A new book titled “How [Not] To Write Great Lyrics! – 40 Common Mistakes To Avoid When Writing Lyrics For Your Songs” aims to help aspiring songwriters steer clear of the many traps they can easily fall into when writing lyrics for their songs.
Written by experienced music publisher and music consultant Brian Oliver, the book takes a close look at the essential lyrical elements that are consistently found in the structure of all hit songs.
It highlights the most common errors that are made when these key components are built into a song, and shows writers who are just starting out how to avoid such mistakes in their own lyrics.
This new book is the follow-up to Brian Oliver’s five-star rated title: “How [Not] To Write A Hit Song! – 101 Common Mistakes To Avoid If You Want Songwriting Success”.
Written in an easy, non-technical style, “How [Not] To Write Great Lyrics!” identifies many frequent causes of lyrical shortcomings—from common mistakes in the basic construction of song lyrics … to making flawed choices with titles, opening lines, lyrical hooks, verb selection, rhyming patterns, and more.
The book also highlights other causes of lyric writing problems—such as having the wrong mental attitude, not paying enough attention to ‘creative preparation’, and not taking steps to avoid writer’s block.
“How [Not] To Write Great Lyrics!” includes important tips on fixing and strengthening lyrics, along with a comprehensive checklist of more than 100 potential hazards that writers can measure their own lyrics against—no matter how ‘finished’ they think their songs are.
Most songwriters have, at some stage, had to endure the disappointment of having their songs rejected and ended up asking: “Could I have done more to make my songs better?”. This book aims to help writers recognise weaknesses in their lyrics, so that they can re-work them, make them stronger, and hopefully achieve the breakthrough they’re striving for.
The book’s author Brian Oliver—who has worked with legendary songwriters such as Neil Diamond, Janis Ian, Albert Hammond and Gilbert O’Sullivan—warns that aspiring writers’ chances of success could be hampered if they fail to spend enough time polishing and editing their lyrics and eradicating weaknesses.
Says Oliver: “When a new lyric idea suddenly hits you – and everything comes together so quickly that the song almost writes itself – it’s very easy to fall into the trap of rushing straight into a studio and recording a demo. You then confidently submit the song to a music company believing it’s the best thing you’ve ever written – only to suffer the agony of having the song rejected.
“Sometimes it’s better just to slow down, take a step back, and re-examine each element of your new lyrics,” he says. “If you don’t spend a little more time polishing your lyrics, there is a danger that they may still contain weaknesses that you failed to spot first time around.”
“How [Not] To Write Great Lyrics! – 40 Common Mistakes To Avoid When Writing Lyrics For Your Songs” is now available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other good book stores as a paperback, or as an eBook from Amazon’s Kindle Store, Apple’s iTunes Book Store, Barnes & Noble’s Nook store, and Kobo Books.
Adele has unveiled a brand new song—titled ‘When We Were Young’—which was co-written with Canadian singer-songwriter Tobias Jesso Jr. The song is taken from Adele’s new album, 25, which is available from November 20.
Jesso’s music has been compared to singer-songwriters of the 1960s and 1970s such as Randy Newman, Harry Nilsson and Emitt Rhodes.
Commenting on teaming up with the 30-year-old Canadian, Adele said: “I loved Tobias Jesso Jr’s song ‘Hollywood’ and I reached out to him when I was working on 25. I say I reached out… I got my manager to contact his manager. I’m pretty behind on social networking culture, I’d have no idea how to do it. Also I didn’t want to ask and have him say, “Absolutely not, I think you’re shit.” At least if my manager asks, he can absorb the rejection and just never tell me. Anyway, he was well up for it.”
And here’s the stunning result of their collaboration…
Inspired by real events, “Gilbert’s Gift” tells the story of Gilbert Shilling—a rock star back in the Swinging Sixties—who becomes a living lung donor to save the life of a dying boy he has never met.
“Gilbert’s Gift” is available from Amazon as a US paperback, UK paperback and as an eBook from Amazon’s Kindle Store. It is also available from Apple’s iTunes Store (Books/Fiction & Literature/Brian Will Oliver), Barnes & Noble’s Nook Store, and from KoboBooks.
The Beatles’ updated and expanded version of their best-of collection, The Beatles 1, has just been released in a variety of formats.
The deluxe version (known as The Beatles 1+) includes a DVD or Blu-Ray of newly-restored videos for all of the songs featured on the original album.
According to Apple Corps, an 18-person team of film and video technicians and restoration artists spent months undertaking painstaking frame-by-frame cleaning, colour-grading, digital enhancement and new edits for the videos.
After the videos for ‘Revolution’ and ‘A Day in the Life’ were recently made available to the public for the first time, this week sees the release of the newly-restored videos for ‘Penny Lane’ and ‘We Can Work It Out’ …
Inspired by real events, “Gilbert’s Gift” tells the story of Gilbert Shilling—a rock star back in the Swinging Sixties—who becomes a living lung donor to save the life of a dying boy he has never met.
