Kirjahaku

Eric Clapton's position as the world's greatest rock guitarist is unlikely to change in our lifetime. His career over the past four decades has been closely followed by millions of fans, as a member of the influential Yardbirds, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Cream, Blind Faith, Derek and the Dominoes, and for many years as a highly successful solo artist. He has a vast catalogueue behind him. His rise to guitar hero in the 60s led to a much documented involvement with drugs. The historic Rainbow concert marked the beginning of his return. His turbulent marriage to Patti Boyd was another media favourite. Ultimately it is Clapton's music and complete mastery of the electric guitar which is his most important attribute. Unavailable for several years, Shapiro's earlier study, Slowhand, established itself as one of the classics of rock biography. Here the life is fully reappraised and brought up-to-date to cover the tragic death of Clapton's son, Conor, in 1991 and includes a complete discography and many previously unpublished photographs.

By the time Alexis Korner died, aged 55, on New Years Day 1984, he had secured himself a place in history. Dubbed "the father of British blues", he had become a mentor to generations of musicians. Out of Blues Incorporated, Korner's original band, came bands, such as the Rolling Stones, Cream, the Animals, Free and Led Zeppelin. Others to come under his influence ranged from the Beatles and Elton John to Alison Moyet and Paul Young. In writing Korner's life-story, Harry Shapiro has had the co-operation of his subject's family and estate, access to her personal papers, tapes and memorabilia, and the assistance of many of the rock stars, including Keith Richards, Mick Jagger, Bill Wyman and Pete Townshend, who benefited so much from Korner's friendship and influence.This biography recounts: Korner's early life travelling around Europe and North Africa; his settling in wartime London and pretending to be in the Free French Army while discovering jazz and blues from records stolen from Soho shops; his membership of Chris Barber's jazz band; his role in the development of skiffle; his founding, with Cyril Davies, of the Blues and Barrelhouse Club and of Blues Incorporated; his inspirational effect on younger musicians; and his immense success with his Sunday evening Radio 1 show, "Blues is Where You Hear It", which ran for 20 years. The book includes a comprehensive discography of Alexis Korner's numerous recordings. Harry Shapiro is the author of "Waiting for the Man: The Story of Drugs and Popular Music", "Slowhand: The Story of Eric Clapton", "Jimi Hendrix: Electric Gypsy", "Eric Clapton: Lost in the Blues" and "Graham Bond: The Mighty Shadow".

In July 1920, when the first Dangerous Drugs Act was passed, the UK drug scene was limited to small groups of Soho night people smoking opium and sniffing coke, and some middle- and upper-class people (mainly women) around the country quietly getting private morphine prescriptions from their GP. Now, more than a century on, we have hundreds of thousands of people using a whole smorgasbord of different drugs. How did that happen? The nineteenth century saw scientific developments whose unintended consequences laid the foundations for the modern explosion of recreational and chronic drug use, which has in turn sparked a worldwide effort to stop it. At first encouraged by the commercial opportunities afforded by widespread ‘cures’ – many consisting of little more than heroin or cocaine – by the twentieth century a moral crusade had gathered force to curb this new social ill. In truth, although the dangers of drug use were very real, the origins of the war against drugs stemmed from wider fears in society. In this new book, the culmination of a lifetime of research and writing on the topic, Harry Shapiro isolates the different elements behind the war on drugs to present an issue reaching boiling point. Using a range of interviews, documentation, private papers, government archives and studies from the Institute for the Study of Drug Dependence, Shapiro synthesises a tale of crime, money, politics and exploitation bigger than any country.

In July 1920, when the first Dangerous Drugs Act was passed, the UK drug scene was limited to small groups of Soho night people smoking opium and sniffing coke, and some middle- and upper-class people (mainly women) around the country quietly getting private morphine prescriptions from their GP. Now, exactly 100 years on, we have hundreds of thousands of people using a whole smorgasbord of different drugs. How did that happen? The nineteenth century saw scientific developments whose unintended consequences laid the foundations for the modern explosion of recreational and chronic drug use, which has in turn sparked a worldwide effort to stop it. At first encouraged by the commercial opportunities afforded by widespread ‘cures’ – many consisting of little more than heroin or cocaine – by the twentieth century a moral crusade had gathered force to curb this new social ill. In truth, although the dangers of drug use were very real, the origins of the war against drugs stemmed from wider fears in society. In this new book, the culmination of a lifetime of research and writing on the topic, Harry Shapiro isolates the different elements behind the war on drugs to present an issue reaching boiling point. Using a range of interviews, documentation, private papers, government archives and studies from the Institute for the Study of Drug Dependence, Shapiro synthesises a tale of crime, money, politics and exploitation bigger than any country.

Gary Moore delighted entire generations with his passionate guitar playing, from the driving rock of Thin Lizzy in the 1970s to his explorations in subsequent decades of jazz fusion, heavy metal, hard rock, blues rock, and more. Throughout that time, he could be seen on the world s biggest stages, yet the real Gary Moore was always hidden in plain sight, giving little away. Now, however, through extensive and revealing interviews with family members, friends, and fellow musicians, acclaimed rock biographer Harry Shapiro is able to take readers right to the heart of Gary s life and career. Despite his early death in 2011, Moore still has legions of devoted fans across the world who will be enthralled by this unique insight into the life of a guitar genius who did it his way and whose music lives on. Beginning with Gary as a teenage guitar prodigy in war-torn Ireland and continuing through the many highs and lows of more than forty years in rock, Shapiro paints an intimate portrait of a musician widely hailed as one of the greatest Irish bluesmen of all time.