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Play It Loud
- An Epic History of the Style, Sound, and Revolution of the Electric Guitar
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 11 hrs and 51 mins
- Categories: Arts & Entertainment, Music
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Summary
The inspiration for the Play It Loud exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
"Every guitar player will want to read this book twice. And even the casual music fan will find a thrilling narrative that weaves together cultural history, musical history, race, politics, business case studies, advertising, and technological discovery." (Daniel Levitin, Wall Street Journal)
For generations the electric guitar has been an international symbol of freedom, danger, rebellion, and hedonism. In Play It Loud, Brad Tolinski and Alan di Perna bring the history of this iconic instrument to roaring life. It's a story of inventors and iconoclasts, of scam artists, prodigies, and mythologizers as varied and original as the instruments they spawned.
Play It Loud uses 12 landmark guitars - each of them artistic milestones in their own right - to illustrate the conflict and passion the instruments have inspired. It introduces Leo Fender, a man who couldn't play a note but whose innovations helped transform the guitar into the explosive sound machine it is today. Some of the most significant social movements of the 20th century are indebted to the guitar: It was an essential element in the fight for racial equality in the entertainment industry; a mirror to the rise of the teenager as social force; a linchpin of punk's sound and ethos. And today the guitar has come full circle, with contemporary titans such as Jack White of The White Stripes, Annie Clark (aka St. Vincent), and Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys bringing some of the earliest electric guitar forms back to the limelight.
Featuring interviews with Les Paul, Keith Richards, Carlos Santana, Eddie Van Halen, Steve Vai, and dozens more players and creators, Play It Loud is the story of how a band of innovators transformed an idea into a revolution.
Critic reviews
"It's all here: everything knowable now becomes known about the plugged-in ax that changed the world. A comprehensive history of the electric guitar in cultural context is something long wanted, awaited, and needed. At long last, it has arrived." (Billy Gibbons, ZZ Top guitarist/vocalist and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee)
"The authors...bring freshness to chestnuts through technical nuggets aplenty.... The electric guitar changed the world, and Tolinski and di Perna impressively reveal its epic story." (Kirkus Reviews)
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What listeners say about Play It Loud
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Josh
- 03-08-20
great
A really good read for guitarists or anyone who loves a good history lesson. Recommended
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- LJLC
- 12-02-17
Keep up with the rest.....
What did you like best about this story?
This book allows you to tell the overblown "rock star" in your band, that he's wrong. It's an education, and well worth hearing.
What about Rob Shapiro’s performance did you like?
I wasnt bored.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
No. Too much to memorise!
1 person found this helpful
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- c
- 27-12-16
Great history lesson for electric guitar enthusia!
Where does Play It Loud rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
It's definitely one of the best music oriented non-fiction books available.
Who was your favorite character and why?
All the people, guitars and events in the book were very interesting.
Which character – as performed by Rob Shapiro – was your favorite?
All equally good.
Any additional comments?
It would have been great if it also included audio clips of the guitars and music referenced in the book. For example, it would help to hear the difference between a single coil vs humbucking pickups, a Gibson Les Paul vs a Fender Strat, sample riffs, techniques, etc. I would buy an updated version of this audiobook if it included all the musical, audio examples described in the book.
10 people found this helpful
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- Chris
- 16-11-18
I liked it, didn't love it.
I wanted to love this book. I really did. The author did a good job of trying to hit several genres and talk about gear. Here's the things I liked: -Good stories on the origins, Fender, Gibson, off brand guitars, gear in general. Some of the artists were really worthy of the extra time he spent on them. Here's what made me dissappointed: -A full hour talking about Bob Dylan. Come on man, sure he made waves when he switched to electric but arguably his best music was when he played acoustic folk. -2 hours on Jimi Hendrix? I'll admit he is arguably the best guitarist of all time but he was really big on the scene for about 3-4 years. No one can deny his impact but the coverage was excessive. -1 hour on Jack White and his junk guitars? Give me a break. -1 hour on Steve Vai? A knock-off Eddie Van Halen -One sentence mentions of BB King, Jerry Garcia (who was a huge gear-head when it came to his guitars), Duane Allman (whose only mention was that he bought a guitar on credit), Stevie Ray Vaughn, etc.?? I know the book could be 30 hours if he gave all of the worthy guitarist their due space. I just did not understand some of the picks and the immense amount of time the author spent on them. If your looking for a good history on the guitar then half of this book has a lot of the pertinent information. The other half is fan-boy fawning over the author's pet artist. Narrator was excellent by the way.
9 people found this helpful
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- Don
- 20-10-17
Over The Top Good!
A well researched account of the history of the guitar from both the musicians and craftsman perspectives. I’m on my second read.
4 people found this helpful
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- Divemaster Julio
- 31-03-17
Great book, well spoken but slow
If you are into guitars this is a good book.
Two things that would make this a great audiobook:
Faster voice (you can actually achieve this through the app by setting speed to 1.25)
Second, include sound bytes of the actual artist playing the guitar in mention.
4 people found this helpful
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- Aztex
- 19-04-18
Excellent Power Chords in Every Key!
Almost perfect book that sheds light on almost every facet of electric guitars!
If you play electric guitar, if you have an interest in music history, if you like stories of self made geniuses GET THIS BOOK NOW!
Funny because I have been buying some semi vintage guitars recently and now discover the sellers were quoting THIS book to impress me with their knowledge!
My only gripes would be is it doesn't go into concert sound and contributions of Owsley Stanley. Should have been at least a page or two.
Also could have been a bit about the evolution of effects pedals etc... and the extremes say David Gilmour have taken tone.
It opted for a more rounded approach incorporating some modern players take with is 100% legit! I'd remove nothing but only add those components to flesh it out a bit more!
Over all one of the best listens (I have well lover 100 audio books and rank this top 5!) and I'm starting it all over again right now!
1 person found this helpful
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- Martha Alcantar
- 17-01-21
Vive Le Electric Guitar!
If you are into the electric guitar - check this out. So many great stories. Loads of stuff I never knew.
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- Scotty
- 01-01-21
Good but incomplete
Really loved this book! But I felt that it was incomplete. Very much skipped over the thrash metal years. Overall worth the listen.
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- Amazon Customer
- 01-01-21
Required reading for guitar players.
I strongly recommend this excellent overview of electric guitar history. Now I need to go buy a few more guitars.
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- Dwieg43
- 25-12-20
must read for guitar nuts
As a guitar fanatic, I devoured this audiobook. It is a treasure trove of guitar history, rich in detail and social context. Well researched and presented. I will likely be a repeat listener.
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- slotperfect
- 25-05-20
Outstanding Book
The BEST non-biographical book about music yet! If you like guitar at all this is a must listen!