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books about music
This was the listopia list that I started on non-fiction about music:http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/54...
Do you want non-fiction as well?
All of mine are non-fiction too, so sure...thanks, Pi...
Oh, Pi, I thought Rip It Up And Start Again was excellent as well...
Noticed King Ink is on your shelf, RA. I love the essay "A Thistle in the Soul."I will never forgive this book for making Nick Cave sound like just another boring junky.
King Ink is fucking awesome. I actually bought my copy in Germany, like, twenty years ago. Fuck that guy, Tad. That may have been true a while back, but not anymore.
"I Need More" - Iggy Pop"Babylon's Burning" - Clinton Heylin
"12 Days on the Road: The Sex Pistols and America" - Noel Monk
"Hey Ho, Let's Go: The Story of the Ramones" - Everett True
"Last Gang in Town: The Story and Myth of the Clash" - Marcus Gray
"Open Up and Bleed" - Paul Trynka
"Before I Get Old" - Dave Marsh
"The New York Dolls: Too Much Too Soon" - Nina Antonia
"In Cold Blood: Johnny Thunders" - Nina Antonia
"Get In the Van" - Henry Rollins
"We've Got the Neutron Bomb: The Untold Story of L.A. Punk" - Marc Spitz
One of the most memorable passages in "I Need More" is a wonderfully twisted bit where Iggy reveals his longheld secret desire to have a tail.Based on the evidence included in the recently-released Legacy edition of "Raw Power," you'd swear the boy up and grew one.
Speaking of Iggy Pop, the music book I've most recently read is "Inside the Music," a collection of interviews and stories about spirituality and music by Dmitri Ehrlich, and Iggy's got a chapter. Dull title and a bit aged (it was published in '97), but very absorbing. It's interesting to know what kind of reaching for the unknown inspires the art.
King Dinösaur wrote: ""I Need More", "Get In The Van" and "We've Got the Neutron Bomb" are all amazing. "Get In The Van" has gotten me through some really rough times in my life. The short afterward by Rollins has upl..."My pleasure! Never was much for Black Flag aside from a song or two, but love Henry Rollins' writing, in particular his tour diaries and "Planet Joe."
RandomAnthony wrote: "But three in particular I want to mention..."I just reserved
I never really got into this genre, but you all are making me excited about it!
Rollins's Broken Summers (I think that's what it's called, the one about the tour in support of the Memphis 3) is pretty good, too.Zen, I hope you like that one!
I like Rollins! I forgot about him! (....thinking maybe I should download some MP3s....) Hey, any suggestions for good Rollins MP3s?
Zen wrote: "RandomAnthony wrote: "But three in particular I want to mention..."I just reserved
I never really got into this genre, but ..."
Your life is incomplete without it.
Clark wrote: "Your life is incomplete without it. "Yes yes trying to rectify ...far be it from me to go and lose my Zen
Another one I forgot to mention from my long-gone youth:"Diary of a Rock and Roll Star" - Ian Hunter's 1974 tour diary which saw Mott the Hoople touch down as the first band ever on Broadway.
With Queen opening.
Here's my Goodreads Music bookshelf - MusicA few of my favorites:
- All Hopped Up and Ready to Go: Music from the Streets of New York 1927-77 by Tony Fletcher
- Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dong by Lester Bangs
- Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981-1991 by Michael Azerrad (the chapter on the Minutemen is worth the price of the book)
- Love is a Mix Tape by Rob Sheffield.
Especially now that "Carburetor Dong" has caught my attention.
Lester Bangs was probably the only rock music (or music critic, period) who understood that criticism wasn't just about liking or disliking a particular album; criticism was a way of life, and, most importantly, it was that connection to music that most inspired him.Well, that, and drugs. And getting into knock-down, drag-out verbal bitchfests with Lou Reed.
Good catch, KD. (I feel like such a tool...)
Doni didn't want to look like she was spamming, which I respect and appreciate, but she says her husband wrote a good book on music in the 70s...http://www.amazon.com/Master-Planets-...
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I'm really excited about this new Greil Marcus book on Van Morrison, When That Rough God Goes Riding: Listening to Van Morrison. I'd say probably the most exciting music writing I've ever read has been about Van, especially the mountain of reflection that's been done on Astral Weeks. That's my Favorite Album of All Time, so I know I'm prejudiced, but it does seem to stir people at the deepest level.Here's an excerpt of Marcus reading from it. It's long, but it's dense, and you don't need much to get the flavor of it:
http://fora.tv/2010/04/13/Greil_Marcu...
A friend suggested that I read This is Your Brain on Music. So far its fascinating.This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession
Welcome to TC, Alice!I've looked at that book in the store a few times...maybe I'll see if my library has it...
I second RA's welcome Alice. Books and music, you may be in the right group.
Thanks! I am really not that musical but very interested in how the brain works and how music affects it. I am very sensitive to certain music and from what I am reading most everyone is to a large extent. I am doing a few goodreads questions on this book if you want to type in the title they should come up for you.
That book sounds fascinating, Alice! And, welcome!
