Good books about music

I picked up the new bookon Garage Rock 5 years ahead of my time by Seth Bovey which I'm a coupe of chapters into and seems to be an ok overview so far. THink I've come across one thing I majorly disagreed with so far and I think reviews I'd read had some issues with it. BUt thought I'd pick it up since I like the genre even if it has accumulated a somewhat sheeplike audience in places.
Always think its a great launching spot for further musical investigation rather than being great to try to recreate everything in some search for a highly pseudo authenticity. I thought one thing the garage process replaced was the idea of authenticity as it recontextualises influences into the players home environment.

Also got Defying Gravity jordan's story the book about JOrdan the shop assistant in Westwood/Mclaren's shops so likely to cover Bowie fandom and early punk. BUt so far I'veonly gotteninto her childhood.

Got lucky with the new US zine Maggot Brain which is on its first edition and turned up in Rough Trade between a couple of visits on Thursday last week. I'd asked about it in the early afternoon and te assistant wasn't aware of it. When I went back for the Paul Morley/Kevin Cummings interview it had arrived and the sae assistant came up to me with it.

Picked up another copy of Memphis 68 cos I mislaid the earlier copy I bought last year. GOt a book by Mark Kermode on his musical experiences which was also in the 2 for £5 in FOPP.
Also MIke Heron's book on his 60s/ISb and earlier experiences which was in the same deal.

How is Maggot Brain? I was thinking of getting a subscription, but havent had a chance to leaf through one in the wild

Seems ok still haven't really read much of it put it in the wrong pile in my old bedroom so have been reading other stuff.
Neglected to mention the new Ugly Things had turned up in Rough Trade before my first trip Thursday last week so have spent more 6ime with that.
& I am reminded of Motorboooty and Grade Royale by what I have seen so far as well as a few other retro looking things.
Think it's worthwhile so hope it continues. Dunno how I'm going to get hold of more issues though . May be safer to get somebody in ireland to stock it anyway.

Is there a good book out there about Willie Nelson or am I best off just reading his memoir?

With musicians you gotta read the memoir AND the biography.

He's written books (or at least they have the grain and aroma of his words and music and oh yeah voice), and materializes memorably in xpost Southwest Shuffle: Pioneers of Honky-Tonk, Western Swing, and Country Jazz (handsome trade pb w good pix, Routledge, 2003), by Rick Kienzle and Michael Streissguth's Outlaw: Waylon, Willie, Kris, and the Renegades of Nashville, but you might start with daughter Susie Nelson's Heart Worn Memories, which, despite its title, has a lot of spark and rueful humor, often at her own expense (in the church where she's about to marry Mr. Wrong, Willie observes that there's probably a back door to the joint). No scandal-mongering, but she lifts the lid of the Nelson Tennessee family complex, and cogently contextualizes, distinguishes the path of her short-lived brother Billy. Also good stuff about music (Dad climbs into the tent on her teen bedroom floor, smokes a joint with her while they listen to Hendrix).

Anyone read Tricky's autobiography yet?

No want to get it though.
Was looking at it in foyles yesterday.
Saw they had the Debbie Harry and Flea memoirs at half rrp if anybody needs them.
Think I will see what Waterstones has at post xmas cut price later this afternoon.

Oh yeah Foyles had signed copies of the Tricky.
My Defying Gravity is signed too which I hadn't noticed when I was looking at what I assume was the same copy on the shelf this time last week.

Waterstones has the new prince book on half price as well as the 2 I mentioned from Foyles.

Enjoyed the Jeff Tweedy book

I think Joe Nick Patoski’s book on Willie Nelson is supposed to be good.

Agree about the Tweedy book. He has a great way with a story.

I've waited years for a Todd Rundgren memoir, and it finally came out last year. The Individualist. He's also a good storyteller, very efficient with the written word, and it has plenty of the wry aphorisms you'd expect. But it has been poorly (i.e. not) edited, typos flying off the page everywhere. Looks like it came right out of his computer, first draft and autocorrected. (The Monkeys?!) Good read but frustrating as well.

I just got reminded that there is a book on Italian Prog and has been for the last few years. ItalianProg by Augusto Croce.
There is a Look Inside feature on Amazon that looks good.
But that's all I've seen on it. I have also seen mention that the translation is a bit rough and clunky etc.
Anybody got it and had a better chance to look at it?

the translation is a bit rough and clunky etc.

no it's actually like that in the original. author was really keen to capture the essence of the music in writing

I'd also be interested in finding out how good the Vernon Joynson book on punk/postpone etc etc is.
Just got the one by him on Latin America and Canada at the time of psych and prog . Somehow missed hearing it was around though did get the one released a few months earlier which was initially an expansion on part of the same book. Covered Asia the antipodes and Africa.
Got the book slightly used for a pretty decent price.

So yeah this Mike Barnes book on 70s UK prog is pretty great.

Rob Sheffield's 50 best rock memoirs:

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/books-greatest-rock-memoirs-of-all-time-161198/

I've only read #1--my pronounced preference for biographies over autobiographies extends to music, baseball, everything.

jeez, I've only read 5 of these, and I thought I played a pretty good rock memoir game.

I've read seven, and there's one or two others on that list I might want to read. Slash's book was one of the dullest things I've ever read; 400 pages of lorem ipsum would have been more diverting.

The Peter Hook blurb mentions the Bernard Sumner book, but not the recent one from Stephen Morris, which I found to be a decent read (also author seems like a genuinely good guy).

