Showing results by publisher "Recorded Books" in Arts & Entertainment

Taking listeners inside the songwriting mecca of Nashville’s Music Row for the real stories behind country’s most influential songs—and featuring exclusive interviews with songwriters like Vince Gill, Clint Black, Buddy Cannon, Jelly Roll, and Taylor Swift co-writer Liz Rose—Songs of Nashville gives you a front-row seat to the lives and work of the artists who’ve shaped country music.

Renowned music manager Rikki Stein has spent nearly six decades moving musicians around the world, and this book recounts a lifetime of adventure on the road. Always in the right place at the right time, Rikki was part of the great countercultural moments of the last century, from Woodstock and the Vietnam War Moratorium March to the launch of Glastonbury Festival.

Sung in moments of personal isolation or on state occasions watched by millions, “Amazing Grace” has become an unparalleled anthem for humankind. How did a simple Christian hymn, written in a remote English vicarage in 1772, come to hold such sway in all corners of the modern world? With this short, engaging cultural history, James Walvin offers an explanation.

In this dazzling Hollywood memoir, Jeff Margolis takes us on the ultimate behind-the-scenes tour of television’s most memorable variety series and specials spanning the past fifty years—from the most iconic variety shows of the 1970s to the Oscars. Today, as one of the most prolific directors/producers of event television, Margolis is not only a technical ringmaster but also a confidante and sage to the stars who headline the shows. Students of television will savor the “how-to” of event television while fans will love the intimate stories of beloved stars.

If you want to understand the Black experience in the US, you must understand hip-hop, and Psalms of My People is your guide. Treating hip-hop like sacred scripture, lenny duncan traces its history—the artists, their lyrics, and the cultural context—to reveal its role as a conduit to tell the modern story of Black liberation in this country, following the bloody trail from the end of the Civil Rights Era through the day George Floyd was sacrificed on the streets of america.

"Dearly Beloved, we are gathered here today to get through this thing called life." When Prince spoke those words over celestial organ sounds in the opening moments of "Let's Go Crazy," he wasn't just inaugurating yet another Billboard Hot 100 hit—one of forty-seven in his career; he was also giving voice to the deep-seated and richly complex spiritual underpinning of his art.

Since 1925, the Grand Ole Opry has left an undeniable mark on American culture. What began as an impromptu performance of old-time fiddle tunes has transformed into the longest-running radio broadcast in US history, as well as a live performance for millions of country music fans each year. Replete with gorgeous illustrations and tributes from country music’s biggest names, 100 Years of Grand Ole Opry is a glorious, one-of-a-kind celebration, and a must-have for any country music fan.

Liberation Literature also features a foreword by Laura Pegram, founder of Kweli, and an introduction by Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop, the "mother of" multicultural children's literature. It is a must-have for anyone interested in writing, the history of African American representation, children's literature, and literature overall.

Growing up in Seale, Alabama as a Black Queer kid, then attending the Rhode Island School of Design as an undergraduate, Jon Key hungered to see himself in the fields of Art and Design. But in lectures, critiques, and in the books he read, he struggled to see and learn about people who intersected with his identity or who GOT him. So he started asking himself questions: What did it mean to be a graphic designer with his point of view? What did it mean to be a Black graphic designer?

John Madden is synonymous with football. He was the television face and voice of the nation’s most popular sport, the namesake of its best-selling sports video game, and the man with the highest career winning percentage of any NFL coach. Despite his international fame, there was a side of Madden known only to those who listened to morning radio broadcasts in the San Francisco Bay Area. That’s where Madden grew up, lived, and died. It's where for decades he found joy in a daily chat with his hometown radio station: a chance to unwind, tell stories, and impart his own brand of wit and wisdom.

In this witty, deeply original book, the renowned novelist Jamaica Kincaid offers an ABC of the plants that define our world and reveals the often brutal history behind them.