From Frank Sinatra and Billie Holiday to Janis Joplin and Michael Jackson, Columbia Records has discovered and nurtured a mind-boggling spectrum of talents and temperaments over the past 100-plus years. Now, with unprecedented access to the company's archives — memos, personal correspondence, recording contracts, sales reports and job sheets, as well as rich musical and literary material excavated from the Teo Macero Collection — The Label tells the never-before-told stories behind the groundbreaking music distributed by Columbia Records. More often than not, the music was created not just by the artists themselves but forged out of conflict with the men and women who handled them — executives, producers, Artists and Repertoire men, arrangers, recording engineers, and, yes, even publicists. And at almost every narrative crossroads in The Label is an undercurrent of racial tension — a tension that not only influenced twentieth century music, but also mirrored and at times prompted major changes in American culture. This vibrant account of Columbia Record's often tumultuous relationships with artists, businesspeople, and popular culture is sure to enlighten, entertain, and even shock. Marmorstein's exhaustive study of one of the world's most venerable recording labels must cover nearly every wrinkle in Columbia's long history and varied corporate existence, which may be either good or bad for readers, depending on their tolerances for the likes of Billy Joel, Mitch Miller, and other mainstays. Those only casually interested in the company's corporate side may also find the tome's length daunting, but Marmorstein's writing is hardly ponderous. It also takes awhile to do justice to a business that has endured for more than 90 years, in the process bringing such certifiable greats as Bob Dylan, Frank Sinatra, and Michael Jackson, not to mention hosts of jazz and classical stars, to iconic status. Moreover, Columbia has employed some of the most notorious figures in the music biz over the years, such as the storied Clive Davis and the perhaps odd but always interesting Tommy Mottolla, who foisted Mariah Carey on an unsuspecting public. A book to please music-history and music-biz-history mavens alike. Mike Tribby Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Gary Marmorstein is the author of Hollywood Rhapsody , which was nominated for a prestigious Ralph J. Gleason Award. He writes mostly about film, theater, and popular music for publications such as The New York Times , The Los Angeles Times , Stagebill , Performing Arts , Theatre Week , Film Score Monthly , and American Theatre . He contributed more than eight hundred reviews to The Blockbuster Film Guide , now in its ninth edition. In October 2003 he won the Wheat Award from the Historical Society of Southern California for the best essay published on Los Angeles history. Used Book in Good Condition