Music books recommendations? (1 Viewer)

Any recommendations for books on music, musician bios, the industry, DIY scenes etc? I'm currently reading Awopbopaloobop Alopbamboom by Nik Cohn and enjoying it. It's from the late '60s a potted history of rock/pop from the '50s up to 1968. I loved the Creation records story, My Magpie Eyes Are Hungry For The Prize.

Bill Drummonds 45

I'm almost sure there was thread about this before

There definitely was I'm just lazy.

Me too-or I'd have linked it

say..seen this?

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just saying


g'night

i've read far too many music books. Some favs

The Last Party by John Harris (The rise and fall of britpop)
Morrissey and Marr: The severed alliance by Johnny Rogan
Rip it up and start again by Simon Reynolds (about post punk)
Hotel California by Barney Hoskyns (70's american country rock, CSY, eagles, and all that)
Unknown legends of rock n roll & Urban spacemen and wayfaring strangers both by Richie Unterberger (Really good music writer)
The Dirt by Neil Strauss (Motley Crue, the ultimate in rock n' roll debauchery)
The Dark Stuff by Nick Kent (Collection of magazine articles)
The Tapestry of delights by Vernon Joynson (a big phone book on british pop and rock from 1963-1976. More of a reference book)
Get in the van by Henry Rollins (the black flag years)

Right I'm going to watch that peter green documentary.......

i recommend this





and this in that order

johnnystress said:

Bill Drummonds 45

I'm almost sure there was thread about this before

Click to expand...

yeah, 45 is the best ever. hammer of the gods about led zep is also awesome

I read My Magpie Eyes.... a few months ago. I loved it. What a great story, what a compelling gobshite McGhee is. I felt like that dorky little kid in Neverending Story -- eating his sandwiches and screaming at page 72. It was gripping.

If you like that book then checkout Julian Copes autobiography - Head On/Repossessed. Same time frame but a different angle on the business. He's a great storyteller too.

Barney Hoskyns' new book on Tom Waits is terrific too.

Here's a few books I've enjoyed, some are a little hard to come by but I found them in places like the secret bookshop and Vibes and Scribes in Cork.

This one is a collection of essays about all aspects of the music industry, Simon Frith is one of the authors and he also wrote 'The Sociology of Rock' which is wonderfully outdated in many ways but I'd love to get my hands on it - or break into the UCC library and steal it as it's now out of print!


(It's on google books here)

A history of women in music - mainly mainstream figures though:



One of my favourite books ever - really captures the spirit of the time it was written and very inspiring:



I read some of this for my thesis and found it again recently - it's about the links between myth and rockn'roll. A bit tenuous in places.


I think this is an Irish book, it's a collection of people's memories/experiences of music.



If you haven't read this already, do because it's amazing, and so sad. Was bawling at the end of it.


A light and funny look at Stuart Maconie's life - has some really interesting bits on Northern Soul.


Another women in rock book, (Simon Reynolds wrote 'Rip it Up and Start Again') with some pretty strong arguments. Very interesting.



This is similar to Amy Raphael's book up there but in my opinion not quite as immediate.



I found this quite hard to get into so I sort of dip in and out of it occasionally. Has some interesting anecdotes about the growth of British pop.


Looking forward to starting this soon:

Some faves: no energy to check authors in some cases- sorry!
The Recording Angel
The music of the spheres
Karlheinz Stockhausen: Towards a cosmic music
Clinton Heylin: From the Velvets to the Voidoids
The roaring silence (John Cage)
Derek Bailey: Improvisation
Pierre Boulez: Orientations
Bill Drummond: 17
Charles Mingus: Beneath the underdog (incredible!)
Miles Davis: Autobiography
Brian Wilson: My own story

sweetoblivion said:

(It's on google books here)

A history of women in music - mainly mainstream figures though:

Another women in rock book, (Simon Reynolds wrote 'Rip it Up and Start Again') with some pretty strong arguments. Very interesting.

Click to expand...

ooooh. those look good.

sweetoblivion said:

One of my favourite books ever - really captures the spirit of the time it was written and very inspiring:

Click to expand...

I remember reading this years ago. Bought it for the Kristin Hersh and Tanya Donnelly pieces (I was mildly obsessed with them at the time, and loved the way they loved each other). But the most surprising thing was the Courtney Love interview - how articulate, well informed and interesting she was in print...

is it necessary to post pictures of all these book covers? harrumph.

Straight Life by Art Pepper is my favorite
Space is the place (sun ra bio) by john szwed
Saucerful of Secrets (pink floyd bio) by nicholas Schaffner
The Book (van der graaf generator bio) by ???
Marianne Faithfulls one is good

i'd like to read lemmy's one

I honestly couldn't put this one down.




This one was also entertaining.

sweetoblivion said:

A light and funny look at Stuart Maconie's life - has some really interesting bits on Northern Soul.

Click to expand...

Stuart Maconie does a great radioshow on bbc radio6 called "the freak zone" every sunday.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/6music/shows/freakzone/

Its streamable for 7 days till the next show is aired and he provides tracklisting for all show. Why isnt all radio like that?

prefuse said:

i've read far too many music books. Some favs

Rip it up and start again by Simon Reynolds (about post punk)
Hotel California by Barney Hoskyns (70's american country rock, CSY, eagles, and all that)
Unknown legends of rock n roll & Urban spacemen and wayfaring strangers both by Richie Unterberger (Really good music writer)
The Dark Stuff by Nick Kent (Collection of magazine articles)

Click to expand...

and...

Chuck Klosterman - Killing Yourself to Live.
IV: A Decade of Curious People and Dangerous Ideas

The Recording Angel - Evan Eisenberg

Irish Folk, Trad, Blues - A Secret history by Colin Harper & Trevor Hodget

Dazzling Stranger: Bert Jansch and the British Folk and Blues Revival - Colin Harper

Our Band Could Be Your Life - Michael Azzerad

Shakey - Jimmy McDonough

Live Through This - Everett True

Route 666: On the Road to Nirvana - Gina Arnold

The Secret History of Rock 'N' Roll - Roni Sarig

Tearing Down the Wall of Sound: The Rise and Fall of Phil Spector - Mick Brown

any Barney Hosykns

any Simon Reynolds...

Jim Daniels said:

I remember reading this years ago. Bought it for the Kristin Hersh and Tanya Donnelly pieces (I was mildly obsessed with them at the time, and loved the way they loved each other). But the most surprising thing was the Courtney Love interview - how articulate, well informed and interesting she was in print...

Click to expand...

brilliant, I've never met anyone else who read this book! This might sound a bit emo, but I bought it when I was about 15/16 and can honestly say it did change my life in a small way.
I totally agree about Courtney Love - her interview is so interesting, it brings across her intelligence and curiosity about the world, her interest in mysticism and myth (and books like 'Women Who Run With the Wolves'). It's really sad how much she's deteriorated in terms of her eloquence, and how much of a caricature she's become. She was always mad as a bag of cats, but now she's lost it altogether.
The book 'Courtney Love: The Real Story' by Poppy Z Brite is a really interesting look at Courtney's life.