Someone recommend me a book about music

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I finally have the month of May off from grad school. Fuck do I ever deserve it.

I normally use this break to read a really trashy music book. I think last year it was "The Dirt" (that Motley Crue autobiography.) I've got piles of guides and serious stuff by Greil and Xgau so don't bother to mention those. And please, no novels. Give me something fun and non-fiction, please.

Matos, if you finish your book in, like, the next week or two, I'm very excited to read it. Heh. But a book on Prince would be sweet, assuming it was credible and not the product of a record company.

― don weiner, Tuesday, 29 April 2003 23:44 (twenty-two years ago)

I really liked "Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981-1991", by Michael Azerrad.

― Davlo (Davlo), Tuesday, 29 April 2003 23:51 (twenty-two years ago)

Give me something fun and non-fiction, please.

I still think Chuck Eddy's books are fun. I think Dave Cavanagh's book on Creation Records is very slyly hilarious. I think Tom Warrior's history of Celtic Frost is wonderfully ridiculous. And I would say you could never go wrong with any random collection of Great Pop Things.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 00:12 (twenty-two years ago)

"Lost in Music" by Giles Smith is a hoot

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 00:14 (twenty-two years ago)

Ooo! Ooo! David Lee Roth's "Crazy From The Heat"!

Oh wait, you wanted non-fiction...

― Nick Mirov (nick), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 00:14 (twenty-two years ago)

Last Night a DJ Saved My Life is a very fun read.

― Mark (MarkR), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 00:25 (twenty-two years ago)

Shakey: Neil Young's Biography." I laughed my ass off reading this. Underneath the foggy hippie-isms, there is something truly demented about this book

― guncho, Wednesday, 30 April 2003 00:32 (twenty-two years ago)

45 by bill drummond

― robin (robin), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 00:39 (twenty-two years ago)

I second Robin. Amazing man that Drummond. CHeck out also Julian Cope's Head On and Repossessed.

Also Nick's and Mark's suggestions! David Lee Roth's book is a hoot.

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 00:42 (twenty-two years ago)

I second Cavanaugh's Creation book and Last Night a DJ Saved My Life. I'll add Please Kill Me.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 00:46 (twenty-two years ago)

Stuttering Boy by Mel Tillis

― scott seward, Wednesday, 30 April 2003 00:48 (twenty-two years ago)

http://64.95.118.51/images/opti/85/86/0140266909.jpg

― brian badword (badwords), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 00:50 (twenty-two years ago)

woops, spencer said it.

― brian badword (badwords), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 00:51 (twenty-two years ago)

merle haggard's autobiog, "Sing Me Back Home", is real good

― duane, Wednesday, 30 April 2003 00:52 (twenty-two years ago)

The Real Frank Zappa Book - by Frank Zappa & Peter Occhiogrosso
I Need More - by Iggy Pop & Anne Wehrer

― John Bullabaugh (John Bullabaugh), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 00:53 (twenty-two years ago)

Please Kill Me, hell yes. Rivetting!

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 01:05 (twenty-two years ago)

Miles Davis's autobiography, hands down the best music biography I've read all year.

― largehearted boy (largeheartedboy), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 01:08 (twenty-two years ago)

Yes, the Miles one is great. Damn, I've read too many music books. Expensive.

"Bass Culture" by Lloyd Bradley. Very good read in tandem with "Last Night a DJ Saved My Life" if you want to get a handle on how DJ culture came to be.

"Tainted Life" by Marc Almond. Like his lyrics, it's not Shakespeare, but the honesty and seediness of it is such that you can't tear yourself away.

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 02:01 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.uncarved.demon.co.uk/archive/reviews231100.html

Acouple of reviews of the above 2 books - on John Eden's magnificent Uncarved blog site.

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 02:03 (twenty-two years ago)

For something very new and, from the excerpts I've read at least, a mess of fun, try John Harris's "The Last Party" B***pop thing, but for a bona-fide classic that'll make you want to rush out and buy every single record mentioned in it (and there are thousands), Julian Cope's "Krautrocksampler" is unbeatable and hugely entertaining.

― CharlieNo4 (Charlie), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 02:51 (twenty-two years ago)

Oh, and "Lost In Music" and "Tainted Life" both wholeheartedly seconded.

