The legends of the music industry are consistently among the most revered celebrities in popular culture. We know everything about them - who they dated, where they played, and how they died. However, what they sought to tell us through their music often remains undiscovered or forgotten. "The Praeger Singer-Songwriter Collection" provides critical analysis and commentary on the work of such important artists as John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix, Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, Bob Marley, Frank Zappa, Tupac Shakur, and David Bowie, and does so in the hope that, from behind such legendary faces, voices can again emerge.Sting has successfully established himself as one of the most important singer-songwriters in Western popular music over the past twenty years. His affinity for collaborative work and disparate musical styles has pushed his music into an astonishing array of contexts, but no matter what the style or who the collaborator, Sting's voice always remains distinct, and this fact has earned him success among a correspondingly broad audience. "The Words and Music of Sting" subdivides Sting's life and works into rough periods of creative activity and offers an opportunity to view Sting's many stylistic changes within a coherent general framework. After analyzing Sting's musical output album by album and song by song, author Christopher Gable sums up Sting's accomplishments and places him on the continuum of influential singer-songwriters, showing how he differs from and relates to other artists of the same period. A discography, filmography, and bibliography conclude the work.
The Words and Music of Sting
and over 1.5 million other books are available for Amazon Kindle . Learn more
| |||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. Learn more. |
Book Description
Product details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, and more.
Product Description
Review
"Sting has successfully established himself as one of the most important singer-songwriters in Western popular music: this survey of his songs and solo and group career offers critical analysis of the extent of his works, from his performances with The Police to the structural diagrams of his songs. College-level libraries in popular music analysis need this." -
Midwest Book Review
About the Author
CHRISTOPHER GABLE is a freelance composer, musician, and music theory instructor whose music has been performed all across the country. He has taught at Macalester College and St. Olaf College.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Customer Reviews
There are no customer reviews yet on Amazon.co.uk.
5 star
4 star
3 star
2 star
1 star
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
5.0 out of 5 stars
3 reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Stung
26 Jan 2010
By Kyle W. Elsbernd
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book is an absolute must for anyone interested in the art and craft of songwriting.
The structure of the book is interesting and effective. The Introduction explains Sting's inclusion in the Praeger Singer-Songwriter Collection and describes Sting's recent CD of lute music as the logical musical evolution of a restless artist, risk-taker, and seeker. Each chapter covers an album, starting with the Police, on through Sting's solo career. The final chapter comes full-circle again with Sting's lute CD.
The pacing is brisk throughout. Dr. Gable does not get bogged down by analyzing every song, but wherever he lands he goes deep. The songs he chooses represent recurring song-writing motifs which can be easily identified in other songs. The explanations are not overly technical, but speak in terms of mood changes and chord modulations as they relate to the lyrics.
Dr. Gable's contribution to the literature on this fascinating and complex, dare I say, musical genius called Sting is essential reading, a book for the lay reader, with scholarly bona fides.
The structure of the book is interesting and effective. The Introduction explains Sting's inclusion in the Praeger Singer-Songwriter Collection and describes Sting's recent CD of lute music as the logical musical evolution of a restless artist, risk-taker, and seeker. Each chapter covers an album, starting with the Police, on through Sting's solo career. The final chapter comes full-circle again with Sting's lute CD.
The pacing is brisk throughout. Dr. Gable does not get bogged down by analyzing every song, but wherever he lands he goes deep. The songs he chooses represent recurring song-writing motifs which can be easily identified in other songs. The explanations are not overly technical, but speak in terms of mood changes and chord modulations as they relate to the lyrics.
Dr. Gable's contribution to the literature on this fascinating and complex, dare I say, musical genius called Sting is essential reading, a book for the lay reader, with scholarly bona fides.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
You never knew all that went into a Sting composition!
1 Jun 2009
By Musical critic!
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
This fine work will illuminate phrases (both lyrical and musical) within Sting's large body of work that you never noticed, or that you loved but couldn't figure out why. Dr. Gable traces the themes of family, love, dreams, and exploration and shows how Sting uses twists of phrase as well as harmonic, melodic and rythmic patterns to draw the listener into his state of mind. The book covers everything from early Police recordings through his latest works with orchestras and chant and will make you immediately put on your headphones and listen with newly enlightened ears, hearing things you never noticed or understood before.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
College-level libraries strong in popular music analysis need this
14 Mar 2009
By Midwest Book Review
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
Sting has successfully established himself as one of the most important singer-songwriters in Western popular music: this survey of his songs and solo and group career offers critical analysis of the extent of his works, from his performances with The Police to the structural diagrams of his songs. College-level libraries strong in popular music analysis need this.
›
Go to Amazon.com to see all 3 reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Biography > Film, Television & Music > Music > Rock & Pop
- Books > Biography > Historical > Social & Urban History
- Books > History > Cultural History
- Books > Music, Stage & Screen > Music > Learning to Play, Write & Record Music > Songwriting
- Books > Music, Stage & Screen > Music > Scores, Songbooks & Lyrics > Rock & Pop
- Books > Music, Stage & Screen > Music > Styles > Classical Music > By History
- Books > Music, Stage & Screen > Music > Styles > Rock & Pop > Styles
- Books > Society, Politics & Philosophy > Social Sciences > Cultural Studies > Popular Culture
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
