Rich Cohen – författare

A tour-de-force history of Jews, blues, and the birth of a new industry. On the south side of Chicago in the late 1940s, two immigrants, one a Jew born in Russia, the other a black blues singer from Mississippi met and changed the course of musical history. Muddy Waters electrified the blues, and Leonard Chess recorded it. Soon Bo Diddly and Chuck Berry added a dose of pulsating rhythm, and Chess Records captured that, too. Rock & roll had arrived, and an industry was born. In a book as vibrantly and exuberantly written as the music and people it portrays, Rich Cohen tells the engrossing story of how Leonard Chess, with the other record men, made this new sound into a multi-billion-dollar business aggressively acquiring artists, hard-selling distributors, riding the crest of a wave that would crash over a whole generation. Full of absorbing lore and animated by a deep love for popular music, Machers and Rockers is a smash hit.

On the south side of Chicago in the late 1940s, two immigrants; one a Jew born in Russia, the other a black blues singer from Mississippi; met and changed the course of musical history. Muddy Waters electrified the blues, and Leonard Chess recorded it. Soon Bo Diddly and Chuck Berry added a dose of pulsating rhythm, and Chess Records captured that, too. Rock & roll had arrived, and an industry was born. In a book as vibrantly and exuberantly written as the music and people it portrays, Rich Cohen tells the engrossing story of how Leonard Chess, with the other record men, made this new sound into a multi-billion-dollar business; aggressively acquiring artists, hard-selling distributors, riding the crest of a wave that would crash over a whole generation. Originally published in hardcover as Machers and Rockers. About the series: Enterprise pairs distinguished writers with stories of the economic forces that have shaped the modern worlds; the institutions, the entrepreneurs, the ideas. Enterprise introduces a new genre; the business book as literature.

A fast-talking wise-ass from the Bronx, Jerry Weintraub became a millionaire at 26 by handling some of the biggest acts in show biz, most famously Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra. The last of the great Hollywood moguls, Jerry is probably best known as the producer of such classic films as Nashville, Diner, Oh, God! and The Karate Kid, as well as the more recent Oceans 11, 12, and 13, which have together grossed over a billion dollars. Less celebrated, however, is Jerry's work behind the scenes as confidant to presidents and titans of finance. As he sees it, 'There is no difference between politics and Hollywood. The world is very small when you get to the top.' George H. W. Bush, George Clooney, and country singer George Strait all have Jerry on speed-dial - because Jerry is the guy you call when you want what money can't buy. The stories he tells and the lessons we learn are essential ones, not only for film buffs and music fans, but for businessmen, entrepreneurs, artists, or anyone at all who's ever had a dream and the moxie to make it happen.

Rich Cohen enters the Stones epic as a young journalist on the road with the band and quickly falls under their sway - privy to the jokes, the camaraderie, the bitchiness, the hard living. Inspired by a lifelong appreciation of the music that borders on obsession, Cohen's chronicle of the band is informed by the rigorous views of a kid who grew up on the music and for whom the Stones will always be the greatest rock 'n' roll band of all time.This is a non-fiction book that reads like a novel filled with the greatest musicians, agents and artists of the most indelible age in pop culture. It's a book only Rich, with his unique access, experience and love of the band could write.