{"title":"Books by Marc Shapiro","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9781915246257","title":"Pete Brown: The Poet Who Rocks","description":"Pete Brown is a lot of things. A major songwriting talent who was responsible for Cream's classic musical moments, important collaborations with Jack Bruce and such notable experiments in jazz and rock as The Battered Ornaments, Graham Bond and countless progressive music groups. A talented poet who helped pioneer the emerging UK Beat scene in the sixties, making history with his earliest performances and going poetic toe to toe with the likes of Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Gregory Corso. He was also a child of war and the memories of The Blitz are still with him to this day. He is an anarchist at heart who believes in the mantra of telling it like it is and has done as much through the decades of a songwriter, musician, producer and poet. Within certain circles Pete Brown is a legend, a creative force of nature who is constantly on the move to the next big thing. To much of the world, Pete Brown is an unknown quantity, known for his Cream fame and not much else. With this book, Pete Brown: The Poet Who Rocks, the creative whirlwind will be on full display. This is Pete Brown. Now his story can be told.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43127980032178,"sku":"9781915246257","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781915246257_e3a03dab-251a-4a04-90d5-f3c4ce2a022c.jpg?v=1786030956"},{"product_id":"9781915246486","title":"Abracadabra","description":"If Steve Miller never wrote another song after 1976, his rock ‘n’ roll hall of fame status would already be assured. ‘The Joker’, ‘Jet Airliner’, ‘Rockin’ Me’, ‘Take The Money And Run’’, Swingtown’, ‘Livin’ In The USA’… the list goes on and on. But there has been much more to Steve Miller’s life and career than just the hits. And it is the full-bodied talent, the musician, the drive, the challenges, the ups and downs that go into what makes Steve Miller tick in this first ever biography… Abracadabra: The Steve Miller Story.   Author Marc Shapiro’s extensive research goes deeper than just the facts. It is a deep dive into attitude, upbringing and determination and finally the drive spanning decades that drove Miller from the blues bars of Chicago, the wild ride that was the sixties psychedelic scene in San Francisco, the trials and tribulations of cracking the big time, and bucking the odds to get to the top — stardom and what it took to stay there.   Abracadabra: The Steve Miller Story is far from over. His drive to bring his music to the people has reached heights well into his eighties and what will come in the future. This is only chapter one in a life that continues full throttle. Look out for chapter two.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44203429626034,"sku":"9781915246486","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781915246486_aa2e41bc-06ae-4c78-a22a-141dff42be2f.jpg?v=1786030980"},{"product_id":"9781915246783","title":"The Hard Road","description":"\u003cp\u003eFormed from the ashes of the Crazy World Of Arthur Brown band, Atomic Rooster would embark on a journey in a constant state of flux and uncertainty that would ultimately cut short the life of a very good prog rock\/heavy blues group. There would be the marginal success in Europe that more than offset style changes; a revolving door of musicians and, perhaps, most importantly, Vincent Crane's ongoing mental lapses that would ultimately end in his suicide. In a sense this could almost be two books in one, the Atomic Rooster story and the Vincent Crane story. But combined, The Hard Road is the classic tale of talented musicians who, through luck, chance and fate, both good and bad, have ultimately come up short.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55206269157749,"sku":"9781915246783","price":17.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781915246783.jpg?v=1786035050"},{"product_id":"9780753510551","title":"All Things Must Pass","description":"\u003cp\u003eGeorge Harrison was always known as the 'quiet Beatle' As part of the biggest band in pop history, he took a back seat to Paul McCartney and John Lennon, but his talent shone through in the composition of classic songs such as 'Something' and 'Here Comes The Sun'. In his solo career he occasionally threatened to eclipse both John and Paul on the world stage, and he joined forces with Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Roy Orbison and Jeff lynne to create the massively succsessful supergroup the Traveling Wilburys.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHowever, the success of his professional life was often met by turmoil in his private life, and the loss of first wife Patti to best friend Eric Clapton, the traumatic attempt on his life by a knife wielding intruder and his final struggle against cancer meant that George Harrison's life was nothing if not dramatic.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBestselling author Marc Shapiro has exclusively interviewed friends and former colleagues of the enigmatic guitar legend. This revealing biography reaffirms Harrison's importance as an innovative and hugely talented musician and shows that, as a member of the most important band ever, as well as in his multi-faceted career after the Beatles, George Harrison was no ordinary man.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56298228351349,"sku":"9780753510551","price":15.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780753510551_9745f28f-ea36-4f67-8fbf-80344e3d6e84.jpg?v=1786016112"},{"product_id":"9781573929288","title":"Susan Sarandon","description":"This first biography of Susan Sarandon highlights the real person behind the screen image, exploring her idealism, values, and combative spirit in the service of higher goals, while also celebrating her stunning film career. Renowned celebrity biographer Marc Shapiro traces Sarandonfs life from her strict Catholic upbringing in suburbia and her early days of protest in high school for civil rights and against the Viet Nam War to her more recent involvement with women and children's rights in Nicaragua, the AIDS quilt project, ACT UP, the disruption of an Academy Awards ceremony to protest the internment of Haitians with HIV, and many other ongoing projects. Shapiro also discusses her first career successes through high-profile roles in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Pretty Baby, Atlantic City, and Thelma and Louise, as well as her openly unconventional relationships with directors Louis Malle and Franco Amuri, and actor Tim Robbins. So motivated is Sarandon by her convictions that she often chooses roles to reflect larger issues. She agreed to play in the film Dry White Season to draw attention to the evils of apartheid, and her opposition to the death penalty resulted in her Academy Award-winning performance in Dead Men Walking. Over the years she has paid a price for her activist positions, and supposedly she has accumulated a sizable FBI file. Nonetheless, she has proved time and again that she is always ready to speak out and act up whenever she believes it will do some good. No ordinary biography, Susan Sarandon is a captivating page-turner about a sexy, alluring, and passionately committed actress who has broken every conventional rule.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56303598371189,"sku":"9781573929288","price":25.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781573929288_3a79dad4-3482-41ae-b210-5e3d67dce1b9.jpg?v=1786022961"},{"product_id":"blind-faith","title":"Blind Faith","description":"Supergroup Blind Faith was formed from the ashes of Britain’sfirst supergroup Cream. Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker combing forces withTraffic’s multi-instrumentalist Steve Winwood and Family’s Ric Grech ensured BlindFaith was the most eagerly anticipated band in 1969.  A debut gig at London’s Hyde Park to 100,000 people wasindicative of the expectations. Their self-titled album reached number one inboth the UK and US and was backed up with a tour of the States. But before fanscould blink, that was it! It was all over for Blind Faith. Despite only being around for a matter of months, because ofthe calibre of the musicians involved, Blind Faith is still talked about today.   Now Marc Shapiro has chronicled those heady times—the formation, the recordingand the gigs in this detailed tome.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57509996953973,"sku":"9781918419085","price":18.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781918419085.jpg?v=1787130214"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-marc-shapiro.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}