― CharlieNo4 (Charlie), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 02:52 (twenty-two years ago)

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

― Mr. Diamond (diamond), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 02:52 (twenty-two years ago)

Check out "travels with my amp" by Greg Godovitz.

― chad (chad), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 04:47 (twenty-two years ago)

I'll 2nd the Bill Drummond recommendation. Not only one of the best music books I've ever read, probably one of the best books I've ever read. Maybe that says more about my limited reading scope than the quality of the book, but as far as I'm concerned, it's still magniciant. It's about Mr Drummond growing up, running around with his KLF mates, doing stupid stuff, and generally being him. No rock star pretension - just a geezer being amusing. And the ba-ba-ga chapter is scary and chilling and an inspired bit of writing. Go and read it, it's class.

― Johnney B (Johnney B), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 08:44 (twenty-two years ago)

I read the book twice, but the babaga chapter was too harrowing, couldn't bear it again. My favourite chapter is the one which has him doing his daily ananymous writing thing, hanging out in a cafe in a library and a department store, reading the signs and telling us about the people around him. I felt I was right there, in his skin.

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 10:19 (twenty-two years ago)

'Nico - Songs They Never Play on the Radio'

― dave q, Wednesday, 30 April 2003 10:22 (twenty-two years ago)

Bill Drummond is really an extraordinary fellow really, not that I like everything he does or anything but wow... he plays games with reality, just for kicks... even little things like putting a 'b' for Bill on a map and then walking along the streets marked out by the letter, just to see where it takes him. Changing his destiny with little games. His life is like a human butterfly effect.

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 10:49 (twenty-two years ago)

More votes for "Lost In Music", "Please Kill Me" and "Bass Culture".

Sadly I'd have to vote AGAINST Miles Davies' autobography - I gave up on it about quarter of the way through suffering from severe motherfucker fatigue.

Additional nominations:
"Captain Beefheart" by Mike Barnes
"Touching From A Distance - Ian Curtis and Joy Division" by (Ian's widow) Deborah Curtis
"Lunar Notes - Zoot Horn Rollo's Captain Beefheart Experience" by Bill Harkleroad (aka Zoot Horn Rollo)
"Rotten - No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs" by John Lydon
"Lost In The Woods - Syd Barrett & The Pink Floyd" by Julian Palacios
"England's Dreaming - The Sex Pistols And Punk Rock" by Jon Savage

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 12:00 (twenty-two years ago)

Anything by Greil Marcus.

(ducks)

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 12:07 (twenty-two years ago)

Nothing by Greil Marcus, except Mystery Train.
I love Guralnick's books -- they're so passionate.

Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone?: The Carter Family and Their Legacy in American Music, by Mark Zwonitzer with Charles Hirshberg -- so sad

― Jazzbo (jmcgaw), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 12:12 (twenty-two years ago)

I'll second the Nico recommendation. It's not much of a biography, more a road journal kept by her keyboard player, fresh grad from Oxford, during the 80s (ie. the lost years). It's pretty surreal.

― Fabrice (Fabfunk), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 12:24 (twenty-two years ago)

"Lost Highway" by Peter Guralnick is fantastic.

― J (Jay), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 12:27 (twenty-two years ago)

in honor of her passing - Nina Simone's autobiography "I put a spell on you' is a good read

― H (Heruy), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 12:51 (twenty-two years ago)

Peter Guralnick's books are only as interesting as their subject matter, which, to be sure, is often really interesting.

If you wanna go old-school rockist, I would recommend Stanley Booth's book about the Rolling Stones' '69 tour--the one that included a stop at Altamont Speedway. It's been available under at least three different titles, but the version in print now is called The True Adventures of the Rolling Stones (yech). Anyway, it's a lot of fun, in a most unusual way. Booth is sort of insufferable as a narrator: He's pretentious, he's melodramatic, he inserts himself into the action at every turn (including who-cares hints at personal backstory), and he buys the Stones' rap far more than he would ever admit he does. But at the same time, all that sort of makes the book more unintentionally entertaining--for instance, he rarely fails to use the words "rotting fangs" whenever Keith Richards enters a scene. In any event, it's a good rock history that basically reads like a novel and is well-stocked with debauchery and myth-making and myth-debunking. That's everything I look for in a good summer musical read.

