Anatomy of 55 More Songs: The Oral History of Top Hits That Changed Rock, Pop and Soul

Following his 2016 smash hit Anatomy of a Song, acclaimed music njournalist Marc Myers collects fifty-five new oral histories of niconic songs from his popular Wall Street Journal column nn Songs that sell the most copies become hits, but some of those hits become nsomething more--iconic recordings that not only inspire a generation but also nchange the direction of music. In Anatomy of 55 More Songs, based on his ncolumn for the Wall Street Journal, music journalist and historian Marc Myers ntells the story behind fifty-five rock, pop, R&B, country, and soul-gospel hits nthrough intimate interviews with the artists who wrote and recorded them. nn Part oral history, part musical analysis, Anatomy of 55 More Songs ranges nfrom Creedence Clearwater Revival's Bad Moon Rising to Dionne Warwick's nWalk On By, The Beach Boys' Good Vibrations, and Black Sabbath's nParanoid. Bernie Taupin recalls how he wrote the lyrics to Elton John's nRocket Man; Joan Jett remembers channeling her rage against how she had nbeen unfairly labeled and treated as a female rocker into Bad Reputation; and nOzzy Osbourne, Elvis Costello, Bob Weir, Sheryl Crow, Alice Cooper, Roberta nFlack, John Mellencamp, Keith Richards, Carly Simon, and many others reveal nthe emotions and technique behind their major works. nn Through an absorbing chronological, song-by-song analysis of the most nmemorable post-war hits, Anatomy of 55 More Songs provides a sweeping look nat the evolution of pop music between 1964 and today. This book will change nhow you listen to music and evaluate the artists who create it. n nn