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The Guys Who Wrote 'em: Songwriting Geniuses of Rock and Pop
 
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The Guys Who Wrote 'em: Songwriting Geniuses of Rock and Pop (Paperback)

by Sean Egan (Author)
5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
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Product details

  • Paperback: 344 pages
  • Publisher: Askill Publishing (31 Jul 2004)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0954575016
  • ISBN-13: 978-0954575014
  • Product Dimensions: 21.2 x 13.8 x 2.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 780,086 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)
  • See Complete Table of Contents

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Product Description

Book Description
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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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Original and outstanding rock book, 22 Oct 2004
By Mr. T. J. Denman (London, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Rock books are now numerous. But they are nearly always about individual rock stars, famous groups or musical genres. But no rock star is worth anything without a great melody and memorable lyrics. The men and women who composed the great rock and roll songbook are too often ignored. For many, they're simply a name in brackets after the song title on the record label. That's where Sean Egan's book scores a first. He has interviewed nearly all of the legendary rock composers: Leiber and Stoller (the greatest?), Holland-Dozier-Holland, Greenwich and Barry, and many others, from the dawn of rock to the latest songsmiths. Only the Yanks and the Brits can write great rock, of course; so Sean Egan doesn't forget the Limeys: Graham Gouldman, Nicky Chinn, Stock and Aitken, among others.

It's a book rich in detail and full of anecdotes. For who better to see and record the unknown side of rock stars than the guys and ladies who wrote their songs, worked with them, and, frequently, had to put up with their quirks and tantrums? This is a pretty complete history of rock and pop, but from an original perspective. Sean Egan's book fills a black hole in rock and roll history. But he does it in a delightfully unpretentious way. Egan has no axe to grind; he simply wants to give the songwriters' side of the story. He lets, wherever he can, the songwriters speak for themselves. No good rock and roll library should be without this book. Every time you listen to one of the rock classics, you'll have a new insight into the pain, effort, time and genius that went into its creation. Like me, I'll bet you read it in one go.

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