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Disgraceland: Musicians Getting Away with Murder and Behaving Very Badly
From the creator of the popular rock 'n' roll true crime podcast, DISGRACELAND comes an off-kilter, hysterical, at times macabre book of stories from the highly entertaining underbelly of music history.
You may know Jerry Lee Lewis married his thirteen-year-old cousin but did you know he shot his bass player in the chest with a shotgun or that a couple of his wives died under extremely mysterious circumstances? Or that Sam Cooke was shot dead in a seedy motel after barging into the manager's office naked to attack her? Maybe not. Would it change your view of him if you knew that, or would your love for his music triumph?
Real rock stars do truly insane thing and invite truly insane things to happen to them; murder, drug trafficking, rape, cannibalism and the occult. We allow this behavior. We are complicit because a rock star behaving badly is what's expected. It's baked into the cake. Deep down, way down, past all of our self-righteous notions of justice and right and wrong, when it comes down to it, we want our rock stars to be bad. We know the music industry is full of demons, ones that drove Elvis Presley, Phil Spector, Sid Vicious and that consumed the Norwegian Black Metal scene. We want to believe in the myths because they're so damn entertaining.
DISGRACELAND is a collection of the best of these stories about some of the music world's most beloved stars and their crimes. It will mix all-new, untold stories with expanded stories from the first two seasons of the Disgraceland podcast. Using figures we already recognize, DISGRACELAND shines a light into the dark corners of their fame revealing the fine line that separates heroes and villains as well as the danger Americans seek out in their news cycles, tabloids, reality shows and soap operas. At the center of this collection of stories is the ever-fascinating music industry--a glittery stage populated by gangsters, drug dealers, pimps, groupies with violence, scandal and pure unadulterated rock 'n' roll entertainment.
You may know Jerry Lee Lewis married his thirteen-year-old cousin but did you know he shot his bass player in the chest with a shotgun or that a couple of his wives died under extremely mysterious circumstances? Or that Sam Cooke was shot dead in a seedy motel after barging into the manager's office naked to attack her? Maybe not. Would it change your view of him if you knew that, or would your love for his music triumph?
Real rock stars do truly insane thing and invite truly insane things to happen to them; murder, drug trafficking, rape, cannibalism and the occult. We allow this behavior. We are complicit because a rock star behaving badly is what's expected. It's baked into the cake. Deep down, way down, past all of our self-righteous notions of justice and right and wrong, when it comes down to it, we want our rock stars to be bad. We know the music industry is full of demons, ones that drove Elvis Presley, Phil Spector, Sid Vicious and that consumed the Norwegian Black Metal scene. We want to believe in the myths because they're so damn entertaining.
DISGRACELAND is a collection of the best of these stories about some of the music world's most beloved stars and their crimes. It will mix all-new, untold stories with expanded stories from the first two seasons of the Disgraceland podcast. Using figures we already recognize, DISGRACELAND shines a light into the dark corners of their fame revealing the fine line that separates heroes and villains as well as the danger Americans seek out in their news cycles, tabloids, reality shows and soap operas. At the center of this collection of stories is the ever-fascinating music industry--a glittery stage populated by gangsters, drug dealers, pimps, groupies with violence, scandal and pure unadulterated rock 'n' roll entertainment.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2019
142 people are currently reading
2202 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 117 reviews
July 22, 2022
A spin-off of the true crime podcast of the same name, Jake Brennan's Disgraceland is an uneven blend of music history, true crime, and creative writing. It's in this latter category where the problem lies. The stories of a crazed Phil Spector killing Lana Clarkson, the sordid deaths of Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen, the bloody crimes associated with the rise of Norwegian death metal (see
Lords of Chaos: The Bloody Rise of the Satanic Metal Underground
), and the too-brief life of Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes are fascinating enough without the "creative license" Brennan takes. I don't need to read the presumed perspective of a corpse being carted around in the back of a van, or to listen to a manic Spector's conversations with the ghost of John Lennon. And don't even get me started on the bathroom battle between fat Elvis and thin Elvis. Less fiction and more fact would have made this a vastly more compelling book.
April 12, 2024
Brennan uses magazine articles, books, movies and interviews to write chapters about 10 musical artists with rather colorful lives and mostly deaths. Artists who at times captured the world’s attention for good things, but most often the opposite.
The book could probably warrant a second volume.
The cartoon drawings by Matt Nelson are spot on and helpful in creating a picture or pictures for each chapter.
The book could probably warrant a second volume.
The cartoon drawings by Matt Nelson are spot on and helpful in creating a picture or pictures for each chapter.
