Musicians in Their Own Words Series

• 2022 ASCAP Foundation Special Recognition Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Book Award in Pop Music George Harrison on George Harrison is an authoritative, chronologically arranged anthology of Harrison's most revealing and illuminating interviews, personal correspondence, and writings, spanning the years 1962 to 2001. This compendium of his words and ideas proves that point repeatedly, revealing his passion for music, his focus on spirituality, and his responsibility as a celebrity, as well as a sense of deep commitment and humor. Though known as the "Quiet Beatle," Harrison was arguably the most thoughtful and certainly the most outspoken of the famous four.

There are lots of wild stories about Led Zeppelin—some true, some false. Led Zeppelin on Led Zeppelin dishes up the facts, in the band's own words, as they saw them. It shoots down the folklore and assumptions about Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones, and John Bonham and presents the band's full history, from when Jimmy Page was playing skiffle to the day the band was honored by the Kennedy Center for their contribution to American and global culture. Any band is an amalgam of the players, but in very special cases, those players form an entity unto itself. Led Zeppelin on Led Zeppelin captures the ideas of all of the band's members at the time they created classics like “Whole Lotta Love,” “Stairway to Heaven,” and “Kashmir” but also encapsulates the idea of the band itself as it crafted the music that changed pop culture. In the process, the book offers insight into what made Led Zeppelin tick—and what made it the most popular band in the world. In a series of over fifty interviews from 1957 to 2012, many never before seen in print, this is the story of Led Zeppelin, as it happened, told by the people who knew it best—the members of the band.

Leonard Cohen, one of the most admired performers of the last half century, has had a stranger-than-fiction, roller-coaster ride of a life. Now, for the first time, he tells his story in his own words, via more than 50 interviews conducted worldwide between 1966 and 2012. In Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen—which includes a foreword by singer Suzanne Vega and eight pages of rarely seen photos—the artist talks about “Bird on the Wire,” “Hallelujah,” and his other classic songs. He candidly discusses his famous romances, his years in a Zen monastery, his ill-fated collaboration with producer Phil Spector, his long battle with depression, and much more. You'll find interviews that first appeared in the New York Times and Rolling Stone, but also material that has not previously been printed in English. A few have not been available until now in any format, including many illuminating reminiscences that contributors supplied specifically for this definitive anthology.

Fleetwood Mac was a triumph from the beginning—their first album was the UK's bestselling album of 1968. After some low points—when founder Peter Green left, some fans felt that the band continuing was sacrilege—Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks joined, and their 1977 album, Rumours, became one of history's immortals, a true classic that remained on the charts for years and in the public's affection forever. In the press, the ethereal Californian Stevie Nicks, the tormented rocker Lindsey Buckingham, the dignified English rose Christine McVie, the blunt-speaking John McVie, and the loquacious Mick Fleetwood have all regularly been astoundingly candid. This collection of interviews across the entirety of Fleetwood Mac's career features articles from such celebrated publications as Crawdaddy, New Musical Express, Circus, Creem, Mojo, Goldmine, Classic Rock, Blender, and Elle, as well as interviews that have never previously appeared in print. Here is the only place you can learn the Fleetwood Mac story from the band members' own mouths.

"As close to an autobiography as we're going to get from John Prine, Prine on Prine captures the inimitable, whimsical voice of one of our greatest songwriters . . . Nashville legend Holly Gleason knew the man and assembled this brilliant collection with a knowing eye and loving heart." —Joel Selvin, author of Fare Thee Well: The Final Chapter of the Grateful Dead's Long, Strange Trip and other books Curated by a critic who knew him across five decades, Prine on Prine distills the essence of an iconic American songwriter: unguarded, unfiltered and real. In his own words, in his own time—on the road, in the kitchen, the Library of Congress, radio shows, movie scripts, and beyond. John Prine hated giving interviews, but he said much when he talked. Embarrassed by fame, delighted by the smallest things, the first songwriter to read at the Library of Congress, and winner of the Pen Award for Literary Excellence, Prine saw the world unlike anyone else. The songs from 1971's John Prine remain spot-on takes of the human condition today, and his writing only got richer, funnier, and more incisive. The interviews in Prine on Prine trace his career evolution, his singular mind, his enduring awareness of social issues, and his acute love of life, from Studs Terkel's radio interviews from the early '70s to Mike Leonard's Today Show packages from the '80s, Cameron Crowe's early encounter to Ronni Lundy's Shuck Beans, Stack Cake cookbook, and Hot Rod magazine to No Depression's cover story, through today. Editor Holly Gleason enjoyed a longstanding relationship with Prine and his longtime co-manager, and she often traveled with him on tours in the late 1980s and represented him in the 2000s.

The life of rock's most durable troubadour in his own words Neil Young on Neil Young: Interviews and Encounters is a revealing anthology of Young's most significant, fascinating, and entertaining discussions, declarations, and dreams, chronicling fifty years of conversations, feature stories, and press conferences. With many interviews widely available for the first time—including new transcriptions and first-time translations into English—the book spans Young's words and ideas from 1967 onward: his early days with Buffalo Springfield and 1970s Harvest-fueled celebrity apex, an artistic rebellion and 1980s commercial dip, and the unexpected 1990s revival as the Godfather of Grunge through to his multi-decade victory lap as a living legend. Across the decades, Young's own words tell the story as he perpetually reinvents himself as a master of music and film, a technology pioneer and innovator, and a bold political observer and strident environmental advocate.

In a 1969 conversation with Rolling Stone editor Jann Wenner, Bob Dylan proclaimed, "I don't give interviews." But in truth, he has spoken at length with print publications large and small and with broadcast media around the world, given numerous press conferences, and even answered listeners' questions on call-in radio shows. Dylan can be as evasive and abstruse as he is witty; he can also be cranky and sarcastic. But in the right moments, he offers candid, revealing commentary about his groundbreaking music and creative process. These engrossing provide glimpses into the mind of one of the most important performers and songwriters of the last hundred years. Dylan on Dylan is an authoritative, chronologically arranged anthology of interviews, speeches, and press conferences, as well as excerpts from more than eighty additional QAs spanning Dylan's entire career—from 1961 through 2016. The majority have not been previously anthologized and some have never before appeared in print. The material comes from renowned media outlets like Rolling Stone and TV's 60 Minutes and from obscure periodicals like Minnesota Daily, a student newspaper at Dylan's alma mater. Interviewers include some of the top writers of our time, such as Jonathan Lethem, Douglas Brinkley, and Mikal Gilmore, as well as musicians like Pete Seeger and Happy Traum. Introductions put each piece in context and, in many cases, include the interviewer's reminiscences about the encounter.

The iconic life and career of the famed guitarist of the Rolling Stones is detailed in this compilation of interviews that spans the last 50 years. Featuring articles from GQ, Melody Maker, and Rolling Stone, as well as interviews that have never previously appeared in print, it charts Keith Richards’s journey from gauche, young pretender and swaggering epitome of the zeitgeist to beloved elder statesman of rock. Initially overshadowed by band mates Mick Jagger and Brian Jones, Richards gained popularity as half of the second-most important songwriting team of the 1960s, and in 1967 the drug bust at his house and his subsequent trial and imprisonment made him a household name. His interviews match his outlaw image: free of banality and euphemism, they revel in frank stories of drugs and debauchery. Yet they also reveal an unexpectedly warm, unpretentious, articulate, and honest man. This collection amply illustrates the magic and charm of Keith Richards.

Cash on Cash offers unprecedented insight into one of the most significant American cultural figures of the twentieth century. As an interviewee, Cash was an exemplary communicator to an astonishingly broad spectrum of people: always open and articulate, part friend, part spiritual authority, part flawed hero. Throughout a decades-long career, as Cash took risks, embracing new technologies, formats, and attitudes, he cleaved to a simple, core message of unvarnished truth. A comprehensive collection of Johnny Cash interviews and feature stories, some widely published and others never previously transcribed, culled from the 1950s through the early days of the new millennium, Cash on Cash charts a singular evolution. From hardscrabble Arkansas poor boy to rockabilly roustabout; international fame to drug addiction and disgrace; born again Christian to gimlet-eyed chronicler of spiritual darkness; TV and movie star to Nashville reject; redemption to loss and back again, several times. Cash's story, told in his own words, shines unfiltered light on a journey of archetypal proportions that resonates still.

Prince on Prince gets behind the controversies to tell the Prince story in his own words. Prince is among the most respected and influential entertainers of the twentieth century, breaking sexual, racial, and creative barriers throughout his almost forty years in the spotlight. He was a multitalented studio artist, a master songwriter who produced and performed almost all of his own music on yearly LPs and countless singles and videos. He was one of the most dynamic live performers ever to hit the stage, a world-class dancer, and musician who's still remembered for the best Super Bowl halftime performance in history. He fought for artists' rights, changed his name to a glyph, and took a star turn in the Oscar-winner Purple Rain. But for all this, he was a quiet and private individual, reluctant to talk about the work he felt should speak for itself. This volume offers a chronological look at some of Prince's most entertaining and revealing interviews, from 1978 and the release of his debut LP, For You, to a 2015 interview conducted only months before his untimely death at the age of fifty-seven. Prince's memoir was left incomplete, but this volume offers a view of the man as he sought to portray himself in his own words to journalists of every status throughout his career.

