Hal Blaine and the Wrecking Crew: The Story of the World's Most Recorded Musician
by Hal Blaine
from Rebeats Publications
Ever wonder what it would be like to be the most recorded musician in popular music? This biography spotlights Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and drummer extraordinaire Hal Blaine and his remarkable life experiences. From the Sinatras to the Beach Boys, Blaine drumrolled through the '50s, '60s and '70s, driving over 40 songs to the Number One slot. His works with Phil Spector and the Wrecking Crew sessions, his touring experiences and other hitmaking pressure sessions are amusingly revealed in this rare glimpse into a golden age of music. Exclusive scrapbook photos round out this biography to provide an entertaining and educating book for musicians and fans alike. "Hal Blaine is an original. I'm proud to say that Hal's playing has made the difference on many of my own records." - Neil Diamond "Hal Blaine set the standard for drum sounds in the '60s." - Herb Alpert
A History of the Hal Roach Studios
by Richard Lewis Ward
from Southern Illinois University Press
Once labeled the “lot that laugher built,” the Hal Roach Studios launched the comedic careers of such screen icons as Harold Lloyd, Our Gang, and Laurel and Hardy. With this stable of stars, the Roach enterprise operated for forty-six years on the fringes of the Hollywood studio system during a golden age of cinema and gained notoriety as a producer of short comedies, independent features, and weekly television series. Many of its productions are better remembered today than those by its larger contemporaries. In A History of the Hal Roach Studios, Richard Lewis Ward meticulously follows the timeline of the company’s existence from its humble inception in 1914 to its close in 1960 and, through both its obscure and famous productions, traces its resilience to larger trends in the entertainment business.
In the first few decades of the twentieth century, the motion picture industry was controlled by an elite handful of powerful firms that allowed very little room for new competition outside of their established cartel. The few independents that garnered some measure of success despite their outsider status usually did so by specializing in underserved or ignored niche markets. Here, Ward chronicles how the Roach Studios, at the mercy of exclusive distribution practices, managed to repeatedly redefine itself in order to survive for nearly a half-century in a cutthroat environment.
Hal Roach’s tactic was to nurture talent rather than exhaust it, and his star players spent the prime of their careers shooting productions on his lot. Even during periods of decline or misdirection, the Roach Studios turned out genuinely original material, such as the screwball classic Topper (1937), the brutally frank Of Mice and Men (1940), and the silent experiment One Million B.C. (1940). Ward’s exploration yields insight into the production and marketing strategies of an organization on the periphery of the theatrical film industry and calls attention to the interconnected nature of the studio system during the classic era. The volume also looks to the early days of television when the prolific Roach Studios embraced the new medium to become, for a time, the premier telefilm producer.
Aided by a comprehensive filmography and twenty-seven illustrations, A History of the Hal Roach Studios recounts an overlooked chapter in American cinema, not only detailing the business operations of Roach’s productions but also exposing the intricate workings of Hollywood’s rivalrous moviemaking establishment.
That Thing You Do! (Hal Leonard Discovery Band Series (Grade 1.5))
Hal Hartley: Collected Screenplays Volume 1: The Unbelievable Truth, Trust, Simple Men
by Hal Hartley
from Faber & Faber
The Promise (Autobiography)
by Hal Bynum
from Beauregard Records and Books
Hal Bynum's first book, entitled The Promise, breaks new ground for him. Along with the lyrics to Bynum's well known songs from all three of his albums, the book also carries a series of autobiographical short stories about Hal's life growing up in rural west Texas, and his experiences in the Nashville music business in later years.
Here Bynum reveals sides of himself we haven't seen before. Ambitious and alcoholic, driven and self-destructive, caring and callous, Bynum is scathing in his self-honesty. When this honesty is then turned on the music business itself, there are even more surprises. You'll see first hand how record companies pressure their recording artists in "Ray Price, 1972," and how petty personal pride can undermine the fate of a song, a record and even a recording artist in, "Chains, Chains, Shackles and Chains." You'll go back stage with Hal as an insecure young songwriter visiting with Buddy Holly, Jim Reeves, Ferlin Husky and Johnny Cash, in "Fair Park Auditorium, 1956," or meet a young Willie Nelson in "St. Louis, 1977 - Ft. Worth, 1954."