July 19, 2020
So you were an artist. Big deal! Elvis was an artist, but that didn't stop him from serving his country in time of war. That's why he's the King, and you're a shmuck! Dogma
This is one of those books where I have no idea why I put it on my Amazon Wish List. But I did. And it was on sale and I bought it and read it.
I have never listened to the pod cast associated with the book. But I can't really recommend this book.
If I had to describe its genre it would be speculative fantasy non fiction. Or the author is profoundly psychic. The book relates some true crime stories about the musicians but the author tells it from the musician's perspective, including Elvis' final thoughts, Sid Vicious' final thoughts and more.
I did learn somethings like How Sam Cooke died and how Sid's mom was a life long heroin addict but it really isn't my cup of tea.
This is one of those books where I have no idea why I put it on my Amazon Wish List. But I did. And it was on sale and I bought it and read it.
I have never listened to the pod cast associated with the book. But I can't really recommend this book.
If I had to describe its genre it would be speculative fantasy non fiction. Or the author is profoundly psychic. The book relates some true crime stories about the musicians but the author tells it from the musician's perspective, including Elvis' final thoughts, Sid Vicious' final thoughts and more.
I did learn somethings like How Sam Cooke died and how Sid's mom was a life long heroin addict but it really isn't my cup of tea.
October 2, 2019
Disgraceland is one of my favorite pods so this book was highly anticipated for me. The authors voice comes through just as strongly as it does on the pod. I do wish more women had been featured and maybe more conspiracy theories addressed. These are the nitty gritty stories of music history that make you crave more.
November 19, 2019
This book covers several zany and strange acts from musicians, from Elvis to death metal band Mayhem. The author discusses how acts like Jerry Lee Lewis got away with murder, along with the last night of Sam Cooke's life. The author ties fiction into the true stories,by giving the reader dialog of what may have happened the time of the crimes, along with tying all the stories to the next chapter on a different star at a different time. Although the language is pretty strong, the writing is entertaining for music fans.
For an in-depth review, visit my page at : https://lancewrites.wordpress.com/201...
For an in-depth review, visit my page at : https://lancewrites.wordpress.com/201...
September 6, 2021
I feel like this could be a whole series of books. I learned a ton! It reads quickly and is very entertaining. It’s not at all dry and written in an engaging style. Particularly great were the Jerry Lee Lewis and Norwegian black metal chapters.
I had to google quite a few things. I think the author assumed a level of knowledge I did not have. I would’ve appreciated more women included. Heavy on the imagined dialogue.
It’s a strange book. If you fall where true crime and music intersect in a venn diagram, then I definitely recommend it. There is a lot in here, in a variety of music genres that most readers are bound to learn something new.
I had to google quite a few things. I think the author assumed a level of knowledge I did not have. I would’ve appreciated more women included. Heavy on the imagined dialogue.
It’s a strange book. If you fall where true crime and music intersect in a venn diagram, then I definitely recommend it. There is a lot in here, in a variety of music genres that most readers are bound to learn something new.
March 20, 2020
For a true crime book I was a little surprised that he seemed to invent dialogue (it might be reconstructed conversations based on later interviews, except for the musings of dead people after they were dead) but other than that I really enjoyed it. Easy to read and very interesting.
October 4, 2019
From one of my favourite podcasts, comes an equally as entertaining book. I loved the way tales were weaved together. I was left wanting so much more
January 16, 2020
Fun, smooth style. Addictive and engaging like a great song!
January 27, 2020
Chose this book because a friend rated it so highly, he's much more into music than me, but I thought it would be fun to read about the antics of these bad boys. It was much darker and not really that fun. It was informative and well researched, but not what I was expecting. It was really quite sad how some of these rockers lived ... mental issues not being treated, childhood tragedies... all of Norways black metal movement. Not my cup of tea... but others will drink it up.
November 1, 2019
An interesting read that I would have enjoyed a whole lot more if there if there hadn’t been so much fatphobia and also the way the author talks about drug addiction is... not great.
May 13, 2021
Not quite what I expected, but it wasn't terrible. At the beginning, the author mentions he will take some creative license. I like hearing about some of the stories, but the ending just really put me off when he had fat Elvis arguing with thin Elvis. It took what was a story about rock n roll artists bad behavior and turned it into fan fiction. Really didn't care for that. Also, I'm kind of shocked Vince Neil's infamous car accident wasn't in here. It seemed like a lot of the focus was on the elder statesmen such as Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, and Bo Diddly. And then it goes to Norwegian death metal. The author links stuff, but it still felt a bit jumbled to me.
