General

I Am Ozzy

"They've said some crazy things about me over the years. I mean, okay: 'He bit the head off a bat.' Yes. 'He bit the head off a dove.' Yes. But then you hear things like, 'Ozzy went to the show last night, but he wouldn't perform until he'd killed fifteen puppies . . .' Now me, kill fifteen puppies? I love puppies. I've got eighteen of the f**king things at home. I've killed a few cows in my time, mind you. And the chickens. I shot the chickens in my house that night.

It haunts me, all this crazy stuff. Every day of my life has been an event. I took lethal combinations of booze and drugs for thirty f**king years. I survived a direct hit by a plane, suicidal overdoses, STDs. I've been accused of attempted murder. Then I almost died while riding over a bump on a quad bike at f**king two miles per hour.

People ask me how come I'm still alive, and I don't know what to say. When I was growing up, if you'd have put me up against a wall with the other kids from my street and asked me which one of us was gonna make it to the age of sixty, which one of us would end up with five kids and four grandkids and houses in Buckinghamshire and Beverly Hills, I wouldn't have put money on me, no f**king way. But here I am: ready to tell my story, in my own words, for the first time.

A lot of it ain't gonna be pretty. I've done some bad things in my time. I've always been drawn to the dark side, me. But I ain't the devil. I'm just John Osbourne: a working-class kid from Aston, who quit his job in the factory and went looking for a good time."

Barnyard Dance! (Boynton on Board)

A die-cut cover opens to reveal chunky pages full of delightful farm animals at a barnyard dance in a board book that teaches young readers all about opposites.

Hal Leonard Guitar Method, Complete Edition: Books & CD's 1, 2 and 3

The Hal Leonard Guitar Method is designed for anyone just starting to play acoustic or electric guitar. It is based on years of teaching guitar students of all ages, and reflects some of the best teaching ideas from around the world. This super-convenient Complete Edition features the new and improved method books 1, 2, and 3 spiral-bound together. CDs give blow-by-blow assistance from super-player and author Greg Koch.

Tammy Wynette: Tragic Country Queen

A Conversation with Author Jimmy McDonough

Can we get a hamburger?

No, Jimmy, we have to discuss your new book.

Oh, right, this is where the author toots his own horn for a few pages. Well, I already tooted the horn for close to 400 pages. The horn is tired. The horn is flaccid.

Thank you for that lovely image, Jimmy, but let’s get to business: why Tammy Wynette?

Why Tammy? I’ll tell you why. Wynette’s one of the greatest singers this country has ever produced, yet you never hear about her. Tammy’s taken for granted. And if you do her about her, it’s because of her anthem, “Stand By Your Man.” Some people never got past that one. They assume Tammy is just some sort of one-dimensional anti-feminist mouthpiece. She’s much more complex than people give her credit for. Until illness and drug addiction sidelined her, Tammy was very, very independent. She sold millions of records and changed the game for female country singers. Madonna? Lady Gaga? Wynette created that kind of frenzy back in the sixties/seventies, only with a steel guitar. She sang for five presidents, and was known to smooch both Ronald Reagan and George Wallace on lips after belting one out for their benefit. Among her fans you’ll find diverse artists as Loretta Lynn, Elton John, Tanya Tucker, Sting, Faith Hill and James Taylor. “One of the greatest voices of all time,” says Dolly Parton.

This is a woman who overcame many obstacles. Nashville potentates told Tammy she’d never make it; door after door was slammed in her face. Her mother Mildred fought her every step of the way—only to wind up running her daughter’s fan club once Wynette became a star. Tammy came from out of nowhere, a divorcee with three kids, and absolutely conquered Music City. “She went from bein’ a beautician to the queen of country music,” notes Emmylou Harris.

I must admit, I have been a fan of Tammy’s most of my life. I always thought I’d write about her someday. I give all to my books—this isn’t just a gig for me—and I can only write about people I deeply admire. I like Tammy even more now than before I started the book—which isn’t always the case, heh heh. So this book was a labor of love.

