Faces of Music: 25 Years of Lunching with Legends [Hardcover]

Mr. Bonzai (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 10, 2005

This insightful and inspiring anthology features over 400 photographs, many never-before published, and 160 interviews with popular music artists, songwriters, producers, and recording engineers including Fiona Apple, Jimmy Buffet, Leonard Cohen, Devo, Dr. John, Peter Gabriel, Herbie Hancock, B.B. King, Kris Kristofferson, k.d. lang, David Lynch, Ziggy Marley, George Martin, Robert Moog, Willie Nelson, Harry Nilsson, Les Paul, Phil Ramone, Carlos Santana, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Don Was, Brian Wilson, Stevie Wonder, "Weird" Al Yankovic, and Frank Zappa.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 350 pages
• Publisher: Artistpro; 1 edition (October 10, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1598630245
• ISBN-13: 978-1598630244
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,620,549 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential Recording-Studio Bathroom Reading, January 27, 2006

By 

Jonathan A Feist "zootjs" (Harvard, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Faces of Music: 25 Years of Lunching with Legends (Hardcover)

This book is a trip, and I can't put it down. The interviews are short-often just five or six questions. Like photographs, they capture the spirit of their subjects, who clearly are getting a kick out of their charming and eccentric interviewer.

Mr. Bonzai pulls some great insights and hysterical one-liners out of these folks. Many of the big names have already been interviewed to death, but Bonzai gets them to say new things. Like, when he asked Al Kooper what music he'd most like to hear that was created before the birth of recording technology, Kooper replies, "The music they played at the Marquis de Sade's parties." Or, he asks Elliot Scheiner what tips he'd give new engineers, Scheiner says essentially "Don't make your clients pay to rent your gear." It's warm, practical, sincere advice, and maybe so right on that it's out of place, but therefore becomes right on, again. Most interviews have something fun and new like that. The photos are great, too-spontaneous, fun, and well crafted.

I learned a lot, but this book is really pure entertainment. It takes about a minute to read each interview, so the reason for my caption's recommended function is obvious.

I also recommend Mix Masters, by Maureen Droney (which I edited). Totally different style of interviews, focusing on recording studio technique, but the two books would offer good relief from each other.

Jonathan Feist
Managing Editor, Berklee Press

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If Paingloss says it is so, then it must be so...., April 28, 2006

By 

EQmag.com (San Mateo, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Faces of Music: 25 Years of Lunching with Legends (Hardcover)

This is THE BOOK. It's a monster of a tome and the questions are a curious mix, awe-inspired, and having you run the razor's edge of laughing both at and with. It's a collection that will have you feverishly thumbing through the whole thing just to find out what happens next. An unqualified work of mad genius.


Eugene Robinson, Editor-in-Chief, EQ Magazine

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Any who would understand the music biz needs this book, June 23, 2006

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Faces of Music: 25 Years of Lunching with Legends (Hardcover)

FACES OF MUSIC: 25 YEARS OF LUNCHING WITH LEGENDS packs in hundreds of original photos and nearly two hundred original interviews with some of the most famous names of music history. In 1967 the author attended his first recording session - at the invite of John Lennon - an experience which would lead to not only his association with the Beatles but to his exploration of recordings by other great musicians. FACES OF MUSIC includes short interviews with Kris Kristofferson, guitarist Les Paul, major studio owner Chris Stone and many more. Any who would understand the music biz needs this book.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch