Book Description
Bassist James Jamerson was the embodiment of the Motown spirit and groove - the invisible entity whose playing inspired thousands. His tumultuous life and musical brilliance are explored in depth through hundreds of interviews, 49 transcribed musical scores, two hours of recorded all-star performances, and more than 50 rarely seen photos in this stellar tribute to behind-the-scenes Motown. Features a 120-minute CD! Allan Slutsky's 2002 documentary of the same name is the winner of the New York Film Critics "Best Documentary of the Year" award!
Customer Reviews:
Motown .......2007-08-13
My husband is love with this bass gautairist, and love this book and DVD combo.
An absolute must for any aspiring bassist.......2007-08-01
First off, this book does an excellent job describing his life and sounds, from "he began playing a double bass" to "he would have the bass all the way up, and the treble half way." This book knows you want to sound like Jamerson, and it tells you just how to do that. What makes the book invaluable are the transcriptions. 49 of Jamerson's songs transcribed for you to play, right there and be able to get the idea of what he was thinking and trying to give when he wrote the basslines.
A book for any bassist.
Amazing!!! It's ALL that!!.......2007-05-04
Thorough, well-researched biography of James Jamerson - the man who changed how musicians view the bass. What an amazing life and a tragic end for a musician of immense talent.
Warning - the section of tunes in the back of this book will make you want to burn your bass!! He was THAT good.
Can't really write more - gotta go practice.... That's how much this book will inspire you to go play. A MUST HAVE for your bass library.
Play bass? Buy this!.......2007-03-20
Amazing learning tool filled with lots of great info and transcriptions.
Great for bass players and motown fans.......2007-01-05
The book arrived in excellent condition and in a timely fashion.
Book Description
The six works in this volume--"A Lost Lady," "The Professor's House," "Death Comes for the Archbishop," "Shadows on the Rock," "Lucy Gayheart," and "Sapphira and the Slave Girl"--are at once intensely lyrical and highly controlled. Their fascination with the American Southwest, early Canada and Catholicism reflects the older Cather's search for alternatives to the grasping civilization she felt was increasingly replacing the spirit of the early pioneers. validation-form-field.keypoints: The Library of America is an award-winning, nonprofit program dedicated to publishing America's best and most significant writing in handsome, enduring volumes, featuring authoritative texts. Hailed as "the most important book-publishing project in the nation's history" (Newsweek), this acclaimed series is restoring America's literary heritage in "the finest-looking, longest-lasting edition ever made" (New Republic).
Customer Reviews:
Her talent is breath-taking.......2006-06-21
Somehow, though I love to read,I had missed Willa Cather. I had already read and loved Jane Austen but it was not until I read "My Antonia" that I realized what I had missed all of these years. Willa Cather is truly a genius of the written word. To call her writing 'good' or her stories 'enjoyable' is to understate her talent. Her writing is beautiful though the stories are simple. Each place she writes about makes one believe that she lived there all her life. Her book "Saphira and the Slave Girl" would make you think she had lived there and in that time. Many of her stories are out on the prairie and seem to glow with the golden light from the sun on the fields of grain. Her characterizations are simple but profound and she often throws in a dramatic tale told by a character. And yes, this physical book is also beautiful and a joy to read. It makes one wonder about ever reading a cheap paperback again.
My Antonia.......2001-09-02
This book was very interesting had a good theme and plot.
It kept the reader on edge throughout the entire book. I would recommend it to everyone.
My Antonia.......2001-09-02
This book was very interesting had a good theme and plot.
It kept the reader on edge throughout the entire book. I would
recommend it to everyone.
