Chuck Crisafulli

Critical, in-depth examination of Nirvana's entire output. There have been precious few truly revolutionary events in rock history: Elvis Presley's first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show... the release of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and the unforeseen, meteoric ascent of a band from Seattle: Nirvana. Unflaggingly faithful to its punk rock roots, Nirvana was the catalyst behind a sea of change the likes of which the music world had not seen since The Beatles spearheaded the British Invasion more than a quarter of a century before. Crisafulli tells the story behind every track on the band's albums. Why did Cobain feel moved to write 'Polly'? What is Teen Spirit? Who is Floyd the Barber? All is revealed in this book, which discusses and examines all of the band's output. Contents: The book follows Nirvana from its earliest beginnings to rock superstardom, pinpointing the genesis of each of the band's original songs, and exploring the sources from which they chose the cover songs that punctuated their records. It is the story of the most important band in what will surely stand as one of the most important times in the history of rock 'n' roll.

It is hard to believe that it is over 20 years since the news spread that rock star Kurt Cobain had taken his own life. A man with a seemingly endless musical career before him, Kurt left a lasting legacy, evidenced by the huge number of artists that even today cite Cobain and Nirvana as an influence. Nirvana was spawned in Seattle in the late 1980s, and instantly distinguished itself from the bulk of its peers by virtue of the singular passion that drove its leader. Although the band released just five albums, but the musical influence is still felt today. Nirvana: The Teen Spirit of Rock 'n' Roll celebrates the short-but-sweet course of the band and its members and discusses formation, influences, albums and the events that led to their tragic finale.

Close your eyes and picture -- just for a moment -- hell. Fire? Demons? Eternal torment? Well, yes -- that's the place, in one very hot nutshell. But that's not all there is to the forbidding world beneath us. For a few millennia now, we mortals have imagined and reimagined hell in countless ways: as a realm of damnation, as an inspiration for highest art, as a setting for the lowest of lowbrow comedy. One might conclude that for all our good intentions to enter para- dise, we can't seem to get enough vivid details of its counterpart, hell. Provocative, colorful, and damned entertaining, "Go to Hell" takes readers on a tour of the underworld that is both darkly comical and seriously informative. From the frozen hell of the Vikings to the sun-drenched Cayman Islands' town of Hell (where tourists line up to have their postcards aptly postmarked), from Dante's circles of hell to "Buffy the Vampire Slayer's" Hellmouth, "Go to Hell" embraces our evolving relationship with the sinner's final destination, revealing how we truly think of ourselves in "this" world. What's down below? Meet HEL, the hideous, half-rotting goddess of the Viking underworld. Beware the Egyptians' AM-MUT, an unsightly mix of lion, crocodile, and hippo parts, and insatiably hungry for wicked souls. Visit JIGOKU, a Buddhist realm of eight fiery hells and eight icy hells: an all-you-can-suffer hot-and-cold buffet. Step into the INFERNO for a tour of Dante's nine circles of the damned...

When George Klein was thirteen, he couldn't have known how important the new kid in class - the one with the guitar, the boy named Elvis - would become in his life. But from the first time GK (as he was nicknamed by Elvis) heard this kid sing, he knew that Elvis Presley was someone extraordinary.

The touching story of thirty years of friendship between George Klein and the King that "offers an insider's view of Presley the man as opposed to Presley the singer, actor, and icon" (Associated Press). "You capture the essence of Elvis not only in dialogue, but also in giving the reader a sense of his personality, humor, and his spirit of play."--Priscilla Presley When George Klein was an eighth grader at Humes High, he couldn't have known how important the new kid with the guitar--the boy named Elvis--would later become in his life. But from the first time GK (as he was nicknamed by Elvis) heard this kid sing, he knew that Elvis Presley was someone extraordinary. During Elvis's rise to fame and throughout the wild swirl of his remarkable life, Klein was a steady presence and one of Elvis's closest and most loyal friends until his untimely death in 1977. In Elvis: My Best Man, a heartfelt, entertaining, and long-awaited contribution to our understanding of Elvis Presley and the early days of rock 'n' roll, George Klein writes with great affection for the friend he knew about who the King of Rock 'n' Roll really was and how he acted when the stage lights were off. This fascinating chronicle of boundary-breaking and music-making through one of the most intriguing and dynamic stretches of American history overflows with insights and anecdotes from someone who was in the middle of it all. From the good times at Graceland to hanging out with Hollywood stars to butting heads with Elvis's iron-handed manager, Colonel Tom Parker, to making sure that Elvis's legacy is fittingly honored, GK was a true friend of the King and a trailblazer in the music industry in his own right.