Thursday, February 17, 2011

The Girl in the Song: The True Stories Behind 50 Rock Classics by Michael Heatley & Frank Hopkinson

This little book of stories brings lots of speculation, historical facts, and performer interviews together to search out the "true" stories behind the girls/women who inspired famous songs.

It's a fascinating pick-it-up-and-put-it-down kind of read: each chapter is no more than 4 of the undersized pages. But the authors assume you know these songs and lyrics already - too rarely are lyrics quoted directly. I suppose it would have been a licensing nightmare to get the permission to do that for all the songs mentioned, but it would have been extremely helpful.

As it was, I spent a lot of time reading some, dropping the book, and then getting lost on the internet doing more research. Overall a fun book - but just a start to your education, if you're really interested in music.

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