Just Help Yourself

Just Help Yourself PDF Author: Vernon Hopkins
Publisher: Seren
ISBN: 1781724776
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 284

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Book Description
"The story that the public were never supposed to read. Brilliantly written, a must-read for all those who want to know the real story." – Peter Karrie "Colourful, candid, humorous and poignant, I couldn't put the book down. Vibrant with unique and wonderful characters." – Iris Williams Just Help Yourself tells the story of The Senators – soon to become The Squires – in 1960s Britain. The band, formed by sixteen-year-old Vernon Hopkins, was to play something called rock and roll, the fresh musical import from America. From practising in his parents' front room to a reputation as the best band in south Wales took just a year. But by 1961 they were in need of a new singer. Vernon recruited local boy Tommy Woodward, and the rest is history. Or is it? This is a classic tale of rock and roll. Successful young musicians from 'the provinces' are enticed to London by their hopeful management, in search of the game-changing record deal. After a period of hardship in Notting Hill, and the addition of a new and thrusting manager, they get a break: records are cut, gigs are played, tv appearances arrive. But as success and money comes the star singer is ruthlessly uncoupled from the band. While Tim Jones takes off, The Squires become increasingly peripheral. Finally, they are cleverly and brutally sacked by the manager, and left to carve out their own careers in the shadow of Jones' success. Vernon Hopkins's authentic story reveals the highs and lows of the music business, and of the allegedly Swinging Sixties. It is full of gritty detail about life in Pontypridd and London, and with great insight into the music business, Just Help Yourself is a cautionary tales of ambition and success. Illustrated with previously unseen photographs from the author's archive.

Just Help Yourself

Just Help Yourself PDF Author: Vernon Hopkins
Publisher: Seren
ISBN: 1781724776
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 284

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Book Description
"The story that the public were never supposed to read. Brilliantly written, a must-read for all those who want to know the real story." – Peter Karrie "Colourful, candid, humorous and poignant, I couldn't put the book down. Vibrant with unique and wonderful characters." – Iris Williams Just Help Yourself tells the story of The Senators – soon to become The Squires – in 1960s Britain. The band, formed by sixteen-year-old Vernon Hopkins, was to play something called rock and roll, the fresh musical import from America. From practising in his parents' front room to a reputation as the best band in south Wales took just a year. But by 1961 they were in need of a new singer. Vernon recruited local boy Tommy Woodward, and the rest is history. Or is it? This is a classic tale of rock and roll. Successful young musicians from 'the provinces' are enticed to London by their hopeful management, in search of the game-changing record deal. After a period of hardship in Notting Hill, and the addition of a new and thrusting manager, they get a break: records are cut, gigs are played, tv appearances arrive. But as success and money comes the star singer is ruthlessly uncoupled from the band. While Tim Jones takes off, The Squires become increasingly peripheral. Finally, they are cleverly and brutally sacked by the manager, and left to carve out their own careers in the shadow of Jones' success. Vernon Hopkins's authentic story reveals the highs and lows of the music business, and of the allegedly Swinging Sixties. It is full of gritty detail about life in Pontypridd and London, and with great insight into the music business, Just Help Yourself is a cautionary tales of ambition and success. Illustrated with previously unseen photographs from the author's archive.

Tom Jones Just Help Yourself

Tom Jones Just Help Yourself PDF Author: Vernon Hopkins
Publisher: Iponymous Publishing Limited
ISBN: 9781908773449
Category : Bass guitarists
Languages : en
Pages : 360

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Book Description
The Bass guitarist, Vernon Hopkins, the founder of the 60's rock group the Senators, which later became the Squires, has written a memoir about his time spent with Tom Jones. It was Vernon who insisted on bringing in Tom as lead singer on the rocky road to fame and super stardom. Vernon became as close as a brother to Tom, until stardom tore them apart.

The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling

The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling PDF Author: Henry Fielding
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 366

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Book Description
A foundling of mysterious parentage brought up by Mr. Allworthy on his country estate, Tom Jones is deeply in love with the seemingly unattainable Sophia Western, the beautiful daughter of the neighboring squireathough he sometimes succumbs to the charms of the local girls. When Tom is banished to make his own fortune and Sophia follows him to London to escape an arranged marriage, the adventure begins. A vivid Hogarthian panorama of eighteenth-century life, spiced with danger and intrigue, bawdy exuberance and good-natured authorial interjections, "Tom Jones" is one of the greatest and most ambitious comic novels in English literature.

