Eric Clapton's position as the world's greatest rock guitarist is unlikely to change in our lifetime. His career over the past four decades has been closely followed by millions of fans, as a member of the influential Yardbirds, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Cream, Blind Faith, Derek and the Dominoes, and for many years as a highly successful solo artist. He has a vast catalogue behind him. His rise to guitar hero in the 60s led to a much documented involvement with drugs. The historic Rainbow concert marked the beginning of his return. His turbulent marriage to Patti Boyd was another media favorite. Ultimately it is Clapton's music and complete mastery of the electric guitar which is his most important attribute. Unavailable for several years, Shapiro's earlier study, Slowhand, established itself as one of the classics of rock biography. Here the life is fully reappraised and brought up-to-date to cover the tragic death of Clapton's son, Conor, in 1991 and includes a complete discography and many previously unpublished photographs.

Eric Clapton: Lost In The Blues

Biographies & Memoirs

Shapiro, Harry

Arts & Literature

Da Capo Press

Assembles photographs, songs, interviews with lovers and fellow musicians, and memoirs by friends and family to give an exhaustive account of the rock guitarist's life and early death

Jimi Hendrix: Electric Gypsy

Glebbeek, Caesar

St.Martin's Press

September 18, 1995, marks the 25th anniversary of Jimi Hendrix's untimely demise. To commemorate this event, the authors have revised and updated over 200 pages of Electric Gypsy, the record of Hendrix's legacy as the music world's most talented guitarist.

St. Martin's: Griffin

Discusses how athletes use drugs from steroids to diuretics, how these drugs affect the body, and what risks are involved

Facts on Drugs and Sport

Children's Books

Franklin Watts

Explains what inhalants are, why they are easy to obtain, why people inhale drugs, and the short and long term effects of inhalant abuse on individuals and society

Facts on Inhalants (Facts on Series)

In this book Harry Shapiro examines the time-honoured association between drugs and popular music. He begins with a brief discussion of Western drug-taking before drugs were made illegal in America by the Harrison Narcotics Act of 1914, but the twin rise of jazz and marijuana in the early 1920s heralds the real start of his survey. Each development in popular music has brought with it a new fashion in drugs; Shapiro catalogues these trends and relates them to sociological factors such as race, class and society's attitude towards musicians. He tells in detail the stories of many famous victims of drug abuse, from Charlie Parker to Sid Vicious, and provides evidence of collusion between the drugs and music industries. Shapiro also examines contemporary press accounts of well-known drug arrests, such as those of the Rolling Stones and Boy George, and considers with some irony the 1980s phenomenon of pop stars crusading against drug abuse. Throughout it all, organized crime plays an intermittent but sinister part.

Waiting for the Man: The Story of Drugs and Popular Music

William Morrow & Co.

A history of the links between drugs and popular music.

Waiting for the man: The story of drugs and popular music

Health, Fitness & Dieting

Addiction & Recovery

Quartet Books

How did he do it? So many years later, it’s still the question guitar aficionados ask about Jimi Hendrix, whose music was like nobody else’s. Song by song, album by album, concert by concert, this book analyzes how Hendrix achieved that sound--and so, shows you how to achieve it, too. The book examines all of Hendrix’s equipment, providing a nuts-and-bolts analysis of each of his guitars (including serial number, history, and provenance), his amps choices, and his singular use of revolutionary effects from wah-wahs to overdrives to bizarre-o pedals like the Fuzzface. A practical reference book like no other, this volume gives the proper guidance and tools to any guitarist who wants to take a stab at emulating one of the greatest players of all time.

Jimi Hendrix Gear: The Guitars, Amps & Effects That Revolutionized Rock 'n' Roll

Heatley, Michael

Humor & Entertainment

Voyageur Press

How did he do it? So many years later, it's still the question guitar aficionados ask about Jimi Hendrix, whose music was like nobody else's. Song by song, album by album, concert by concert, this book analyzes how Hendrix achieved that sound--and so, shows you how to achieve it, too. This book examines all of Hendrix's equipment, providing a nuts-and-bolts analysis of each of his guitars (including serial number, history, and provenance), his amp choices, and his singular use of revolutionary effects from wah-wahs to overdrives to bizarre-o pedals like the Fuzzface. A practical reference book like no other, this volume gives the proper guidance and tools to any guitarist who wants to take a stab at emulating one of the greatest players of all time.

Bob Dylan: His Life in Pictures does exactly what the title says. In 256 pages with over 300 images it provides a timeline to this amazing career, showing highlights along with more mundane moments at home and on tour. Though this book may not help you to understand Dylan’s lyrics, it provides a brilliant photographic background to his life and music. After a contextualizing introduction, Bob Dylan breaks his life into five chapters that cover the story decade by decade from the 1960s. Each chapter has a detailed timeline and a wealth of information. Robert Allen Zimmerman (as Bob Dylan was born) has had more impact on the music world than could normally be expected of one man. The quicksilver folk hero of the early 1960s has redefined himself regularly over the decades and remains as controversial and brilliant as ever. The voice of the 1960s protest movement, he has not stagnated—over the years, his music has incorporated many styles, including pop music, folk music, gospel, rock, and even jazz. The one continuous thread is that his music is intelligent and literary; he is a poet first and a songwriter—albeit a great songwriter—second. It is Dylan’s words that have ensured his continued importance and not his aging voice. His peers rate him highly: Neil Young, himself no slouch in the music world, said of him in 2005: "He's the master. If I'd like to be anyone, it's him. And he's a great writer, true to his music and done what he feels is the right thing to do for years and years and years." Joe Strummer praised Dylan as having "laid down the template for lyric, tune, seriousness, spirituality, depth of rock music." And if you judge a musician by his awards, Dylan has done pretty well: from a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammies in 1990 to induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; from France's highest cultural award, the "Commandeur dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres" to the Polar Music Prize from the Royal Swedish Academy of Music; from an honorary doctorate awarded by Princeton University (US) to an honorary degree at the University of St. Andrews (Scotland)—not to mention albums of the year, six entries in the Grammy Hall of Fame, a 2000 Academy Award, a 2001 Golden Globe and a 2008 Pulitzer Prize Special Citation. Get an intimate view of this legendary singer-songwriter, artist, and writer through this amazing photographic account of his life.

Bob Dylan: His Life in Pictures

Chartwell Books

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Shapiro, Harry. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Shapiro, Harry

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Shapiro, Harry. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Eric Clapton: Lost In The Blues

Jimi Hendrix: Electric Gypsy

Jimi Hendrix: Electric Gypsy

Facts on Drugs and Sport

Facts on Inhalants (Facts on Series)

Waiting for the Man: The Story of Drugs and Popular Music

Waiting for the man: The story of drugs and popular music

Jimi Hendrix Gear: The Guitars, Amps & Effects That Revolutionized Rock 'n' Roll

Jimi Hendrix Gear: The Guitars, Amps & Effects That Revolutionized Rock 'n' Roll

Bob Dylan: His Life in Pictures