Books by musicians

A GIS may suffice (xp)

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google image search

o I did that, avtually:)

"In a BBC TV documentary about his life, he spoke of his love for some canonical figures in English literature, in particular the 19th Century essayist Charles Lamb, whose somewhat florid style influenced Dawson's own."

Neil Peart's "Ghost Rider." Found it to be, for the most part, a moving and instructional account of how to cope with profound grief.

I know Mike Nesmith's written a couple of novels, never even seen 'em tho

(Thanks, Tom D.)

I think I saw them in a bookstore between the Kinky Friedman and Jimmy Buffett murder mysteries.

Actually I recently read about half of a pretty good post-apocalyptic noir novel by a guy from Shudder To Think. Remember them? I don't. Nathan Larson, The Dewey Decimal System. Oh yeah, he is married to the lead singer of The Cardigans.

Oh yeah, he is married to the lead singer of The Cardigans

Nice for him

Enjoyed Daevid Allen's Gong Dreaming vol 2. Have meant to read vol 1.

Thought Andy Sommers One Train Later was pretty good too.
& Drumbo's book on Beefheart was very engrossing. Somebody sent me the Zoot Horn Rollo one but I've yet to read it.

Lee Underwood's Tim Buckley tome was interesting but Underwood comes off prety egotistical throughout from what I recall.

Phil Lesh's book was interesting Searching For The Sound
& the singer from The Misunderstood wrote a memoir that's available through Ugly Things that's very interesting. Think it has more on him as a monk after heading to India as a draft dodger than him on the band but very good book.

Somebody has presumably mentioned Miles Davis autobio by now too,
& the John Einarson expansion on Arthuir Lee's notes Forever Changes is a must read if you like Love at all.
Just been reminded Jeffrey Lee Pierce's Go Tell The Mountain is very readable if possibly not the most reliable of sources.

Drumbo's book on Beefheart

Didn't even know this existed till I read it on ILX a coupla weeks back!

read about it, not read it, as it's allegedly a doorstopper

Reading "Just Kids" right now even though I never liked Patti Smith. I think it's pretty much as good as anyone can expect from a musician who isn't a professional writer

More books on this thread:

Good books about music

Another vote for John Cale's What's Welsh For Zen.

drumbo's book is enjoyable but needs severe editing. lots of repetition throughout.

but as the story of what it was like being in the magic band it's amazing.

lots of repetition throughout

Oh, the irony!

Ha

haha

to expand on that: anecdotes get repeated often ... it's obvious no editor worked on it. i have no problem with reading 800 pages on beefheart, just that this book was a bit messy.

That and The Exegesis of Philip K. Dick are next on my list.

No mentions so far of David Toop (22 album credits on discogs, many instrumental/production credits dating back to 1971).

Rap Attack (1984, 1992, 1999)

The first part of Rap Attack (the part published in 1984, the current print edition combines the 1984 and 1992 volumes and add a long prologue written in 1999) is the best, most essential history of rap's roots and its early development that I've ever read. The 1992 part has some good observations too, but in the 1999 text he doesn't manage to capture the state of rap that in that year as acutely as in the other parts. Still, I would strongly recommend this on the strength of the 1984 part alone.

Robert Fripp is supposed to be writing some kind of book detailing his various run-ins with the music industry. Should be a corker, if it ever appears.

― ban this sick stunt (anagram), Tuesday, February 28, 2012 10:15 AM (2 weeks ago)

Fripp has withdrawn the book from the university press that wanted to publish it, because he didn't like the contract terms. http://www.dgmlive.com/diaries.htm?entry=21262

"How Bluegrass Music Destroyed My Life" by John Fahey is a great book, really entertaining (and funny) on many levels. Can't recommend it enough.

the drumbo bk is more than a 'bit messy' - it's p much a disaster, unfortunately. the text switches between meandering first person narrative (three pages on the kind of trousers john french and pals wore back in the 1950s etc) that's interspersed w/ chunks of seemingly verbatim interview transcripts that almost never offer any additional insight or coherence. admittedly i haven't made it to the 'good stuff' yet (ie 'my years in the beefheart cult'/what a bad bad person uncle don was), but i sorta lost the will to live after the first 100 pages or so. i'm not exactly a beefheart novice, but i easily got lost in all the different names and places that flit in and out of the narrative and which a decent editor - ANY kind of editor - would've helped organise in a much more reader-friendly fashion. the mike barnes and bill harkelroad bks are def less comprehensive - and props to drumbo for trying to nail down so many of the vliet-myths and boasts - but so much better reads-as-reads

I'm really curious about this book by Alice Bag, recently published.

http://alicebag.com/sitebuilder/images/ViolenceGirlPoster-408x600.jpg

Anyone here read it yet? I love The Bags, and that whole early LA punk scene is fascinating.

Anyone read Lenny Kaye's book about crooners in the 1930s? I've had it on my shelf for years but haven't read it, and I'm thinking about putting it in the cull pile.

i read that kaye book a while back. don't recall *too* much about it, but it was entertaining in a nick tosches-kinda way. some interesting stories about the time period.

really need to read "How Bluegrass Music Destroyed My Life"

Fripp has withdrawn the book from the university press that wanted to publish it, because he didn't like the contract terms

oh ffs

There is another Fahey book as well, but I haven't read it yet. Gotta find it, as if it's anywhere near as enteraining as "How Bluegrass Music Destroyed My Life" then it promises to be a real treat.

Jonathan Meiburg out of Shearwater is an ornithologist, and he has written a book about the striated caracara:

https://media.s-bol.com/36J12qyjNGnA/550x803.jpg

the guy behind Ant-Bee put out some books on early 70s rockers including Grand funk Railroad (which I think I have but haven't looked at much)

.....apparently dude from Cromags has written a self help book....

books by Nick Cave and Lydia Lunch should be avoided at all cost.

― end of time, Thursday, January 29, 2004 10:08 AM (twenty years ago) bookmarkflaglink

can't say for sure about lydia but i wouldn't avoid nick's books. the sick bag song!