The History of Tom Jones

The History of Tom Jones PDF Author: Henry Fielding
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : England
Languages : en
Pages : 458

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Book Description


Over the Top and Back

Over the Top and Back PDF Author: Tom Jones
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 0718180704
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 448

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Book Description
Discover the remarkably honest and captivating story of one of the world's greatest ever singing talents, Sir Tom Jones 'Brilliantly told' SUNDAY TIMES 'A terrific, star-studded journey' DAILY EXPRESS ______ 'For a lot of years, I've answered a lot of questions, but have never told my story before . . .' In a business where dreams are often short-lived, Sir Tom Jones has maintained his sensational career across six decades. But how did a boy from a Welsh coal-mining family attain success across the globe over the course of decades? In this, his first ever autobiography, Tom revisits his past and tells the tale of his journey from wartime Pontypridd to LA and beyond. He reveals the stories behind the ups and downs of his fascinating and remarkable life, from the early heydays to the subsequent fallow years to his later period of artistic renaissance. It's the story nobody else knows or understands, told by the man who lived it, and written the only way he knows how: simply and from the heart. Raw, honest, funny and powerful, this is a memoir like no other from one of the world's greatest ever singing talents. ______ 'Packed with the kind of showbiz tales you don't get any more' Daily Express 'Hugely enjoyable' Daily Mail 'A book that gets to Jones's core' Daily Mirror 'This lively, thoughtful and entertaining account does justice to a remarkable life and career' Sunday Express 'A brilliant read full of charm' Woman & Home

The Reason You Walk

The Reason You Walk PDF Author: Wab Kinew
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0143193562
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 274

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Book Description
A moving story of father-son reconciliation told by a charismatic aboriginal star When his father was given a diagnosis of terminal cancer, Winnipeg broadcaster and musician Wab Kinew decided to spend a year reconnecting with the accomplished but distant aboriginal man who’d raised him. The Reason You Walk spans that 2012 year, chronicling painful moments in the past and celebrating renewed hopes and dreams for the future. As Kinew revisits his own childhood in Winnipeg and on a reserve in Northern Ontario, he learns more about his father's traumatic childhood at residential school. An intriguing doubleness marks The Reason You Walk, itself a reference to an Anishinaabe ceremonial song. Born to an Anishinaabe father and a non-native mother, he has a foot in both cultures. He is a Sundancer, an academic, a former rapper, a hereditary chief and an urban activist. His father, Tobasonakwut, was both a beloved traditional chief and a respected elected leader who engaged directly with Ottawa. Internally divided, his father embraced both traditional native religion and Catholicism, the religion that was inculcated into him at the residential school where he was physically and sexually abused. In a grand gesture of reconciliation, Kinew's father invited the Roman Catholic bishop of Winnipeg to a Sundance ceremony in which he adopted him as his brother. Kinew writes affectingly of his own struggles in his twenties to find the right path, eventually giving up a self-destructive lifestyle to passionately pursue music and martial arts. From his unique vantage point, he offers an inside view of what it means to be an educated aboriginal living in a country that is just beginning to wake up to its aboriginal history and living presence. Invoking hope, healing and forgiveness, The Reason You Walk is a poignant story of a towering but damaged father and his son as they embark on a journey to repair their family bond. By turns lighthearted and solemn, Kinew gives us an inspiring vision for family and cross-cultural reconciliation, and for a wider conversation about the future of aboriginal peoples.

Unbeatable Mind

Unbeatable Mind PDF Author: Mark Divine
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781508730514
Category : Achievement motivation
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Divine, a retired Navy SEAL, presents his insights on how to forge mental toughness, develop mental clarity and cultivate an authentic warrior's spirit. By applying the tools he provides, you will be capable of more accomplishment, more productivity, more success as you develop discipline and build your team.

