A real time capsule...
935190
Good guitars and an amphetamine-laced rhythm section back some of the most howlingly bad, unintentionally funny hippie-era rock lyrics ever recorded. A formidable band on the English Mod scene, the Attack lacked only one thing: good songs. The posturing and puffery of their lead singer is so deliciously laughable, as he attempts to project the same sort of profundity as numerous other bands, but without a whit of the subtlety required. It's pretty funny. Good to drop into a '60s mix, or just to chuckle over in the privacy of your own home. Fits in nicely with other, better bands such as the Faces, Who, Creation, Fleur De Lys, et. al. (Axton)
2334141
If you love music, popular music, if you 'remember the '60's', ~or if you find the entire era fascinating, then you MUST see(absolutely) must see Family Band: The Cowsills Story. This is real, raw, un-varnished, un-wrapped family history OUTSIDE of the candy wrapping.
  Here you'll be invited to catch some long-sought-after glimpses of events that played-out before any of them (and most of us) had the context or perspective necessary for this conversation about them to take place HERE, in the next century. The circle of their friends and professional colleagues, the parade of luminaries and true celebrities of the recording industry, (even Hollywood, [EVEN Vaudeville]) have here their orbits that encompassed this group's incredible story. Here, you'll discover that the Cowsill's pioneering music-video 'Hair',(their last, big, solid-gold hit together), was the industry legend Carl Reiner's inspired idea. (WHO KNEW!) And with their 'Hair' flying in the face of MGM record co. execs. who hated it, they sold more than two and a half million copies after only the first radio broadcast from WLS in Chicago. THIS, folks, is what radio legend Paul Harvey meant by "..the REST of the story..".
  As with all true stories, you will have a chance to buckle-up and ride-out the bumpy parts of memory lane*.
They do not sugar-coat it. American success-stories (especially those of music and show business), are not nursery
rhymes for children. (~no matter how many of them are in it). But the music they have written and recorded since
their early days will astound you. It is magnificently inspired and proof of their love for each other. They are truly amazing musicians and their harmonies are the gold standard for every fan of the family-band.
  *There are some casualties here, as with any family. And the more you liked them as a child yourself, the
more shocked and stunned you must prepare yourself to be. We were all children once. If you loved them then, and
havn't followed or kept-up, this will hurt. The good news is (they're the Cowsills). Their music heals now.
  Try some. and buy some. It's good for ya. It's good for everybody. Love 'em then, love them now.
4661345
My copy arrived this afternoon and I can't put it down.  Rarely has a book captured the soul of a time as well as this one does.

Every page is filled with words and images that allow anyone who was personally connected with The Haight to recapture those precious days.  For those who never had a personal connection,  this book is a goldmine of information that really allows you to understand the impact that that place and that  time had on our society.  Even today.

Pretty much everyone knows that Jim Marshall was the greatest rock photographer in history.  But what is clear from this 296 page monster is the fact that he was also a first-class historian who captured the shots that allow us to place context around the iconic photos we all cherish.

Sure the photos of Jimi at Monterey, Janis, Dylan, The Beatles and the Dead (and TONS MORE)  are all here. but for me the most interesting photos are those that show us the whole scene.  The music.  The atmosphere.  Stanley Mouse.  The tension between generations.  Hippies.  Straights.  The brilliant Bill Graham.  Race relations.  Krishna devotion.

Marshall's eye captured ALL OF IT.  And it's all here.  Hundreds and hundreds of photos.

Some of my favorites...a photo of a note on a phone booth warning "don't say anything on this phone that you wouldn't say to a cop"....a picture of tourists in their cars driving through the Haight  and looking both shocked and fascinated by what they see...and a shot of Jimi playing a free concert in the Panhandle in 1967.  The look on Jimi's face as he squeezes a sound from his guitar is one for the ages (I WANT ONE!).

To be honest, this book ought to be adopted by every college in the world that has a course on the 60s.  Joel Selvin's text is deep, thoughtful, and laden with fascinating details that stay fixed in your brain as you go chapter to chapter neatly marrying the photos into the history lesson you've just absorbed.

The Marshall Estate has totally aced this book.  Kudos to everyone who made this happen.

