― David Allen (David Allen), Thursday, 29 January 2004 14:25 (twenty years ago) link
a great book but a truly asd tale of a very talented musician. I like the original large paperback layout better than the recent smaller paperback editions...
books by Nick Cave and Lydia Lunch should be avoided at all cost.
― end of time, Thursday, 29 January 2004 15:08 (twenty years ago) link
Other good stuff:"Really the Blues" by Mezz Mezzrow"Is That It?" by Bob Geldof was much better than I imagined it would be."Go Now" was, too! but then I promptly forgot I'd read it immediately after putting it down :/
― Donna Brown (Donna Brown), Thursday, 29 January 2004 17:39 (twenty years ago) link
It's an unitentional hoot...he's obsessed with proving that he's the person who introduced the short hair and skinny tie to Blondie (for the men).
The photos are a classic - "Note my short tie and skinny tie"....."Note length of hair" - next to a photo of Chris Stein.
The guy's a complete wally jumblat.
― Bob Six (bobbysix), Thursday, 29 January 2004 20:08 (twenty years ago) link
― M Matos (M Matos), Thursday, 29 January 2004 20:51 (twenty years ago) link
Killers, Angels, Refugees and Mirrors, Dreams and Miracles by Peter Hammill. Both have some interesting short stories alongside his collected lyrics up to 1980.
― anagram, Sunday, 3 January 2010 17:56 (fourteen years ago) link
"Are You Experienced?", by Noel Redding and Carol Appleby. Goes into detail about drug use, drinking, management problems, the whole lot.
― an executive by day and a wild man by night (snoball), Sunday, 3 January 2010 18:14 (fourteen years ago) link
Hip Hop Literature TS:
The Ice Opinion - Ice T & Heidi Sigmund
The Wu Tang Manual - RZA
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51tq1LHrIFL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA240_SH20_OU01_.jpg
― m0stlyClean, Sunday, 3 January 2010 19:16 (fourteen years ago) link
is there a thread for crap books by musicians? if so, slash's autobiography belongs on there. never cared much for guns n roses but i figured his book might be entertaining, like the motley crue one but for someone who led such a wild life, he sure knows how to distill it down into one almighty tedious read. the main thing i took from the book was that axl rose sounded like a very interesting guy, which i'm guessing wasn't slash's intention.
neil sedaka's autobio is pretty great, comes across as a warm friendly guy though i don't think anyone ever needed to read his description about losing his virginity. similarly, mick fleetwood's book is worth reading, a good honest account of the big years by a good honest guy. nothing earth-shattering but very readable. same goes for barry white to the power 10, he has this crazy almost-sleazy-but-not way of writing and tbh the guy comes across as godlike. love him even more after reading that.
didn't care much for ian hunter's diary. not a big fan of mott but his diary just seemed pretty banal and his writing is all abc fisher price nothingness. don't understand the fuss about it.
not strictly by a musician but michael francis's star man is a good account of life working as a roadie for led zeppelin, bon jovi, cher, sheena easton.
also books i've not read in years but loved at the time and im planning on buying again: autobios by pete waterman, holly johnson and marc almond. 45 is awesome too, but drummond's recent book 17 is more of a grumpy rant - i never quite grasped what was so wildly exciting about recording a bunch of people humming and then wiping the tape. plus he lost me when he stood in front of a bunch of primary school kids and told them that all recorded music was rubbish. bit of a prick's trick.
― NI, Monday, 4 January 2010 21:22 (fourteen years ago) link
"You Don't Have To Say You Love Me" by Simon Napier-Bell.
― an executive by day and a wild man by night (snoball), Monday, 4 January 2010 21:31 (fourteen years ago) link
Bill Callahan, Kristin Hersh, Michael Gira
― dollar eye twinkling (admrl), Tuesday, 28 February 2012 16:01 (twelve years ago) link
Are any of these any cop?
Am I the only person in the world who actually *enjoyed* "And The Ass Saw The Angel"?