Some of Cather's finest work.......2000-10-03
Like all the volumes in the Library of America series, this book is beautiful and made to last. Some readers may be bothered by the thin paper, but it allows so much to be packed into a handy book. As the title states, this is a collection from Cather's early work (her first "first novel," _Alexander's Bridge_, is missing). _The Troll Garden_ is a collection of Cather's early short stories, most in the manner of H. James and have a fin-de-siecle tone. "The Sculptor's Funeral," which depicts a town's inability to recognize achievement in any form but monetary, is perhaps the best. That and two other stories were revised by Cather for _Youth and the Bright Medusa_ (1920 an available in LoA 57 _Stories, Poems, and Other Writings_). Reading the versions side-by-side, one can achieve insight into Cather's growing abilities as a writer. However, the most rewarding read in this volume is _My Antonia_. Cather's first masterpiece depicts the lives of Jim Burden and Antonia Shimerda from their arrival in Black Hawk, Nebraska to twenty years after Jim leaves Black Hawk for a life in the East. Antonia remains in Nebraska, becomes a maid in town, and marries (twice). The theme of the book, from Jim's perspective, is aptly captured in the epigraph: "optima dies . . . prima fugit" (from Virgil's _Aeneid_). Again like all volumes in the LoA, a chronology of the authors life, a "Note on the Texts" and a few notes, containing information on allusions and translations of foreign words and phrases appear at the end of the volume.
Absolutely perfect fiction.......1999-05-21
One of my all-time favorite books. Attractively packaged on acid-free paper. Very classic looking. And the fiction is excellent! Her stories about the Plains, the Southwest, Chicago, and Quebec are perfect works of art. I especially liked "Tom Outland's Story" contained within "The Professor's House."
Product Description
The softcover edition of the top-seller that for the first time explored all aspects of the ABBA members lives and careers. Amazingly detailed, it examines the group members family backgrounds, the pre-ABBA days, the legendary Seventies, the marriages, the divorces, the business ups and downs and the post-ABBA solo careers.
Customer Reviews:
Maybe The Author Is Correct.......2007-06-27
I almost laughed when the read the parts about the melancholy nature of Swedes but as I'm in the process of reading a Garbo biography, maybe the author's point is correct - blast me if you want and call me un-PC, etc. but maybe it's the Swedish way. It was a joy to read this book and learn some of how they song crafted, and the trials and tribulations they went through in the throes of stardom - the opening chapters on each member were a delight, too, and I'm glad Palm didn't skimp on their formulative era either - I was especially surprised to read about the scorn and negativity ABBA felt from their own country, as if the whole nation had decided collectively that they weren't "cool," taking their cues from the country's music press. A must for ABBA fans or even anyone who has a mild interest in them.
Bright Lights Dark Shadows: The Real Story of Abba.......2007-05-19
It's fun to know the background of all of the members of ABBA, and to find out what happened to them after the group disbanded.
An ABBA Fanatic.......2007-04-01
I very highly recommend this book for those who are interested
not only in the public but private sides of A,B,B, and A. I was especially interested in tracing the paths each member took to
finally arrive at their music we love.
I also learned what a difficult business selling music was and is,
as well as something about Sweden and her people. Very enjoyable
reading.
ABBA story.......2007-01-31
The book is very well written. It is the detail description of somehow mysterious pop group, which is placed just after Elvis and Beatles, as far as the number of sold records is concerned.
You will not find here something completely unexpected. Insteed, you will find a lot of details which are not easly available.
So, for anybody who is a real fan of ABBA - this book is a must !
An Amazing Account of ABBA and Sweden.......2007-01-12
This book is not a quick read, but if you love ABBA it is more than worth the time. Carl Magnus Palm did an amazing job of researching the members of ABBA and in painting a vivid picture of each member as an individual. I also learned a lot about the history of Sweden, the evolution of the music business in Sweden, and about the music business in general. It is amazing how different our imagination of what ABBA's life was like is from the truth. I appreciate the time he took to pull this book together and help me really understand the band. They really went through a lot to bring their music to us, and for that I will be eternally greatful!!
Average customer rating:
- Fabulous Story by the Great Willa Cather
- Charming and Moving
- Wonderfully evocative
- Wonderfully evocative
- Epic story of life in cold Canada
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Shadows on the Rock (Vintage Classics)
Willa Cather
Manufacturer: Vintage
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Death Comes for the Archbishop (Vintage Classics)
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My Mortal Enemy (Vintage Classics)
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One of Ours
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Lucy Gayheart (Vintage Classics)
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A Lost Lady (Vintage Classics)
ASIN: 0679764046
Release Date: 1995-09-26 |
Customer Reviews:
Fabulous Story by the Great Willa Cather.......2004-06-16
This book is like a wonderful trip back in time with endearing characters and the backdrop of old Quebec as it's setting. A central character named "Cecile" introduces us to many interesting people like poor Blinker who is sort of a Hunchback of Notre Dame type but who is really gentle and kind. And then there is Jacques whose mother is sort of the village harlot but he is full of love and wonder and is a great companion for Cecile.This book will inspire you to travel to Quebec City which is one of my favorite places to visit. The architecture, the culture of the French-Canadians is a real delight.
