What books about music ARE worth the paper they're printed on?

Last Train to Memphis & Careless Love - Peter Guralnick
Lost Highway - Peter Guralnick
Sweet Soul Music - Peter Guralnick
Please Kill Me - Legs McNeil
Our Band Could Be Your Life - Michael Azzerad
Hammer of the Gods - Stephen Davis
The True Adventures of the Rolling Stones - Stanley Booth
Mystery Train - Griel Marcus
Lipstick Traces - Griel Marcus
Invisible Republic - Griel Marcus
The Aesthetics of Rock - Richard Meltzer
A Whore Like the Rest - Richard Meltzer
Psychotic Reactions & Carberetur Dung - Lester Bangs
Hellfire - Nick Tosches
Unsung Heroes of Rock n Roll - Nick Tosches
Country - Nick Tosches
Dino: Living High in the Dirty Business of Dreams - Nick Tosches
whatever the Simon Reynolds book is called this year
More Brilliant than the Sun - Kodwo Eshun
the Caetano Veloso autobio

also, they would have copies of that book that mark s. is still writing.

Also the book of rap lists.

also:
David Toop's books, all of them

Frederic Dannen - "Hit Men" (by no means, don't be put off by its title; it's an insightful look at pop music's business side of things, but reads more smoothly than yer average Rex Stout)

Greg Tate - "Flyboy In The Buttermilk" (music + much else)

...& there's more good stuff, really

Lords of Chaos by Michael Moynihan (about Black metal) is not too bad (apart from when he hauls in anthropologists and psychologists etc etc to dissect the phenomenon)

Shit, you're kidding. Well, I've got a copy but it's on the other side of the world (from me) at present, otherwise I'd post it off pronto. Isn't there an online version?

Hey, since Copey's Head On was reprinted recently, maybe the Sampler's just around the corner.

Clinton Heylin - Bootleg: the Secret History of the Other Recording Industry

"Moon" - Tony Fletcher's bio of Keith Moon, one of the best bios!

"White Line Fever" - Lemmy Kilmister's (Moterhead) autobiography.

"A Riot of Our Own" - A Clash Bio written by one of their roadies Johnny Green. He meets them shortly after they come together and stays with them through all the peak years - a great read!

"The Dirt" - autobiography of Motlet Crue (worth reading even if you're not a fan!)

"Life and Def" - autobiography of Russel Simmons (Def Jam/Phat Farm).

"Get in the Van" - A compilation of Henry Rollins' journals from the time he was in Black Flag.

"The Rocker" - Mark Putterford's bio on Phil Lynott (of Thin Lizzy) - again, worth reading even if you're not a fan.

"The Spectacular Rise and Violent Fall of Death Row Records" by Ronin Ro. A look at Suge Knight and Death Row Records - VERY GOOD!

Other people have mentioned "Our Band Could be Your Life", "Lords of Chaos" and "Please kill Me" - I'd also recomend them.

Is that the one that lists the band that did the "Muchos Gracias / Limelight" 45 as the same "The Pack" that had Kirk Brandon in it? I don't mean to make fun of it; I wish I'd owned a copy, even though the book I'm remembering had been implicated in a little grumpiness experienced sometime in the late 80's by a certain Canadian teenager upon the receipt of a small, flattish package from Germany. Anyone care to guess the square dimensions?

Does anyone remember there was a list-type book published a few years ago, maybe by Spin magazine or something, about "Alternative" groups, that had an entry about X Ray Spex referring to Paul Dean as being the same Paul Dean that played in Loverboy? It's well worth reading for that very reason. Maybe even framing.

Urban Blues by Charles Keil. The original anti-authenticity, non-rockist text. Keil argues that the slick urban music and live productions of the likes of B.B. King and Bobby "Blue" Bland is just as important and valid as the antecedent country blues forms. And how dare white record collectors state otherwise, anyway?

Rock and the Pop Narcotic by Joe Carducci. Learn what it means to be rockist. Great historical section (though some found it pointless).

Highway to Hell : The Life and Times of AC/DC Legend Bon Scott by Clinton Walker. Sympathetic portrayal of Scott. Actually serves as an excellent history and overview of the late 60's / early 70's Australian Pop music scene.

