Amazon.com: 1001 Songs: The Great Songs of All Time and the Artists, Stories and Secrets Behind Them: Toby Creswell: Books

Product Description

The fascinating stories behind more than a thousand best-loved songs from the last 50 years are explored in this entertaining collection. Intriguing background and biographical information on each song and its artist — from Elvis and Fatboy Slim to Leonard Cohen and Pulp — is included alongside more than 400 rare, full-color photographs of the musicians. Keeping in line with the way that iPods and other portable mp3 players have changed the way people listen to music — with personalized playlists and mixes just a few clicks away — this collection places more emphasis on specific songs than entire albums. The eclectic mix of profiled songs are randomly ordered, similar to a playlist, widening listeners' horizons while educating them on a variety of styles and artists.

About the Author

Toby Creswell wrote his first article in 1972. Since then, he has written extensively on music and popular culture and his work has appeared in numerous Australian and overseas publications. In 1985 he was appointed editor of Rolling Stone Australia, forming a partnership in 1987 which continued to publish the magazine until 1992. After Rolling Stone he co-founded the publisher Terraplane, which launched Juice magazine as well as a variety of other titles including Monument, Australian Stylez and HQ.

He is the author of Too Much Ain't Enough (a biography of Jimmy Barnes), The Real Thing (a history of Australian music co-authored with Martin Fabinyi), and Love Is In The Air (a history of Australian pop music written to coincide with the ABC TV series of the same name). He lives in Australia.

Product Details

Paperback: 880 pages
Publisher: Da Capo Press; 1 edition (August 31, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1560259159
ISBN-13: 978-1560259152
Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.7 x 1.9 inches
Shipping Weight: 3.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #263,953 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Inside This Book (learn more)

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
grunge revolution, idiot wind, fifth album, folk boom, key track, first solo album, breakthrough album, regional hit

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Bob Dylan, Rolling Stones, Los Angeles, John Lennon, Neil Young, Elvis Presley, Lou Reed, Velvet Underground, Warner Bros, David Bowie, Johnny Cash, New Orleans, Keith Richards, George Harrison, Crazy Horse, Mick Jagger, James Brown, Eric Clapton, Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, Miles Davis, Chuck Berry, Led Zeppelin, Van Morrison

New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats

Books on Related Topics (learn more)

The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll by Holly George-Warren

Discusses:

American Popular Music by Larry Starr

Discusses:

The Billboard Illustrated Encyclopedia of Music by Paul du Noyer

Discusses:

Eight Miles High by Richie Unterberger

Discusses:

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	71% buy the item featured on this page: 1001 Songs: The Great Songs of All Time and the Artists, Stories and Secrets Behind Them 3.7 out of 5 stars (7) $26.95
	11% buy Blinded by the Lyrics 4.5 out of 5 stars (13) $10.36
	8% buy 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die 3.5 out of 5 stars (43) $23.07
	6% buy 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die (1,000 Before You Die) 4.1 out of 5 stars (70) $6.30

Explore similar items

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

(What's this?)

Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.

america(1)

australia(1)

music history(1)

reviews(1)

trivia(1)

See all 6 tags...

Help others find this product — tag it for Amazon search

No one has tagged this product for Amazon search yet. Why not be the first to suggest a search for which it should appear?

Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more

Customer Reviews

7 Reviews

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

Average Customer Review

3.7 out of 5 stars (7 customer reviews)

Share your thoughts with other customers:

Create your own review

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Eye- and ear-opening., January 28, 2007

By	X.J.L.: bookseller, music lover (RI) - See all my reviews

In the iPod era, it seems like everybody and their mother has a book out about "essential playlists," as if you can condense a band like the Beatles into 20 randomized gems. Interesting though books like this are, none are worth owning any more than one should buy a tracklist for a compilation CD. So why should this massive title be any different?

The answer is simple. In its size lies content... Creswell says something about each song. It's more like a book of brief stories, as opposed to the bound grocery lists similar titles offer... you get recommendations and reasons why. See, this book is like talking to your friend about music... he'll tell you he's just discovered Portishead, you'll share that you've lately been really into Neil Young's latest, and perhaps after you'll go home and check out what the other was hyping.

There is plenty of hyping going on in here, too, with 1001 tracks waiting for you to discover them. Neither the songs nor the artists are all the same old standards... you'll find, for example, Pearl Jam's "Alive," but I was all the more pleased to find a young woman named Thea Gilmore listed within... a name which might be more well known in England, but is not as well known here in the US. If you're looking for the Great American Songbook, you'll be disappointed. Of course, if you're looking for songs that classic, that well known, what more new can be written? The title states that these are great songs. This is, of course, debateable, but what is not debateable is that these are not necessarily the greatest. This book isn't meant to be a top 1001 of all songdom... it is meant to simply be 1001 songs that the author feels are truly great. I'd recommend this book to any avid music fan, anyone who enjoys learning about music they didn't know before, and anyone open to hearing that which may not be familiar... that is the niche it serves. If you need a countdown, look elsewhere, and if you can't look past the classics, Michael Buble will have a new CD soon enough.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One star?, November 1, 2006

A Kid's Review

I love this book. I rate it five stars because it tells the stories behind all those great songs. It's answered a lot of questions I've had. I know I'm not one to judge a book that has mostly oldies- I'm only twelve years old- but it's a great book and I recommend it to music experts and newcomers alike.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining, enjoyable off-beat, May 21, 2008

By	Jazzy Jake "jazzyjake" (Severna Park, Maryland United States) - See all my reviews

[I tried to enter a list of the 1001 songs but couldn't.]

