Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
By the bestselling author of Sam Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock 'n' Roll and Blues Hall of Fame inductee, essays on the role of inspiration, timing, and fate that led to the creative successes (and failures) of his favorite artists In his first collection of essays, Peter Guralnick dives deep into question at the heart of his body of work: What is the source of creativity? Spanning his decades-long career as America's foremost music scholar, this book brings us into the minds of the artists who inspire him.
Looking to Get Lost brings the reader into Guralnick's one-of-a-kind relationships with his subjects, and we peek into how he was able to engage with musicians, writers, and creators as only he can: as a fan, a student, a peer, and in many cases as a friend.
Synopsis
Dazzling new work from Peter Guralnick, intimate, powerful, and strikingly personal stories about genius and the artist's path to self-expression, featuring musical and literary masters of our time --- from Howlin' Wolf, Ray Charles, and Tammy Wynette to Merle Haggard, Allen Toussaint, and Eric Clapton.
Also: Skip James --- Bill Monroe --- Lonnie Mack --- Delbert McClinton --- Joe Tex --- Dick Curless --- Johnny Cash --- Lee Smith --- Doc Pomus --- Colonel Tom Parker --- Henry Green --- Leiber & Stoller --- Willie Dixon --- Chuck Berry --- Allen Toussaint & Elvis Costello --- Solomon Burke --- Jerry Lee Lewis
Synopsis
By the bestselling author of Sam Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock 'n' Roll and Last Train the Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley, this dazzling new book of profiles is not so much a summation as a culmination of Peter Guralnick's remarkable work, which from the start has encompassed the full sweep of blues, gospel, country, and rock 'n' roll.
It covers old ground from new perspectives, offering deeply felt, masterful, and strikingly personal portraits of creative artists, both musicians and writers, at the height of their powers.
"You put the book down feeling that its sweep is vast, that you have read of giants who walked among us," rock critic Lester Bangs wrote of Guralnick's earlier work in words that could just as easily be applied to this new one. And yet, for all of the encomiums that Guralnick's books have earned for their remarkable insights and depth of feeling, Looking to Get Lost is his most personal book yet. For readers who have grown up on Guralnick's unique vision of the vast sweep of the American musical landscape, who have imbibed his loving and lively portraits and biographies of such titanic figures as Elvis Presley, Sam Cooke, and Sam Phillips, there are multiple surprises and delights here, carrying on and extending all the themes, fascinations, and passions of his groundbreaking earlier work.