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Play It Loud cover art

Play It Loud

By: Brad Tolinski, Alan di Perna, Carlos Santana - foreword
Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
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Publisher's Summary

The inspiration for the Play It Loud exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

"Every guitar player will want to read this book twice. And even the casual music fan will find a thrilling narrative that weaves together cultural history, musical history, race, politics, business case studies, advertising, and technological discovery." (Daniel Levitin, Wall Street Journal

For generations the electric guitar has been an international symbol of freedom, danger, rebellion, and hedonism. In Play It Loud, Brad Tolinski and Alan di Perna bring the history of this iconic instrument to roaring life. It's a story of inventors and iconoclasts, of scam artists, prodigies, and mythologizers as varied and original as the instruments they spawned. 

Play It Loud uses 12 landmark guitars - each of them artistic milestones in their own right - to illustrate the conflict and passion the instruments have inspired. It introduces Leo Fender, a man who couldn't play a note but whose innovations helped transform the guitar into the explosive sound machine it is today. Some of the most significant social movements of the 20th century are indebted to the guitar: It was an essential element in the fight for racial equality in the entertainment industry; a mirror to the rise of the teenager as social force; a linchpin of punk's sound and ethos. And today the guitar has come full circle, with contemporary titans such as Jack White of The White Stripes, Annie Clark (aka St. Vincent), and Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys bringing some of the earliest electric guitar forms back to the limelight. 

Featuring interviews with Les Paul, Keith Richards, Carlos Santana, Eddie Van Halen, Steve Vai, and dozens more players and creators, Play It Loud is the story of how a band of innovators transformed an idea into a revolution. 

©2016 Brad Tolinski and Alan di Perna (P)2016 Random House Audio

Critic Reviews

"It's all here: everything knowable now becomes known about the plugged-in ax that changed the world. A comprehensive history of the electric guitar in cultural context is something long wanted, awaited, and needed. At long last, it has arrived." (Billy Gibbons, ZZ Top guitarist/vocalist and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee)

"The authors...bring freshness to chestnuts through technical nuggets aplenty.... The electric guitar changed the world, and Tolinski and di Perna impressively reveal its epic story." (Kirkus Reviews)

What listeners say about Play It Loud

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If you love the guitar, this is a must read book.


In all honesty, I was apprehensive about reading this book. I thought I knew all there was to know about the history of guitar and it’s glory days. Man, was I wrong.
What an enjoyable journey it was to read. If you love the guitar, either as a player or collector or listener, this is a must read book. Enjoy it

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Great listen if your into guitars.

Great listen. Amazing how relatively new the electric guitar is and how well Leo Fender and Les Paul knew each other while they both developed their guitars.

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