Charming and Moving.......2002-03-13
I can but echo the other favorable reviews already here: this book is one of the most magical and delightful I know of. The society and civilization of Quebec in 1697 are so remote from our own that this story might as well be classified as fantasy, and it makes us entirely absorbed in the life and times of the people in the city. The story is told in the 3rd person and the central character is Cecile Auclair, a girl of 12, who lives with her widowed father, the town pharmacist.
I can well understand why some younger readers do not like it. It does indeed use some "French words," and there is not a lot of "action." Older readers will not mind this.
I was given this book in 1967. It was the senior Religion prize at my Jesuit high school. Readers should be aware that some appreciation for the viewpoints and beliefs of the Catholic Church, as it was in 1700, will help in savoring this book.
Wonderfully evocative.......2000-12-21
I have never been to Quebec city, but I feel like have because of this book. Reading the book I felt like I lived there. I knew what was around each corner and what was down the hill. It was years ago and I don't recall the story very well any more. But I still know the feel of the streets. A wonderful sense of place. This is one of the few books that has most stayed with me. I'll have to re-read it.
Probably, the people who found it boring had to read it for a class. That is a real problem. Even with a fine enthusiastic teacher, if you're forced to read a book, which you did not choose at that time, you are apt to find it boring. This is in fact a wonderful book.
Wonderfully evocative.......2000-12-21
I have never been to Quebec city, but I feel like have because of this book. Reading the book I felt like I lived there. I knew what was around each corner and what was down the hill. It was years ago and I don't recall the story very well any more. But I still know the feel of the streets. A wonderful sense of place. This is one of the few books that has most stayed with me. I'll have to re-read it.
Probably, the people who found it boring had to read it for a class. That is a real problem. Even with a fine enthusiastic teacher, if you're forced to read a book, which you did not choose at that time, you are apt to find it boring. This is in fact a wonderful book.
Epic story of life in cold Canada.......2000-11-28
If you like to read about the past... before microwaves, blow dryers, cable TV, etc. and want to feel "REAL" life... this book is for you. If you like to read about how our ancestors trudged thru hardships and challenges to give us our comfy lives today... this is for you. If you want action packed adventure with a twisting plot and a climactic ending... don't buy this book.
Book Description
Joni Mitchell is an icon of sixties rock n' roll and has long been regarded as the best female singer/songwriter of her generation. Beginning as a folk singer in her native Canada in the early 1960s, she was discovered by the Byrds David Crosby and threw herself into New Yorks bohemian scene. In the late 1960s and 1970s she enjoyed international hits including Chelsea Morningand Big Yellow Taxi, and has recorded several critically acclaimed albums including the landmark Blue and the jazz-influenced The Hissing of Summer Lawns. During the 1990s she has continued to create adventurous and highly-regarded music, while also turning her hand to the visual arts. Her idiosyncratic paintings and photography have been well received, and she regularly exhibits in the USA and Canada. Shadows and Light The Definitive Biography charts the life and loves of this fascinationg and complex woman, whose career has spanned over 30 years and defied fashion and genre. The story is told with an unrivalled degree of access, including first-person interviews with many of those closest to her, including her family, friends and musical collaborators.nbsp; The first in-depth biography of Joni Mitchell Reveals the remarkable story of the life and loves of this complex and fascinating artist.
