{"title":"Books by Robert Hilburn","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9781408720349","title":"A Few Words in Defense of Our Country","description":"'[A] penetrating biography . . . While the book posits Newman as a writer of sociopolitical import, its emotional narrative is driven by the more personal aspects of his story: a complex family legacy, childhood struggles with strabismus (crossed eyes) and a lifelong tendency toward sadness and isolation' Bob Mehr, New York Times'An illuminating and masterful achievement' Booklist'Randy Newman is our great master of American song and storytelling' Bruce Springsteen'At last, the biography that Randy Newman has long deserved. The emotional precision, the humour and sweep, the truths and secrets behind his remarkable body of work . . . it's all here in Robert Hilburn's heartfelt and indispensable account of America's finest songwriter. Leave it to Hilburn to pull back the curtain on the incredible life of Newman, a shy genius who clearly trusted him enough to point him in all the right directions. It's more than a great read, it's an invitation to re-visit Randy Newman's work with renewed appreciation for the man who uniquely defined the American Experience just when we needed it most' Cameron CroweRandy Newman is widely hailed as one of America's all-time greatest songwriters, equally skilled in the sophisticated melodies and lyrics of the Gershwin-Porter era and the cultural commentary of his own generation, with Bob Dylan and Paul Simon among his most ardent admirers. While tens of millions around the world can hum 'You've Got a Friend in Me', his disarming centrepiece for Toy Story, most of them would be astonished to learn that the heart of Newman's legacy is in the dozens of brilliant songs that detail the injustices, from racism to class inequality, that have contributed to the division of our nation. Rolling Stone declared that a single Newman song, 'Sail Away', tells us more about America than 'The Star-Spangled Banner'. And yet, his legacy remains largely undocumented in book form - until now.    In A FEW WORDS IN DEFENSE OF OUR COUNTRY, veteran music journalist Robert Hilburn presents the definitive portrait of an American legend. Hilburn has known Newman since his club debut at the Troubadour in 1970, and the two have maintained a connection in the decades since, conversing over the course of times good and bad. Though Newman has long refused to talk with potential biographers, he now gives Hilburn unprecedented access not only to himself but also to his archives, as well as his family, friends, and collaborators. Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, John Williams, Linda Ronstadt, Don Henley, Bonnie Raitt, Chuck D, James Taylor, and New York Times' Pulitzer-winning columnists, Thomas Friedman and Wesley Morris, among others, contributed to the book. In addition to exploring Newman's prolific career","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":55897379701109,"sku":"9781408720349","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":57685787672949,"sku":"9781408720363","price":25.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781408720349.jpg?v=1792598974"},{"product_id":"9781471174209","title":"Paul Simon","description":"\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Times\u003c\/i\u003e Book of the Year\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e 'There’s no tougher a mind, no more tender a voice than Paul Simon, and there’s no better man than Robert Hilburn to decipher the hardwiring of this hyperintellect...great songs can never be fully explained, but the great man on his way to find those songs surely can.' \u003c\/b\u003e— Bono\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Through such hits as “The Sound of Silence,” “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” “Still Crazy After All These Years,” and “Graceland,” Paul Simon has spoken to us in songs for a half-century about alienation, doubt, survival, and faith in ways that have established him as \u003cb\u003eone of the most honoured and beloved songwriters\u003c\/b\u003e in American pop music history. Yet Simon has refused to talk to potential biographers and urged those close to him to also remain silent. But Simon not only agreed to talk to biographer Robert Hilburn for what has amounted to more than sixty hours, he also encouraged his family and friends to sit down for in-depth interviews.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePaul Simon\u003c\/i\u003e is \u003cb\u003ea revealing account of the challenges and sacrifices of artistry at the highest level\u003c\/b\u003e. He has also lived a roller-coaster life of extreme ups and downs. We not only learn Paul’s unrelenting drive to achieve artistry, but also the subsequent struggles to protect that artistry against distractions – fame, wealth, marriage, divorce, drugs, complacency, public rejection, self-doubt – that have frequently derailed pop stars and each of which he encountered. From dominating the charts with \u003cb\u003eArt Garfunkel\u003c\/b\u003e and a successful reinvention as a solo artist, to his multiple marriages and highly publicized second divorce from \u003cb\u003eCarrie Fisher\u003c\/b\u003e, this book covers \u003cb\u003eall aspects of this American icon\u003c\/b\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'When it comes to writing songs, no one does it better than Paul Simon. Robert Hilburn’s is a wise and winning account of our most nimble, nuanced, and numinous poet-musician.'\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e —Paul Muldoon\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'A tantalizing look into the mind and writing process of the man who is arguably the finest craftsman of the American popular song since the Gershwin brothers, this book will delight any Paul Simon fan or student of popular culture.'\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e —Linda Ronstadt","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56299761402229,"sku":"9781471174209","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781471174209_4da308cd-6ce4-4644-83fd-27d8f18cbfb3.jpg?v=1789395943"},{"product_id":"johnny-cash","title":"Johnny Cash","description":"Reissued as part of White Rabbit's Deep Cuts series with a Foreword from Lias Saoudi'Robert Hilburn displays a deeply felt affinity with his subject, illuminating Johnny Cash as the moral compass of country music' PATTI SMITHJOHNNY CASH: THE LIFE conveys the unvarnished truth about a musical icon, whose colourful career stretched from his days at Sun Records with Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis to his remarkable, brave and deeply moving 'Hurt' video, aged sixty-nine.   As the only journalist present at the legendary Folsom Prison concert in 1968, and one of the last to interview Cash and June Carter Cash before their deaths in 2003, Robert Hilburn writes with rare authority and intimacy. Drawing on decades of access and unseen material from Cash's inner circle, he reveals the remarkable highs and devastating lows of a man driven by faith, haunted by addiction and determined to create music that mattered. The result is a compelling, deeply human portrait of a country icon and rock pioneer whose influence endures.   'Hilburn's biography has the sort of immense scope and tremendous insight that comes from years of interviewing such a truthful, troubling subject' SUNDAY TIMES","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57503659458933,"sku":"9781399643825","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781399643825.jpg?v=1786867368"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-robert-hilburn.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}