― Lee G (Lee G), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 13:22 (twenty-two years ago)

Another vote for 'Bass Culture', which I'm about halfway through. Note that in the US it's sold under the (lame) title 'This is Reggae Music'

― buttch (Oops), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 13:44 (twenty-two years ago)

Lee, I disagree with nearly everything you say about True Adventures of the Rolling Stones, and it's one of my favorite books. In any event, someone read it!

― Yanc3y (ystrickler), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 13:56 (twenty-two years ago)

I second the recommendations for the Stanley Booth book. It's amazing.
He really hates "I'm Free," doesn't he?

― Jazzbo (jmcgaw), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 15:28 (twenty-two years ago)

The Dark Stuff, by Nick Kent... article/essays on some of the great madmen of rock & their demons

Really the Blues, by Mezz Mezzrow is the best fucking book ever about early jazz & counterculture in general.

In My Life is a good bio of Lennon, by his childhood chum

Improvisation, by Derek Bailey

Uptight.

Is there a good book about Reggae? I'd like to see it.

― autovac (autovac), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 17:30 (twenty-two years ago)

whenever I go to the bookstore, I take a few copies of the Dirt & put it in "Self-Help"

― autovac (autovac), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 17:33 (twenty-two years ago)

Uh, yeah. 'Bass Culture' has been recommended like 5X in this thread.

― buttch (Oops), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 17:34 (twenty-two years ago)

Yet another enthusiastic vote for "Please Kill Me."

― Jeanne Fury (Jeanne Fury), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 17:48 (twenty-two years ago)

Don't get me wrong--I love the Booth book. But it does make me roll my eyes periodically.

― Lee G (Lee G), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 18:36 (twenty-two years ago)

with all these votes for Giles Smith's 'Lost In Music', i'm surprised no one's mentioned Martin Newell's 'This Little Ziggy'...

― rh, Wednesday, 30 April 2003 19:43 (twenty-two years ago)

anyone have an opinion of Mike Watt's recently published "Spiels of a Minuteman" (a collection of old lyrics and journals)? i've been meaning to check it out, hopefully he's selling it on his current tour.

― Al (sitcom), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 19:49 (twenty-two years ago)

I second 'The Dark Stuff', especially as an accompaniment to 'Please Kill Me'. Oh, and Lester Bangs 'Psychotic Reactions and Carburrettor Dung' of course, but it's patchy, as it should be.

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 21:57 (twenty-two years ago)

"Fargo Rock City" by Chuck Klosterman.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 22:09 (twenty-two years ago)

This is a longshot, but would anybody want to photocopy "Ask" by Paul Morley for me? I will pay the photocopying costs, it would still be much cheaper than trying to buy a copy.

― Nicole (Nicole), Thursday, 1 May 2003 01:53 (twenty-two years ago)

Rickey Vincent: "Funk: The Music, The People, The One"

I can't recall ever having come across a history of funk before. This one's endorsed by George Clinton. Like "Bass Culture", it's written in a sytle which seems to echo the music, rather than obyeing all the laws of grammar, but in my view is all the better for it. Puls, it has the best discography in the back you could wish for.

Oh, second or third the Nico book, John Savage's 'England's Dreaming', John Lydon's book except for the last three chapters where he goes into legal mode, and add Marianee Faithfull's biography. She's a great writer, as luck would have it.

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Thursday, 1 May 2003 02:28 (twenty-two years ago)

Best music book of the last couple years is Charles Rosen's "Piano Notes", which anecdotally explains the physiology and psychology of performance, and almost got me over my irrational prejudice against classical music. Almost.

― b.R.A.d. (Brad), Thursday, 1 May 2003 02:34 (twenty-two years ago)

I'll second Marianne Faithful's autobiography. Mick Jagger had to give back his advance cos he couldn't remember anything but somehow Marianne Faithful remebers the lot and very witty and vivid it is too. If want to know the truth about the Mars Bar incident too, go read!!!!

― Kim Tortoise, Thursday, 1 May 2003 13:34 (twenty-two years ago)

Rickey Vincent: "Funk: The Music, The People, The One"

I'll have to second this one -- great book. Got me into Mandrill and that's all right by me!