Jackie "the Librarian" wrote: "That book sounds fascinating, Alice!
And, welcome!"
Thanks Jackie.
And, welcome!"
Thanks Jackie.
The Oliver Sacks book Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain is also a really interesting book about music and brains. The connection is amazing.
I don't know if anyone suggested these yet but definitely Let's Talk About Love: A Journey to the End of Taste out of the 33 1/2 series if you're looking for anything regarding the philosophy behind taste. If your interests are geared towards history and developments of genres try Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation and Generation Ecstasy : Into the World of Techno and Rave Culture. Hope any of this is helpful!
I want to read the new Kristin Hersh memoir...http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/81...
Library doesn't have it yet, though.
Dear allJust spotted this thread & couldn't resist joining in and throwing in my own favourites - I have a lot of music books listed, so here's a few :
The Heart of Rock & Soul by Dave Marsh - DM's 1001 favourite singles
Revolution in the Head - best book on the Beatles
REM's Murmer - 33 1/3 series - this series is all over the map but this is a great one
Velvet Underground & Niso - 33 1/3 series - another great one
Elvis/Goldman !!
How the Beatles Destroyed Rock & Roll - Elijah Wald - a second absorbing book from this guy and hats off to the ridiculous catchpenny title
Romancing the Folk - Benjamin Filene
- Definitive account of the American folk revivals
I have a lot more but I'll stop there!
I had no idea Kristen Hersh wrote a memoir. No doubt she'll talk about her struggle with mental illness. I wonder if she'll dish about the so-called feud she had with Tanya Donnelly.
Thanks Paul! Good to see you.I saw Throwing Muses once about a million years ago. Great show.
I loved Kristen Hersh in high school. Did you see the page for her book? One of the readers said "i'm so fucking excited. i gave the quote that opens this book so i'm allowed to name drop that she's my awesome mother in law, right?"To which I say: she's old enough to be a mother-in-law???
KD...NPR's list of best writing about metal this year, with links...http://www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/20...
I've read dozens of books about The Beatles, and one about Jeff Buckley (Dream Brother), plus a few about various classical composers (Bach, Beethoven, etc) but I really don't read that much about music.Oh, wait. I did read one called Rock Stars Do the Dumbest Things, I think that's what it's called. It was so off-putting. My brain kept screaming, "I DIDN'T NEED TO KNOW THAT!" Thank God there weren't any pictures.
I read a book about Janis Joplin years ago, but I don't remember the title or the author. My Appetite for Destruction: Sex, and Drugs, and Guns N' Roses didn't whet my appetite enough to keep reading.
I'm debating on getting the audiobook Life: Keith Richards. It's narrated in part by Johnny Depp.
I kind of want to read that Keith Richards book. People keep raving about it. I'm less interested in the Patti Smith one.I'm reading a good book now on the history of West Coast punk...
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/89...
RA, I listened to the audio version read mostly by Johnny Depp. Keith did narrate a bit of it as well as Joe Hurley. It is a great book!
RandomAnthony wrote: "I kind of want to read that Keith Richards book. People keep raving about it. I'm less interested in the Patti Smith one.I'm reading a good book now on the history of West Coast punk...
ht..."
That's a good one, RA.
Keith Richards' memoir may very well be the best memoir ever written by a rock star.
Dylan's was fun, but I always get the feeling he may be making it up. I'm looking forward to reading Keef's.
I think the only R&R autobiography I've ever read has been Me, Alice and that was a long time ago, back when it was first published. Probably the best book on music I've ever read, and worthy of a second read, was Garcia: A Signpost to New Space
Michael wrote: "I think the only R&R autobiography I've ever read has been Me, Alice and that was a long time ago, back when it was first published. Probably the best book on music I've ever read, and worthy of a ..."I just read somewhere that first editions of "Me, Alice" are now going for upwards of $1,000. Somebody needs to step up and re-release it. That and Bob Greene's "Billion Dollar Baby."
Some cool covers of bands featured in Our Band Could Be Your Life...including...St. Vincent covering Big Black?http://www.npr.org/2011/05/25/1365038...
Ooh! Bob Mould finally wrote the book he's been threatening to write for 20 years. And my library system has it on order! Must get.http://www.npr.org/2011/06/16/1370348...
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Are you In Louisville, Sallers? MMJ plays here this weekend. I thought of you and Louisville.
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Terminalcoffee
Books mentioned in this topic
Chronicles: Volume One (other topics)Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk (other topics)
Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation (other topics)
This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession (other topics)
Generation Ecstasy: Into the World of Techno and Rave Culture (other topics)
More...
I have a separate shelf for books about music...
http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/...
But three in particular I want to mention...
This one, Our Band Could Be Your Life chronicles the gritty origins of some of the greatest American bands from the days before "alternative rock" (hate that phrase) broke big...
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29...
This one, Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk is a remarkably lucid account, told mostly through quotes and interviews, of, well, the history of punk.
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14...
This one, Klosterman's first, is about growing up in the middle of nowhere with a solid love of heavy metal...
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24...
I could go on, but I'll stop there. You?