Good revive, I could use a good rock memoir right now

Don't know why I picked Don Felder's Between Heaven and Hell for latest victim of my totally unfair Random Read Test, but it passed and I spent the day at the library going through the whole thing, which never happens. No regerts---detailed rave here:
A Good Day In Hell - The Official ILM Track-By-Track EAGLES Listening Thread

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81x1VKPA2mL.jpg

We might should have more cover art on this thread---or would it be distracting. irrelevant?

Groupie memoirs are a booming industry, from Pamela Des Barres’ classic I’m With the Band to Pattie Boyd’s fab Wonderful Tonight. But the tiara goes to hair-metal video vixen Bobbie Brown, who contributed precisely zero to music history, yet became a star by shaking what mama gave her in Warrant and Great White clips.

yuck

The top 3 wouldn't load for me, if anyone can paste?

Top 3 memoirs on Rolling Stone list? Is that what you mean?
Dylan, Springsteen, Patti Smith

I've only read the Patti Smith one. I'm not big on bios in general; prefer critical readings of an artist, which is while I'll probably read at least a dozen more 33 1/3's before I ever get to that copy of Chronicles, Volume 1 that I've had sitting, unread, on my shelf for years.

Let me be the first to say that nothing about Chronicles, Volume is like a typical rock bio though.

I haven't read it, but I just received John Corbett's Pick Up the Pieces: Excursions in Seventies Music today (one of the books I bought last week while trying to support one of my favorite indie bookstores). I've heard lots of good things about it.

Chronicles is one of the weirdest books I've ever read. Gorgeous George, meticulous making-of chapter on one of those '80s albums vs. hardly a word (from what I remember) on '65/66...and I realize its perverseness is why people love it, and that there's a mountain of writing on '65/66 already.

Top 3 memoirs on Rolling Stone list? Is that what you mean?

yes, ta - I got a SHOW MORE link after Questlove, that when clicked erased all the previous 47 and loaded comments instead (the first of which was raging that the list was invalid because there were books by rappers on it)

Including audiobooks, I've read (or "read") 8 from the Rolling Stone list: 6 of the top 7, plus Kristin Hersh and Kim Gordon. (I'll get to you, Questlove.) Especially recommend seeking out Viv Albertine (print) and Patti Smith (audio).

I haven't read it, but I just received John Corbett's Pick Up the Pieces: Excursions in Seventies Music today (one of the books I bought last week while trying to support one of my favorite indie bookstores). I've heard lots of good things about it.

It's a good one. Corbett's one of my heroes. I interviewed him last year when it came out (warning: podcast - you will hear my speaking voice).

I note that David Lee Roth’s book makes the list, but Sammy Hagar‘s — which I have actually read, for some reason — does not.

David Lee Roth's book is v good.

There’s a great NewsRadio episode (“Chock”) in which Bill McNeal (Phil Hartman’s character) reads Crazy From the Heat... he keeps bringing it up, recounting anecdotes, etc.; then it turns out he has no idea who David Lee Roth is (“I think he was a singer before he turned to writing”).

ha :)

I can imagine someone reading only DLR’s book, I can imagine someone reading both DLR’s book and Sammy’s, I cannot imagine someone only reading Sammy’s

I'm not a big Dylan guy, but I read Chronicles and finished it feeling like it's pretty bad as like, A Dylan Biography. I enjoyed reading it, but it felt like I was missing a lot of knowledge that it assumed I had. What's the best Dylan bio out there?

going into that sheffield list i was anticipating responding 'no rod stewart, no credibility' but there rod is, high up there, at that. his eloquence is so surprising you can't help but admire him

Dean Wareham's book is really good, he's v frank about Damon & Naomi but doesn't let himself off the hook.

(xpost) The only one I know I've read for sure is Anthony Scaduto's, the first and most ancient--came out in the early '70s. I read it 40 years ago, so I don't remember a thing; I don't think it was all that well received, by Dylan especially. The most famous is Robert Shelton's, which was anticipated for years--it's his Times review on reproduced on the first album. I think I read that when it came out. But I'm not sure--I might have just skipped to the end, where he interviews Dylan. I think he does, anyway. My memory's terrible, as you can see.

Kristin Hersh and Viv Albertine’s books are fantastic. I’d have included Playing the Bass With Three Left Hands by Will Carruthers. And its not technically a rock memoir, but Really the Blues by Mezz Mezzrow (especially since Dylan took bits and pieces of it for his own memoir).

i liked the kristin hersh book about vic chesnutt too (depressing obviously)

Loved the Hersh autobiog (predictably). Have bought her Chesnutt one as well, but am stalling at diving in, possibly for reasons expressed by na there.

Dylan's Chronicles I is fantastic. It is not really an autobio though.

I want to take a minute to Stan for a very obvious choice, one that most here will have probably already read, or at least been aware of - Hit Men: Power Brokers and Fast Money Inside the Music Business. It's the most entertaining book on the pop-music business that I ever read, and I've read it 20-odd-some years ago. There are a million other books, most of which are mentioned in this treasure of a thread, but this book explains 70s-90s major label business more than any other book. 

I read a book a few years back written by Jacob Slichter (drummer for Semisonic) on a recommendation by a friend, it's a great read and Jacob is a really engaging writer, it's the boom and bust tale of Semisonic (and a bit about Trip Shakespeare) but very good nonetheless.