Average customer rating:
- yet again...good
- A lot of heart for a little mystery
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Grave Shadows (Red Rock Mysteries)
Jerry B. Jenkins , and
Chris Fabry
Manufacturer: Tyndale Kids
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ASIN: 1414301448 |
Book Description
Bryce and Ashley Timberline are normal 13-year-old twins, except for one thing--they discover action-packed mystery wherever they go. Whether it's searching for a missing writer or fearing for their lives at the bottom of a canyon, Bryce and Ashley never lose their taste for adventure. Wanting to get to the bottom of any mystery, these twins find themselves on a nonstop search for the truth.
Customer Reviews:
yet again...good.......2006-02-22
I read this book a while ago, but I still remember how good it was. Though you can easily read it in two days or less, it is more of a novel than part of a mystery series. It's good!!!! Read it!!!!
A lot of heart for a little mystery.......2006-02-09
GRAVE SHADOWS is book #5 in the Red Rocks Mystery Series put out by Jerry B. Jenkins and Chris Fabry, both Christian kid's fiction heavyweights. Installment five follows more the adventures of Bryce and Ashley Timberline, twins living in Colorado with their mom, brother, step-sister, and step-dad. And everywhere they turn, it seems like another mystery is poking up, itching to be solved.
This time around, Bryce's best friend Jeff is dying of cancer. While Jeff and Bryce attempt a 200-mile bike ride for cancer research, Jeff's huge collection of sports memorabilia and autographed items slowly goes missing. Jeff's parents ask the Timberlines to help solve the mystery, and at the same time, Ashley's friend Hayley's cousin goes missing as well. Ashley's working double-time to solve both mysteries, and Bryce is pedaling double time to keep up with the rest of the pack of bikers.
GRAVE SHADOWS was well-plotted, yet a little disappointing when one of the mysteries is solved. Points are also somewhat sad, especially in scenes surrounding Jeff and Bryce. I didn't find this book to be quite as exciting as the sixth installment, PHANTOM WRITER, but nevertheless, #5 is fun and VERY QUICKLY read. Another great book for the shelf.
Average customer rating:
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Night Beat a Shadow History of Rock
Mikal Gilmore
Manufacturer: Pan Books Ltd
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ASIN: 0330368907 |
Book Description
At an event honoring Daisy Bates as 1990's Distinguished Citizen then-governor Bill Clinton called her "the most distinguished Arkansas citizen of all time." Her classic account of the 1957 Little Rock School Crisis, The Long Shadow of Little Rock, couldn't be found on most bookstore shelves in 1962 and was banned throughout the South. In 1988, after the University of Arkansas Press reprinted it, it won an American Book Award.
On September 3, 1957, Gov. Orval Faubus called out the National Guard to surround all-white Central High School and prevent the entry of nine black students, challenging the Supreme Court's 1954 order to integrate all public schools. On September 25, Daisy Bates, an official of the NAACP in Arkansas, led the nine children into the school with the help of federal troops sent by President Eisenhower-the first time in eighty-one years that a president had dispatched troops to the South to protect the constitutional rights of black Americans. This new edition of Bates's own story about these historic events is being issued to coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of the Little Rock School crisis in 2007.
Customer Reviews:
a great work of the civil rights era.......2002-11-03
Daisy Bates work is a very important document from the era of civil rights. Although it is not an actual account of one of the nine students who integrated Central High, it is very close. Bates was right there directing the operation, making sure the students were protected, and made sure that the children were encouraged to go ahead with their duty. I don't think I would have been able to send those kids in to that school, with all those hateful students. I hope Arkansas and the citizens of Little Rock apologize every day for what they did to those nine children.
reap the bitterness of despair........2002-06-18
THE LONG SHADOW OF LITTLE ROCK is an interesting book. The story of Daisy Bates, civil rights activist, newspaper writer, officer in the NAACP, is a story of hate and bitterness and constant battling against the whites in her state of Arkansas. It is supposedly the story of the intergration of Central High School in 1957 by 9 black youths under the sponsorship and "guidance" of Mrs Bates and the NAACP yet it more often reads as a chronicle of Mrs. Bates's successes and failures and her importance in the intergration. It is a one-sided view of an important occurance in the civil rights battle.
The reader must always keep in mind that the book was first published in 1962 (there is a preface by Eleanor Roosevelt) as the civil rights movement began taking on a more violent tinge. If you read it knowing the time period it was written in and the circumstances in the country and in the civil rights movement you can get through the pervasive hate and bitterness. Even Mrs. Roosevelt, herself concerned with the civil rights issue, comments on the bitterness of the volume.
