The series breaks this mythical beast down into its constituent parts: singer, guitarist, drummer as well as the shadowy 'other one', whose face we don't quite know but without whom the magic wouldn't happen. The evidence is examined closely in forensic studies of what makes these rock 'n' roll types tick, starting with the lead singer. Often he's the leader, sometimes the dictator, benign or otherwise. His voice is his instrument and out front there's nowhere to hide. He hires. He fires. And when it all goes wrong and the backlash begins, he will get the blame.
An eye-opening romp through great war stories from the rock 'n' roll frontline explores the myriad ways of tackling the daunting role of front person. From the seemingly fearless, like taboo-shattering Jim Morrison of The Doors, to the mesmerically fragile, like Joy Division's ill-starred Ian Curtis. From Mick Jagger, who drew up the blueprint of front man as athlete, lothario and chairman of the board to the swaggeringly cantankerous yet strangely static force of nature that is Liam Gallagher.
A starry cast list, including Iggy Pop, Roger Daltrey and Dave Grohl, considers how and why they do what they do on and off stage. Sting speculates where necessary confidence ends and arrogance begins, while Muse's Matt Bellamy wonders whether a tendency towards the diva-ish is an inevitable by-product of the pressures of being the band's focal point. Shaun Ryder of Happy Mondays recalls harsh lessons learnt from underestimating the tabloids, and Siouxsie Sioux revels in the moments when it all goes right.
If you can play a little piano say grade 2 or 3 and like the blues you will get a lot out of this book. Beautifully presented with pictures of the masters and different types of blues, takes a slow and easy progression from very basic triads to simple but really terrific sounding stuff to the more complex stuff. He encourges you to experiment and improvise and truely teaches ways to do this. Happily for my nieghbours I have headphones on my piano! CD has all the music on it with some different versions in triplet feel etc. Richards is a performer and teaches at a London music college. Certainly helped me. If you want to learn the blues this is really nice book. The book has its own web site so hunt around. Allows you to download a very nice blues and the sheet music to it.
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08-09-2010, 06:39 AM
Im in a Rock n Roll Band Video Series-The Singer
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