Product Description

It looks like a gorgeous nostalgia trip to judge by the cover image alone. The photo is of an old school record player that lies unplugged, a white label test-pressing waiting on the turntable, while a band of paper wrapped around the cover announces the title in ye olde woodblock-looking type, American Music. A reading of the small type on the back cover reveals the image to be the very record and turntable left in Elvis Presley’s bedroom the day he died, and the mind reels, thinking about whether the King listened to this record on that day or not, and who are the Stamps, anyway? An excellent selection of musician portraits interspersed with crumbly wooden jook joints and wide open fields in the South, American Music covers a wide gamut of jazz, blues, punk, country, hip-hop, rock and roll, folk and gospel musicians. And while most of the pictures were shot between 1999 and 2002, some go back to the early 1970s, when Leibovitz first became Rolling Stone magazine's chief photographer. Some of the artists are very well-known (Michael Stipe, Dolly Parton, Bob Dylan) and some of them are not (Jessie Mae Hemphill, Other Turner, Carlos Coy). Leibovitz really has a way of relaxing her performers, and this is a great part of her gift. Even when the pictures are so posed as to be ridiculous (like, what's Michael Stipe doing on that bedbug-ridden mattress—-the guy's a billionaire?), she catches her subjects at their most "real." They are lost in their music, or just doing some "real person" thing (look, there is Beck in his car—does Beck really drive his own car?). The presentation may be a little hokey, but this book is sure to please most any music fan. --Mike McGonigal

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Product Details

Publisher	Random House
ISBN	0375505075
Format	Hardcover
Creator	Annie Leibovitz Patti Smith Rosanne Cash Steve Earle Ryan Adams Beck Mos Def
EAN	9780375505072
Label	Random House
Edition	1
Dewey Decimal Number	779.9780973
Studio	Random House
Number Of Pages	264
Title	Annie Leibovitz: American Music
Release Date	2003-10-28
Publication Date	2003-10-28
Manufacturer	Random House

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Customer Reviews

More Annie publications

Review by S. Nash, 2009-12-08

I got this book for my young son-in-law who is a rock & roll photographer.

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Damaged in shipping due to poor packaging

Review by K. Kluba, 2009-01-28

Book was sent in a plastic type mail bag and had no protection so corner of book was severely bent in shipping. Would like to know how to contact the seller to see if another one is available. Would be happy to mail back the damaged copy.

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Annie Leibovitz's Images of and Notes about American Popular Musicians

Review by Professor Donald Mitchell, 2008-12-12

The title of this volume can mislead people who don't remember that Annie Leibovitz started out as the lead photographer for Rolling Stone. The result of her life's photographic work with these subjects is portrayed here along with some very fine notes at the end that explain who the subjects are for those you don't know. I liked the notes as much as the photographs. You will, too, unless you have an encyclopedic knowledge of American popular musicians. Those offerings are boosted in value by the essays authored by Patti Smith, Steve Earle, Rosanne Cash, Mos Def, Beck, Ryan Adams, and Annie Leibovitz.

The work cries for a companion CD tucked into the back of the book so you could match the music to the images and words. Perhaps it was just too much work to put the permissions together for such a project . . . or the publishers just assumed that we know all the music (I certainly don't).

The photography is often breathtaking in capturing musicians who have had a lasting effect on tens of millions of lives. In many cases, you are treated to large, two-page spreads where the center line doesn't interrupt your ability to focus on the image. The printing is very fine in the copy I read, and I hope it is also on yours.

Here are a few of my many favorites:

Pete Seeger, Clearwater Revival, Croton-on-Hudson, New York, 2001 (color)
Fisk Jubilee Singers, New York City, 2003
Eddie Cotton, Jr. with Jan Hobson, Jackson, Mississippi, 2000
Po' Monkey's Lounge, Merigold, Mississippi, 2000
B.B. King, New York City, 2000

Emmylou Harris, Franklin, Tennessee, 2001
Johnny Cash with his grandchildren and daughter, Rosanne Cash, Hiltons, Virginia, 2001
Dolly Parton, Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, 2002
Ramblin' Jack Elliott and Odetta, New York City, 2000
Willie Nelson, Spicewood, Texas, 2001

Jungle Room, Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee, 2001
Duane Eddy and Les Paul, Mahwah, New Jersey, 2000
Aretha Franklin, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, 1993
John Lee Hooker, Los Altos, California, 2000
Willie Foster, Greenville, Mississippi, 2000

Rakim, Eminem, and Dr. Dre, Los Angeles, 2002
Sean "P. Diddy" Combs with sons, Bridgehampton, New York, 1998
Nelly, New York City, 2002
Mary J. Blige, New York City, 1999
Bonnie Raitt, New York City, 2003

Jon Bon Jovi, Rumson, New Jersey, 2000
The White Stripes, New York City, 2003
Iggy Pop, Miami, Florida, 2000
Mike Ness and family, Santa Ana, California, 2003
Ardoin Family, Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, 2002

Preservation Hall, New Orleans, 2002
Neville Family, New Orleans, 2002
New Birth Brass Band, New Orleans, 2003
Jazz Funeral for Placide Adams, New Orleans, 2003
Miles Davis, New York City, 1989

Dave Brubeck, Wilton, Connecticut, 2002
Etta James, Riverside, California, 2003
Tony Bennett and Ralph Sharon, San Francisco, 2001
Anita O'Day, Los Angeles, 2001
Louis Armstrong, Queens, New York, 1971

Joan Baez, Big Sur, California, 1971
Bob Dylan, Los Angeles, 1977
Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley, San Francisco, 1972
Tina Turner, San Francisco, 1971
Ray Charles, Los Angeles, 1972

James Taylor, Lenox, Massachusetts, 2002
Joni Mitchell, Bel Air, California, 1999
Bruce Springsteen, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1999
Patti Smith, St. Clair Shores, Michigan, 1996

May these marvelous images strum your heart strings for lovely moments of old!

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A book of pictures

Review by Janice Kilgore, 2008-05-20

I am conflicted in how this book could reflect American Music. I bought this book as a requirement for my doctorate of music. The pictures, though they were sometimes vivid, I do not feel the book accurately paints a picture of American Music. Perhaps, Ms. Leibovitz should have gotten help from a musicologist (one who is an expert on the history of music) because it is a poor representation of music. It is like saying pop singers are musicians, which they are not. It is an insult to all true musicians in discounting their hard work. American Idol does not represent American music and neither does this book.
I wasted $30 on this book and though I have never resold a book, I will gladly sell this book back. Do not waste your money.

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Good for fans of Photography and Music

Review by Casey A. Prout, 2007-01-28

If you love the blues, or love photography this is a great book. While not specific to just Blues musicians this book just makes me think of good old delta blues. The prints in this book shine like they were hand printed by Annie herself. Theres a heart and soul driving this book from begining to end.
This is a more personal project for Annie Leibovitz and so doenst allway have her studio style inside.
That does not mean that each photograph is not amazing for they are, but some are a smaller more
candid world that Annie Leibotiz is capturing.

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