Uncommon People

From the author of Abbey Road and Never a Dull Moment, the basis for AppleTV's 1971 documentary, come the stories of how rock icons like Pink Floyd, Bruce Springsteen, Mick Jagger, and more have survived, thrived, and remained the most powerful forces in music.<BR><BR>When Paul McCartney closed Live Aid in July of 1985, we thought he was rock’s Grand Old Man. He was forty-three years old. As the forty years since have shown, he—and many others of his generation—were just getting started.<BR> <BR> This was the time when live performance took over from records. The big names of the ’60s and ’70s exploited the Age of Spectacle that Live Aid had ushered in to enjoy the longest lap of honor in the history of humanity, continuing to go strong long after everyone else in the business had retired.<BR> <BR> This is a story without precedent, a story in which Elton John plays a royal funeral, Mick Jagger gets a knighthood, Bob Dylan picks up a Nobel Prize, The Beatles become, if anything, bigger than The Beatles, and it’s beginning to look as though all of the above will, thanks in a large part to technology, be playing in Las Vegas forever.

Der berühmteste Zebrastreifen der Welt... führt zu den Abbey Road StudiosDas ikonenhafte Covermotiv der Beatles vom Abbey Road-Album löste einen unvergleichlichen Hype aus. Jeder Musikfan musste sich von nun an auf dem kleinen Straßenabschnitt im Londoner Stadtteil Westminster fotografieren lassen, nicht zu vergessen die Red Hot Chili Peppers, die nur mit einem Socken bekleidet den Spuren der Beatles folgten.Die Abbey Road Studios haben sich während ihres beinahe einhundertjährigen Bestehens zu einem dieser wenigen magischen Orte entwickelt, in denen Künstler zu Höchstleistungen auflaufen. Pink Floyd nahmen dort The Dark Side Of The Moon auf, die Soundtracks von mehreren Stars Wars-Filmen wurden in dem Studio eingespielt, und auch für zeitgenössische Interpreten ist es die Location der ersten Wahl.David Hepworth dokumentiert die bewegte und ereignisreiche Geschichte der Studios, in der sich auch die weltweite Musikgeschichte widerspiegelt. Von Yehudi Menuhins ersten Aufnahmen über Widerstands-Lieder gegen Nazi-Deutschland bis hin zu epochalen Meisterwerken lässt er eine bislang noch nie so gründlich erforschte Ära aufleben.

From the author of Abbey Road comes the story of how enduring rock icons like Pink Floyd, Bruce Springsteen and many more have remained in the ever changing music game.<BR><BR>'A genuinely great writer, with a winning turn of phrase and dry wit' Guardian<BR>'Superlative...Crammed with eyebrow-raising statistics...A delight' Wall Street Journal<BR>___________<BR><BR>When Paul McCartney closed Live Aid in July 1985 at the grand old age of forty-three, we thought he was on the road to retirement. But as it turns out, he - and many others of his generation - were just getting started.<BR><BR>In the last four decades, the big names of the 60s and 70s have been exploiting the age of spectacle that Live Aid created to enjoy the longest lap of honour in the history of humanity, carrying on long after everyone else had given up.<BR><BR>In this brave new world, Elton John plays a royal funeral, Mick Jagger gets a knighthood, Bob Dylan picks up the Nobel Prize, the Beatles become, if anything, bigger than the Beatles and it's beginning to look as though, thanks to technology, they will all be playing Las Vegas forever.<BR>___________<BR><BR>Praise for David Hepworth<BR><BR>'Such a clever writer' Spectator<BR>'Hepworth's writing is sublime' Daily Mail<BR>'A refreshingly independent thinker' Daily Telegraph<BR>'Reads like a series of rich, fast-paced and immensely funny short stories' The Oldie<BR>'Hepworth's knowledge and understanding of rock history is prodigious' Sunday Times<BR>'The book is destined to become the go-to text on a subject we never thought we'd have to survey' Literary Review

*THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER*<BR>As seen on Apple TV - 1971: The Year That Music Changed Everything<BR><BR>The Sixties ended a year late - on New Year's Eve 1970, when Paul McCartney initiated proceedings to wind up The Beatles. Music would never be the same again.<BR><BR>The next day would see the dawning of a new era. 1971 saw the release of more monumental albums than any year before or since and the establishment of a pantheon of stars to dominate the next forty years - Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, the Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Marvin Gaye, Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Rod Stewart, the solo Beatles and more.<BR><BR>January that year fired the gun on an unrepeatable surge of creativity, technological innovation, blissful ignorance, naked ambition and outrageous good fortune. By December rock had exploded into the mainstream. <BR>How did it happen? This book tells you how. <BR><BR>It's the story of 1971, rock's golden year.

With a foreword by Paul McCartney<BR><BR>'It's semi-devotional -- a really special place' Florence Welch<BR>'There are certain things that are mythical. Abbey Road is mythical' Nile Rodgers<BR><BR>Many people will recognise the famous zebra crossing. Some visitors may have graffitied their name on its hallowed outer walls. Others might even have managed to penetrate the iron gates. But what draws in these thousands of fans here, year after year? What is it that really happens behind the doors of the most celebrated recording studio in the world?<BR><BR>It may have begun life as an affluent suburban house, but it soon became a creative hub renowned around the world as a place where great music, ground-breaking sounds and unforgettable tunes were forged - nothing less than a witness to, and a key participant in, the history of popular music itself.<BR><BR>What has been going on there for over ninety years has called for skills that are musical, creative, technical, mechanical, interpersonal, logistical, managerial, chemical and, romantics might be tempted add, close to magic.<BR><BR>This is for the people who believe in the magic.