A Hard Day's Write: The Story Behind Every Beatles Song
Author: Steve Turner

An exploration of the lyrics of Beatles songs shows how private incidents influenced their writing, revealing who "Lucy in the Sky" really was and how "Lovely Rita, Meter Maid" came to be immortalized in song. A rollicking account of the real people and events that inspired the Beatles' lyrics. Arranged chronologically by album.

Reader Review: [5 out of 5 stars] THIS BOOK IS VERY GEAR!!! ... Things in the book, like the people who inspired the songs, are cool to find out. It's great to know that ordinary people can inspire extraordinary vision! This is definately a fun book to read! I know I'll keep opening it up from time to time! I hope you like it as much as I did!

Songwriters On Songwriting
Author: Paul Zollo

This expanded fourth edition of Songwriters on Songwriting includes ten new interviews--with Alanis Morissette, Lenny Kravitz, Lou Reed, and others. In these pages, sixty-two of the greatest songwriters of our time go straight to the source of the magic of songwriting by offering their thoughts, feelings, and opinions on their art. Representing almost every genre of popular music, from blues to pop to rock, here are the figures that have shaped American music as we know it.

Reader Review: [5 out of 5 stars] Paul Zollo, himself a singer-songwriter , has assembled a mighty and important book here. He has gathered 52 interviews he conducted for SongTalk. The subjects are a virtual who's who of songwriters. Zollo has an obvious love of song and songmaking and a curiosity about the process that won't quit. These qualities are reflected in his interviewing.

Classic Rock Stories: The Stories Behind The Greatest Songs Of All Time
Author: Tim Morse

Classic rockers reveal the sometimes painful, sometimes accidental, and often hilarious process of creating the songs classic rock fans love. Includes, in their own words, Pete Townsend, Freddie Mercury, Stephen Tyler, John Fogarty, Keith Richards, and others.

Bob Dylan wrote a 20-page story that he then turned into "Like a Rolling Stone"; George Harrison wrote "Here Comes the Sun" while walking around Eric Clapton's garden on a bright day. These tidbits are among the hundreds of anecdotes told by famous musicians--Jimi Hendrix, Paul McCartney, and Grace Slick among them--about their hit songs and compiled in Classic Rock Stories. If you can hum the song, you can likely find its story in this book!

Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Story Behind the Song   

Author: Jack Canfield
Songs tell a story, and now popular singers and songwriters are sharing more of the story! 101 artists reveal the inspiration, influence, and background, and when and why they wrote their most famous songs, in Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Story Behind the Song. Book includes photos of the songwriters and lyrics of many of the songs.

Reader Review: [4 out of 5 stars] The Story behind the Song is a compilation of one hundred and one classic and popular well known songs. Spanning across decades of music, each chapter gives the artist or writers story along with the full lyrics. The book is packed full of interesting information and emotions attached to some of our favorite songs. If you have ever wondered how a song came to be, or if the lyrics mean anything personal to the artist, this installment of Chicken Soup for the Soul is for you.

All You Need Is Love: ... and 99 Other Life Lessons from Classic Rock Songs
Author: Pete Fomatele

It's Not Only Rock 'N' Roll! It's Rock wisdom. It's the insights and messages that come to us from100 of classic rock songs. Love and marriage, family, friendships, self-esteem, spirituality, and community are just some of the themes explored in these healing and uplifting meditations, based on four decades of classic rock by artists like the Beatles, James Taylor, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Carole King, Bruce Springsteen, the Beach Boys, and dozens more.

You'll also find background information on the songs and artists, as well as suggestions for applying these nuggets of rock wisdom to your everyday life. All You Need Is Love is a visit to the past and a companion for the present and future.