Product Description: The initial volume of Behind the Boards was the first definitive rock-record producers anthology of its kind, taking music fans and those interested in sound recording inside the studio to experience the creation of life-changing music! Behind the Boards II: The Making of Rock n Rolls Greatest Hits Revealed takes fans inside the creation of still more legendary rock gems, including Hotel California by the Eagles; Should I Stay or Should I Go? by the Clash; Rocketman by Elton John; Ziggy Stardust by David Bowie; Start Me Up by the Rolling Stones; The Thrill Is Gone by B...read more

Product Description: The term "soundtrack of our lives" is one commonly tossed around by artists, fans, critics, and historians in discussing rock 'n' roll's timeless hits, spanning every subgenre, from pop to hard rock, heavy metal to new wave. In the pages of Behind the Boards: The Making of Rock 'n' Roll's Greatest Records Revealed , the first definitive rock record-producers' anthology of its kind, readers are taken inside the studio, into the creation of the generations of classic records that collectively make up that soundtrack of our lives...read more

In the 1960s, rock and pop music recording questioned the convention that recordings should recreate the illusion of a concert hall setting. The Wall of Sound that Phil Spector built behind various artists and the intricate eclecticism of George Martin's recordings of the Beatles did not resemble live performances—in the Albert Hall or elsewhere—but instead created a new sonic world. The role of the record producer, writes Virgil Moorefield in The Producer as Composer, was evolving from that of organizer to auteur; band members became actors in what Frank Zappa called a "movie for your ears." In rock and pop, in the absence of a notated score, the recorded version of a song—created by the producer in collaboration with the musicians—became the definitive version. Moorefield, a musician and producer himself, traces this evolution with detailed discussions of works by producers and producer-musicians including Spector and Martin, Brian Eno, Bill Laswell, Trent Reznor, Quincy Jones, and the Chemical Brothers. Underlying the transformation, Moorefield writes, is technological development: new techniques—tape editing, overdubbing, compression—and, in the last ten years, inexpensive digital recording equipment that allows artists to become their own producers. What began when rock and pop producers reinvented themselves in the 1960s has continued; Moorefield describes the importance of disco, hip-hop, remixing, and other forms of electronic music production in shaping the sound of contemporary pop. He discusses the making of Pet Sounds and the production of tracks by Public Enemy with equal discernment, drawing on his own years of studio experience. Much has been written about rock and pop in the last 35 years, but hardly any of it deals with what is actually heard in a given pop song. The Producer as Composer tries to unravel the mystery of good pop: why does it sound the way it does?