Joel Selvin

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.

The Rolling Stones, the Hells Angels, and the Inside Story of Rock's Darkest Day

Altamont

Ed Hardy

The memoir of iconic tattoo artist Ed Hardy from his beginnings in 1960s California, to leading the tattoo renaissance and building his name into a hugely lucrative international brand "Ed Hardy" is emblazoned on everything from t-shirts and hats to perfumes and energy drinks. From LA to Japan, his colorful cross-and-bones designs and ribbon-banners have become internationally ubiquitous. But long before the fashion world discovered his iconic designs, the man behind the eponymous brand spearheaded nothing less than a cultural revolution. In Wear Your Dreams, Ed Hardy recounts his genesis as a tattoo artist and leader in the movement to recognize tattooing as a valid and rich art form, through to the ultimate transformation of his career into a multi-billion dollar branding empire. From giving colored pencil tattoos to neighborhood kids at age ten to working with legendary artists like Sailor Jerry to learning at the feet of the masters in Japan, the book explains how this Godfather of Tattoos fomented the explosion of tattoo art and how his influence can be witnessed on everyone, from countless celebs to ink-adorned rockers to butterfly-branded, stroller-pushing moms. With over fifty different product categories, the Ed Hardy brand generates over $700 million in retail sales annually. Vividly packaged with original Ed Hardy artwork and ideal for ink devotees and Ed Hardy aficionados alike, Wear Your Dreams is a never-before-seen look at the tattoo artist who rocked the art world and has left a permanent mark on fashion history.

My Life in Tattoos

Wear Your Dreams

The blazing rock opera of the greatest drummer of all-time, Jim Gordon, from the legendary Wrecking Crew to redefining the genre 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. But as best-selling author and award-winning journalist Joel Selvin reveals in Drums & Demons, 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. Based on his trademark extensive, detailed research, Joel Selvin’s Drums & Demons 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.

The Tragic Journey of Jim Gordon

Drums & Demons

"A tell-all biography of the epic in-fighting of the Grateful Dead in the years following band leader Jerry Garcia's death in 1995. The 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 utter disarray. 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 offers 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."--Dust jacket flap

the final chapter of the Grateful Dead's long, strange trip

Fare thee well

John Johnson

Dick Cami

Traces the story of the influential 1960s Manhattan nightspot and mobster hangout, detailing how the club's introduction of rock-and-roll music attracted rebel youths and celebrity patrons in an account that also shares colorful stories from the club's history. Co-written by the award-winning co-author of Red: My Uncensored Life in Rock. 30,000 first printing.

The Mob, the Music, and the Most Famous Dance Club of the '60s

Peppermint Twist

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 Arhoolie Records eventually produced more than four hundred albums during more than forty years in operation, exploring the far corners of American vernacular music--blues, gospel, Cajun, zydeco, hillbilly, Texas-Mexican norteño 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 by Selvin about Arhoolie, Strachwitz, and the music. INTIMATE AND AMAZING PHOTOGRAPHS: Although Strachwitz would always self-deprecatingly claim that the photographs he took while meeting and recording musicians were strictly documentary, and *maybe* of some use for a record sleeve later, they are much more than that. Lyrical, candid, real: His rapport with the musicians and their families is glowing and evident in these photographs. RIVETING MUSIC HISTORY PHOTO BOOK: These are never-before-seen photos, and photos like you've never seen before. Every image is from freshly remastered scans, and the authors dove deep into the Arhoolie archives to uncover images almost no one has had the chance to see. CRUCIAL AMERICAN MUSIC AND CULTURAL HISTORY: Strachwitz's wide-ranging interest and unbridled enthusiasm for all sorts of roots music led to his crisscrossing the country from artist to artist based on recommendations, rumor, tips, radio broadcasts--the result being a portrait (in sound for the label, and image in this book) of vital American music in a wide range of genres. He has rich stories for each photograph and artist. AN INVALUABLE DOCUMENT: Arhoolie fundamentally shaped our understanding of American music. Renowned music writer Joel Selvin has not only worked with Strachwitz to draw out the stories behind the photographs, but he has contributed an invaluable long-form essay about Arhoolie, Strachwitz, and the label's cultural legacy to anchor this incredible book. Perfect for: Fans of American roots music, including the blues, folk, Cajun, Creole, zydeco, Mexican American border music, and more Fans of Lightnin' Hopkins, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Big Mama Thornton, Lydia Mendoza, Clifton Chenier, Flaco Jiménez, Mance Lipscomb, Narciso Martínez, Big Joe Williams, and the other fantastic artists whose records Arhoolie released over the years Birthday, holiday, graduation, or anytime gift for musicians and music lovers Collectors of music history, American cultural history, Black history, and music photography books

