National Network for Equitable Library Service

In 1974, at the age of seventeen, author Glenn Berger served as "schlepper" and apprentice to the legendary recording engineer Phil Ramone at New York City's A&R Studios, and was witness to music history on an almost daily and nightly basis as pop and rock icons such as Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, Mick Jagger, Frank Sinatra, Burt Bacharach, Bette Midler, and James Brown performed their hit-making magic, honed their sound, strutted their stuff, bared their souls, and threw epic tantrums.

Living in the Woods in a Tree is an intimate glimpse into the turbulent life of Texas music legend Blaze Foley (1949-1989), seen through the eyes of Sybil Rosen, the woman for whom he wrote his most widely known song, "If I Could Only Fly." It captures the exuberance of their fleeting idyll in a tree house in the Georgia woods during the countercultural 1970s. Rosen offers a firsthand witnessing of Foley's transformation from a reticent hippie musician to the enigmatic singer/songwriter who would live and die outside society's rules.

Jan Swafford's biographies have established him as a revered music historian, capable of bringing his subjects vibrantly to life. His magnificent new biography of Ludwig van Beethoven peels away layers of legend to get to the living, breathing human being who composed some of the world's most iconic music.Swafford mines sources never before used in English-language biographies to reanimate the revolutionary ferment of Enlightenment-era Bonn, where Beethoven grew up and imbibed the ideas that would shape all of his future work.

When singer, musician, and broadcast journalist Malka Marom had the opportunity to interview Joni Mitchell in 1973, she was eager to reconnect with the performer that she'd first met late one night in 1966 at a Yorkville coffeehouse.

Rolling Stone ranked the Ramones at #26 on its list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time." They received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011 and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. Marky Ramone played a major part in this success-his "blitzkrieg" style of drumming drove the sound the Ramones pioneered. Now fans can get the inside story.Having outlived his bandmates, Marky is the only person who can share the secrets and stories of the Ramones' improbable rise from obtuse beginnings to induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

In his timeless biography-written long before the significance of Mozart's work was fully realized-author Edward Holmes reveals the musician's character and genius, his struggles, his influence on art, and the brilliant reputation that surrounded him. Published in 1845 as the first authentic narrative of the life of Mozart to appear in English, it was also the first biography after the composer's death in 1791 to be based upon his letters. Holmes's exploration of Mozart's work comes from the perspective of a cultured mind of the era.

The author recounts his more than 6,500-mile journey across America, during which he visited the sites of famous rock star deaths and experienced philosophical changes of perspective.

When Billie Holiday stepped into Columbia's studios in November 1933, it marked the beginning of what is arguably the most remarkable and influential career in 'twentieth-century popular music. Her voice weathered countless shifts in public taste, and new reincarnations of her continue to arrive, most recently in the form of singers like Amy Winehouse and Adele.

Since the age of 21, Paul McCartney has lived one of the ultimate rock 'n' roll lives played out on the most public of stages. Now Paul's story is told by rock music's foremost biographer, with McCartney's consent and access to family members and close friends who have never spoken on the record before. Paul McCartney: The Life reveals the complex character behind the facade and sheds new light on his childhood-blighted by his mother's death but redeemed by the father who introduced him to music.

Stanley opens up about his expansive career as an old-time musician. Stanley grew up in the Virginia mountains and first learned music from his banjo-playing mother. He interrupted his musical career to farm for a short time, but soon returned to music with his brother Carter. Later in his career, Stanley gained popularity after being featured in the hit motion picture soundtrack for O Brother,Where Art Thou?