Susan VanHecke: Books for Grown-ups

books for grown-ups

Available May 31, 2007!

Roadwork: Rock & Roll Turned Inside Out
Hal Leonard
As a friend and cohort of some of rock music's biggest legends – the Who, Rod Stewart and the Faces, the Rolling Stones, the Eagles, Joe Walsh and the James Gang, and many others- photographer Tom Wright was given unparalleled access to almost every aspect of the musicians' lives, on- and offstage.

Roadwork, with a foreword by the Who's Pete Townshend, is a compilation of Wright's groundbreaking photography and the true stories behind the captivating pictures that have earned him praise as "America's most important documenter of the 1960s and 1970s rock 'n' roll scene" (Northern Express).

Gritty and realistic, poignant and beautiful, Wright's photos powerfully deconstruct the glamour of life on the road, capturing the true essence of rock 'n' roll: the musicians, the roadies, the fans, and the beautiful women who voraciously followed the bands. Over the years, Wright has allowed almost no commercial access to his work; his photographs have been available to only the musicians he's worked with and a handful of record company executives... until now. Roadwork offers a rare glimpse into the extraordinary life and stunning art of Tom Wright. Foreword by Pete Townshend.

"Tom Wright is the Jack Kerouac of rock and roll photography." Joe Walsh

"Tom Wright... a f**king great photographer with a special touch." Keith Richards

"The errant conscience of his camera has captured both the flippancy and the passion of the times." Pete Townshend

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Out Now!

Colonial Place And Riverview: 100 Years Of History
Donning
Celebrating two of Norfolk, Virginia's most distinguished neighborhoods, this pictorial history "coffee table" book is a treasure trove of images and stories of the places, people, and events of the area's past 100 years.

From the neighborhoods' streetcar-suburb beginnings to their socio-political trailblazing as the city's first successfully integrated district, the intriguing CPRV tale is told not only with words, but with more than 100 photographs that depict the emotion and spirit on which the communities were built. Co-written with Artemis Stoll.

Limited edition of 1,000.

Available at Amazon.com.

Nominated for a Virginia Literary Award.

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Three Steps To Heaven: The Eddie Cochran Story
Hal Leonard
Outrageously talented, remarkably handsome, internationally renowned, and dead at the age of 21. More than 40 years after the tragic car crash that killed him, Eddie Cochran remains one of rock 'n' roll's most lamented what ifs. A trailblazing guitarist, gifted vocalist, hit-making composer and arranger, and budding whiz-kid producer, Cochran quickly ascended from Midwestern obscurity in the late '50s to become on of nascent rock 'n' roll's leading lights. He penned or recorded many of the most recognized songs in rock history – "Summertime Blues," "Nervous Breakdown," "Somethin' Else," "C'mon Everybody," "Twenty Flight Rock," "Sittin' In The Balcony" – songs whose distinctive sound and defiant, often wryly humorous lyrics have been eagerly digested, analyzed, and lovingly reinterpreted by generations of rockers after him, from the Beatles to the Sex Pistols, the Who to U2.

Three Steps To Heaven – co-authored by Cochran's nephew, a gifted musician in his own right – is the first American biography of this uniquely American rock legend, who was among the first to be inducted into the Rock 'N' Roll Hall Of Fame. The book is a detailed portrait of Cochran's personal and professional triumphs and travails, with fascinating insights into the rock pioneer's life that only a family member could provide. Bobby Cochran reveals the dynamics of a musical family and the amazing and tragic parallels between his own life story and that of his Uncle Eddie.

“Buy this now... a biography that benefits from memory and family lore as well as interviews and research.” Rolling Stone

“An excellent work for music historians and budding rock guitarists.” Vintage Guitar

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Race With The Devil: Gene Vincent's Life In The Fast Lane
St. Martin's Press
Gene Vincent – most famous for his classic 1956 single "Be-Bop-A-Lula" – is one of the most influential rock 'n' roll artists of all time. Race With The Devil is the first American biography of this musical pioneer, and the most comprehensive survey ever written of Vincent's groundbreaking career and turbulent personal life.

Penned with a novelistic intensity, Race With The Devil examines Vincent's breakneck life of heady extremes. Signed by Capitol Records as the next Elvis, the poor boy from Norfolk, Virginia, enjoyed meteoric success with his hit "Be-Bop-A-Lula" and popular follow-up sides. Proto-punk Vincent's earthy, delinquent rocker posture ultimately proved unpalatable, however, to a middle-class America singing along with the sanitized offerings of Fabian and Ricky Nelson, so in 1959 Vincent moved to England, finding his most enthusiastic audiences across Europe His leather-clad, street-tough persona and raucous rockabilly stylings met with instant acclaim; Vincent quickly became a revered hero of teenaged England and the idol of aspiring musicians like John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and Jeff Beck.

Race With The Devil digs deeply into the devastating personal struggles that darkened Vincent's life at nearly every turn. From the motorcycle accident at age twenty that left the singer with a permanent, painful leg injury (remedied with a metal brace he would wear the rest of his life), to his lifelong struggle with alcoholism – which took its toll in erratic and frequently violent behavior – Gene Vincent's life is startlingly revealed. From the 1960 car crash that killed his dearest friend, fellow rocker Eddie Cochran, and from which he never psychologically recovered, to the constant infighting with friends, family, and band members, to his death by internal hemorrhaging at age thirty-six, Race With The Devil is a riveting look at an incredible life of rock 'n' roll triumph, torment, and tragedy.

Nominated for a Virginia Literary Award.

Musician/film director Adam Spellicy's screenplay adaptation of Race With The Devil won second place in the 2004 Nashville Screenwriters Association's Screenplay Showdown.

"I loved it! I couldn't put it down!" Brian Setzer, Grammy-winning guitarist

"The best thing I've ever read on Gene Vincent." Ron Weiser, Rollin' Rock magazine and Rollin' Rock Records