THE BYRDS: 1964-1967
By roger McGuinn, Chris Hillman & David Crosby
with Scott B. Bomar
* Among Variety's Best Music Books of the Year
hen the Byrds released “Mr. Tambourine Man” in 1965, they introduced Bob Dylan’s songs to a new audience and launched a career that would make them among the most influential rock bands of all time. With their unmistakable harmonies and Roger McGuinn’s innovative 12-string Rickenbacker guitar, the Byrds never stopped experimenting. They incorporated folk, country, and jazz influences into a fresh blend that helped define an era. “And not to be too shallow,” Tom Petty once wrote, “but they also were just the best-dressed band around. They had those great clothes and hairdos.”
Now the band’s three surviving founding members - Roger McGuinn, Chris Hillman, and David Crosby - have come together to present The Byrds: 1964-1967, a large format tabletop book that offers a unique visual history of the group. Featuring more than 500 images from legendary photographers such as Henry Diltz, Barry Feinstein, Curt Gunther, Jim Marshall, Linda McCartney, Tom Gundelfinger O’Neal, and Guy Webster, the book also includes restored images from the Columbia Records archives and the personal archives of the band’s original manager. Accompanied by a running commentary of their memories of the group, the era, one another, and their late compatriots Gene Clark and Michael Clarke, this carefully crafted volume is a truly unique collector’s item for Byrds fans.
The WORLD OF MARTY STUART
Contributing ESSAYIST alongside Ken Burns, Rick Bragg, Dayton Duncan, David Fricke, Holly George-Warren, Peter Guralnick, and Michael Streissguth
The Mississippi Department of Archives and History has partnered with the country musician and ambassador to share his story and collection with the public in an exhibition and tandem publication. The World of Marty Stuart traces the life and times of Marty Stuart through essays, photographs, and reproductions of artifacts from his extensive collection, highlights of which include Stuart’s first guitar, Hank Williams’s original handwritten manuscripts, guitars from Carl Perkins and Pops Staples, numerous costumes including Porter Wagoner’s suit and Dolly Parton’s dress, personal items from Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash, and Connie Smith, and much more. Photography by Marty’s mother, Hilda Stuart, and by Marty himself appears throughout the book, illuminating moments from the past five decades. The World of Marty Stuart examines this journey in a personal way, providing an up-close glimpse at important moments in country music and reaffirming Stuart’s dedication to preserving the genre’s rich history.
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How Sweet It Is:
A Songwriter's Reflections on Music, Motown and the mystery of the musE
BY LAMONT DOZIER with Scott B. Bomar
As part of Motown’s legendary songwriting and production team of Holland-Dozier-Holland, Lamont Dozier is responsible for such classics as “Baby I Need Your Loving,” “You Can’t Hurry Love,” “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch),” “Stop! In the Name of Love,” “Heat Wave,” “Baby Love,” “It’s the Same Old Song,” “Nowhere to Run,” “You Keep Me Hanging On,” “Reach Out I’ll Be There,” “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You),” and many more. After leaving Motown, he continued to make his mark as an influential songwriter, artist, and producer with hits such as “Give Me Just a Little More Time,” “Band of Gold,” and “Two Hearts,” a chart-topping Phil Collins single that earned the pair an Academy Award nomination and a Grammy win. Having pursued the mystery of the songwriting muse for many years, Lamont's stories are interwoven with invaluable insights and wisdom on the art and craft of songwriting that will inspire the creative spark in all of us.
"There's plenty of detail, some revelatory...maybe the best account yet of Hitsville's heyday."
- Gary Graff, The Oakland Press
"The book is as enjoyable for Dozier’s candid admissions of personal trouble and strife as it is for the stories of how his platinum-plated songbook came to be....Making How Sweet It Is all the more inviting is the caliber of the writing."
- Adam White, West Grand Blog
johnny cash
at Folsom & San Quentin:
photographs by jim marshall
Introduction by marty stuart
Carefully curated with full access to the Jim Marshall Archive, this powerful oversize volume offers the definitive view of Johnny Cash's prison concerts at Folsom in 1968 and San Quentin in 1969. Jim Marshall was the only official photographer present, and was granted unlimited access. From rehearsing with the band, to arriving off the bus outside the imposing prison walls, to shaking hands with prisoners and performing until sweat dripped down his forehead, Marshall captured the passion, authority and intimacy of Cash's legendary penitentiary performances. Johnny Cash was one of Jim Marshall's favorite subjects, something that is evident in his Folsom and San Quentin photographs. This body of work showcases some of the most arresting photographs of the country music star ever taken. Edited by Amelia Davis with an introduction by Marty Stuart and text by Scott B. Bomar.
