Lights, Camera, Accordion! - by Jon Bermuda Schwartz (Hardcover)

About the Book

Lights, Camera, Accordion! presents over 300 images of Al, culled from Jon's personal collection of color photography, all restored from the original negatives. This exhaustive volume represents the 25 years that Jon shot Al on 35mm color film, from 1981 to 2006, before switching to digital photography. Jon additionally provides previously unheard stories and anecdotes throughout.

Book Synopsis

As featured in Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, The A.V. Club, Consequence, Mashable, Mental Floss, Book Riot and more!

"Weird Al" Yankovic continues as one of our most beloved comedians, actors, and musicians. A skilled accordion player and lyricist, the California native not only crafts meticulous parodies, but also creates hilarious originals and pop culture-themed polkas. Now in his fifth decade of recording and performing, Al has maintained a career that has outlasted many of the artists that he has lampooned.

Since 1980, Al's drummer Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz has been by his side, photographing and documenting his career. Jon has taken more than 20,000 images of Al in his element: on tour, in the studio, on video sets, and backstage.

Lights, Camera, Accordion! presents over 300 images of Al, culled from Jon's personal collection of color photography, all restored from the original negatives. This exhaustive volume represents the 25 years that Jon shot Al on 35mm color film, from 1981 to 2006, before switching to digital photography. Jon additionally provides previously unheard stories and anecdotes throughout.

From "Eat It" and "Like a Surgeon" to later classics such as "Smells Like Nirvana," "Amish Paradise," and the Star Wars parody "The Saga Begins," Lights, Camera, Accordion! showcases a body of work that spans ten albums, five Grammys, and nearly 2,000 concerts to millions of fans - and is packed with the weirdness and fun that always surrounds the undisputed king of comedic music.

Review Quotes

"One of the 10 books to read this month [November, 2022]. Longtime drummer and band archivist Jon 'Bermuda' Schwartz is back with a color counterpart to Black & White & Weird All Over, having whittled down the thousands of 35mm images he took over 25 years. Chapters, organized chronologically by album and tour, open with short contextualizing intros peppered with behind-the-scenes memories (the one touring rule: 'no number two' allowed on the bus!), followed by images of Al on tour, on set, on stage, backstage, and just generally hamming it up. As the pages turn, you see Al and the band grow into a national sensation." - The A.V. Club

"Holiday Gift Guide selection / 2022. More than 300 color photos represent 25 years of touring, filming, and recording with Alfred Matthew Yankovic, aka Weird Al, taken by [Jon "Bermuda"] Schwartz, his longtime drummer. This is a treat for fans." - Publishers Weekly

"An entertaining pictorial tribute to a one-of-a-kind musician by someone who knows him better than most [Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz]. It's also proof that the weirdness doesn't stop as soon as Weird Al leaves the stage." - Mental Floss

"Lights, Camera, Accordion is a visual Weird Al time machine." - Bleeding Cool

"There are shots of Al in the studio. Eating pizza. Having fun with his friends. Recording the 'Amish Paradise' video. Performing 'Like a Surgeon.' When I first saw it, I thought 'Wow. He looks like he's having fun with his life.' And because I know him just well enough to write the foreword to this book for free, I can tell you that he's always like that. He IS the greatest." - comedian Drew Carey

"Jon 'Bermuda' Schwartz has been at Weird Al's side from the beginning and when not holding drumsticks has been holding a camera. Jon's hobby and Al's exercise in tolerance are now our joy." - comedian, UHF co-star (and current tour opener) Emo Philips

About the Author

Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz has been the drummer with "Weird Al" Yankovic since 1980 and is seen and heard on all of Weird Al's albums, videos, and concert and television performances. He is also the group's archivist with an unmatched collection of photos, memorabilia, and audio & video releases from around the world. Bermuda authored the best-selling 2020 book Black & White & Weird All Over which features his black-and-white photos of Weird Al, and his photography is included in the film Weird: The Al Yankovic Story.

"Weird Al" Yankovic is a comedian and actor who is known for his music parodies and original songs that make light of popular culture. He has sold more than 12 million albums, performed nearly 2,000 live shows, and earned five Grammy Awards. Al's most recent LP, Mandatory Fun, went to #1 on the Billboard 200, the first comedy album to do so since 1963. His biopic, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, starring Daniel Radcliffe, will be released in Fall, 2022.

Drew Carey is an actor, comedian, and game show host. Carey starred in his own sitcom, The Drew Carey Show, and was the host of the U.S. version of the improv comedy show Whose Line Is It Anyway? He has hosted the game show The Price Is Right since 2007, which is currently the highest-rated program in daytime television.