File Under Popular by Chris Cutler. Henry Cow drummer and Recommended records honcho argues for musical advancement through formal innovation. Structural materialist manifesto.

The Freedom Principle by John Litweiler. An excellent guide to all kinds of exciting Jazz music, for those searching for a way in.

The Autobiography of Miles Davis by Miles Davis w/ Quincy Troupe. Motherfucker!

Extended Play: Sounding off from John Cage to Dr. Funkenstein by John Corbett. Good writer with lots of insights on offer. Book is sort of divided into half theory, half journalism (some very entertaining interviews with the likes of Evan Parker and the Ex).

Improvisation by Derek Bailey. Just what the title says! All you ever wanted to know!

And who could forget: Philip Larkin's All What Jazz?

the sun ra biog.

Nik Cohn/Guy Peelaert - Rock Dreams

Fred and Judy Vermorel (ed.) - Starlust

An almost complete history of the dj.

meltzer's gulcher is actually my favourite meltzer
john cage: silence
tosches: country and unsung rock'n'roll heroes
music grooves: keil and feld
adorno's book on wagner
henry pleasants: the great american popular singers
ben thomps*n's two books (disclaimer: he's a really close friend)

I agree with Nathalie about Greil Marcus, although I did like Mystery Train. He's got a lot of people fooled.

Another vote for 'Psychotic Reactions and Carburretor Dung' - a very entertaining read.

Craig Werner - 'A Change is Gonna Come: Music, Race and the Soul of America' is excellent.

Charles Shaar Murray - 'Crosstown Traffic' - looks at Hendrix from a variety of angles.

robin: his other book is "ways of hearing"

The Recording Angel by Evan Eisenberg (much slept-on book, and sadly OOP)
The Rise and Fall of Popular Music by Donald Clarke (you don't have to agree with him to find it fascinating)
Flowers in the Dustbin by James Miller (ditto)
It Came From Memphis by Robert Gordon (not about music only, but close enough)

Subtract:

Guralnick's non-Elvis books
Marcus' twaddle-laden Basement Tapes book
Toop's twaddle-laden Exotica
Tosches' twaddle-laden Where Dead Voices Gather (and I say that as a huge fan)

I don't see Stranded anywhere. It's a bit dated, but there's some great writing there.

or better yet, Dogwalker, by Arthur Bradford, it's not about music, but if you like music, you'll like his stories.

I take it lists and cronology are not your thing. :)

It's a pretty good social study all around, though.

these are the 5 I would go with for joyful and informative reading. If you choose to go the Greil Marcus route, God help you. I just never found his writing enjoyable. Informative maybe but nothing to spend a present on. Check those out from the library.

I'd add Val Wilmer's As Serious as Your Life, for starters.

I'll second Bidini's On a Cold Road, though it may be of limited interest to those outside Canada. And Meltzer's A Whore... is definitely worth having, especially to see his evolution through the years.

Boy George - Take it like a man - one of the, if not THE, finest rock autobiography. His tales of cold turkey with Diana Ross and Marilyn were brilliant....

Tosches' Hellfire -- Similar to Booth's Stones book, Hellfire's writing is timeless, coming off like Faulkner and Twain. The way he breaks down Jerry Lee Lewis (God, the devil & dirt) is ingenious.

Meltzer's Gulcher -- His best work. His writing is spectacular, loose but tight and always on the verge of big ideas.

Nik Cohn's Ball the wall, which collects most of his writing from the 60's and 70's.

Brian Eno's A year with swollen appendices.

Bill Drummond's 45, and if you can find it How to have a number one the easy way.

I know he's not particularly hip but Simon Frith's Music for pleasure covers a lot of similar ground to the discussions which regularly reoccur on ILM.

Chris Heath's two books about the Pet Shop Boys are excellent too, especially Pet Shop Boy's versus America, which has some fantastic Pennie Smith photos.

As for (auto)biography. I'd go for Julian Cope's Head on/Repossessed, Tom Doyle's Billy Mackenzie bio The glamour chase and Charles Mingus's Beneath the underdog

And finally try to get Ray Lowry's Ink and It's only rock n' roll. One of the most acerbic and incisive commentators in the business.

