THE GUYS WHO WROTE 'EM: SONGWRITING GENIUSES OF ROCK AND POP
Leiber & Stoller. Mann & Weil. Greenwich & Barry. Bobby Hart. Chip Taylor. Holland-Dozier-Holland. Tony Macaulay. Stock, Aitken & Waterman. Few would recognise them in the street but they are responsible for some of the best-selling and most famous songs of all time. From Jailhouse Rock to You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' to Leader Of The Pack to (Theme From) The Monkees to Reach Out I’ll Be There to Wild Thing to Build Me Up Buttercup to I Should Be So Lucky, their melodies and lyrics are embedded in the minds of music lovers worldwide.
With the aid of lengthy and exclusive interviews with some of the biggest names in the history of rock and pop songwriting, Sean Egan’s The Guys Who Wrote ’Em seeks to put right the lack of recognition for compositional geniuses who for most of their careers have chosen to use their musical skills to help not themselves but others achieve stardom. The result is a recounting of the story of post-Elvis popular music from an intriguing and delightful lateral angle.
Amongst those to whom respected music journalist Egan has been granted access are Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller, Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry, Eddie and Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, Bobby Hart, Joey Levine, Graham Gouldman, Chip Taylor, Tony Macaulay, Nicky Chinn, Mike Stock and Matt Aitken. Their anecdotes feature Elvis Presley, Phil Spector, Eric Clapton, The Shangri-Las, Diana Ross, Jimi Hendrix and a host of other iconic figures.
The Guys Who Wrote ’Em is both the most comprehensive book ever written about the ‘bespoke songwriter’ and the fascinating, untold story of popular music.
About the Author
Sean Egan's first professional writing work was a brief stint providing scripts for the television soap opera EastEnders. He is currently a journalist specialising in popular music and tennis. He has written for, amongst other outlets, Billboard, Billboard.com, Classic Rock, Discoveries, Goldmine, Mojo4Music.com, Record Collector, Record Mart & Buyer, RollingStone.com, Serve And Volley, Sky Sports, Tennis World, Uncut and Vox. He also writes CD liner notes. He is the author of four previous non-fiction books, one of which – Jimi Hendrix And The Making Of Are You Experienced – was nominated for an Award for Excellence in Historical Recorded Sound Research by the Association for Recorded Sound Collections. He also wrote the critically acclaimed novel Sick Of Being Me.
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