January 1970: the Beatles assemble one more time to put the finishing touches on Let It Be; Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young are wrapping up DéjГ Vu; Simon and Garfunkel are unveiling Bridge Over Troubled Water; James Taylor is an upstart singer-songwriter who′s just completed Sweet Baby James. Over the course of the next twelve months, their lives--and the world around them--will change irrevocably. Fire and Rain tells the story of four iconic albums of 1970 and the lives, times, and constantly intertwining personal ties of the remarkable artists who made them. Acclaimed journalist David Browne sets these stories against an increasingly chaotic backdrop of events that sent the world spinning throughout that tumultuous year: Kent State, the Apollo 13 debacle, ongoing bombings by radical left-wing groups, the diffusion of the antiwar movement, and much more.
Featuring candid interviews with more than 100 luminaries, including some of the artists themselves, Browne's vivid narrative tells the incredible story of how--over the course of twelve turbulent months--the '60s effectively ended and the '70s began.
Review
Named one of the “Best Rock Books of the Year” by Rolling Stone
Kirkus Reviews, 5/15/11
“Through the lens of four fabulously successful musical acts, a Rolling Stone contributing editor looks at the moment 1960s idealism “began surrendering to the buzz-kill comedown of the decade ahead...A vivid freeze-frame of Hall of Fame musicians, some of whom would go on to make fine records, none ever again as central to the culture.”
Cityview Magazine, June 2011
“Browne has penned a classic.”
BookPage, June 2011“Eminently readable....Browne′s engrossing account of this fertile but volatile period sets the standard by which comprehensive musical histories should be judged.”
Parade, 5/27/11
“This juicy, fascinating read transports you back to a turbulent year...Browne artfully describes the creation of these classic songs in a way that makes them seem brand-new.”
New York Daily News, 5/27/11
“Through rich anecdotes and incisive analysis...the book threads traces of politics, but music remains its worthy focus. The form of the book, told chronologically over four seasons, lends it the compacted, real-time drama of an episode of вЂ