Description
The writings in this book are extracted from volumes 1 through 20 of our 33 1/3 series - short books about individual albums. In here you'll find a wide variety of authors, albums, and approaches to writing about those albums. So sit back, put on your headphones, cue up your favourite songs, and let our writers transport you to a time when:
Dusty Springfield headed south to Memphis to record a pop/soul classic;
The Kinks almost fell to pieces, and managed to make their best album while doing so;
Joy Division and their mad, brilliant producer created a debut record that still sounds painfully hip today;
James Brown mesmerized a sell-out crowd at the Apollo, in the midst of the Cuban Missile Crisis;
The Rolling Stones shacked up in the South of France and emerged with one of the best double-albums ever;
The Ramones distilled punk rock into its purest, most enduring essence...
33 1/3 Greatest Hits, Volume 1: it's like a compilation album, without the filler.
Table of Contents
Introduction
1. Dusty in Memphis
2. Forever Changes
3. Harvest
4. Kinks Village Green
5. Meat is Murder
6. Piper at the Gates of Dawn
7. Abba Gold
8. Electric Ladyland
9. Unknown Pleasures
10. Sign O the Times
11. Velvet Underground and Nico
12. Let It Be
13. Live at the Apollo
14. Aqualung
15. OK Computer
16. Let It Be
17. Led Zeppelin IV
18. Exile on Main St.
19. Pet Sounds
20. Ramones
21. Student Essay Prize Winner
Reviews
“The series standouts capture the tone and energy of the discs they’re exploring. Devoid of photos, averaging 120 pages and printed as pocket sized, 6 ½-inch-by-4-inch paperbacks—handy for filing next to your favorite CD’s—the books tend to be exceedingly brief in recapping the subjects’ life and work before and after the album references in the title, keeping the focus squarely on the masterpiece. One of the best aspects of the 33 1/3 books may be that they don’t intend to be the final work on these albums, only the ultimate conversation starters.” - Chicago Sun-Times, June 2006
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"Continuum Publishing’s quirky 33 1/3 series is a modest success with more than 30 books already published. All of these books are packed with details ranging from the personal to the technical and sociological, covering everything from the author’s reaction to the music to the kind of equipment used in the studio. What each one has in common is a loving look at an album that made a difference in someone’s life and they’re all written with a passion that is a reminder of 30 years ago when music magazines like Creem, Circus and Rolling Stone featured long essays and think-pieces that were more about music than personality profiles. Most of the books work as behind-the-scenes glimpse at artistic creations that often are shrouded in mystery. The charm of the books is that their lack of immediacy—it’s hard to find any of them about an album that’s not at least 5 years old—creates a sort of nostalgic vibe that goes beyond the music." - Toledoblade.com, July 9, 2006
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“Like most best-of compilations, 33 1/3 Greatest Hits, Volume 1 is only a partial portrait of a larger subject, in this case Continuum’s popular series that features writers from different backgrounds extolling the virtues of their favorite albums. The series’ greatest virtues is its breadth: Contributors include academics, critics and musicians, who expound on rock, pop, funk, hip hop, soul, folk, dance, alternative, and Prince. Admirably, editor David Barker dictates no approach to the albums, allowing the writers to consider the music academically, historically, or autobiographically…Excerpting chapters from the first 20 installments, 33 1/3 Greatest Hits ably showcases this essential variety… The result is a diverse and multifaceted series that covers not just the range of popular music but the gamut of pop-music criticism useful introduction to contemporary rock writing, revealing a discipline as diverse as its subject." - Stephen Deusner, Memphis Flyer
Stephen Deusner,
"The idea was simple: to ask a group of authors to each write a book about a classic album. What emerged became Continuum's 33 1/3 series. Without guidelines or rules, each author embraced their own favourite album and chose exactly how they wanted to write about it.As a result, each book is by turn anecdotal, obsessive, technical and personal, but always passionate." - Swell Music, December 2006
Swell Music, December 2006,
"…Continuum’s 33 1/3 book series is among the best music-themed literature going. Personal, obsessive and clever, the paperbacks celebrate older, sales-proven classics as well as equally influential albeit less commercially successful works…Every 33 1/3 series is devoted to a single album and written by a different author, whose approaches are as varied as the artists they explore…Uniform Consistency is via layouts and logistics. All of the pocket size books (100 to 170 pages) and inexpensive ($9.95- $10.95). And because the topics have yet to hit a sour note, they beg to be collected…Continuum has released approximately 40 titles since 2003. Additional books are scheduled before the year’s end, including takes on Steely Dan’s ‘Aja’ and Sonic Youth’s ‘Daydream Nation,’ both due this spring. While not every volume in the series rates a five star review, the majorities are impossible to put down and inspire extensive listening." - Bob Gendron, Chicago Tribune, March 2007
Gendron lists his ‘top 10’ exemplary entries of the series:
1. " Harvest," by Sam Inglis (2003)
2. "The Velvet Underground and Nico," by Joe Harvard (2004)
3. "Live at the Apollo," by Douglas Wolk (2004)
4. "Led Zeppelin IV," by Erik Davis (2005)
5. " Ramones," by Nicholas Rombes (2005)
6. "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea," by Kim Cooper (2006)
7. "Dolittle," by Ben Sisario (2006)
8. "Paul’s Boutique," by Dan LeRoy (2006)
9. "Bee Thousand," by Marc Wo (2006)
10. "69 Love Songs," by LD Beghtol (2006)
Chicago Tribune,
"People may say the album is dead, but the nostalgia for it is certainly not. If you plug the term ‘favorite album’ into Google, you’ll get back nearly 800,000 hits – a testament to how much people love discussing, listing and dissecting the form. David Barker, editorial director at Continuum Books, knows this firsthand, and his book series, 33 1/3, is reaping the benefits.
The name, which refers to the speed at which vinyl albums play, encapsulates what the series is: an ode to the rock album as a work of art and an occasionally life-altering force. Barker, who said he thought he could fill a niche with short books about single albums –an alternative to the glut of ‘straightforward band histories’, started the line in 2003; it currently has titles signed through 2009. Highlighted in PW’s October 2006 story about successful series, 33 1/3 has far exceeded expectations.
The books, at a 4¾ "x 6½ " trim and an average of 145 pages, are done in an economy of scale model. Print runs are usually 5,000 copies, and writers were initially music journalists and friends of Barker. That, however, has changed…the most successful book in the line, Meet is Murder (a slightly obscure Smiths album), is a novella about a Boston teen in the 80’s. "People love the unpredictability of the series,’ Barker explained." - Publishers Weekly, February 2007
Publishers Weekly,
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“Allowing the writers to express their passion in their own way has helped 33 1/3 establish a firm position in the music-writing canon. Reading about music almost always depends on interest and appreciation for not just one artistic undertaking, but two: writing and music. Continuum has, in most cases, combined these masterfully.” - Tom Roberge, Boldtype
Tom Roberge,
"The 33 1/3 of pocket books ... are superb little volumes devoted to classic albums. What unites them is not so much their subject as the standard of the writing and imagination that the authors have brought to their task ... every one I've read has been well worth the attention." - Keith Bruce, The Herald (Glasgow), March 8, 2008.
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