The JBL Story - 60 Years of Audio Innovation

by John M. Eargle

softcover with flaps

336 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2006

Reviews

[Slade Stone · Rating 3 out of 5]

“One could not take a man’s name away from him, even though that name had been given or sold.’”

John Eargle takes the reader through a comprehensive look at the history of James B. Lansing’s life, the formation of JBL Inc., and the company’s vast reach in sound production. Though the prose of the book can seem dense and even dry at points, the content of the story is an “I-can’t-stop-reading” level of engrossing. For a company that (to the untrained eye) seems constantly in competition with products like Apple, Bose, and Beats, the fact is: JBL has done more for modern music and sound quality than any of these companies combined.

The book does a wonderful job of laying out exactly how far JBL’s speakers stretch. When music first broke into silent films and changed cinema forever, JBL was mixing it. The 600 speakers in the Grateful Dead’s Wall of Sound were JBL’s. From Woodstock to the Olympics to the Grammys, this company has been there, helping invigorate the world’s most historic musicians and venues.