Miles on Miles collects the thirty most vital Miles Davis interviews. Essential reading for anyone who wants to know what Miles Davis thought about his music, life, and philosophy, Miles on Miles reveals the jazz icon as a complex and contradictory man, secretive at times but extraordinarily revealing at others. Miles was not only a musical genius, but an enigma, and nowhere else was he so compelling, exasperating, and entertaining as in his interviews, which vary from polite to outrageous, from straight-ahead to contrarian. Even his autobiography lacks the immediacy of the dialogues collected here. Many were conducted by leading journalists like Leonard Feather, Stephen Davis, Ben Sidran, Mike Zwerin, and Nat Hentoff. Others have never before seen print, are newly transcribed from radio and television shows, or appeared in long-forgotten magazines. Since Miles Davis's 1991 death, his influence has continued to grow. But until now, no book has brought back to life his inimitable voice--contemplative, defiant, elegant, uncompromising, and humorous. Miles on Miles will long remain the definitive source for anyone wanting to really encounter the legend in print.

From the moment Patti Smith burst onto the scene, chanting "Jesus died for somebody's sins, but not mine," the irreverent opening line to Horses, her 1975 debut album, the punk movement had found its dissident intellectual voice. Yet outside the recording studio—Smith has released eleven studio albums—the punk poet laureate has been perhaps just as revelatory and rhapsodic in interviews, delivering off-the-cuff jeremiads that emboldened a generation of disaffected youth and imparting hard-earned life lessons. With her characteristic blend of bohemian intellectualism, antiauthoritarian poetry, and unflagging optimism, Smith gave them hope in the transcendent power of art. In interviews, Smith is unfiltered and startlingly present, and prescient, preaching a gospel bound to shock or inspire. Each interview is part confession, part call-and-response sermon with the interviewer. And there have been some legendary interviewers: William S. Burroughs, Thurston Moore (of Sonic Youth), and novelist Jonathan Lethem. Her interview archive serves as a compelling counternarrative to the albums and books. Initially, interviewing Patti Smith was a censorship liability. Contemptuous of staid rules of decorum, no one knew what she might say, whether they were getting the romantic, swooning for Lorca and Blake, or the firebrand with no respect for an on-air seven-second delay. Patti Smith on Patti Smith is a compendium of profound and reflective moments in the life of one of the most insightful and provocative artists working today.

Offering fans an extensive look at the artist's own words throughout the past four decades, Springsteen on Springsteen brings together QAformatted articles, speeches, and features that incorporate significant interview material. No one is better qualified to talk about Springsteen than the man himself, and he's often as articulate and provocative in interviews and speeches as he is emotive onstage and in recordings. While many rock artists seem to suffer through interviews, Springsteen has welcomed them as an opportunity to speak openly, thoughtfully, and in great detail about his music and life. This volume starts with his humble beginnings in 1973 as a struggling artist and follows him up to the present, as Springsteen has achieved almost unimaginable wealth and worldwide fame. Included are feature interviews with well-known media figures, including Charlie Rose, Ted Koppel, Brian Williams, Nick Hornby, and Ed Norton. Fans will also discover hidden gems from small and international outlets, in addition to radio and TV interviews that have not previously appeared in print. This collection is a must-have for any Springsteen fan.

Judy Garland on Judy Garland is the closest we will come to experiencing and exploring the legend’s planned autobiography. Collecting and presenting the most important Garland interviews and encounters that took place between 1935 and 1969, this work opens with her first radio appearance under contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and concludes with her last known interview, one taped for Radio Denmark just months before her death. What makes this collection unique is that it places Judy in the role of storyteller. She wrote a number of essays for various publications and sat for countless print, radio, and television interviews. These and other autobiographical efforts she made are proof that Judy Garland wanted her story told in her own words. Finally, 45 years after her death, here it is.

