Musicians in Their Own Words

George Harrison on George Harrison is an authoritative, chronologically arranged anthology of Harrison's most revealing and illuminating interviews, personal correspondence, and writings, spanning the years 1961 to 1997. Though known as "the Quiet Beatle," Harrison was arguably the most thoughtful and certainly the most outspoken of the famous four. This compendium of his words and ideas proves that point repeatedly, revealing his passion for music, his focus on spirituality, and his responsibility as a celebrity, with a sense of deep commitment and humor as well.

David Bowie has been one of pop music's greatest interviewees since January 1972, when he famously risked career death by asserting to Melody Maker that he was gay. Although he wasn't yet a big star, it was a groundbreaking moment. And over the years, Bowie has failed to give an uninteresting interview. It might be said that he has habitually used the media for his own ends, but he has paradoxically also been searingly honest, declining to ever be coy about his ambitions, his private life, and even his occasional ennui. Bowie on Bowie presents some of the best interviews Bowie has granted in his near five-decade career. Each interview traces a new step in his unique journey, successively freezing him in time as young novelty hit-maker, hairy hippie, Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane, the Thin White Duke, plastic soul man, fragile Germanic exile, godfather of the New Romantics, eighties sellout, Tin Machinist, and, finally, permanently, artistically reborn beloved elder statesman of challenging popular music. In all of these iterations he is remarkably articulate. He is also preternaturally polite-almost every interviewer remarks upon his charm. The features in this book come from outlets both prestigious (Melody Maker, Mojo, New Musical Express, Q, Rolling Stone) and less well-known (The Drummer, Guitar, Ikon, Mr. Showbiz). In all cases, Bowie enables the reader to approach the nerve center of his ferociously creative and prolific output.

Though many books have chronicled Jimi Hendrix's brilliant but tragically brief musical career, this is the first to use his own words to paint a detailed portrait of the man behind the guitar. With selections carefully chosen by one of the world's leading Jimi Hendrix historians, this work includes the most important interviews from the peak of his career, 1966 to 1970. In this authoritative volume, Hendrix recalls for reporters his heartbreaking childhood, his concept of "Electric Church Music" (intended to wash peoples souls and give them a new direction), and his wish to be remembered as not just another guitar player. While Hendrix never wrote a memoir, with new transcriptions from European papers, the African American press, counterculture newspapers, radio and TV interviews, and previously unpublished court transcripts, this book gives music fans the next best thing to a Hendrix autobiography.

In a series of more than 50 interviews that span seven decades, many never before seen in print, this is the story of Led Zeppelin told by the people who knew it best, the members of the band. This book shoots down the folklore and assumptions about Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones, and John Bonham, and presents the bands full history, from when Jimmy Page was playing skiffle to the day the band was honored by the Kennedy Center for their contribution to American and global culture. Led Zeppelin on Led Zeppelin captures the ideas of all of the bands members at the time they created classics like Whole Lot of Love, Stairway to Heaven, and Kashmir, but also captures the idea of the band itself as it created the music that changed popular culture.

The iconic life and career of the famed guitarist of the Rolling Stones is detailed in a compilation of interviews that spans the last 50 years. Featuring articles from GQ, Melody Maker, and Rolling Stone, as well as interviews that have never previously appeared in print, it charts Keith Richards's journey from gauche, young pretender and swaggering epitome of the zeitgeist to beloved elder statesman of rock. Initially overshadowed by band mates Mick Jagger and Brian Jones, Richards gained popularity as half of the second-most important songwriting team of the 1960s, and in 1967, the drug bust at his house and his subsequent trial and imprisonment made him a household name. His interviews match his outlaw image: free of banality and euphemism, they revel in frank stories of drugs and debauchery. Yet they also reveal an unexpectedly warm, unpretentious, articulate, and honest man. This collection amply illustrates the magic and charm of Keith Richards.