Give us five words to describe Tammy Wynette.

Regal, single-minded, conflicted, elusive, haunted.

What did you come to admire about Wynette the most?

She was definitely a larger-than-life character, just as extreme as any of her male counterparts. As was her music. “I believe you have to live the songs,” insisted Wynette. Tammy took the romantic country ballad and just drove it into the ground. One sad song after another—after another! She was unrelenting. Even at the end of her life when she practically had to crawl onstage to sing, Tammy refused to give up. I love that.

Of course, there have been two books on Wynette already.

Yes, there have, but neither offer the complete story. The first was her autobiography, Stand By Your Man, in which author Joan Dew captures Tammy’s voice brilliantly. That book was one of the reasons I became a writer. But it’s only Tammy’s side of the story, and it ends in the seventies, before her life got truly weird. The other book was written directly after Tammy’s death by her daughter Jackie (with Tom Carter), and is basically an indictment of Wynette’s final husband, George Richey.

So Tammy’s never gotten a proper biography. Many of the people I interviewed—her friends, band members, hairdressers, childhood playmates—have never spoken publicly before. And some of them were so unsettled by her death it took until now for them to talk.

Tammy was much more eccentric than people think. She had a passion for clip-on earrings and a strong dislike for feminine hygiene commercials. She could be extremely generous and very vindictive. She had a wry, observant sense of humor and admitted to smoking the occasional joint. Tammy got to people—I’m talking as a person, not as a singer—on a very deep level, yet she wasn’t one to expose her feelings in any sort of direct way. There is many a riddle to this lady and, despite four years of intense research, still so much I can’t explain.

What’s the most surprising thing you learned researching her life?

Well, Tammy liked to embellish. Not maliciously, for the most part—she’d just get excited and add details to spice things up. She was a teller of tall tales. So much so that when her autobiography came out, co-author Joan Dew, to pass the time, would quiz her on the contents while out on the road. “She didn’t know the answers,” admitted Dew. “I don’t think she’d ever read the book.”

The other thing that was surprised me was how reticent Wynette was to spill the beans to friends and family. In interviews and performances Tammy seemed so open and forthcoming, but in private she wasn’t exactly an open book. That’s why this biography is important—you get a much fuller picture from those closest to her than she would ever revealed herself.

Read the full interview

The first full-scale biography of the enduring first lady of country music

The twentieth century had three great female singers who plumbed the darkest corners of their hearts and transformed private grief into public dramas. In opera, there was the unsurpassed Maria Callas. In jazz, the tormented Billie Holiday. And in country music, there was Tammy Wynette.

"Stand by Your Man," "D-I-V-O-R-C-E," "Take Me to Your World" are but a few highlights of Tammy's staggering musical legacy, all sung with a voice that became the touchtone for women's vulnerability, disillusionment, strength, and endurance.

In Tammy Wynette, bestselling biographer Jimmy McDonough tells the story of the small-town girl who grew up to be the woman behind the microphone, whose meteoric rise led to a decades-long career full of tragedy and triumph. Through a high-profile marriage and divorce, her dreadful battle with addiction and illness, and the struggle to compete in a rapidly evolving Nashville, Tammy turned a brave smile toward the world and churned out masterful hit songs though her life resembled the most heartbreaking among them.

Tammy Wynette is an intimate portrait of a music icon, the Queen of Heartbreak, whose powerful voice simultaneously evoked universal pain and longing even as it belied her own.

The Chord Wheel: The Ultimate Tool for All Musicians (Instructional)

Master chord theory ... in minutes! The Chord Wheel is a revolutionary device that puts the most essential and practical applications of chord theory into your hands. This tool will help you improvise and solo, talk about chops!; comprehend key structure like never before; instantly transpose any progression into each and every key; compose your own music, watch your songwriting blossom! No music reading is necessary. "This is the kind of device that players of any instrument can use to enhance their musical understanding. Chord and key relationships are inseparable, and learning these relationships is a must in becoming a successful musician," Alan Remington, Orange Coast College Music Dept.