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 1 May 2003 15:36 (twenty-two years ago)

And finally for me, "Long Way To The Top", Bon Scott bio by Clinton Walker. Not the most beautifully written book ever, but very funny and very Australian.

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Thursday, 1 May 2003 21:00 (twenty-two years ago)

"Hi, How Are You: The Definitive Daniel Johnston Handbook" by Tarsa Yazdani

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Thursday, 1 May 2003 21:35 (twenty-two years ago)

Nietzsche contra Wagner

― Siegbran (eofor), Thursday, 1 May 2003 21:45 (twenty-two years ago)

one year passes...

i've read precious few rock books - all of which were at end of semesters in grad school. i read my first chair's book _flowers in the dustbin_ which i thought was fine for history, but deadening for tone, since it's premise is that rock died in 1977. (his book on foucault is pretty awesome, and _democracy is in the streets_ is excellent, but stay away from the rock crit)

i liked england's dreaming and lipstick traces since i read them one after the other and liked the outsider/insider accounts. please kill me is a total milestone, and redeems every lame appearance mcneil makes on VH1.

and i just ordered this is reggae music, not that i have time to read it.

― blackmail.is.my.life (blackmail.is.my.life), Monday, 21 February 2005 04:47 (twenty-one years ago)

I'd like to read something about the experimental dark sides of music. How is England's Hidden Reverse? Also there's a book about the Norwegian Black Metal movement, anyone read that?

― Rizz (Rizz), Monday, 21 February 2005 21:24 (twenty-one years ago)

Favorite Books about music 2004

― Steve-k (Steve K), Monday, 21 February 2005 23:18 (twenty-one years ago)

Please Kill Me gets my vote.
Also:
Stranded: The Secret History of Australian Independent Music by Clinton Walker

― VegemiteGrrl (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 22 February 2005 03:24 (twenty-one years ago)

Reading 2Stoned by Andrew Loog Oldham, very amusing and well written.

Also Wonderland Avenue by Danny Sugarman is full of good and funny tales.

― holojames (holojames), Friday, 25 February 2005 19:43 (twenty-one years ago)

More votes for Please Kill Me and Our Band Could Be Your Life.

Also, Many Years From Now is a great McCartney bio.

― darin (darin), Friday, 25 February 2005 19:51 (twenty-one years ago)

Someone gave me "Britpop!: Cool Britannia and the Spactacular Demise of English Rock" by John Harris for X-mas and I really enjoyed it. Lotsa Pulp-Suede-Blur-Elastica-Oasis luridness.

― ng, Saturday, 26 February 2005 03:28 (twenty-one years ago)

some of my faves:

Unsung Heroes of Rock 'n' Roll -- Nick Tosches
Hardcore Troubador: The Life & Near Death of Steve Earle -- Lauren St. John
Route 666 -- Denise Sullivan
The Rolling Stones -- David Dalton
Dead Elvis -- Griel Marcus

reference books:
Modern Twang -- David Goodman
Any Trouser Press Record Guide
Hollywood Rock -- Marshall Crenshaw, ed.
Christgau's tomes on albums of the '70s, '80s, '90s

― Dan Aloi (67Dano), Saturday, 26 February 2005 15:05 (twenty-one years ago)

Currently reading Rip It Up: The Black Experience In Rock 'N' Roll, from '03. Kandia Crazy Horse edits and writes some; also, original (for this book) interviews with Slash, Vernon Reid, and others. Lots of intriguing information, on well-knowns and obscuros alike.(Other contributors incl. Harry Allen, Barney Hoskyns, Jon Caramancia, Vivian Goldman, Amy Linden, Lester Bangs.) Tom T. Hall's The Storyteller's Nashville has some of the best Southern Gothic/Gonzo muso anecdotes evah, but the serious bits somehow mesh as well.Ditto Nelson George's Seduced: The Life And Times Of A One Hit Wonder is a novel, but a roman-a-clef (Russell Simmons vigorously denies being in it--that's the gist of his blurb, on the back cover!) A kid from Hollis, Queens grows up dreaming of being an r&b star, but gets blindsided by disco and then rap. However...well, just read it!

― don, Saturday, 26 February 2005 20:58 (twenty-one years ago)

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