Down Home Music

Arhoolie Records

Sly 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.

An Oral History

Sly & the Family Stone

"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: 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.

The Dark Soul of Bert Berns and the Dirty Business of Rhythm and Blues

Here Comes the Night

Per decenni il concerto gratuito dei Rolling Stones, il 6 dicembre 1969 nell’autodromo di Altamont, è stato visto come il ‘gemello perverso’ di Woodstock. In quel giorno funesto, infatti, uno spettatore fu accoltellato a morte da un membro della malfamata gang di motociclisti degli Hells Angels, che lavorava come servizio d’ordine al Festival. Si chiuse così, in modo tragico, il sogno tutto ‘peace and love’ dei Sixties. Sino a oggi, la maggior parte delle notizie ufficiali di ciò che accadde ad Altamont provenivano da Gimme Shelter, il documentario ufficiale sulla tournée americana dei Rolling Stones del 1969 conclusasi proprio sul circuito del nord California. Ma la vera storia è rimasta a lungo sepolta, nascosta tra racconti sbiaditi, voci distorte, falsi miti. Questo libro racconta in modo appassionante il ‘giorno più nero della storia del rock’ spiegando le radici di un evento orribile e sfortunato, iniziato prima della morte di Meredith Hunter, il giovane ragazzo di colore ucciso dai biker, e proseguito oltre quella tragica notte di dicembre. Joel Selvin, affermato giornalista musicale e scrupoloso storico del rock, analizza nel dettaglio i vari aspetti di quello show. Dagli eccessi, sopra e sotto il palco, dei Rolling Stones alle magagne di un tour mal organizzato che ha preceduto il concerto di Altamont, sino alle morti mai documentate avvenute dopo che la band lasciò il Festival, l’autore cattura l’intera scena del prima, durante e post tragedia. Selvin denuncia anche le diverse realtà che hanno osteggiato il Festival dall’inizio, inclusa la sbagliatissima scelta di Altamont come sede dell’evento, le droghe allucinogene di pessima qualità che circolavano tra il pubblico e la disastrosa idea di affidare agli Hells Angels, per altro da sempre amici della comunità hippie di San Francisco, la ‘security’ del concerto. Andando ben oltre le spiegazioni più ovvie e banali, Selvin s’immerge nei ricordi di chi, rappresentante di importanti realtà cultural-musicali del periodo, fu profeta di sventure fin da prima che lo show avesse inizio. Analizzando in modo approfondito le due band che furono al centro degli eventi, Rolling Stones e Grateful Dead, Selvin spiega anche il ruolo centrale (ma dimenticato dai più) che questi ultimi ebbero nell’ideazione e organizzazione del tutto. In questo modo, il libro offre un ritratto vivido di come, in un’epoca celebre per i suoi idealismi, i due mondi del rock (inglese e americano) si scontrarono con effetti devastanti. Ma anche come i destini delle due band, che sembravano unirsi ad Altamont, furono successivamente sempre più distanti, quasi agli estremi opposti. Frutto di oltre trent’anni di ricerche e di un centinaio di interviste esclusive con testimoni fondamentali (musicisti, staff medico, membri degli Hells Angels, tecnici e fonici, ecc.) il libro è scritto in modo accattivante, pieno di aneddoti e curiosità, e rappresenta un documento eccezionale per capire l’intera scena rock degli anni ’60. Con la prefazione di Carlo Massarini.

