Cowboys and Indies
The Epic History of the Record Industry
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Cowboys and Indies is nothing less than the first definitive history of the recording industry on both sides of the Atlantic.
From the invention of the earliest known sound-recording device in 1850s Paris to the CD crash and digital boom today, author and industry insider Gareth Murphy takes readers on an immensely entertaining and encyclopedic ride through the many cataclysmic musical, cultural, and technological changes that shaped a century and a half of the industry.
This invaluable narrative focuses especially on the game changers---the label founders, talent scouts, and legendary A&R men. Murphy highlights:
· Otto Heinemann's pioneer label Okeh, which spread blues and jazz "race" records across America
· how one man, Henry Speir, discovered nearly all the Delta blues legends (Robert Johnson, Charlie Patton, Son House, Tommy Johnson)
· Sam Phillips's seminal work with Chess and Sun Records
· John Hammond's discoveries (Billie Holiday, Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Bruce Springsteen)
· the behind-the-scenes players of the British Invasion
· Clive Davis, Ahmet Ertegun, David Geffen, and the corporate music machine
· the Machiavellian moves of punk impresario Malcolm McLaren (Sex Pistols)
· Chris Blackwell's triumphs for Island Records (Bob Marley, U2)
· Sylvia Robinson and Tom Silverman, the hip-hop explorers behind the Sugarhill Gang, Grandmaster Flash, and Afrika Bambaataa
...and much, much more. Murphy also offers a provocative look at the future through the ruminations of such vanguard figures as Martin Mills (4AD, XL Recordings, Matador, Rough Trade) and genre-busting producer Rick Rubin (Run-D.M.C., Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica, Johnny Cash).
Drawing from memoirs, archives, and more than one hundred exclusive interviews with the legends of the record industry, including the founders and CEOs of Atlantic, Chrysalis, Virgin, A&M, Sub Pop, and Sire, this book reveals the secret history behind the hit-making craft. Remarkable in scope and impressive in depth, Cowboys and Indies chronicles the pioneers who set the stylus on the most important labels and musical discoveries in history.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In his first book, freelance writer and record producer Murphy captures the ever-changing nature of the record industry as it ebbs and flows with trends, technology, and time. Beginning with the invention of the phonautograph in 1857 and tracking the evolution of recorded sound from the LPs to CDs and now MP3s, Murphy covers the most important music recordings of the past 150 years and the many companies that brought those records to the public. He lets the record execs, producers, and talent scouts tell their own stories, giving this work a personal feel and providing music lovers with firsthand accounts of how many great artists were discovered, what it is like when labels fight over bands, and the perilous nature of being a record label that is either too big or too small. Still, for every Walter Yetnikoff and David Geffen, there are countless others whose stories are less about sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll, and more about units sold. That's why Murphy is smart to balance out the business of marketing and selling music with colorful, behind-the-scenes stories about artists like Dylan, Jim Morrison, and Michael Jackson, who not only made great music but whose actions and personas are just as entertaining as their tunes. Through setting out to document the lineage of the record industry, which he's done, Murphy has as well created a history of popular music told from the inside out to give music fans and historians a new and dynamic perspective of this oft-covered topic.