Alfred's Basic Adult Piano Course: Lesson Book, Level One

A beginning course for adults who prefer a chord approach. It teaches chords for both hands so that the student can play more than single note melodies. It contains outstanding songs such as "The Entertainer," "Scarborough Fair," "Greensleeves" and "Amazing Grace."

Music Theory for Guitarists: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know But Were Afraid to Ask (Guitar Method)

Guitarists of all levels will find a wealth of practical music knowledge in this special book and CD package. Veteran guitarist and author Tom Kolb dispels the mysteries of music theory using plain and simple terms and diagrams. The accompanying CD provides 94 tracks of music examples, scales, modes, chords, ear training, and much more!

Teaching Little Fingers to Play: A Book for the Earliest Beginner (John Thompsons Modern Course for The Piano)

A series for the early beginner combining rote and note approach. The melodies are written with careful thought and are kept as simple as possible, yet they are refreshingly delightful. All the music lies within the grasp of the child's small hands.

Motley Crue: The Dirt - Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band

Whiskey and porn stars, hot reds and car crashes, black leather and high heels, overdoses and death. This is the life of Mötley Crüe, the heaviest drinking, hardest fighting, most oversexed and arrogant band in the world. Their unbelievable exploits are the stuff of rock 'n' roll legend. They nailed the hottest chicks, started the bloodiest fights, partied with the biggest drug dealers, and got to know the inside of every jail cell from California to Japan. They have dedicated an entire career to living life to its extreme, from the greatest fantasies to the darkest tragedies. Tommy married two international sex symbols; Vince killed a man and lost a daughter to cancer; Nikki overdosed, rose from the dead, and then OD'd again the next day; and Wick shot a woman and tried to hang his own brother. But that's just the beginning. Fueled by every drug they could get their hands on and obscene amounts of alcohol, driven by fury and headed straight for hell, Mötley Crüe raged through two decades, leaving behind a trail of debauched women, trashed hotel rooms, crashed cars, psychotic managers, and broken bones that has left the music industry cringing to this day. All these unspeakable acts, not to mention their dire consequences, are laid bare in The Dirt.

Here -- directly from Nikki, Vince, Tommy, and Mick -- is the unexpurgated version of the whole glorious, gut-wrenching story. In these pages, published for the first time anywhere, are Tommy Lee's letters to Pamela Anderson from prison: Mick's confession to having an incurable disease that is slowly killing him; Vince's experience burying his own daughter -- and the train wreck that his life became afterward; and Nikki's anguished struggle to deal with an entire life fueled by anger over his childhood abandonment, his discovery of the family he never knew he had -- and his subsequent loss of them. And all of it accompanied by scores of rare, never-before-published photographs, mug shots, and handwritten lyrics. No one is spared. Not David Lee Roth, Ozzy Osbourne, Vanity, Aerosmith, Heather Locklear, AC/DC, Lita Ford, Iron Maiden, Pamela Anderson, Guns N' Roses, Donna D'Errico, RATT, or those two girls from Dallas, Texas.

Make no mistake about it: these guys are geniuses. They invented glam metal and then left it in the dust; sold more than forty million albums from Shout at the Devil to Dr. Feelgood; toured the world dozen times and have the scars to prove it it; and maintained a rabid following in an era of throwaway pop stars. Mötley Crüe has done nothing less than tattoo the psyche of the entire MTV generation. They are the ultimate rock 'n' roll band. And if you don't believe it, read The Dirt. You don't know what decadence is...

The Beatles Complete Chord Songbook (Guitar Chord Songbook)

This great collection features all 194 songs written and sung by The Beatles, specially transcribed here for strumming guitarists, from the actual recordings, in the original keys. Each song includes chord symbols, guitar chord boxes and complete lyrics. Also features a helpful playing guide and a full discography.