Blood, Sweat & Beers: Oz Rock from the Aztecs to Rose Tattoo by Murray Engelheart
Since the late 60s, Australia has had a grand history of serving up hard living, hard working, and downright powerful rock ‘n’ roll bands. Murray Engleheart knows this all too well. He is one of Australia’s most respected music journalists, a celebrated author and was smack in the middle of that great rock ‘n’ roll era as it was unfolding. Murray’s book on AC/DC, Maximum Rock & Roll was one of the most revealing and entertaining rock reads to come out of Australia. His latest book, Blood, Sweat & Beers: Oz Rock from the Aztecs to Rose Tattoo is even better, and is now available for download with iBooks on your Mac or iOS device, and with iTunes on your computer. It can also be read with iBooks on your Mac or iOS device.
Blood, Sweat & Beers: Oz Rock from the Aztecs to Rose Tattoo delves into the full-throttle world of legendary Australian bands such as Billy Thorpe and The Aztecs, The Coloured Balls, The Angels, AC/DC, and Rose Tattoo at a time when pub rock ruled. Against a backdrop of exclusive interviews with all the major Australian players and international heavyweights, Engleheart hands out the earplugs and the morning-after aspirin on a tour through the brawling, riot-inducing and occasionally gun-toting Oz rock culture that existed while AC/DC were brewing and then off conquering the world. It all began in the late 1960s when Lobby Loyde was blowing up amplifiers on such a regular basis that equipment had to be specially constructed. King of the Sunbury festivals, and former child star, Billy Thorpe then took massive amplification to another level, making history along the way when his band, the Aztecs, pulled as many as 300,000 people to the Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne. Rose Tattoo somehow cranked everything up even higher and became the loudest, most threatening band to ever stalk the earth. Banned from the TV show Countdown, they often played in prisons, and occasionally had to fight, microphone stands in hand, to get out of the very venues they’d performed in. Then, of course, there were the Angels, Australia’s number-one live drawcard, who turned venues across the country into jam-packed paramilitary rallies. If you know someone who’s an oz rock fan and hasn’t already got this book, then your Christmas gift problem has been solved.