Charles Westover grew up in a small midwestern town, learning guitar at an early age. After graduating high school, he joined the Army, married and shipped off to Europe where he honed his singing and guitar skills. Back home, Westover joined a local band while working at a carpet store.Soon he co-wrote, ""Runaway,"" one of the great rock and roll songs of the era and took on the stage name Del Shannon. Shannon went on to record many more hits and became a superb interpreter of the songs of other. He was the first American recording artist to cover a Beatles' tune, wrote Peter and Gordon's ""I Go to Pieces,"" and produced hit records for Brian Hyland and and the rock group, Smith. At a time when his career seemed to be on the upswing, Shannon's live ended tragically at his Southern California home. A rock legend himself, he would eventually be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. If you appreciate the great rock singers of the past, you will want to read The Music of Del Shannon.

"The funniest book Pynchon has written." — Rolling Stone "Entertainment of a high order." - Time Part noir, part psychedelic romp, all Thomas Pynchon—private eye Doc Sportello surfaces, occasionally, out of a marijuana haze to watch the end of an era. In this lively yarn, Thomas Pynchon, working in an unaccustomed genre that is at once exciting and accessible, provides a classic illustration of the principle that if you can remember the sixties, you weren't there. It's been a while since Doc Sportello has seen his ex- girlfriend. Suddenly she shows up with a story about a plot to kidnap a billionaire land developer whom she just happens to be in love with. It's the tail end of the psychedelic sixties in L.A., and Doc knows that "love" is another of those words going around at the moment, like "trip" or "groovy," except that this one usually leads to trouble. Undeniably one of the most influential writers at work today, Pynchon has penned another unforgettable book.

RUNAWAY is a fascinating account of the life and music of 60s rock star Del Shannon. From humble beginnings in the rural Midwest, this bar band guitarist rocketed to overnight superstar status when his first big hit clinched the #1 spot on the American Billboard charts, resulting in an international hit in over 20 other countries during the year 1961. Del Shannon soon followed up “Runaway” with more hits, including “Hats Off To Larry,” “So Long Baby,” “Hey! Little Girl,” “The Swiss Maid,” “Little Town Flirt,” “Two Kinds of Teardrops,” “Handy Man,” “Do You Wanna Dance,” “Keep Searchin’,” and “Stranger In Town.” Shannon was the first American artist to cover a Beatles song in “From Me To You.” In the late 60s and early 70s, he shifted his focus into production, launching the career of country artist Johnny Carver, discovering a group called Smith that saw a #3 hit with a Shannon-Smith arrangement of “Baby It’s You,” and produced fellow contemporary Brian Hyland’s Top 5 hit “Gypsy Woman.” Del worked with Jeff Lynne and Dave Edmunds in the 70s, with Tom Petty seeking him out to produce Shannon’s comeback album in 1981, resulting in a #33 hit “Sea of Love” in America.

With one of the decade's most enduring singles and videos, "No Rain," a quadruple platinum 1992 debut album, and touring alongside rock's biggest names, Shannon Hoon of Blind Melon could not overcome a dangerous drug addiction. Only two records into a promising career, Hoon was dead from an overdose at 28. This is the first book to tell the group's story, culled from over 50 interviews, including the surviving band members and those closest to the band. Includes 20 pages of photographs.

An appreciation of Rock-n-Roll, song by song, from its roots and its inspriations to its divergent recent trends. A work of rough genius; DeanOCOs attempt to make connections though time and across genres is laudable."

Behind the roaring crowds and the billion-dollar record deals are tales of solitude, anger, and depression. Readers are about to unearth these stories as author Les MacDonald brings nostalgia to every bookshelf with The Day the Music Died, his newly released book published through Xlibris. The Day the Music Died is a well-researched documentation of the different true stories of the persons whose names are forever etched in the history of music. Throughout, readers will get an intimate look into the deaths of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Elvis Presley, Brian Jones, Bob Marley, John Lennon, George Harrison, Tupac Shakur, Nirvanas Kurt Cobain, Selena, Michael Jackson, and many more. As each of these artists permanently faded from the limelight, a new testimonial will be created to prove that their music lives on. While some of our favorites may have lost their way at some point during their lifetimes, we must remember that there is one thing that the passage of time cannot erase . . . and that, my friends, is the music! shares the author.