.
4202363
I well remember reading the magazine version of this (in the weekly LOOK) when it first appeared around 1960--probably my first exposure to "alternative" history. I was fascinated. Just by changing a few key events, what we today take for granted could have turned out very differently. Kantor takes his story from the 1860s up to the Cold War present to show how seemingly minor event changes can have lasting impact. The result is compelling reading. "History" need not have turned out as it did.
1213269
[Always meant to get this lp.  Thing is, they always played it on the radio back when, so you didn't have to buy it.  (Like "Dark Side of the Moon").]
I enjoyed the lesser-known tunes as much as the familiar ones.  They were (and still are) at-home, soulful, direct -- enjoying the fullness of living, with all its discord, and writing about it. They are a time capsule of a feeling of freedom and mode of expression that doesn't seem to be in evidence much now.  They played and sang.  Moved the room.  Moved a generation.
1309341
Half documentary and half concert, I loved this trip to the past. You really get the flavor of the band when it was 1970. Later interviews with the band members give insight to what was going on.
3437933
"Dummy Days" captures the essence of a time in the early (some say "golden") days of television. This book is about the art of ventriloquism as it flourished on TV in the 1950s and about the famous ventriloquists who practiced the art -- Edgar Bergen, Senor Wences, Paul Winchell, Jimmy Nelson and Shari Lewis.
Dummy Days is well-researched, beautifully written, and well-produced. I am grateful to Kelly Asbury for doing this work. It reproduces with uncanny accuracy a time that was magic to me, a time that I remember very well; it returns me to my childhood when I was a performing ventriloquist and following these five stars closely. But more than transporting one elder fellow down memory lane, this book serves a larger purpose. Like the Foxfire books of years ago, this book captures and preserves part of a culture as it existed in its golden era, an artform that in its original format has been mostly unattended for far too long.
Most literature about the culture of the 1950s misses the mark. Asbury got it right, and he gave comprehensive coverage of the subject. This is an important book. It recalls and records important things that otherwise exist only in the memories of my generation.
Highly recommended, not only for those who remember the dummy days, but also for those who do not and are unaware of just how golden they really were.
Al Stevens
4034201
I lived some of the experiences in Chuck's book but still found it fascinating with the detail in which he recounts these and other events. Reading about the place I grew up in, rekindled a desire in me to reconnect with others of my generation and location. As of the date I write this, there are close to 700 collective souls who freely reminisce about the "good old days", when it was a simpler time to grow up without the worries of "the future". A time, sadly, that our children have missed out on but we maybe can reconstruct for our "grand kids". I highly suggest reading this book, whether or not you're from this area, or even this time for that matter because at the end you'll feel liked you lived it!
3224617
Nigel Farrell's video is fun if you like cute and quirky and if you are something of a reality t.v. show fan.  It was shot nearly 25 years ago and it's hard to know whether the villages, people and lives which he caught on film can still be found.  It's something of a slice out of an earlier era - and it must have seemed so even in 1990 to many in more urban areas of Britain.  Worth a look!
285525
Great recap and brought back lots of good memories. heres to hoping we get back to that time real soon.
2522195
Reading this book is truly a trip to the past. I am not old enough to recognize some of the older photos, but I can clearly see the changes in the locations depicted, during the past 90 years. These photos are clear proof of how much Queens has changed in the past century, changes much more drastic than the changes seen in old photos of Manhattan. Most of the photos are in good condition, clear and well captioned. A true keeper for you, or a great gift for someone who values this type of nostalgia.
2619159
These Time time capsules are a wonderful window to the past. This is the second one I have. The other is from 1923.

Just reading the Letters to the Editor column proves the old adage in my Heading.

Wish there were more editions.
3618624
For the hardcore, or history seekers, or the curious... Martha Cooper was fortunate to live in the right time and place (and insightful enough) to capture images that can and never will be possible again. thank goodness this small part of history was not lost. Love it.
1682694
This is a nostalgia trip I've shared with some female friends and family: the clothing of our sisters and sweethearts back in the late Thirties, the war years, and then the postwar college years of the late Forties.  A thoughtful viewer/reader will recognize familiar icons of his dating and courtship days (ah, those camel's hair coats, that "Circle Pin" look!).  Rahar's, Joe's, brandy alexanders, one's first pizza, memories crowd the stage!  alan n. hall
2386349
Certainly a lot of great color photos filled with memories! It was a great time to rock and roll, and a great thing to experience and survive.

John keeps up the tradition, with more short letters from people there. Great color and photos collection. A collection of history so many of us lived. Thanks. John, you did a great job.
934652
Fantastic history of Monitor, the NBC weekend radio program from 1955 to 1975.

It brought back many, many memories of weekend radio listening in the car, going up to the Huntington, WV, area from Cincinnati and back to visit grandparents and other relatives.  Saturday mornings and Sunday afternoons were when the car radio in our Mercury, Buick, or Oldsmobile wagons was tuned to WLW in Cincinnati.  I remember (and this book brought back vividly!) the Monitor announcers, the theme music, commercials of longtime sponsors, the comedians, the music, and so many other memories.  All these are interlaced with the wind in my face from the car window, the endlessly varied vistas of the beautiful Ohio River, warmth of a summer weekend, cornfields and tobacco fields, river shacks, towboats with large rafts of barges, N&W trains charging up and down the tracks along the river -- all now long gone.

If you remember Monitor, your other associated memories may be very different from mine.  However, Monitor in the background will come flooding back to you with this book, and your own happy memories with it, as you read this wonderful retrospective.
4922598
This is a comprehensive overview of the Beatles from the very beginning...full of photos and handwritten notes, school programs, and family reminises.  It follows the band through various incarnations (loved the old flyers and advertisements) and various influences. Each member has a voice, and it facinating to see each person evolve into the personalities we remember so well.  It is also a comprehensive look into the cultural changes that raced through the 60's.  Family and friends also contribute to the narritive, and it is a refreshingly honest  and uninhibited look at the band.  The eventual breakup of the band is chronicled, and it  captures the apathy and ambiguity that made the "announcement" so hard to believe, and fuled the hope the reunion was possible.  The actual book was a bit unwieldy.....not one you could cosy up on the couch with.  Don't let that discourage you..