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every night is saturday night
A country girl's journey to the rock & roll
hall of fame - BY WANDA JACKSON with Scott B. Bomar & Foreword by Elvis costello
Wanda Jackson's debut single, "You Can't Have My Love," reached the Top 10 while she was still a sixteen-year-old high school student. She hit the road after graduation, playing package shows with Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Elvis Presley, who gave Wanda his ring and asked her to be "his girl." With Presley's encouragement, the Oklahoma native began recording rock music, often releasing singles with country on one side and rock on the other during her decade-and-a-half tenure on Capitol Records. Known for her energetic stage shows and pioneering presence as a female artist, Wanda stormed the charts with a series of hit singles, including "Let's Have a Party," "Right or Wrong," and "In the Middle of a Heartache." With more than 40 albums to her credit, Wanda has proven to be an enduring and genre-defying legend of American music. In Every Night is Saturday Night, Wanda tells her own story.
“She’s influential to every modern female singer, whether they know about her or not. She broke down those walls in the beginning, when it was the hardest to do.”
- Jack White
“Wanda Jackson, an atomic fireball of a lady, could have a smash hit with just about anything.”
- Bob Dylan
The 'odessey':
the zombies in words and Images
foreword by tom petty
To mark the 50th anniversary of the recording of their classic Odessey and Oracle album, The Zombies have assembled an eclectic collection of rare and unseen photos, original artwork and personal memories that offers readers an intimate snapshot of one of the more influential bands to emerge from the UK music scene of the 1960s. The superbly illustrated book includes handwritten lyrics for 22 songs. From early hits “She’s Not There” and “Tell Her No,” through every song on Odessey and Oracle—including the hit single “Time of the Season”—and all the way up to today, each selection is accompanied by a running oral history by original band members Rod Argent, Colin Blunstone, Chris White and Hugh Grundy. Additionally, The Odessey is rich with reflections from music journalists, friends and fans, including Tom Petty, who wrote the foreword, Brian Wilson, Carlos Santana, Susanna Hoffs, Paul Weller, Graham Nash, Clive Davis, Nate Ruess of FUN and members of Cage the Elephant and Beach House.
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southbound:
an illustrated history of southern rock
foreword by doug gray
Awarded "Best Historical Research in Recorded Rock and Popular Music" in 2015 by the Association for Recorded Sound Collections.
"One of the best music-themed books of the year." - PopMatters
"a sprawling gem of a book....the best-available literary encapsulation of Southern Rock."
- Peter Cooper, The Tennessean
“Southern rock....finally gets its comprehensive Bible in Scott B. Bomar's Southbound: An Illustrated History of Southern Rock. Insanely detailed." - Houston Press
“With concise prose and an eye for important details, Bomar packs an incredible amount of information into tightly written chapters, while also tearing down many persistent and pernicious music history memes." - Record Collector magazine
”...building a case for the importance and inclusiveness of a style that sought to embrace the most admirable aspects of Southern life and culture while rejecting old bigotries."
- Randy Fox, Chapter Sixteen
The bakersfield sound:
buck owens, Merle Haggard and California country
Nestled at the southern end of California's San Joaquin Valley, the city of Bakersfield is best known for farming, oil fields, and a unique brand of country music called the "Bakersfield Sound." The term is generally used to describe a hard-edged honky tonk sensibility characterized by sharp, twanging Fender Telecaster guitars, crying pedal steel, and straight-ahead country vocals - a sound that thrived in Bakersfield clubs in the 1950s and '60s, but the music emanating from these venues was by no means homogeneous.
Issued as a companion book to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum's exhibition of the same name, The Bakersfield Sound is a full-color exploration of what social and economic factors led to this country music hotbed, as well as a look at the many stars who rose to fame with roots in Bakersfield. Country luminaries with ties to the area include Bob Willis, Leon Payne, Jean Shepherd, Dallas Frazier, Bonnie Owens, Barbara Mandrell, and Ferlin Husky. With an anchor essay by Scott B. Bomar, the book additionally features detailed profiles on Owens and Haggard by Randy Poe and Robert Price, respectively.