Leonard Cohen, one of the most admired performers of the last half century, has had a stranger-than-fiction, roller-coaster ride of a life. Now, for the first time, he tells his story in his own words, via more than 50 interviews conducted worldwide between 1966 and 2012. In Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen, which includes a foreword by singer Suzanne Vega and eight pages of rarely, seen photos the artist talks about Bird on the Wire, Hallelujah, and his other classic songs. He candidly discusses his famous romances, his years in a Zen monastery, and his ill-fated collaboration with producer Phil Spector, his long battle with depression, and much more. You will find interviews that first appeared in the New York Times and Rolling Stone, but also conversations that have not previously been printed in English. Some of the material here has not been available until now in any format, including the many illuminating reminiscences that contributors supplied specifically for this definitive anthology.

The Clash thought they could change the world. They never did, but they created some of the greatest rock music of all time in the attempt. Clash interviews were mesmerizing. Infused with the messianic punk spirit, the Clash engaged with the press like no rock group before or since, treating interviews almost as addresses to the nation. Their pronouncements were welcomed but were hardly uncritically reported. The Clash's back pages are voluminous, crackle with controversy, and constitute a snapshot of a uniquely thoughtful and fractious period in modern history. Included in this compendium are the Clash's encounters with the most brilliant rock writers of their time, including Lester Bangs, Nick Kent, Mikal Gilmore, Chris Salewicz, Charles Shaar Murray, Mick Farren, and Lenny Kaye. Whether interviewed by punk fanzines like Sniffin' Glue and 48 Thrills, pious UK weeklies like New Musical Express, Melody Maker, Sounds, and Record Mirror, or US periodicals like Creem, Trouser Press, and Rolling Stone, the Clash consistently created copy that lived up to their sobriquet "The Only Band That Matters."

The Who were a mass of contradictions. They brought intellect to rock but were the darlings of punks. They were the quintessential studio act yet were also the greatest live attraction in the world. They perfectly meshed on stage and displayed a complete lack of personal chemistry offstage. Along with their great live shows and supreme audio experiences, the Who provided great copy. During the 1960's and 70's, Pete Townshend, messianic about contemporary popular music and its central importance in the lives of young people, gave sprawling interviews in which he alternately celebrated and deplored what he saw in the "scene." Several of these interviews have come to be considered classic documents of the age. Roger Daltrey, Keith Moon, and John Entwistle joined in. Even when the Who were non-operational or past their peak, their interviews continued to be as compelling: changes in allegiances and social mores left the band members freer to talk about sex, drug-taking, business, and in-fighting. By collecting interviews with Who members from across five decades, The Who on The Who provides the full, fractious story of the band.

Fleetwood Mac was a triumph from the beginning-their first album was the UK's bestselling album of 1968. After some low points-when founder Peter Green left, some fans felt that the band continuing was sacrilege-Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks joined, and the band's 1977 album Rumours became one of history's immortals, a true classic that remained in the charts for years and public affection forever.  In the press, the ethereal Californian Stevie Nicks, the tormented rocker Lindsey Buckingham, the dignified English rose Christine McVie, the blunt-speaking John McVie, and the loquacious Mick Fleetwood have all regularly been astoundingly candid. This collection of interviews across the entirety of Fleetwood Mac's career features articles from such celebrated publications as Crawdaddy, New Musical Express, Circus, Creem, Mojo, Goldmine, Classic Rock, Blender, and Elle, as well as interviews that have never previously appeared in print. In it, readers will learn the Fleetwood Mac story from the band members' own mouths, and experience it contemporaneously rather than through hindsight.

John Lennon was a highly opinionated and controversial figure with a commanding personality and quick wit. He spoke candidly about his intense, sometimes tumultuous relationship with Yoko Ono, his split with the Beatles, his squabbles with Paul McCartney, and just about everything else, baring his emotional ups and downs for all to see. By the time he granted his-and this book's-final interview, only hours before his death, he had become one of the most famous people on the planet. Lennon on Lennon is an authoritative anthology of some of Lennon's most illuminating interviews. The majority have not been previously available in print, and several of the most important have not been widely available in any format. This material paints a revealing picture of the artist in his own words and offers a window into the cultural atmosphere of the sixties and seventies.

