Davis residents Marti Smiley Childs and Jeff March will present their new book, “Where Have All the Pop Stars Gone? Volume 2,” and sign copies at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at The Avid Reader, 617 Second St. in downtown Davis. Childs and March are co-owners of EditPros LLC of Davis.

Artists featured in this second publication — which includes authorized memoirs of 21 signs and musicians who hit the big time in the 1960s as soloists or band members — include The Buckinghams, Bobby Goldsboro, The Moody Blues, Donnie Brooks, Sam and Dave, Ray Stevens and The Grass Roots.

Their book describes the childhood experiences and adult lives of these performers, many of whom stepped away from the stage and recording studio to raise their families and pursue other careers and interests. Each chapter begins with an introductory essay recounting the hit-making achievements of each soloist or band with an accompanying discography, then is subdivided into “epilogues” about the lives of each of the performers.

Compiled through conversations spanning more than a decade, “Where Have All the Pop Stars Gone? Volume 2″ contains many personal recollections, including some that had not been revealed publicly before. The performers entrusted Childs and March to describe poignant, sometimes painful aspects of their lives, the authors said.

“Their accounts also are laced with wit and laugh-provoking humor,” the authors said in a news release. “All of the chapters offer insight into the minds and lives of creative people who attained and coped with fame in their own ways.”

These performers collectively recorded amassed a total of 118 singles that reached the Billboard Hot 100 chart, including 19 that made the top 10, four that hit No. 1 and eight that earned gold-record certification from the Recording Industry Association of America.

Their recordings encompassed 17 singles on the R&B chart, including eight that reached the top 10 and two that hit No. 1; and 58 singles on the country chart, including five that peaked in the top 10, and one that hit No. 1.

The authors selected artists who are representative of the widely divergent musical styles that distinguished the 1960s from all the other decades of the 20th century — musical diversity encompassing and influenced by rockabilly, rhythm and blues, surf music, jazz, folk standards, calypso, pop ballads, the British invasion, novelty tunes, folk-rock, art rock, psychedelia and country music.

“Where Have All the Pop Stars Gone? Volume 2″ contains 56 photos, 32 of which are rare or never previously published.

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