Anatomy of 55 More Songs

Following his 2016 smash hit Anatomy of a Song, acclaimed musicjournalist Marc Myers collects fifty-five new oral histories oficonic songs from his popular Wall Street Journal column

 Songs that sell the most copies become hits, but some of those hits becomesomething more—iconic recordings that not only inspire a generation but alsochange the direction of music. In Anatomy of 55 More Songs, based on hiscolumn for the Wall Street Journal, music journalist and historian Marc Myerstells the story behind fifty-five rock, pop, R&B, country, and soul-gospel hitsthrough intimate interviews with the artists who wrote and recorded them. 

Part oral history, part musical analysis, Anatomy of 55 More Songs rangesfrom Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Bad Moon Rising” to Dionne Warwick’s“Walk On By,” The Beach Boys’ “Good Vibrations,” and Black Sabbath’s“Paranoid.” Bernie Taupin recalls how he wrote the lyrics to Elton John’s“Rocket Man;” Joan Jett remembers channeling her rage against how she hadbeen unfairly labeled and treated as a female rocker into “Bad Reputation;” andOzzy Osbourne, Elvis Costello, Bob Weir, Sheryl Crow, Alice Cooper, RobertaFlack, John Mellencamp, Keith Richards, Carly Simon, and many others revealthe emotions and technique behind their major works. 

Through an absorbing chronological, song-by-song analysis of the mostmemorable post-war hits, Anatomy of 55 More Songs provides a sweeping lookat the evolution of pop music between 1964 and today. This book will changehow you listen to music and evaluate the artists who create it.