Judy Garland on Judy Garland is the closest we will come to experiencing and exploring the legends planned autobiography. Collecting and presenting the most important Garland interviews and encounters that took place between 1935 and 1969, this work opens with her first radio appearance under contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and concludes with her last known interview, one taped for Radio Denmark just months before her death. What makes this collection unique is that it places Judy in the role of storyteller. She wrote a number of essays for various publications and sat for countless print, radio, and television interviews. These and other autobiographical efforts she made are proof that Judy Garland wanted her story told in her own words. Finally, 45 years after her death, here it is.

The life of rock's most durable troubadour in his own words. Neil Young on Neil Young: Interviews and Encounters is a revealing anthology of Young's most significant, fascinating, and entertaining discussions, declarations, and dreams, chronicling fifty years of conversations, feature stories, and press conferences. With many interviews widely available for the first time-including new transcriptions and first-time translations into English-the book spans Young's words and ideas from 1967 onward: his early days with Buffalo Springfield and 1970s Harvest-fueled celebrity apex, an artistic rebellion and 1980s commercial dip, and the unexpected 1990s revival as the Godfather of Grunge through to his multi-decade victory lap as a living legend. Across the decades, Young's own words tell the story as he perpetually reinvents himself as a master of music and film, a technology pioneer and innovator, and a bold political observer and strident environmental advocate.

Prince on Prince gets behind the controversies to tell the Prince story in his own words. Prince is among the most respected and influential entertainers of the twentieth century, breaking sexual, racial, and creative barriers throughout his almost forty years in the spotlight. He was a multitalented studio artist, a master songwriter who produced and performed almost all of his own music on yearly LPs and countless singles and videos. He was one of the most dynamic live performers ever to hit the stage, a world-class dancer, and musician who's still remembered for the best Super Bowl halftime performance in history. He fought for artists' rights, changed his name to a glyph, and took a star turn in the Oscar-winner Purple Rain. But for all this, he was a quiet and private individual, reluctantly talking about the work he felt should speak for itself. Prince on Prince offers a chronological look at some of Prince's most entertaining and revealing interviews, from 1978 and the release of his debut LP, For You, to a 2015 interview conducted only months before his untimely death at the age of fifty-seven. Prince's memoir was left incomplete, but this volume offers a view of the man as he sought to portray himself in his own words to journalists of every status throughout his career.

"As close to an autobiography as we're going to get from John Prine, Prine on Prine captures the inimitable, whimsical voice of one of our greatest songwriters . . . Nashville legend Holly Gleason knew the man and assembled this brilliant collection with a knowing eye and loving heart." -Joel Selvin, author of Fare Thee Well: The Final Chapter of the Grateful Dead's Long, Strange Trip and other books Curated by a critic who knew him across five decades, Prine on Prine distills the essence of an iconic American writer: unguarded, unfiltered and real. In his own words, in his own time-on the road, in the kitchen, the Library of Congress, radio shows, movie scripts, and beyond. John Prine hated giving interviews, but he said much when he talked. Embarrassed by fame, delighted by the smallest things, the first songwriter to read at the Library of Congress, and winner of the Pen Award for Literary Excellence, Prine saw the world unlike anyone else. The songs from 1971's John Prine remain spot-on takes of the human condition today, and his writing only got richer, funnier, and more incisive. The interviews in Prine on Prine trace his career evolution, his singular mind, his enduring awareness of social issues, and his acute love of life, from Studs Terkel's radio interviews from the early '70s to Mike Leonard's Today Show packages from the '80s, Cameron Crowe's early encounter to Ronni Lundy's Shuck Beans, Stack Cake cookbook, and Hot Rod magazine to No Depression's cover story, through today. Editor Holly Gleason enjoyed a longstanding relationship with Prine and his longtime co-manager, and she often traveled with him on tours in the late 1980s and represented him in the 2000s.