February 23, 2023
I think this probably would have been a much better podcast (which luckily the author is). All the stories were interesting and very well researched - but it was weird to read a music history book with no first-hand quotes included. Plus it was a little strange of the author to insert himself and his artistic license in places that didn't make much sense. It just read like a Netflix doc narration and didn't make sense as a book. I get what he was trying to do but by the end it wasn't successful and lost its charm. It could have benefited from more fact and less fiction.
February 12, 2025
3.5 rounded up to 4. This book was entertaining and filled with a lot of celebrity scandal that I didn't know. The only thing I didn't like and found distracting, was the author's own imagined input and scenarios on what their feelings and thoughts would be. I would have preferred just the facts. But other than that I enjoyed this book.
March 12, 2020
It's a good book. Reads quickly. Certainly sheds a lot of info on the artists in the book.
June 4, 2021
I mean, I already love the podcast so I knew the book was going to be good. It's essentially a book of short stories detailing the lives and deaths of various musicians, book-ended by Elvis. Would recommend!
February 16, 2022
More a loosely connected series of short stories than anything else, Brennan mixes some in-depth research with a unique voice. It perhaps draws a little too much from the podcast scripts but a heck of a read.
February 4, 2023
It was just ok. A good "time- killer" read. All the stories are well known. However, the storytelling was uneven and told in a very basic manner.
October 25, 2019
Holy shit.
March 14, 2020
Jake Brennan’s “Disgraceland” podcast is a wildly entertaining re-examination of the classic Rock-N-Roll myths. He manages to convincingly put us into the fragile minds of some of the most legendary musicians of the past century. It’s a cool balancing act, toeing the line between hagiography and journalism, and he does it with a punk flair.
His book version of the podcast plays the same. It’s packed with purple prose, deep dives into the psyches of its subjects, and terrific storytelling. Unlike the podcast, though, where each episode stands on its own, in the book Brennan sequences chapters like songs on an album, with running themes and iconographies linking them. It’s like 7 degrees of Elvis Presley that links the King to Sid Vicious and Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes. Even more strangely, connects America’s most beloved rocker to Norway’s most terrifying black metal band, Mayhem. It’s an elegant arrangement that gives each story that sense of belonging to a greater story.
If you like reading about Rock-N-Roll debauchery and mischief, this is your book.
His book version of the podcast plays the same. It’s packed with purple prose, deep dives into the psyches of its subjects, and terrific storytelling. Unlike the podcast, though, where each episode stands on its own, in the book Brennan sequences chapters like songs on an album, with running themes and iconographies linking them. It’s like 7 degrees of Elvis Presley that links the King to Sid Vicious and Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes. Even more strangely, connects America’s most beloved rocker to Norway’s most terrifying black metal band, Mayhem. It’s an elegant arrangement that gives each story that sense of belonging to a greater story.
If you like reading about Rock-N-Roll debauchery and mischief, this is your book.
January 29, 2020
This book was highly entertaining ,the section on Death Metal was mind bending.
February 10, 2020
Any non-fiction that has an alternative-reality skinny, cool Elvis lecturing the fat sequinned Elvis about life is not the book for me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 7, 2019
43886021
Today’s post is on Disgraceland: Musicians Getting Away with Murder and Behaving Very Badly by Jake Brennan. It is 272 pages long and is published by Grand Central Publishing. The cover is grey with faux mugshots of the musicians inside on it. The intended reader is someone who is interested in true crime and music history. There Be Spoilers Ahead.
From the dust jacket- You may know Jerry Lee Lewis married his thirteen-year-old cousin but did you know he shot his bass player in the chest with a shotgun or that a couple of his wives died under extremely mysterious circumstances? Or that Sam Cooke was shot dead in a seedy motel after barging into the manager's office naked to attack her? Maybe not. Would it change your view of him if you knew that, or would your love for his music triumph?
Real rock stars do truly insane thing and invite truly insane things to happen to them; murder, drug trafficking, rape, cannibalism and the occult. We allow this behavior. We are complicit because a rock star behaving badly is what's expected. It's baked into the cake. Deep down, way down, past all of our self-righteous notions of justice and right and wrong, when it comes down to it, we want our rock stars to be bad. We know the music industry is full of demons, ones that drove Elvis Presley, Phil Spector, Sid Vicious and that consumed the Norwegian Black Metal scene. We want to believe in the myths because they're so damn entertaining.
DISGRACELAND is a collection of the best of these stories about some of the music world's most beloved stars and their crimes. It will mix all-new, untold stories with expanded stories from the first two seasons of the Disgraceland podcast. Using figures we already recognize, DISGRACELAND shines a light into the dark corners of their fame revealing the fine line that separates heroes and villains as well as the danger Americans seek out in their news cycles, tabloids, reality shows and soap operas. At the center of this collection of stories is the ever-fascinating music industry--a glittery stage populated by gangsters, drug dealers, pimps, groupies with violence, scandal and pure unadulterated rock 'n' roll entertainment.