John Lennon was a highly opinionated and controversial figure with a commanding personality and quick wit. And he made a point of living his adventurous life as openly as possible. Whether he was experimenting with LSD, Transcendental Meditation, primal therapy, macrobiotic diets, or recording techniques, the public was on board every step of the way. He spoke candidly about his intense, sometimes tumultuous relationship with Yoko Ono, his split with the Beatles, his squabbles with Paul McCartney, and just about everything else, baring his emotional ups and downs for all to see. By the time he granted his—and this book's—final interview, only hours before his death, he had become one of the most famous people on the planet and an articulate commentator on politics, human relations, and world peace. Lennon on Lennon is an authoritative, chronologically arranged anthology of some of Lennon's most illuminating interviews, spanning the years 1964 to 1980. The majority have not been previously available in print, and several of the most important have not been widely available in any format. Interspersed throughout the book are key quotes from dozens of additional QAs. Together, this material paints a revealing picture of the artist in his own words while offering a window into the cultural atmosphere of the sixties and seventies.

The Clash thought they could change the world. They never did, but they created some of the greatest rock music of all time in the attempt. Clash interviews were mesmerizing. Infused with the messianic spirit of punk, the Clash engaged with the press like no rock group before or since, treating interviews almost as addresses to the nation. Their pronouncements were welcomed but were hardly uncritically reported. The Clash's back pages are voluminous, crackle with controversy, and constitute a snapshot of a uniquely thoughtful and fractious period in modern history. Included in this compendium are the Clash's encounters with the most brilliant music writers of their time, including Lester Bangs, Nick Kent, Mikal Gilmore, Chris Salewicz, Charles Shaar Murray, Mick Farren, Kris Needs, and Lenny Kaye. Whether it be their audience with the (mainly) simpatico likes of punk fanzine Sniffin' Glue, their testy encounters with the correspondents of pious UK weeklies like New Musical Express, Melody Maker, and Sounds, or their friendlier but no less eyebrow-raising conversations with US periodicals like Creem and Rolling Stone, the Clash consistently created copy that lived up to their sobriquet "The Only Band That Matters."

Bowie on Bowie presents some of the best interviews David Bowie has granted in his near five-decade career. Each featured interview traces a new step in his unique journey, successively freezing him in time in all of his various incarnations, from a young novelty hit-maker and Ziggy Stardust to plastic soul player, 1980s sell-out, and the artistically reborn and beloved elder statesman of challenging popular music. In all of these iterations he is remarkably articulate and also preternaturally polite as almost every interviewer remarks upon his charm. The features in this book come from outlets both prestigious—Melody Maker, MOJO, New Musical Express, Q, Rolling Stone—and less well-known—the Drummer, Guitar, Ikon, Mr. Showbiz—but no matter the renown of the magazine, newspaper, or website, Bowie lets us approach the nerve center of his notoriously creative output.

The most extensive and complete portrait of Kurt Cobain’s life as it unfolded   Cobain on Cobain places the reader at the key moments of Kurt Cobain’s rollercoaster life, telling the tale of Nirvana entirely through his words and those of his bandmates as they unleashed the whirlwind that would consume them for the last half of their five-year career. This is the most comprehensive compendium of interviews with the band ever released and each interview is another knot in a thread running from just after the recording of their first album Bleach to the band’s collapse in 1994 followed shortly by Cobain’s suicide. Interviews have been selected to provide definitive coverage of the events of those five years from as close to the key moments as possible, so that the reader can experience Cobain reacting to the circumstances of each tour, each new release, each public incident, all the way to the end. Including a huge number of interviews that have never before seen print, Cobain on Cobain will long remain the definitive source for anyone searching for Kurt Cobain’s version of his own story.

The Who were a mass of contradictions. They brought intellect to rock but were the darlings of punks. They were the quintessential studio act yet were also the greatest live attraction in the world. They perfectly meshed on stage and displayed a complete lack of personal chemistry offstage. Along with great live shows and supreme audio experiences, the Who provided great copy. During the 1960s and '70s, Pete Townshend, messianic about contemporary popular music and its central importance in the lives of young people, gave sprawling interviews in which he alternately celebrated and deplored what he saw in the "scene." Several of these interviews have come to be considered classic documents of the age. Roger Daltrey, Keith Moon, and John Entwistle joined in. Even when the Who were non-operational or past their peak, their interviews continued to be compelling: changes in allegiances and social mores left the band members freer to talk about sex, drug-taking, business, and in-fighting. By collecting interviews with Who members from across fi ve decades, conducted by the greatest rock writers of their generation—Barry Miles, Jonathan Cott, Charles Shaar Murray, John Swenson, and Greil Marcus among them—The Who on The Who provides the full, fractious story of a fascinating band.