It would be interesting to read Melba Beals WARRIORS DON'T CRY in conjunction with this book - because perhaps then the real truth of the Little Rock experience would be known. Beals did not care for Mrs. Bates and her experiences at Little Rock are covered in a very brief paragraph in Bates' book while other students, such as Minnijean Brown, enjoy pages of coverage. It makes you wonder whether Beals's story is true or a conglomeration of all the acts committed against the other students and if Mrs. Bates truly was concerned for the children at Little Rock or the press coverage.
A good read but one that must be read with the knowledge of the times, the attitude of the times and an open heart. Mrs. Bates recently died - and her book is an important read in the study of civil rights despite the anger, hate and bitterness of the writing.
Great Account.......2000-12-08
Daisy Bates was an integral figure in the integration of Little Rock Central High School. As president of the State Conference of NAACP branches, she was very active in the fight for black rights. Hers is an eloquent account of a highly volatile situation. She effectively compares her views with other accounts of people that were there, and the writing is very fluid and moving.
blah.......1999-02-09
bla
Book Description
Elvis Costello is undoubtedly one of the most important and challenging musicians of the last thirty years. Complicated Shadows paints a detailed portrait of an intensely private, complex, and creatively restless individual. It draws on a wealth of new research, including exclusive interviews with people from all stages of Costello's life and career: classmates, friends, members of his early bands, former lovers, members of the Attractions, producers, and various collaborators. Complicated Shadows reveals the circumstances surrounding his marriages to ex-Pogues bassist Cait O'Riordan and jazz singer Diana Krall, and the bitter breakup of his long-term backing band, the Attractions. Costello's "coiled tight" personality and penchant for outrageous candor set the tone for a frenetic, and aesthetically inventive, independent band. Their independence is epitomized by their infamous 1977 Saturday Night Live appearance (replacing the Sex Pistols, who dropped out) when Costello cut short the scheduled song, "Less Than Zero," then directed the band to play the as-of-yet unreleased "Radio Radio." Costello didn't appear on live U.S. television again until the 1980s. Complicated Shadows contains a full examination and analysis of the entirety of Costello's vast and varied musical output, both in the studio and on the stage.
Customer Reviews:
Very Happy !!.......2007-01-19
This arrived on time and in great condition. Recommend the seller. Great book too.
Don't Bother.......2006-07-16
I have never bothered to write a review.
That's how bad this book is.
This is NOT a biography. It consists almost entirely of setlists and credits put in prose form.
There is almost no insight into either the man or his songs.
Obviously, Elvis and his friends and family generally refused to cooperate with the writing of this book. So, I understand the author was hard-pressed to provide any real details. What he does is simply organize various material from OTHER sources (magzine reviews, interviews, etc.) which makes for really not much.
I'm not joking. The book consists almost entirely of what songs were played at what shows and who played what on recordings.
B-O-R-I-N-G.
Searching for the Man out of Time.......2005-11-02
I can think of few tasks more daunting than deconstructing Elvis Costello. While Elvis has autobiographed his own musical journey via extensive CD reissue liner notes, he and those closest too him have remained respectfully tight-lipped with regard to his personal life. Perhaps that's just as well. I've always felt that the bloodlines between personal drama and artistic inspiration are more intriguing when left untelegraphed. Still, when it comes to a man who's written some of the most self-depricating lyrics ever conjoined to a pop melody, a bit of curiousity must be afforded.
In this particular book, Graeme Thomson does a commendable job of extracting new insights from several sources, including Flip City-era collaborators and post-Attraction session men like the mighty Marc Ribot. The juicy tidbits come, predictably, from Bebe Buell; rock n' roll's all-time kiss n' tell groupie, as well as Costello arch-nemisis and former Attraction Bruce Thomas. We learn how the roots of self-opportunism formed early in Mr. McManus, via a lemonade commercial, and how a painful string of incidents in the mid-80s led to his embittered estrangement from Ms. Buell, his first wife Mary, and the Attractions. More sympathetic material arrives in later chapters, which detail his widening musical interests and his penchant for unabashed risk-taking in both studio and concert. The overall portrait is of an artist who seeks nothing less than the freedom to express the varied and shifting strains of his musical ambitions. When denied that freedom, he can be petulant and meglomaniacal. When granted it, he is capable of masterwork.
