Jon Bream

With one chapter for each of Dylan's thirty-six (!) studio albums, Jon Bream, who is more of a facilitator than an author, interviews two Dylan experts/aficionados or musicians about each album. Given the variety of participants, some of the chapters are more interesting than others, but the overall effect is to remind us of what is, overall, an amazingly interesting and questing musical career. In this context, even the "bad" albums take on a new interest, as links in a chain that always ended up leading to new peaks as Dylan found his footing following these missteps. Although Richie Unterberger does a good job of introducing each section, placing the album in the context of Dylan's career, the missing element is an overarching critical perspective. Each album is given the same amount of space, making me wish for more discussion of some of the more important ones. And, since the interviewees tend to be people who expressed interest in discussing particular albums, sometimes their enthusiasm, often based on personal circumstances and reactions at the time the album was released, leads to an overemphasis on a "glass half full" approach. Still, a very entertaining book for anyone familiar with these records, and a great excuse to re-listen to Dylan's albums in chronological order, which will provide new insights into the artist for anyone who hasn't tried this exercise...… (plus d'informations)

If you read anything about Prince's early years -- especially the years before he got signed by Warner Bros. and became a superstar -- chances are this book is the source. Written by Jon Bream, a Minneapolis journalist who witnessed Prince's ascent up close, it offers not just a wealth of information, but also insight and background.

Rumor is it Prince was so upset by the contents of this book (particularly how close to the bone it was) that he bought the rights, hence it being out of print ever since.… (plus d'informations)

A Whole Lotta Led Zeppelin is a biography of the band Led Zeppelin. The book talks about everything from their beginning like how they got their name, in their prime time when they were really popular, and to the present where it tells you what they're doing now.
This is a very great book and it is a necessity to all Led Zeppelin fans. This book does an excellent job at telling you everything about the band and it's a little too much but overall this is an amazing book for all fans of the topic and I give it a 5/5 since it has everything you want to know and it answers every question you have ever had about the band with some nice pictures and also rare pictures, posters, t-shirts, and an abundance of interviews.… (plus d'informations)

In 2007 and 2008 Robert Plant toured with bluegrass darling Alison Krauss, supporting the Grammy-winning album of duets, Raising Sand. But he used to run with another band who did pretty well for themselves. John Bream, music guru for the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, is the guiding force behind this aesthetically beautiful and factually complete record of Led Zeppelin, the only artists to score in the top ten in the United States on all their studio albums. Beginning with the prolific session work of guitarist, producer, and primary songwriter Jimmy Page in the early 1960s, then coming quickly to the rise of the new band from the Yardbirds’ remnants, the coverage is thorough. Though the tone vacillates between criticism and hero worship, Bream should please the populace with his refusal to grind any particular ax.
Among the contributors are music writers like Chicago-based Greg Kot and Rolling Stone’s David Fricke and Cameron Crowe. Rock icons Ann and Nancy Wilson, Paul Rodgers, and numerous other peers or disciples specify exactly what each group member did. The most amusing pieces present points of view from individuals including supreme groupie Pamela Des Barres and beat novelist William S. Burroughs, who showed up at a Zeppelin concert when far from young, and found intellectual common ground with Jimmy Page.
Page, Plant, Bonham, and Jones were debauchers who launched televisions from hotel balconies and evicted few groupies untouched during their astonishingly successful early years. When the group’s manager Peter Grant proudly told Bob Dylan who he was responsible for, Dylan quipped back, “Hey I don’t come to you with my problems, do I?” Also true: they were technically skilled musicians who set the bar for blues-rock and hard-rock innovation. Led Zeppelin changed the balance of payments between bands and concert promoters for the benefit of artists who followed.
This attractive coffee table book reflects good graphic design decisions. The easiest quibble is a weak one—Bream was too generous with full-color ink; he doesn’t seem to miss one poster or concert stub that ever bore the band’s name. The account rings truer than many earlier books, because of the broad approach and the lack of a grudge (fired tour manager Richard Cole is especially maligned on that account, yet he’s also a contributor). Dirt seekers may be disappointed that unflattering incidents related by Bream and associates only confirm accounts of events already reported in the media.
By the book’s end, after Zeppelin has played a successful reunion concert in 2007, the old friends and occasional rivals are just happy to be together, but the greatest satisfaction belongs to Jason Bonham, the forty-something drummer who stepped in for his deceased father, practiced endlessly, and came through when it counted, earning the respect of the familiar legends he’s been chasing all his life, the men he calls his uncles.

by Todd Mercer

copyright ForeWord Magazine, volume 12, no. 1… (plus d'informations)