VERY good choice. The more time goes on the more I'm frustrated with Mackenzie's death and his obscurity.

Chris Heath's two books about the Pet Shop Boys are excellent too, especially Pet Shop Boy's versus America, which has some fantastic Pennie Smith photos.

Seconded, thirded and fourthed.

Although he has this strange idea that he's the only rock writer that likes 80s glam metal/non-alternative rock, it bugs the fuck out of me. At least that's the impression I got. But he really knows his stuff!

oh and by the way chris, ned - if you go here :

http://petshopboys.net/default.html

and click 'literallys',
you can read transcripts and see pictures from every
original chris heath-penned psb 'literally' fan magazine,
from the mid 80's to present. they are all wreitten
in the same style as the books and they are ace.

isn't the internet great ?

Klostermann's regard of himself as the holder of absolute truth grates, on that point and others. In that respect he's cloned the crimes of those indier-than-thou writers he's trying to set himself up against. Which is a pity, because as noted, he's got the right idea and plenty to say. I find the afterword in the new edition to be something that should have been left off, he ends up shooting himself in the foot when he doesn't need to.

isn't the internet great ?

Yay internet!

You forgot, "you pieces of shit."

Am I the only person who Likes The Trouser Press Guides??

Can't believe nobody's mentioned Jon Savage's England's Dreaming - am I the only person whose whole worldview it changed?

http://12.11.184.13/boston/music/other_stories/documents/00630909.htm

“the rise of Nazism brought out a rebellious spirit in him, as in many others.”

yeah, I heard some French guys started some kind of underground movement around that time.

Fantastic review, cheers! It seems Wolk is irritated by the very same things that'd wind me right up - that is, factual inaccuracy, unattributed generalisation and grammatical chaos - so I think I'll chuck it in the pile marked "sell" as soon as I get home.

Is Cale's tome really as dull as you suggest, ESOJ? It looks so purdy...what's wrong with it? I was looking forward to diving in.

Oh, and Lydon's No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs is a great read.

Lydon's book is incredibly badly organized and repetitive but still very funny.

Isn't Simon Reynolds supposed to be writing a book about postpunk, or is that just wishful thinking?

as discussed at saturday's FAP, the ben watson book on derek b remains in limbo.

j.lu, I'll trade you something for that 1st edition of that Eddy book, if it's not already gone (may have missed it somewhere in the thread).

Going...going...gone! To Sean C.! E-mail me.

His prior book, "Soul Babies" is also pretty great in the music sections, on occasion. His stuff with R. Kelly is great, Outkast less so, etc. But I have no FUCKING idea what he means when he calls all these different dudes Gramscian, or rather I'm afraid I do have an idea and its a painfully bad one.

But yeah, he's still great.

(Sorry, Ned, but I seem to have latched onto that sentence. It would help if I didn't make any typos though.)

- "The Worst Rock 'n' Roll Records of All Time," Jimmy Guterman & Owen O'Donnell (at age 17, my introduction to how much fun rock criticism could be...)
- "A Cure For Gravity: A Musical Pilgrimage," Joe Jackson
- "Killing Bono," Neil McCormick
- "Cheese Chronicles: The True Story Of A Rock 'n' Roll Band You Never Heard Of," Tommy Womack
- "The Nearest Faraway Place," Timothy White

We guarantee that we will refund the complete price of this manual if you are unbale ot achieve a number one single in th eofficial (Gallup) U.K. charts within three months of th epurchase of this manual and on condition that you have fulfilled our instructions to the letter"

OOP so yay WWW
http://www.tomrobinson.com/work/klf.htm

and I second (third?) Have gun Will Travel and Hit Men. Moguls and Madmen is a fun read in spots.

OOP so yay WWW

Bullshit, fuck Tom Robinson.

you HAVE to get the autobio twofer

OMG I FORGOT! THAT'S THE MOST CRAZY ENTERTAINING SURREAL AUTOBIO EVER! Rollins on ghost writing too I guess....