Rock Encyclopedia

Now complementing The Beatles’ music library in iTunes is a new tablet-friendly guide to the Fab Four’s music catalog.

The app was created by Rolling Stone, thanks in part to vjoon K4 and the integrated Adobe Digital Publishing Suite (DPS) as production tools and digital publishing specialist Managing Editor Inc. (MEI). vjoon, a leading provider of cross-media publishing platforms and a global reseller of Adobe DPS right from the start, announced that Wenner Media has now released its iPad app version of “The Beatles Ultimate Album-by-Album Guide” special-interest publication.

Wenner, the publisher of Rolling Stone and other popular magazines, is using vjoon K4 to manage the project from soup to nuts. MEI designed an iPad publishing workflow that operates alongside Wenner’s print process – Rolling Stone has been managed with the vjoon K4 Cross-Media Publishing Platform since 2008 – tapping into an all-new medium using existing content and familiar tools. (more…)

As one of the most successful rock promoters of all time, Barry Fey has sold more concert tickets than any other independent promoter in history. Loved by rock stars and adored by audiences, Fey’s notorious hot-headed, take-no-prisoners attitude earned him the nickname “The Rockfather.”

Now Fey, who dominated the concert promotion industry from the late ’60s until his retirement in 1997, pulls back the curtain of his storied career with BACKSTAGE PAST, a memoir revealing intimate, shocking and previously untold tales of Rock and Roll’s greatest legends. (more…)

The explosion of Elvis Presley‘s career on RCA Records during the 12 months of 1956 was a wondrous evolution.

By the end of that fateful year, the rockabilly singer from Memphis whose audience was rooted in the deep Southern states, would be the most famous person in the world.

How did it happen?  In one word: music.

“…My pelvis had nothin’ to do with what I do,” Elvis said in 1956.  ”I just get kinda in rhythm with the music, I jump around to it because I enjoy what I’m doin’, I’m not tryin’ to be vulgar, I’m not tryin’ to sell any sex, I’m not tryin’ to look vulgar and nasty.  I just enjoy what I’m doin’ and tryin’ to make the best of it …”

The rest, of course, is history.  Ten million singles sold, three million EPs, and 800,000 LPs’ worth, in just that first year. 1956.

YOUNG MAN WITH THE BIG BEAT puts the focus on Elvis in 1956.  The package includes his RCA studio master recordings and outtakes in New York, Nashville and Memphis; live performances; interviews; and much more.  Taking its name from an RCA poster campaign for his debut album, the super deluxe 5-CD, 12-inch square box set (with an amazing 80-page book with timeline) is available now for pre-order at www.elvis1956.com.  Pre-order customers will also receive an exclusive replica vinyl 7″ of Elvis’ first 45rpm EP for RCA Records.  Sharing the same striking cover art as Elvis’ debut album, the EP (“extended play”) features “Blue Suede Shoes,” “Tutti Frutti,” “I Got A Woman” and “Just Because.”  This vinyl single is only available through this special website offer, and it will ship upon payment for the box set. (more…)