Last Chance Texaco

Last Chance Texaco PDF Author: Rickie Lee Jones
Publisher: Grove Press
ISBN: 080218880X
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 401

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Book Description
A candid and colorful memoir by the singer, songwriter, and “Duchess of Coolsville” (Time). This troubadour life is only for the fiercest hearts, only for those vessels that can be broken to smithereens and still keep beating out the rhythm for a new song . . . Last Chance Texaco is the first-ever no-holds-barred account of the life of two-time Grammy Award-winner and Rickie Lee Jones in her own words (Hilton Als). It is a tale of desperate chances and impossible triumphs, an adventure story of a girl who beat the odds and grew up to become one of the most legendary artists of her time, turning adversity and hopelessness into timeless music. With candor and lyricism, she takes us on a singular journey through her nomadic childhood, her years as a teenage runaway, her legendary love affair with Tom Waits, and ultimately her longevity as the hardest working woman in rock and roll. Rickie Lee’s stories are rich with the infamous characters of her early songs—“Chuck E’s in Love,” “Weasel and the White Boys Cool,” “Danny’s All-Star Joint,” and “Easy Money”—but long before her notoriety in show business, there was a vaudevillian cast of hitchhikers, bank robbers, jail breaks, drug mules, and a pimp with a heart of gold, and tales of her fabled ancestors. This intimate memoir by one of the most trailblazing and tenacious women in music is filled with never-before-told stories of the girl in the raspberry beret, whose songs defied categorization and inspired American pop culture for decades. “A striking, distinctive self-portrait.” —The New York Times “Terrific . . . Jones is as fearless in prose as she is on stage.” —Minneapolis Star-Tribune “Men leave, fame fizzles, family breaks your heart . . . but Jones knows a good story and how to tell it.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “[The] premiere song-stylist and songwriter of her generation.” —Hilton Als, Pulitzer Prize–winner and author of White Girls

Rage Inside the Machine

Rage Inside the Machine PDF Author: Robert Elliott Smith
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 147296389X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 345

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Book Description
Shortlisted for the 2020 Business Book Awards We live in a world increasingly ruled by technology; we seem as governed by technology as we do by laws and regulations. Frighteningly often, the influence of technology in and on our lives goes completely unchallenged by citizens and governments. We comfort ourselves with the soothing refrain that technology has no morals and can display no prejudice, and it's only the users of technology who distort certain aspects of it. But is this statement actually true? Dr Robert Smith thinks it is dangerously untrue in the modern era. Having worked in the field of artificial intelligence for over 30 years, Smith reveals the mounting evidence that the mechanical actors in our lives do indeed have, or at least express, morals: they're just not the morals of the progressive modern society that we imagined we were moving towards. Instead, as we are just beginning to see – in the US elections and Brexit to name but a few – there are increasing incidences of machine bigotry, greed and the crass manipulation of our basest instincts. It is easy to assume that these are the result of programmer prejudices or the product of dark forces manipulating the masses through the network of the Internet. But what if there is something more fundamental and explicitly mechanical at play, something inherent within technology itself? This book demonstrates how non-scientific ideas have been encoded deep into our technological infrastructure. Offering a rigorous, fresh perspective on how technology has brought us to this place, Rage Inside the Machine challenges the long-held assumption that technology is an apolitical and amoral force. Shedding light on little-known historical stories and investigating the complex connections between scientific philosophy, institutional prejudice and new technology, this book offers a new, honest and more truly scientific vision of ourselves.

Tired of London, Tired of Life

Tired of London, Tired of Life PDF Author: Tom Jones
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 1448132231
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 226

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Book Description
A charming and inspiring book of 365 things to do in London. Beautifully illustrated with bitesize entries ranging from the well-known to the quirky, this is the perfect gift for anyone wanting to discover all of the gems London has to offer... 'One thing to do every day that'll stop you getting tired of the big smoke.' -- The Guardian 'A great way to explore London!' -- ***** Reader review 'Great fun and great information' -- ***** Reader review 'Great book to dip into. Always find something new to do/somewhere new to go' -- ***** Reader review 'A brilliant book with fascinating ideas to do around the city' -- ***** Reader review ****************************************************************************************************** As the late great Samuel Johnson sagely observed, 'When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life.' When author Tom Jones found himself doing the same things week in, week out while living in England's treasured capital, he decided to heed Johnson's words and seek out a thing to do each day in London to make him fall back in love with the city. Here, in Tired of London, Tired of Life, Tom shares the fun, diverting and imaginative things that you can do to keep yourself amused in London. With seasonally appropriate suggestions for each day of the year, you can explore East London by canoe, search for Fagin's lair in Clerkenwell, play petanque in Southwark, seek out Aphrodite in the British Museum on Valentine's Day and enjoy a host of unusual ways to enjoy the capital. So grab your A-Z and start discovering a whole other side to this majestic city!