One can interpret the title The Promise on many levels. Does it refer to the young writer's promising future, the promise of country music itself, or is it the promise of salvation that somehow comes through when the chaos of Bynum's early years is juxtaposed against the wisdom of his later life? We're left to ponder this and many questions as we come to the end of this book, and like the CD, we journey with the poet, and "wonder how many seasons (we) have left."
Over the last few years, Bynum's spoken word recordings have found a deep and loyal following in America and the world beyond, as more and more thoughtful people discover his profound and unique style of self-expression: his art. Is it country? Yes, but it's also much, much more.
Frans Hals (Library of Great Painters)
Handbook of Intercultural Communication (Handbooks of Applied Linguistics [HAL] 7) (Handbooks of Applied Linguistics; Communication Competence Language and Communication Problesm Practical Solutions)
![Handbook of Intercultural Communication (Handbooks of Applied Linguistics [HAL] 7) (Handbooks of Applied Linguistics; Communication Competence Language and Communication Problesm Practical Solutions)](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41wGaA-ahAL._SL160_.jpg)
from Mouton de Gruyter
In today's globalized world of international contact and multicultural interaction, effective intercultural communication is increasingly seen as a pre-requisite for social harmony and organisational success. This handbook takes a 'problem-solving' approach to the various issues that arise in real-life intercultural interaction. The editors have brought together experts from a range of disciplines, including linguistics, psychology and anthropology, to provide a multidisciplinary perspective on the field, whilst simultaneously anchoring it in Applied Linguistics.
Key features:
- provides a state-of-the-art description of different areas in the context of intercultural communication
- presents a critical appraisal of the relevance of the field
- offers solutions of everyday language-related problems
- international handbook with contributions from renown experts in the field
Piano Lessons Book 3 Book & CD (Hal Leonard Student Piano Lbry)
from Omnibus Press
Hal Leonard Pocket Dictionary of Musical Instruments: A Comprehensive Resource Containing More than 3,000 Entries
by Laurie Matheson
from Hal Leonard
This concise and user-friendly resource is ideal for anyone who wants quick, comprehensive access to information on musical instruments of any genre and origin. Organized alphabetically and fully cross-referenced, it includes instruments from all cultures, historical and modern, and all musical styles - from pop and rock to classical and traditional folk music from around the world. With a key to entries, world map and language chart, this is by far the most contemporary musical instrument reference available. Includes illustrations.
Hal Wallis: Producer to the Stars
by Bernard F. Dick
from University Press of Kentucky
The words "A Hal Wallis Production" grace the opening credits of several of America's best-loved films. During nearly half a century of work in Hollywood, Wallis produced timeless classics such as The Adventures of Robin Hood, Yankee Doodle Dandy, Becket, True Grit, Rooster Cogburn and, perhaps the finest representative of American cinematic art, the haunting masterpiece Casablanca. A self-proclaimed "starmaker," Wallis helped launch young talents such as Lizabeth Scott, Kirk Douglas, Burt Lancaster, and Charlton Heston; introduced the comedy team of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis; and brought Elvis Presley to the silver screen.
Hal Wallis: Producer to the Stars is the first biography of the man behind these legendary films and iconic actors. Noted film historian Bernard F. Dick, using extensive research from studio memos, film archives, and personal correspondences, examines Wallis's creative genius and his stature as Hollywood's "Gentleman Producer." Several of the people closest to Wallis, including his publicity director Walter Seltzer and his second wife Martha Hyer Wallis, granted Dick exclusive interviews, and their insights reveal glimpses, unseen until now, of Wallis's remarkable life and career.
Born to poor immigrants in Chicago just before the dawn of the twentieth century, Wallis stands as a rare example of the American dream come to life. At the beginning of his career, he quickly rose through the ranks of the Warner Brothers hierarchy on the basis of his organizational skills and creative powers. As a producer at Warner Brothers and later at Paramount, Wallis was always most attracted to narratives that mirrored the transformations that marked his own life: from commoner to gentleman, destitution to luxury, the hard streets to Easy Street.
Wallis produced great films across a number of genres, including comedy, tragedy, action, romance, melodrama, gangster, and Western, and the hands-on producer left his mark on cinematic touchstones such as The Maltese Falcon and Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. During the Golden Age of Hollywood, Wallis brought talented young actors into the limelight while soliciting career-defining performances from the era's biggest stars, including Bette Davis, Henry Fonda, Richard Burton, and Humphrey Bogart. Bernard Dick's study of Hal Wallis proves that the title of the great producer's autobiography—Starmaker—was no idle boast.
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