No, I liked it quite a bit.
― dollar eye twinkling (admrl), Tuesday, 28 February 2012 16:02 (twelve years ago) link
I loved it but I thought The Death of Bunny Munro was abysmal.
Gira's The Consumer is a mixed bag (and very hard to get hold of nowadays). IIRC it's divided into stories he wrote during Swans' 80s hardcore phase and later ones. The earlier ones were much better.
― ban this sick stunt (anagram), Tuesday, 28 February 2012 16:08 (twelve years ago) link
Oh yeah, I notice no-one's mentioned Pete Townshend's The Horse's Neck.
I presume that's for the best, yes?
― Tadeusz Suchodolski, Thursday, June 14, 2001 8:00 PM (10 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Yes. Yes it is.
Actually, it's not a bad read, and likely the most illuminating account of his 1979-1982 heroin addiction years. Said illumination, however, is not without its embarrassing moments, intentional and otherwise.
His autobio Who He? is due out in October.
― Let A Man Come In And Do The Cop Porn (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Tuesday, 28 February 2012 16:13 (twelve years ago) link
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, 28 February 2012 16:15 (twelve years ago) link
^^^ anticipating the hell out of
― Steamtable Willie (WmC), Tuesday, 28 February 2012 16:17 (twelve years ago) link
Ed Sanders Fug You, a unique perspective of the lower east side in the 1960s. It is amazing. So Far, anyway. I am about a third of the way through it.
― Trip Maker, Tuesday, 28 February 2012 16:21 (twelve years ago) link
Reading between the lines of Fripp's online diary, I'd guess the book is in the editing process now, by the way.
― Steamtable Willie (WmC), Tuesday, 28 February 2012 16:23 (twelve years ago) link
Enjoyed Dean Wareham's memoir.
― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 28 February 2012 16:24 (twelve years ago) link
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)Ocean of Sound: Aether Talk, Ambient Sound and Imaginary Worlds (1995)Exotica: Fabricated Landcapes in a Real World (1999)Haunted Weather: Music, Silence and Memory (2010)
I've only read Ocean of Sound which is a great book length version of what could have been The Wire magazine featurettes (he writes for them as well) on ambient music precursors and pioneers. Just learned about Haunted Weather which is apparently about 21st century laptop music, and on my wishlist.
― Pauper Management Improved (Sanpaku), Tuesday, 28 February 2012 17:03 (twelve years ago) link
You left off Sinister Resonance, which I just read. Lots of fascinating ideas but it was a hard slog at times.
― dollar eye twinkling (admrl), Tuesday, 28 February 2012 17:06 (twelve years ago) link
http://kevincoynepage.free.fr/ARTWORK/Party_Dress.jpg
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51nB7Ap4IRL._SL500_.jpg
― Charles Kennedy Jumped Up, He Called 'Oh No'. (Tom D.), Tuesday, 28 February 2012 17:08 (twelve years ago) link
Bill Bruford's The Autobiography (2009) is rather great.Rick Wakeman's Say Yes! is a good, if somewhat slim, read too.
― t**t, Tuesday, 28 February 2012 18:25 (twelve years ago) link
Bill Bruford's The Autobiography (2009) is rather great.
i still have this lying around unread. :(
i did enjoy phill brown's "are we still rolling?" though.
― 40oz of tears (Jordan), Tuesday, 28 February 2012 18:28 (twelve years ago) link
also need to read that niles rodgers one.
nile
― 40oz of tears (Jordan), Tuesday, 28 February 2012 18:29 (twelve years ago) link
I have that Art Pepper book, mentioned upthread, lying about pretty much unread for years.And Leonard Cohen's Beautiful Losers hasn't progressed further than p.80.
― t**t, Tuesday, 28 February 2012 18:34 (twelve years ago) link
B-b-b-ut I've read a book of the late Kevin Coyne's short stories. What I can recall of them, the mode of a few of them was kinda sorta Kafka-esque...
