly today in music, fashion, literature, and social issues, to name a few. Widely regarded as the cradle of revolution, California’s Haight-Ashbury grew in the sixties from a small neighborhood in San Francisco to a worldwide phenomenon—a concept that extends far beyond the boundaries of the intersection itself. Legendary photographer Jim Marshall visually chronicled this area as perhaps no one else did. Renowned for his powerful portraits of some of the greatest musicians of the era, Marshall covered Haight-Ashbury with the same unique eye that allowed him to amass a staggering archive of rock-and-roll photography and Grammy recognition for his life’s work. In this one-of-a-kind book, the full extent of Marshall’s Haight-Ashbury work is stunningly displayed: live concerts, powerful candids, intimate sessions with icons of the day, street scenes, crash pads, alleyways, and the human be-in, all culminating in the definitive photographic record of a watershed moment in time. Featuring hundreds of images of everyone from Bill Graham, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Jefferson Airplane to Donovan, The Beatles, Allen Ginsberg, and Timothy Leary, The Haight tells the complete and comprehensive story of the street, creative, cultural, and revolutionary aspects of the day. Written by bestselling San Francisco music journalist Joel Selvin, the story behind each and every one of these incomparable images is disclosed through an intimate and revealing narrative, lending the images a fascinating context and prospective. Bold and beautifully crafted, The Haight captures the full scope and nuance of Marshall’s San Francisco photography and offers fresh insight into the Summer of Love, Haight-Ashbury, and beyond.