From the moment Patti Smith burst onto the scene, chanting "Jesus died for somebody's sins, but not mine," the irreverent opening line to Horses, her 1975 debut album, the punk movement had found its dissident intellectual voice. Yet outside the recording studio-Smith has released eleven studio albums-the punk poet laureate has been perhaps just as revelatory and rhapsodic in interviews, delivering off-the-cuff jeremiads that emboldened a generation of disaffected youth and imparting hard-earned life lessons. With her characteristic blend of bohemian intellectualism, antiauthoritarian poetry, and unflagging optimism, Smith gave them hope in the transcendent power of art. In interviews, Smith is unfiltered and startlingly present, and prescient, preaching a gospel bound to shock or inspire. Each interview is part confession, part call-and-response sermon with the interviewer. And there have been some legendary interviewers: William S. Burroughs, Thurston Moore (of Sonic Youth), and novelist Jonathan Lethem. Her interview archive serves as a compelling counternarrative to the albums and books. Initially, interviewing Patti Smith was a censorship liability. Contemptuous of staid rules of decorum, no one knew what she might say, whether they were getting the romantic, swooning for Lorca and Blake, or the firebrand with no respect for an on-air seven-second delay. Patti Smith on Patti Smith is a compendium of profound and reflective moments in the life of one of the most insightful and provocative artists working today.

“Cash on Cash” offers unprecedented insight into one of the most significant American cultural figures of the twentieth century. As an interviewee, Cash was an exemplary communicator to an astonishingly broad spectrum of people: always open and articulate, part friend, part spiritual authority, part flawed hero. Throughout a decades-long career, as Cash took risks, embracing new technologies, formats, and attitudes, he cleaved to a simple, core message of unvarnished truth. A comprehensive collection of Johnny Cash interviews and feature stories, some widely published and others never previously transcribed, culled from the 1950s through the early days of the new millennium, Cash on Cash charts a singular evolution. From hardscrabble Arkansas poor boy to rockabilly roustabout, international fame to drug addiction and disgrace, born again Christian to gimlet-eyed chronicler of spiritual darkness, TV and movie star to Nashville reject, redemption to loss and back again, several times. Cash's story, told in his own words, shines unfiltered light on a journey of archetypal proportions that resonates still.

In a 1969 conversation with Rolling Stone editor Jann Wenner, Dylan proclaims, "I don't give interviews." But in truth, Dylan has given numerous press conferences, spoken at length with print publications large and small and with broadcast media around the world and even answered listeners' questions on call-in radio shows. Dylan can be as evasive and abstruse as he is witty; he can be cranky and sarcastic. But in the right moments, he offers candid, revealing commentary about his groundbreaking music and creative process. Those conversations reveal glimpses into the mind of one of the most important performers and songwriters of the last hundred years. Dylan on Dylan is an authoritative, chronologically arranged anthology of interviews, speeches and press conferences, as well as excerpts from nearly a hundred additional Q&As spanning Dylan's entire career-from 1961 through 2016. The majority have not been previously available in print. The material comes from reknowned publications like Rolling Stone and from obscure periodicals like Minnesota Daily, a student newspaper at Dylan's alma mater. Interviewers include some of the top music journalists of our time, such as Robert Love and Mikal Gilmore, as well as musicians like Pete Seeger and Happy Traum. Introductions put each piece in context and, in many cases, include the interviewer's reminiscences about the encounter.

Offering fans an extensive look at the artists own words throughout the past four decades, Springsteen on Springsteen brings together QA formatted articles, speeches, and features that incorporate significant interview material. No one is better qualified to talk about Springsteen than the man himself does, and he is often as articulate and provocative in interviews and speeches, as he is emotive onstage and in recordings. While many rock artists seem to suffer through interviews, Springsteen has welcomed them as an opportunity to speak openly, thoughtfully, and in detail about his music and life. This volume starts with his humble beginnings in 1973 as a struggling artist and follows him up to the present, as Springsteen has achieved almost unimaginable wealth and worldwide fame. Included are feature interviews with well-known media figures, including Charlie Rose, Ted Koppel, Brian Williams, Nick Hornby, and Ed Norton. Fans will also discover hidden gems from small and international outlets, in addition to radio and TV interviews that have not previously appeared in print. This collection is a must-have for any Springsteen fan.

This autobiographical portrait of Tom Waits takes shape through a selection of more than 50 interviews. Starting with the first interview on KPFK-FMs Folk scene in 1973, Waits speaks out on a variety of topics and shares something truly unique with his readers. In a rap that is a synthesis of inflections Louis Armstrong, Charles Bukowski, Jack Kerouac, Mark Twain, hobo, pool hall attendant, vaudevillian huckster, musicologist par excellence, and a fresh slathering of the organic word-ooze of William S. Burroughs Waits comes across as well read, informed, and lucidly aware of current pop culture. He delivers prose as crafted, poetic, potent, brilliant, and haunting as the lyrics of his best songs.