Il giorno più nero della storia del rock e la fine del sogno degli anni '60

Rolling Stones. Altamont

Chronicles the private life of television's first child actor--from his celebrated youth through his slow descent into depression and addiction as a struggling adult, and to his untimely death

Idol for a Generation

Ricky Nelson

A tell-all biography of the epic in-fighting of the Grateful Dead in the years following band leader Jerry Garcia's death in 1995 The Grateful Dead rose to greatness under the inspired leadership of guitarist Jerry Garcia, but the band very nearly died along with him after his sudden death in 1995. So long defined by Garcia's artistic vision, the surviving "Core Four" were reduced to conflicting agendas, strained relationships, and catastrophic business decisions that would lead the iconic band into utter disarray for the next twenty years. Acclaimed music journalist and New York Times bestselling author Joel Selvin was there for much of the turmoil following Garcia's death, and in this book, he offers a never-before-explored insider account of the ebbs and flows that occurred in the decades that followed. 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-finally allowing for a proper, and joyous, sendoff of the group revered by so many.

The Final Chapter of the Grateful Dead's Long, Strange Trip

Fare Thee Well

“Hollywood Eden brings the lost humanity of the record business vividly back to life ... [Selvin’s] style is blunt, unpretentious and brisk; he knows how to move things along entertainingly ... Songs about surfboards and convertibles had turned quaint, but in this book, their coolness is restored.” — New York Times From surf music to hot-rod records to the sunny pop of the Beach Boys, Jan & Dean, the Byrds, and the Mama’s & the Papa’s, 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 invented the idea of modern California for the rest of the world. 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. A rock ’n’ roll opera loaded with violence, deceit, intrigue, low comedy, and high drama, Hollywood Eden tells the story of a group of young artists and musicians who bumped heads, crashed cars, and ultimately flew too close to the sun.

Electric Guitars, Fast Cars, and the Myth of the California Paradise

Hollywood Eden

John Johnson, Jr.

The never-before-told story of The Peppermint Lounge, the famed Manhattan nightspot and mobster hangout that launched an era The Peppermint Lounge was intended to be nothing more than a front for gambling and other rackets but the club became a sensation after Dick "Cami" Camillucci began to feature a new kind of music, rock and roll. The mobsters running the place found themselves juggling rebellious youths alongside celebrities like Greta Garbo and Shirley MacLaine. When The Beatles visited the club, Cami's uncle-in-law had to restrain a hitman who was after Ringo because his girlfriend was so infatuated with the drummer. Working with Dick Cami himself, Johnson and Selvin unveil this engrossing story of the go-go sixties and the club that inspired the classic hits "Twisting the Night Away" and "The Peppermint Twist."

This book weaves a fascinating narrative that separates surprising fact from entrenched mythology.

The Inside Story of LSD, Rock & Roll, Free Love, and High Times in the Wild West

Summer of Love

Colleen Terry

Featuring a wide array of iconic rock posters, period photographs, music memorabilia and light shows, "out-of-this-world" clothing, and avant-garde films, this catalogue celebrates San Francisco's rebellious and colorful counterculture that blossomed in the years surrounding the 1967 Summer of Love. This book explores, through essays and a succession of thematic plates, the visual and material cultures of a generation searching for personal fulfillment and social change. Presenting key cultural artifacts of the time, Summer of Love introduces and explores the events and experiences that today define this dynamic era. With essays by Victoria Binder, Dennis McNally, and Joel Selvin. Published in association with the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. Exhibition dates: de Young, San Francisco: April 8-August 20, 2017

Art, Fashion, and Rock and Roll

“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.

Joel Selvin

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