― t**t, Tuesday, 28 February 2012 18:36 (twelve years ago) link
Kafka meets Les Dawson
― Charles Kennedy Jumped Up, He Called 'Oh No'. (Tom D.), Tuesday, 28 February 2012 18:38 (twelve years ago) link
Another vote for Art Pepper.
― Averroes's Search Engine (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 28 February 2012 18:39 (twelve years ago) link
Possible. Tho I kno nuthink of Les Dawson :(
― t**t, Tuesday, 28 February 2012 18:40 (twelve years ago) link
Dennis Coffey's book was pretty good.
― Averroes's Search Engine (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 28 February 2012 18:41 (twelve years ago) link
A GIS may suffice (xp)
― Charles Kennedy Jumped Up, He Called 'Oh No'. (Tom D.), Tuesday, 28 February 2012 18:42 (twelve years ago) link
??
― t**t, Tuesday, 28 February 2012 18:43 (twelve years ago) link
google image search
― Averroes's Search Engine (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 28 February 2012 18:43 (twelve years ago) link
o I did that, avtually:)
― t**t, Tuesday, 28 February 2012 18:44 (twelve years ago) link
"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."
― Charles Kennedy Jumped Up, He Called 'Oh No'. (Tom D.), Tuesday, 28 February 2012 18:45 (twelve years ago) link
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.
― SongOfSam, Tuesday, 28 February 2012 18:46 (twelve years ago) link
I know Mike Nesmith's written a couple of novels, never even seen 'em tho
― Charles Kennedy Jumped Up, He Called 'Oh No'. (Tom D.), Tuesday, 28 February 2012 18:48 (twelve years ago) link
(Thanks, Tom D.)
― t**t, Tuesday, 28 February 2012 18:51 (twelve years ago) link
I think I saw them in a bookstore between the Kinky Friedman and Jimmy Buffett murder mysteries.
― Averroes's Search Engine (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 28 February 2012 18:56 (twelve years ago) link
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.
― Averroes's Search Engine (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 28 February 2012 18:59 (twelve years ago) link
Oh yeah, he is married to the lead singer of The Cardigans
Nice for him
― Charles Kennedy Jumped Up, He Called 'Oh No'. (Tom D.), Tuesday, 28 February 2012 19:01 (twelve years ago) link
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.
― Stevolende, Tuesday, 28 February 2012 19:01 (twelve years ago) link
Drumbo's book on Beefheart
Didn't even know this existed till I read it on ILX a coupla weeks back!
― Charles Kennedy Jumped Up, He Called 'Oh No'. (Tom D.), Tuesday, 28 February 2012 19:02 (twelve years ago) link
read about it, not read it, as it's allegedly a doorstopper
― Charles Kennedy Jumped Up, He Called 'Oh No'. (Tom D.), Tuesday, 28 February 2012 19:03 (twelve years ago) link
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
― simulation and similac (Hurting 2), Tuesday, 28 February 2012 19:05 (twelve years ago) link
More books on this thread:
Good books about music
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 28 February 2012 19:05 (twelve years ago) link
Another vote for John Cale's What's Welsh For Zen.
― Averroes's Search Engine (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 28 February 2012 19:08 (twelve years ago) link
Fripp has withdrawn the book from the university press that wanted to publish it, because he didn't like the contract terms
oh ffs
― my father will guide me up the stairs to bed (anagram), Friday, 16 March 2012 08:36 (twelve years ago) link
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.
― grandavis, Friday, 16 March 2012 16:51 (twelve years ago) link
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
― joni mitchell jarre (anagram), Tuesday, 9 February 2021 09:46 (three years ago) link
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)
― Stevolende, Tuesday, 9 February 2021 10:01 (three years ago) link
.....apparently dude from Cromags has written a self help book....
― m0stlyClean, Tuesday, 9 February 2021 14:47 (three years ago) link
― 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!
― reggie (qualmsley), Wednesday, 24 April 2024 20:57 (three weeks ago) link