It is what it is: a list of 1001 Songs that the author felt like writing about. The subtitle "The Great Songs Of All Time" is rather dubious, and unfortunate. To be fair, Mr. Creswell admits his prejudices openly in the introduction.

I found his commentaries on the songs to be an enjoyable read and recommend the book based on that alone. As mentioned in another review here, he occasionally has a fact wrong. I have to admit that my tastes and his differ significantly and that quite a number of the songs here have me shaking my head (Brian Eno's "1/1" ??) or hitting the skip button (Stooges' "L.A. Blues"). I've managed to stream most of them from a music service.

Mr. Creswell largely eschews the monster hits, though he strays from this quite often to include the likes of "Satisfaction", "Ticket To Ride", and "Like A Rolling Stone". I actually quite enjoyed the off-the-beaten-trail aspect of this book and wish he had made that a rule when he selected the songs. His inclusion of several songs from bands of his native Australia seems contrary to the subtitle, but, again, any list is subjective.

Because of this inherent subjectivity, disagreements are quibbles, but why, oh why do rock critics feel compelled to include every song The Velvet Underground ever recorded in their lists? They are a band that is virtually ignored by everyone on the planet - except rock critics. The VU or Lou Reed or Nico are grossly overrepresented in this list with 14 entries. And does Midnight Oil really deserve 3 songs in the top 1001 of all time?

My larger problem with this book and lists by most rock critics is that they feel compelled to include songs from the Country, Jazz, Pop and Blues genres, but their knowledge of these genres is too shallow. The selections are obvious and perfunctory. "Your Cheatin' Heart", "Crazy" and "He Stopped Loving Her Today" are obvious country choices; "Take Five", "My Favourite Things" and "Take the `A' Train" equally shallow choices for Jazz. I doubt that the top 1001 songs of all time would truly be 90% Rock. I wish Mr. Creswell had admitted upfront that this was a list of his favorite rock songs or had greater breadth in his selections. I could easily come up with 500 Country, Jazz and Pop Vocal songs that would argue for inclusion in any list of the 1001 great songs.

Quibbles indeed, I found this book enjoyable even though I actively dislike at least a third of his selections. His comments are lengthy enough and entertaining. A bonus is that by seeking out the songs herein, I've discovered a few gems that have escaped my attention through the years: "Levi Stubb's Tears", "I Still Carry You Around", "A Message To You Rudy" and others. And what good is a list you don't argue with?

Comment Comment (1) | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 7 customer reviews...

Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Great read
The selection of songs here is not the point. Creswell is not overly concerned about his personal connection with the songs, and he isn't trying to persuade anyone. Read more

Published 3 months ago by Luke S. Payne

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential reference book
Written by an Aussie, there are an awful lot of entries here of bands and songs unfamiliar to the American public. However, the writing is consistently excellent. Read more

Published 5 months ago by zevon_fan

1.0 out of 5 stars title should make clear that music itself is not in this book
I purchased this book understanding that like other music books there would be music to play inside the book. Read more

Published 19 months ago by Keiran L. Hickey

1.0 out of 5 stars If You're Looking to trap a clap...
It would seem impossible for a book running close to 900 pages written by an "expert" with over 30 years experience in his field to be total rubbish, but "1001 Songs: The Great... Read more

Published on September 8, 2006 by S. Berner

› See all 7 customer reviews...

.jsOffDisplayBlock { display: block; } .jsOffDisplayInline { display: inline; } .jsOffVisibility { visibility: visible; } .jsOnDisplayBlock { display: none; } .jsOnDisplayNoneBlock { display: block; } .jsOnDisplayNoneInline { display: inline; } .jsOnDisplayInline { display: none; } .jsOnVisibility { visibility: hidden; } .jsOnDisplayBlock { display: none; } .jsOnDisplayInline { display: none; } .jsOnVisibility { visibility: hidden; }

Customer Discussions

Beta (What's this?)

New! See all customer communities, and bookmark your communities to keep track of them.

This product's forum (1 discussion)

	Discussion	Replies	Latest Post
	Songs They Missed	0	July 2008

› See all discussions...

Start a new discussion

Topic:

First post:

Receive e-mail when new posts are made

Prompts for sign-in

[Cancel]

Guidelines

The Music History community

Latest activity 1 day ago

392 customers have contributed 333 products, 2 discussions and more...

› Explore the community

The America community

Latest activity 1 hour ago

1,942 customers have contributed 1,629 products, 142 lists & guides and more...

› Explore the community

Explore more

› See all Customer Communities

› Your communities

Product Information from the Amapedia Community

Beta (What's this?)

Be the first person to add an article about this item at Amapedia.com.

› See featured Amapedia.com articles

Listmania!

1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die - The 70's: A list by JoeKensington
Last Minute Gifts/Gift Ideas: A list by L. L. M. Sanchez
Fun Books for the Bad Months Ahead: A list by Ricky Pooski "cool"

Create a Listmania! list

So You'd Like to...

take a moment to see some books?: A guide by Melody Davis

Create a guide

Look for Similar Items by Category

Books > Entertainment > Music > History & Criticism
Books > Entertainment > Music > Musical Genres
Books > Entertainment > Music > Reference
Books > Sheet Music & Scores > Forms & Genres > Lieder & Art Songs
Books > Sheet Music & Scores > Forms & Genres > Popular

Get Creative with Dremel Power Tools

Take on your next project with a versatile Dremel power tool. Shop now and save on Dremel power tools and take advantage of FREE Super Saver Shipping to save even more.

›Shop Dremel tools