Michael Lydon

Ray Charles stands as an influential pop musician of the last half of the 20th century. This biography covers his early life of poverty in the deep South and looks at his relationships, professional and romantic, as well as examining his influence on other singers.

Jazz Guitar Styles is an instruction book designed for the guitarist who already knows the fundamentals but wishes to explore the "classic" style of swing-era guitar. It offers a clear, concise introduction to the basics of jazz guitar, built on the student's basic knowledge of forming chords and basic picking patterns. Jazz GuitarStyles opens this world to any guitarist who has a basic knowledge of guitar technique and willingness to learn.

Ray Charles: Man and Music is a complete biography of this seminal singer/pianist who has been active on the American music scene since the mid-'50s. Originally published in 1995 by Penguin Books, and universally hailed as the definitive biography, this new edition will bring Charles's life up to date, covering the last 7 years of his life. There are only a few legendary singers who have developed mass audiences while pursuing their own artistic visions: Sinatra is one; Ella Fitzgerald another. Ray Charles undoubtedly belongs in this pantheon of major musical stars. Ray Charles: Man and Music begins with Charles's impoverished childhood in Greenville, Florida, where tragedy struck early when the young Charles went blind at age 6 and was orphaned at age 14. Driven by his enormous talent and determination, Charles landed work playing some of the toughest juke joints in the state, fought heroin addiction, and finally landed a recording contract with Atlantic Records. Unlike other R&B singers, Charles took control of his career from its earliest days, moving on from his gospel-soul stylings of the mid-'50s to break through musical barriers, recording two country albums in the late '50s (at a time when the black presence in country music was barely felt), pure jazz, and then the powerful pop hits of the '60s. Famed music journalist Michael Lydon - a founding editor of RollingStone - is uniquely qualified to document Charles's career, having interviewed Charles and followed the star's performances since the 1960s. Originally published in 1995, and universally hailed as the definitive biography, this new edition brings Charles's life up to date, covering the last 7 years of his life. It coincides with the release of a made-for-TV movie starring Jamie Fox as Charles, currently in production by Taylor Hackford. Charles has also issued a new CD recently and remains active as a touring artist throughout the world.

As founder and editor of Crawdaddy! magazine, Paul Williams has helped the rock music field itself, as well as outsiders, to recognize the importance of rock as a modern music and as a facet of modern experience. In Outlaw Blues, his first book, the author presents his own experience of rock music, the history of his reactions and insights over a two-year period. For a critic to offer something true to his readers, he must be more than an appraiser. He must be a listener, deeply and passionately involved in the experience he describes, a lover rather than an observer. Outlaw Blues is a book full of feeling, a guide to one man's musical experience that is intended to bring all its readers closer to the nature of their own relationship with music, with the joy that bursts from the transistor radios and the open doors of the concert halls. The author says: "I see rock as a means of expression, an opportunity for beauty, an art. So what I have written is expression, not explanation; an attempt to convey what I feel from the music, an exploration of what rock does to me." Paul Williams offers us in Outlaw Blues the same warmth and honesty of style, the same acute sensitivity and insight into the workings of contemporary music, that have made him the most respected writer in his field--admired as much by the men he writes about as the listeners he writes for. His first book makes it clear that he deserves that admiration.

As founder and editor of Crawdaddy! magazine, Paul Williams has helped the rock music field itself, as well as outsiders, to recognize the importance of rock as a modern music and as a facet of modern experience. In Outlaw Blues, his first book, the author presents his own experience of rock music, the history of his reactions and insights over a two-year period. For a critic to offer something true to his readers, he must be more than an appraiser. He must be a listener, deeply and passionately involved in the experience he describes, a lover rather than an observer. Outlaw Blues is a book full of feeling, a guide to one man's musical experience that is intended to bring all its readers closer to the nature of their own relationship with music, with the joy that bursts from the transistor radios and the open doors of the concert halls. The author says: "I see rock as a means of expression, an opportunity for beauty, an art. So what I have written is expression, not explanation; an attempt to convey what I feel from the music, an exploration of what rock does to me." Paul Williams offers us in Outlaw Blues the same warmth and honesty of style, the same acute sensitivity and insight into the workings of contemporary music, that have made him the most respected writer in his field--admired as much by the men he writes about as the listeners he writes for. His first book makes it clear that he deserves that admiration.