Join Together: Forty Years of the Rock Music Festival

by Marley Brant

Landmark book on live music's most high-profile and historic concerts. Forty years of rock 'n' roll and rebellion, it's all the music, the mud, and the memories. Join Together! Forty Years of the Rock Festival takes us behind the scenes of the major rock festivals such as Monterey Pop, Woodstock, Isle of Wight, Live Aid, Lollapalooza, Ozzfest, Live8, the US Festivals, Vans Warped Tour, SARSstock, Woodstock '99, Coachella, Bonnaroo, and dozens of other international events. Over 90 artists contribute their unique memories and perspectives on the music festival and its impact on rock music and society. From the bad acid and mud of the first Woodstock to the fiasco of the later editions and beyond, this book is for everyone who was there, in body or spirit.

296 pages, Paperback

First published June 15, 2008

About the author

Marley Brant has been employed in the entertainment industry as a biographical writer, publicist, music and television producer and artist development executive. Marley's non-fiction books have been featured in People Magazine and the New York Times, been the basis for programs on VH1 and A&E, and served as the primary research for hours of television on the History channel, TBS, CMT, the Biography channel and PBS.

Marley's entertainment affiliations are extensive. She has worked with a wide variety of music artists, directors and actors, as well as numerous television, radio and film productions. After working for the managers of musicians Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne and Warren Zevon, Marley was appointed Assistant National Director of Artist Development and Publicity/Artist Relations and Tour Coordination with the fast-growing international record company Chrysalis Records. While at Chrysalis she was involved with the development, publicity and national tours of such acts as Jethro Tull, Robin Trower, UFO, Steve Hackett, Leo Kottke, Split Enz, Steeleye Span, Bonnie Tyler, Blondie, The Babys, Rory Gallagher, Nick Gilder and the Frankie Miller Band.

Marley took the position of Director of Publicity and Public Relations for radio syndicator Watermark, Inc. where she worked with the radio programs "American Top 40 with Casey Kasem", "American Country Countdown", "Alien Worlds" and "The Robert W. Morgan Special of the Week."

Desiring to expand into television, Marley's next position was as assistant to the National Director of Publicity for Paramount Television. She worked with the casts and crews of Paramount's stellar programs Happy Days, Mork & Mindy, Laverne & Shirley, Taxi, Bosom Buddies, Bad News Bears and The Associates, among others. One of her opportunities was working with NBC-TV and author James Clavell for Paramount's presentation of the groundbreaking mini-series "Shogun".

Entering into the multi-media world of international publicity firm ICPR, Marley was involved in the media presentations of features such as "Rich and Famous", "Taps", All the Marbles", "Stripes", "Clash of the Titans", "Don't Cry, It's Only Thunder" and "Missing". She also worked with the producers of the mini-series "Marco Polo", "Peter and Paul" and "The Marva Collins Story". Always anxious to be involved with music entities, Marley was appointed executive-in-charge of the television programs Fame, Solid Gold, The Tom Jones Show, and Country Comes Home. She was part of a team that worked with the corporate accounts of Motown Productions, Youngstreet Program Services, Viacom Enterprises, Hallmark Hall of Fame, Proctor & Gamble and several individual celebrity personalities.

Marley decided to free-lance in 1982. She authored magazine articles, edited album packages, wrote and edited music artist biographies, press kits and liner notes. In 1982 Marley co-produced (with John Delgatto) the album "Gram Parsons and the Fallen Angels, Live 1973"; Gram and Emmylou Harris were nominated for a Grammy in the category of "Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal" for "Love Hurts", a track on the album. In 1993 Marley served as Co-creator, Associate Producer and Historical Consultant on "Outlaws, Rebels & Rogues", the first installment of Turner Broadcasting System's three-night television series The Untold West.

Reviews

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very informative book dealing with the history of rock music festivals. After a while it seemed a little redundant and dry. The larger and more well known festivals got more information and were more interesting, but after a while it all became a bit of a dry read.
There was also a good amount of typos. Maybe the publisher should have caught these? Maybe.