Hal Leonard Book has announced Behind the Boards: The Making of Rock ‘n’ Roll’s Greatest Records Revealed, a book by Jake Brown.

Jake Brown Behind the Boards

The term “soundtrack of our lives” is one commonly tossed around by artists, fans, critics, and historians when discussing rock ‘n’ roll’s timeless hits, spanning every subgenre from pop to hard rock and country to new wave. Now, music biographer Jake Brown takes music lovers into the studio to see how that soundtrack was actually created.

Behind the Boards: The Making of Rock ‘n’ Roll’s Greatest Records Revealed is the first definitive rock record producers’ anthology of its kind. Written for both fans and academic audiences interested in the art of sound recording and record producing, the book features intimate first-hand accounts of the making of some of rock’s greatest hits via interviews with the producers who recorded them.

“Every Breath You Take” by the Police, “Comfortably Numb” by Pink Floyd, “In the Air Tonight” by Phil Collins, “Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Nirvana, “Beautiful Day” by U2, “When the Levy Breaks” by Led Zeppelin, and “You Shook Me All Night Long” by AC/DC all are featured in Behind the Boards, as well as works by Bob Dylan, the Pixies, the Rolling Stones, KISS, Bob Marley, the Who, Guns N’ Roses, Metallica, Fleetwood Mac, Tom Waits, and many more. Brown’s research reaches as far back as Jimi Hendrix’s 1968 album, Electric Ladyland, (Historic Studio A at Electric Lady Studios is shown on the book’s cover) and peers into the future with an exclusive look inside the making of Aerosmith’s upcoming album, Music from Another Dimension.

Featuring exclusive interviews with 31 of producing’s biggest names of today – or any day – including Daniel Lanois (U2, Peter Gabriel), Dave Jerden (Jane’s Addiction, Alice in Chains), Bob Rock (Motley Crue, Metallica, The Cult), Butch Vig (Foo Fighters, Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins), Eddie Kramer (Jimi Hendrix), Bob Ezrin (Pink Floyd, KISS, Alice Cooper), Don Was (Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, Elton John), and Jack Douglas (Aerosmith, John Lennon), Behind the Boards is the last word on how some of the greatest records in music history were made, told by the men and women who made them.

The book is available from Hal Leonard for $29.99 USD.

More information: Hal Leonard Books / Behind the Boards