THE DEFINITIVE ELVIS COSTELLO BIOGRAPHY.......2005-10-03
SAY WHAT YOU WILL ABOUT THE BOOK...IT NOT BEING THIS OR THAT BUT IT'S STILL THE MOST DEFINITIVE BIO ON ELVIS...IT GIVES AT LEAST SOME BACKGROUND ON EACH PERIOD...I DON'T FEEL IT'S OVERTLY REVEALING...OR ANY AMAZING REVEALATIONS REVEALED HERE BUT IF YOUR INTERESTED IN THE LIFE OF ELVIS THIS IS THE BOOK!!
More Aptly Titled: the Music of Elvis Costello.......2005-08-27
Elvis is my all-time favourite musician and I really was looking for a book about the life of Elvis. Complicated Shadows is a thorough treatment of the music of Elvis Costello, delving into his upbringing in a musical household through to about 2004. In all it is a scholarly treatise. Like many scholarly endeavors, it comes across as dry in spots.
I don't want to shoot the messenger, but unfortunately Graeme Thomson had the auspicious and daunting task of writing about a very reclusive and private person. As such, almost (if not) all parts of the book are second-hand accounts of the man, focusing mostly on his music rather than himself since he remains to this day a shadowy subject. I did not get the sense that Mr. Thomson was ever able to have any sort of direct meaningful conversation with Elvis.
If you are interested in knowing the exact order of songs played at a particular venue in 1987, you are in for a treat. As for me, I tired of the musical critique, setlists, and comparisons to other songs (and especially the overuse of the word "pastiche") and was hoping to learn more about the person. Graeme Thomson is obviously a big Elvis fan, but even he was not able to penetrate the layers of veils around his life to delve more into personal matters. It's like trying to learn of someone solely based on their works rather than directly talking and interviewing the person.
I was glad I got the book from a library as I would have felt bad paying for it. As I read the last words and finished the book, I felt I had learned just a bit more of the man, but he really does remain in the shadows.
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- Steve McQueen The Last Mile
- The Adventures of Tintin: The Calculus Affair / The Red Sea Sharks / Tintin in Tibet (3 Complete Adventures in 1 Volume, Vol. 6)
- The Complete Anne of Green Gables Boxed Set (Anne of Green Gables, Anne of Avonlea, Anne of the Island, Anne of Windy Poplars, Anne's House of Dreams, ... Rainbow Valley, Rilla of Ingleside)
- The Dark Side of the Light Chasers
- The Devil's Highway: A True Story
- The Drifting Classroom, Volume 5
- The Emerging Markets Century: How a New Breed of World-Class Companies Is Overtaking the World
- The Good Husband of Zebra Drive (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency 8)
- The Good Husband of Zebra Drive (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency 8)
- The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (Signet Classics)
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Recommended Books
- The Patient Who Cured His Therapist: And Other Stories of Unconventional Therapy
- Tailgating, Sacks, and Salary Caps: How the NFL Became the Most Successful Sports League in History
- Meetings with the Archangel: A Comedy of the Spirit
- Nothing But the Truth: An Anthology of Native American Literature
- Pink Panther: The Ultimate Guide to the Coolest Cat in Town!
- Quantum Kinetics in Transport and Optics of Semiconductors
- Shadows in the Forest: Japan and the Politics of Timber in Southeast Asia
- The Tutankhamun Prophecies: The Sacred Secret of the Maya, Egyptians, and Freemasons
- Human Development Report 2004: Cultural Liberty in Today's Diverse World
- Yevreyskaya Autonomous Oblast Investment & Business Guide
The Funkmasters-the Great James Brown Rhythm Sections
Standing In The Shadows of Motown
What Duck Done
Standing in the Shadows of Motown: Deluxe Edition
Building Walking Bass Lines