The most extensive and complete portrait of Kurt Cobain's life as it unfolded. Cobain on Cobain places the reader at the key moments of Kurt Cobain's rollercoaster life, telling the tale of Nirvana entirely through his words and those of his bandmates as they unleashed the whirlwind that would consume them for the last half of their five-year career. This is the most comprehensive compendium of interviews with the band ever released. Each interview is another knot in a thread running from just after the recording of their first album Bleach to the band's collapse in 1994 followed shortly by Cobain's suicide. Interviews have been selected to provide definitive coverage of the events of those five years from as close to the key moments as possible, so that the reader can experience Cobain reacting to the circumstances of each tour, each new release, each public incident, all the way to the end. Including a huge number of interviews that have never before seen print, Cobain on Cobain will long remain the definitive source for anyone searching for Kurt Cobain's version of his own story.

Few artists of the 20th century are as intriguing as Joni Mitchell. She was a solidly middle-class, buttoned-up bohemian; an anti-feminist who loved men but scorned free love; a female warrior taking on the male music establishment. She was both the party girl with torn stockings and the sensitive poet. She often said she would be criticized for staying the same or changing, so why not take the less boring option? Her earthy, poetic lyrics ("the geese in chevron flight" in "Urge for Going"), the phrases that are now part of the culture ("They paved paradise, put up a parking lot"), and the unusual melodic intervals traced by that lissome voice earned her the status of a pop legend. Fearless experimentation ensured that she will also be seen as one of the most important musicians of the 20th Century. Joni on Joni is an authoritative, chronologically arranged anthology of some of Mitchell's most illuminating interviews, spanning the years 1966 to 2014. Many are revealing pieces from her early years in Canada and Detroit, and influential articles such as Cameron Crowe's Rolling Stone piece appear. Interspersed throughout the book are key quotes from dozens of additional Q&As. Together, this material paints a revealing picture of the artist-bragging and scornful, philosophical and deep, but also a beguiling flirt.

"Nobody knows Dolly like Dolly," declares Dolly Parton. Dolly's is a rags-to-riches tale like no other. A dirt-poor Smoky Mountain childhood paved the way for the buxom blonde butterfly's metamorphosis from singer-songwriter to international music superstar. The undisputed "Queen of Country Music," Dolly has sold more than 100 million records worldwide and has conquered just about every facet of the entertainment industry: music, film, television, publishing, theatre, and even theme parks. It's been more than 50 years since Dolly Parton arrived in Nashville with just her guitar and a dream. Her story has been told many times and in many ways, but never like this. Dolly on Dolly is a collection of interviews spanning five decades of her career and featuring material gathered from celebrated publications including Rolling Stone, Cosmopolitan, Playboy, and Andy Warhol's Interview magazine. Also included are interviews which have not been previously available in print. Dolly's feisty and irresistible brand of humor, combined with her playful, pull-up-a-chair-and-stay-awhile delivery, makes for a fascinating and inviting experience in downhome philosophy and storytelling. Much like her patchwork "Coat of Many Colors," this book harkens back to the legendary entertainer's roots and traces her evolution, stitching it all together one piece at a time.

Miles Davis was not only a musical genius, but also an enigma, and nowhere else was he so compelling, exasperating, and entertaining as he was in his interviews, which vary from polite to outrageous, from straight-ahead to contrarian. Miles on Miles collects thirty of the most vital. Even his autobiography lacks the immediacy of the dialogues collected here. Many were conducted by leading journalists like Leonard Feather, Stephen Davis, Ben Sidran, Mike Zwerin, and Nat Hentoff. Other have never before seen print and are newly transcribed from radio and television shows. Until now, no book has brought back to life Miles's inimitable voice-contemplative, defiant, elegant, uncompromising, and humorous. Miles on Miles will long remain the definitive source for anyone wanting to really encounter the legend in print.