“Gilbert’s Gift” is available from Amazon as a US paperback, UK paperback and as an eBook from Amazon’s Kindle Store. It is also available from Apple’s iTunes Store (Books/Fiction & Literature/Brian Will Oliver), Barnes & Noble’s Nook Store, and from KoboBooks.
Apple Corps is set to release an updated version of the Beatles’ White Album on November 6 along with a DVD of performances of the songs from the original album.
The DVD will include a previously unseen promotional video of the John Lennon song ‘Revolution’ which was the B-side of ‘Hey Jude’, released in August 1968 (you can watch the video below).
‘Revolution’ was inspired by the many political protests in early 1968. Two versions of the song were recorded: a hard rock version (the one heard on the B-side of ‘Hey Jude’) and a slower, bluesy arrangement (titled ‘Revolution 1′) for the Beatles’ self-titled double album, commonly known as the ‘White Album’.
Although the single version was issued first, it was recorded several weeks after ‘Revolution 1’ as a re-make and was specifically intended for release as a single. A third connected piece, written by Lennon, is the experimental track ‘Revolution 9’, which evolved from an unused, spoken-word portion of ‘Revolution 1’. It also appears on the White Album.
Producer George Martin said the record was able to get its distinctive distorted sound by plugging the amps directly into the Abbey Road recording desk and pushing the volume into the red. “We got into distortion on that, which we had a lot of complaints from the technical people about,” said Martin. “But that was the idea. It was John’s song and the idea was to push it right to the limit. Well, we went to the limit and beyond.”
Filming for promotional clips of ‘Hey Jude’ and ‘Revolution’ took place on September 4, 1968 at Twickenham Film Studios in England, under the direction of Michael Lindsay-Hogg. Two finished clips of ‘Revolution’ were produced, with only lighting differences and other minor variations. The Beatles sang the vocals live over the pre-recorded instrumental track from the single version.
Here’s the previously unseen video of ‘Revolution’ …
Inspired by real events, “Gilbert’s Gift” tells the story of Gilbert Shilling—a rock star back in the Swinging Sixties—who becomes a living lung donor to save the life of a dying boy he has never met.
“Gilbert’s Gift” is available from Amazon as a US paperback, UK paperback and as an eBook from Amazon’s Kindle Store. It is also available from Apple’s iTunes Store (Books/Fiction & Literature/Brian Will Oliver), Barnes & Noble’s Nook Store, and from KoboBooks.
With this year marking the 100th anniversary of the birth of guitar legend Les Paul, guitar manufacturer Gibson is partnering with Q Magazine to present the Gibson Les Paul Award as part of this year’s Q Awards, which take place on October 19 in London.
The iconic Gibson Les Paul guitar is one of the most famous instruments in rock history and the Gibson Les Paul Award is presented to specially recognise guitar playing and innovation.
Les Paul is named as one of Rolling Stone magazine’s 100 Greatest Guitarists of all time. His innovative talents extended into his playing style – including licks, trills, chording sequences, fretting techniques and timing – which set him apart from his contemporaries and continue to inspire many guitarists today.
During his career he received 36 Gold records, eleven No.1 hits and several Grammy awards, among many other accolades. He was also a pioneer in the development of multi-track recording, over-dubbing and numerous other recording techniques.
Henry Juszkiewicz, Gibson CEO and chairman said: “We’re delighted to be partnering again with Bauer Media and Q Magazine as a supporter of this year’s Q Awards. The Gibson Les Paul Award, salutes innovation, artistry and inspiration in guitar playing and holds even greater prestige in 2015, as we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Les Paul.”
(Photo: Thomas Faivre-Duboz)
“Gilbert’s Gift” is available from Amazon as a US paperback, UK paperback and as an eBook from Amazon’s Kindle Store. It is also available from Apple’s iTunes Store (Books/Fiction & Literature/Brian Will Oliver), Barnes & Noble’s Nook Store, and from KoboBooks.
To pave the way for a remixed, deluxe edition of his classic album Pipes of Peace, Paul McCartney has released a remix of his 1983 hit with Michael Jackson, ‘Say, Say, Say’, which was originally produced by George Martin. The song became Jackson’s seventh Top 10 hit in a year.
In the video below, McCartney talks to Manic Street Preachers’ frontman James Dean Bradfield about what it was like to write songs such as ‘Say, Say, Say’ with Michael Jackson.
McCartney reveals that the song was written quickly, with Jackson and himself face-to-face around a piano in the former Beatle’s London office.
“It came very easily because I was excited to be writing with him and he was excited to write with me,” said McCartney. “We just popped off each other.”
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“Gilbert’s Gift” is available from Amazon as a US paperback, UK paperback and as an eBook from Amazon’s Kindle Store. It is also available from Apple’s iTunes Store (Books/Fiction & Literature/Brian Will Oliver), Barnes & Noble’s Nook Store, and from KoboBooks.
The Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards has laid into fellow Sixties bands Led Zeppelin and The Who during an interview with Rolling Stone magazine.
The 71-year-old Stones legend reportedly described Led Zeppelin as “hollow” and said The Who were a “crazy” band and their frontman Roger Daltrey was “all flash”.
Richards revealed he has never been a fan of Led Zeppelin and while he thinks Jimmy Page is a great guitarist he doesn’t like him when he’s performing with the other members of the band.
“I love Jimmy Page,” he told Rolling Stone magazine, “but as a band, no, with John Bonham thundering down the highway in an uncontrolled 18-wheeler … Jimmy is a brilliant player. But I always felt there was something a little hollow about it, you know?”
Meanwhile, Richards also wrote off The Who. “I always thought Roger Daltrey was all flash,” he told Rolling Stone in the same interview. “I love Pete Townshend, but I always thought the Who were a crazy band anyway. You would say to Keith Moon, if you were in a session with him, ‘Just give me a swing,’ and he couldn’t … He was an incredible drummer, but only with Pete Townshend.”
Rolling Stone magazine has credited Keith Richards as the creator of “rock’s greatest single body of riffs” on guitar and ranks him fourth on its list of 100 Best Guitarists. Jimmy Page is ranked third …
(Photo: SolarScott)
What would YOU give to save the life of a stranger’s child? That’s the emotive question posed by this heartwarming novel of selfless courage, a quest for forgiveness, and a Swinging Sixties first love that never grew old.
“Gilbert’s Gift” is available from Amazon as a US paperback, UK paperback and as an eBook from Amazon’s Kindle Store. It is also available from Apple’s iTunes Store (Books/Fiction & Literature/Brian Will Oliver), Barnes & Noble’s Nook Store, and from KoboBooks.
David Bowie has confirmed that he has definitely retired from touring for good.
That’s according to Bowie’s longtime booking agent John Giddings, managing director of Solo Music Agency.
“David Bowie is one of the best artists I’ve ever worked with. But every time I see him now, before I even speak to him, he goes, ‘I’m not touring’ and I say, ‘I’m not asking’,” said Giddings during an interview at the recent International Festival Forum (IFF), a two-day event aimed at festivals and booking agents. Giddings promoted Bowie’s 1987 Glass Spider shows at Wembley Stadium. He also represents major artists such as Madonna and U2.
Giddings added: “David has decided to retire and, like Phil Collins, you can’t demand these people go out there again and again and again. I’m really pleased and proud that the last show he ever did in the UK was the 2004 Isle Of Wight Festival.”
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What would YOU give to save the life of a stranger’s child? That’s the emotive question posed by this heartwarming novel of selfless courage, a quest for forgiveness, and a Swinging Sixties first love that never grew old.
“Gilbert’s Gift” is available from Amazon as a US paperback, UK paperback and as an eBook from Amazon’s Kindle Store. It is also available from Apple’s iTunes Store (Books/Fiction & Literature/Brian Will Oliver), Barnes & Noble’s Nook Store, and from KoboBooks.
A ‘lost album’ by James Last has finally been released – 44 years after it was recorded.
Titled The America Album, it was produced in Hamburg in 1969 specifically for American audiences. The album wasn’t released and disappeared into Polydor’s archives for almost five decades.
The 11-track album has been described as “artistically ambitious” and “ahead of its time”. It features pop and rock-oriented songs by the likes of Bob Dylan, The Byrds, Jimmy Webb, Laura Nyro and Rod McKuen – including classic late-1960s songs such as ‘Wedding Bell Blues’, ‘Sunshine of Your Love’, ‘Lady Lady Lay’ and ‘Ballad of Easy Rider’.
Bobby Vinton fans are being offered a new 2CD set which contains 40 of his greatest hits, B-sides and cover versions of classic songs from the 1960s. Titled Bobby Vinton – The Ultimate Epic Singles Collection, it is said to be “the most comprehensive Bobby Vinton ‘hits’ package ever released”.
Released on 12 August 2013, the collection features all of his hits, including ‘Roses Are Red (My Love)’, ‘Blue Velvet’, ‘Blue On Blue’ and ‘Mr. Lonely’, along with his take on songs like ‘Take Good Care of My Baby’, ‘Half Way to Paradise’ and ‘Sealed With A Kiss’.
Bobby Vinton, now aged 78, has been called “the most successful love singer of the rock era”. From his first hit record ‘Roses Are Red (My Love)’ in 1962 through to 1972, he had more Number One singles than any other solo male artist.
Adele has unveiled a brand new song—titled ‘When We Were Young’—which was co-written with Canadian singer-songwriter Tobias Jesso Jr. The song is taken from Adele’s new album, 25, which is available from November 20.
The Beatles’ updated and expanded version of their best-of collection, The Beatles 1, has just been released in a variety of formats. 
Sh-Boom! Magazine 