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Product Identifiers

PublisherEquinox Publishing The Limited

ISBN-101781793611

ISBN-139781781793619

eBay Product ID (ePID)218881035

Product Key Features

Book TitleDo You Want to Know a Secret? : the Autobiography of Billy J. Kramer

Number of Pages200 Pages

LanguageEnglish

TopicHistory & Criticism, Composers & Musicians, Genres & Styles / Pop Vocal

Publication Year2016

IllustratorYes

GenreMusic, Biography & Autobiography

AuthorBilly J. Kramer

Book SeriesStudies in Popular Music Ser.

FormatHardcover

Dimensions

Item Weight14.1 Oz

Item Length9.2 in

Item Width6.1 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceTrade

LCCN2015-032639

Dewey Edition23

Reviews"He was the most handsome man on stage, and well-dressed too." - Ringo Starr "Billy J. Kramer and his band The Dakotas have always been an inspiration to me." - Peter Frampton "Seeing and hearing Billy J Kramer in the early days of what became known as the Merseybeat scene was an inspiration to all us teenagers in England. At last someone real was taking it over! - Peter Noone "Billy J. Kramer's story takes you on the full roller-coaster ride of British Invasion superstardom, rock and roll excess, sobriety, love, and music redemption. This is a don't miss for any music fan.: -Ken Dashow, DJ at WAXQ (Q104.3) New York City "Billy is without a doubt the most unique, charming, welcoming and humble human being I've ever met. His enthusiasm and youthful outlook are so inspiring and (thankfully) contagious. Billy's depth of feeling and thinking are beyond the norm." - Don Celenza, record producer "My friend Billy has seen it and has been through it all. He is a musical survivor. He is real and tells it like it is, 'cause he has been there. If you are disappointed by the truth don't ask Billy for an opinion. His only fault is his kindness. I love the man and consider him one of my best friends." - Liberty DeVitto, drummer "...Billy J. Kramer's autobiography, 'Do You Want to Know a Secret,' [provides] not only Billy's own story, but what he witnessed first-hand of the Beatles, Lennon and McCartney in particular, who wrote most of Billy's greatest songs. This makes Billy's account refreshingly original, real, and important. [...] We're fortunate indeed that Billy has given us such a vibrant, colorful, incisive, and fact-filled book." --Paul Levinson, Paul Levinson's Infinite Regress, paullevinson.blogspot.co.uk "In a neatly presented hardback illustrated throughout by b&w photos, Kramer and his co-writer Alyn Shipton...tell the story of a Liverpool railwayman who became a leading figure in Mersey mania. It recalls in colourful detail the excitement of the happy times - but it also reflects on Kramer's awkward relationship with the Dakotas, his changing relationship with Brian Epstein, his feelings of sometimes being intimidated by George Martin, and the anxieties and uncertainties that went hand in hand with problems involving drinking and pills." --Russell Newmark, The Beat, May 2016 "This book is an easy, well organized read and Billy doesn't airbrush out the low points. His path intersects with the Beatles throughout. [...] I had wanted to read the book because of the Beatles connection, but by the time I reached the later chapters, I had come to know Billy and wanted to know what came next for him as well. Anyone with an interest in the Mersey Beat era and the Liverpool music scene will want to read this excellent book." --Michele Copp, British Beatles Fan Club, Issue 59

Number of Volumes1 vol.

Dewey Decimal782.42166092 B

Table Of ContentForeword Chapter 1: Little Children: 1943-1958 Chapter 2: I'll Be on My Way: 1958-1962 Chapter 3: Silver Dream: 1963-1964 Chapter 4: It's Gotta Last Forever: 1964-1967 Chapter 5: Twilight Time: 1967-1971 Chapter 6: Gone Away: 1971 Chapter 7: You Can't Live on Memories: 1972-1983 Chapter 8: I Won the Fight: 1984-2006 Chapter 9: To Liverpool with Love: from 2006 Recordings List

SynopsisWhen Billy J. Kramer's "Do You Want To Know A Secret?" by Lennon and McCartney topped the charts in 1963, he was the first singer in the world to have a number one hit with a Beatles song, apart from the Fab Four themselves. This propelled the teenage Kramer into the fast lane, and he followed it with another five top twenty singles in the next two years. In this autobiography, Billy J. Kramer (born William Ashton) tells his rags to riches story, from his working class childhood in Liverpool to the racy world of international pop music. Managed by Brian Epstein, produced by George Martin, and friend, confidante and colleague of the Beatles, Kramer gives a definitive insider's account of the birth of the Liverpool sound and also the "British Invasion" of the USA. But there are dark secrets in the Kramer story. Before he reached his twenties, he was in the grip of drugs and alcohol, and there were constant tensions between him and his backing band, the Dakotas. When the screaming stopped, he reinvented himself as a cabaret performer, and some of his best records were made in the years he was out of the limelight. With a young family, drink and pills made his domestic life, and eventually his professional life, a struggle. In this no-holds-barred account, Kramer brings to life the vibrancy of the sixties. He then reveals how he exorcised his demons and forged a new career in the United States. He assembles his current band, shows a growing mastery of songwriting, and returns to national tours of Britain and the USA, keeping the flame of the Mersey sound alive. The lifetime of experience he brings to his new songs infuses every page of this enthralling read., When Billy J. Kramer's "Do You Want To Know A Secret?" by Lennon and McCartney topped the charts in 1963, he was the first singer in the world to have a number one hit with a Beatles song, apart from the Fab Four themselves. This propelled the teenage Kramer into the fast lane, and he followed it with another five top twenty singles in the next two years. In this autobiography, Billy J. Kramer (born William Ashton) tells his rags to riches story, from his working class childhood in Liverpool to the racy world of international pop music. Managed by Brian Epstein, produced by George Martin, and friend, confidante and colleague of the Beatles, Kramer gives a definitive insider's account of the birth of the Liverpool sound and also the "British Invasion" of the USA.

LC Classification NumberML420.K887A3 2016

As told toShipton, Alyn