Cowboys and Indies: The Epic History of the Record Industry

By Gareth Murphy

COWBOYS AND INDIES is the story of the 'record men' - the mavericks and moguls who have shaped the music industry from the first sound machines of the 1850s through to today's digital streams. Men like John Hammond, who discovered Billie Holiday, Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen; Sam Phillips and Berry Gordy, founders of the Sun and Motown labels; Chris Blackwell, who brought Bob Marley and reggae music into the mainstream; Geoff Travis who built Rough Trade and launched The Smiths; or genre-busting producer Rick Rubin, who recorded Run DMC, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Johnny Cash.

Gareth Murphy has drawn on more than 100 interviews with music business legends, as well as extensive archive research, to bring us the behind-the-scenes stories of how music gets made and sold. He explains, too, how the industry undergoes regular seismic changes. We may think the digital revolution is a big deal, but in the 1920s the arrival of radio and the Wall Street Crash wiped out 95 per cent of record sales. But, as we all know, you can't stop the music ...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Serpent's Tail
• Release date: Jan 22, 2015
• ISBN: 9781782831594

Gareth Murphy

Gareth Murphy was raised in Dublin surrounded by music and the musicians his father worked with as a concert promoter. He has worked at various record companies and produced thirty electronic compilations. He now runs his own company, Atlantis Recordings. As well as composing and producing original music, he is a freelance writer and researcher for journals and think-tanks. Murphy lives in Paris with his wife and three-year-old son.

Reviews for Cowboys and Indies

[sullywriter_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Not at all definitive and more a collection of stories than a cohesive narrative but it is quite interesting and entertaining. It seems terribly self-serving that all the laudatory blurbs are from people admiringly profiled in the book.

[vgaharris · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Some interesting individual story lines on Dylan, the Beatles, etc. but sorting through the clutter to keep the record companies and the personnel straight was a chore. Reads more like a reference work than a tight fluid narrative.