Review- A fascinating, engagingly written narrative about some very famous musicians and the crimes they committed. Brennan was a deep love of his subjects, their music, and that shows in his work. We travel from Elvis to Lisa ‘Left Eye’ Lopes to the three young men who made Norwegian Black Metal with lots of different stops between. While the chapters are self-contained, they do add up to something greater than the size of the parts. We get to see how much music is built upon itself, where artists listen to each other, learn from each other, and where will the music is in the end. If you are at all interested in music history or true crime then do yourself a favor and read this book. I highly recommend it.
I give this book a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.
Today’s post is on Disgraceland: Musicians Getting Away with Murder and Behaving Very Badly by Jake Brennan. It is 272 pages long and is published by Grand Central Publishing. The cover is grey with faux mugshots of the musicians inside on it. The intended reader is someone who is interested in true crime and music history. There Be Spoilers Ahead.
From the dust jacket- You may know Jerry Lee Lewis married his thirteen-year-old cousin but did you know he shot his bass player in the chest with a shotgun or that a couple of his wives died under extremely mysterious circumstances? Or that Sam Cooke was shot dead in a seedy motel after barging into the manager's office naked to attack her? Maybe not. Would it change your view of him if you knew that, or would your love for his music triumph?
Real rock stars do truly insane thing and invite truly insane things to happen to them; murder, drug trafficking, rape, cannibalism and the occult. We allow this behavior. We are complicit because a rock star behaving badly is what's expected. It's baked into the cake. Deep down, way down, past all of our self-righteous notions of justice and right and wrong, when it comes down to it, we want our rock stars to be bad. We know the music industry is full of demons, ones that drove Elvis Presley, Phil Spector, Sid Vicious and that consumed the Norwegian Black Metal scene. We want to believe in the myths because they're so damn entertaining.
DISGRACELAND is a collection of the best of these stories about some of the music world's most beloved stars and their crimes. It will mix all-new, untold stories with expanded stories from the first two seasons of the Disgraceland podcast. Using figures we already recognize, DISGRACELAND shines a light into the dark corners of their fame revealing the fine line that separates heroes and villains as well as the danger Americans seek out in their news cycles, tabloids, reality shows and soap operas. At the center of this collection of stories is the ever-fascinating music industry--a glittery stage populated by gangsters, drug dealers, pimps, groupies with violence, scandal and pure unadulterated rock 'n' roll entertainment.
Review- A fascinating, engagingly written narrative about some very famous musicians and the crimes they committed. Brennan was a deep love of his subjects, their music, and that shows in his work. We travel from Elvis to Lisa ‘Left Eye’ Lopes to the three young men who made Norwegian Black Metal with lots of different stops between. While the chapters are self-contained, they do add up to something greater than the size of the parts. We get to see how much music is built upon itself, where artists listen to each other, learn from each other, and where will the music is in the end. If you are at all interested in music history or true crime then do yourself a favor and read this book. I highly recommend it.
I give this book a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.
January 15, 2020
The writing is a little uneven but still entertaining.
January 6, 2020
What a delicious and sordid foray into the crimes and bad behavior of generations of rock legends! Although the whiff of tabloid cover made me feel slightly dirty, as a huge true crime fan and a music aficionado, I couldn't help but blaze through these vignettes, particularly the bookends about Elvis. I'm not a podcast listener, but now I'm intrigued.
January 7, 2020
An entertaining and interesting collection of crazy and infamous stories from some of the worst episodes in music history with some fun fictionalized dialogue added.
January 6, 2020
Different from the podcast, but just as great.
January 2, 2020
So much violence, corruption and scandal in the celebrity world that has tried to be swept under the rug! These stories were all fascinating and written with a great narrative voice. I am going to check out the podcast.
January 3, 2020
Very interesting and informative. Thanks again to the Author for this Goodreads Giveaway!
December 26, 2019
Entertaining narratives, but I'm afraid the writer's self-indulgent manner got in the way for me (sorry, Jake Brennan, but really, you don't need to be 'on' all the time). I just felt like I was being targeted by a hard sales pitch and was constantly distracted by it. Sad cases, yes, but not quite the book for those of us who a) enjoy the act of reading for its own sake, and b) have read these types of books before. I'm guessing this was intended for Brennan's listeners, so hopefully it'll be more to their taste. :)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 117 reviews