books about musicians

[dJEd]

anyone else dig the musicy books. i'm guessing this is a stupid question. however it may give me an idea of what to read next.

Come as You Are: the nirvana story was good even if it is full of KC lying. maybe i'll read Heavier than Heaven or whatever the better one is called.

Shout: The Beatles in their Generation was also a good read but i hear there are better BeatleBooks.

no word of a lie, i intentionally only read Midnight Miders: ABB until Berry died. hahahaha now if the whole book was everything up until 72-73 i'd have read the whole thing twice. i'm sure the rest of the book is good with scandals and Cher and all that stuff, but i'm a total tool.

i'm currently rocking this motherfucker and its the best one yet...

i have a U2 book someone gave me too but i don't i'll be reading that one anytime soon.

[bradm]

If you like Miles Davis,

details the recording of the "Kind Of Blue" album.

Along the same lines,

goes into wonderful depth about the making of John Coltrane's "A Love Supreme" album.

Aloha,

Brad

[dJEd]

first pic doesn't work but both sound double interesting.

[timouse]

...and if the Band is your thing, "this wheel's on fire" by levon helm.

the dennis mcnally book on the dead was good too, but it seemed to have this sort of "press release official history" sort of feel to it.

to badly paraphrase zappa : writing about music is like dancing about architecture....

[Jaimoe]

I've recommended this book in past threads... and I'm doing it again. It's sad, funny, scary, educational and historically and socially insightful:

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

Also read Louis Armstrong's autobiography Satchmo - My Life in New Orleans recently, which was a great slice of history.

[can-o-phish]

Good for a chuckle and a trip following the equator, I highly recommend Jimmy Buffett's "A Pirate Looks At Fifty", his extremely humorous and colourful autobiography.

Feliz Anus!!

[timouse]

what he said.

[MamaPink]

I love listening to Alan Cross' "History of New Music" on CFNY... he's written a few books that I've really enjoyed, mostly on Alternative music.

I was looking for an Almanac he wrote a long time ago but had no luck finding it. So I wrote him an email, asking where I could find a copy. He wrote me back and told me they were no longer being sold on the shelves BUT he would send me a copy he had lying around in his basement. It arrived 2 days later with a nice little message autographed inside. Pretty cool dude, if you ask me.

[timouse]

I love listening to Alan Cross' "History of New Music" on CFNY... he's written a few books that I've really enjoyed, mostly on Alternative music.

I was looking for an Almanac he wrote a long time ago but had no luck finding it. So I wrote him an email, asking where I could find a copy. He wrote me back and told me they were no longer being sold on the shelves BUT he would send me a copy he had lying around in his basement. It arrived 2 days later with a nice little message autographed inside. Pretty cool dude, if you ask me.

chuck from rose garland aka dark_starr worked for him in hammertown for a while, seemd to have good things to say about him. the guy knows his music.

[Ms.Huxtable]

I would be completely afraid of searching inside Zappa's head.

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

I grabbed that photo from Amazon - didn't realise how perfect it was till you mentioned it!

I find it interesting to see the pains he goes to to insist how perfectly normal he is, compared to the myth that's been built up around him, and, if he weren't such a fucking genius, I'd be inclined to agree with him. That said, this book has some of the funniest little cartoons and marginalia in it that I've ever seen, not to speak of what he has to say about things himself.

Edited October 4, 2005 by Guest
Forgot to mention content.

[Velvet]

Yes I Can, Sammy Davis Jr.

Great book.

I also really like Is That It? by Bob Geldof.

[Prost]

Shakey: Neil Young's Biography

By Jimmy McDonough

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

Neil Peart's autobiography is still on my 2005 reading list. My nephews tell me it's well worth getting through.

[ersh]

I'm definately into music books.

I just read "Scar Tissue" by Anthony Keidas. Pretty good. Before that I read "On the Road with Bob Dylan" by Larry Sloman.... about being on the Rolling Thunder Revue Tour in 75. Interesting take.

I'm currently engrossed in "Hammer of The Gods" by Stephen Davis.

Honourable mention to Randy Bachman's autobiography as well "Takin care of Business"; Dave Bidini's "On a Cold Road"; "Jaco Pastorius" by Bill Milkowski; and "Across the Great Divivde" by Barney Hoskins - an outisde look at The Band's legacy, in a different tone than Levon's book.

I have Raffi's autobiography "The Life of a Children's Troubadour" "Bound for Glory" by Woody Guthrie, and Scott Young's "Neil and Me" in waiting.

Anyone read the new(ish) Dylan book yet?

[zero]

Best music book I've ever read hands down, better than Levon's and I love that fugger, is Dream Brother by David Browne.

Although a close second for sheer density, meticulousness of research, insight and scope is Positively 4th Street (The Lives and Times of Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Mimi Baez and Richard Farina) by David Hajdu.

Forget about any preconceived notion you have about Baez because this fills in a big missing piece of the Dylan puzzle, their relationship, her nurturing of his talent, her outright support of his career, the spectre of Grossman, The Village et al.

[d_rawk]

Not about any one musician, but this book is awesome:

That Miles autobiography looks really good ...

[Mr. Photogeek]

A great book about Canadian music and its evolution in the 80's/90's:

According to the authors of Have Not Been the Same--the first comprehensive history of contemporary Canadian rock--1985 was a pivotal year for Canadian music. Generic rockers like Loverboy, Triumph, and Bryan Adams would no longer rule the roost. Instead, "a newer generation looked inside their own country and started to create art for themselves, for the right reasons." The ensuing 10-year window was an amazingly creative and productive time, and artists like the Tragically Hip, Blue Rodeo, Sloan, and the Rheostatics finally made the words "Canadian" and "cool" a plausible combination. The authors examine the history, motivations, and achievements of the era's musicians--both the famous and the undeservedly obscure--with great diligence. Due to the book's considerable girth--nearly 800 pages!--Have Not Been the Same may appeal mainly to fans who were deeply into the underground music scene of the time and still need to know what inspired Eric's Trip to make the album Love Tara or want to learn the weird story of Vancouver proto-grunge band Slow, who made the song for which this book is named. Other readers will be surprised to find out just how much was going on in Canada, and how it was suddenly possible for a band like the Rheostatics to sing songs about hockey hero Wendel Clark and the province of Saskatchewan and be revered for their efforts. --Jason Anderson

[Dr. J]

A great book about Canadian music and its evolution in the 80's/90's:

Good call, Mr.P.

For those wanting to go a little further back into Canada's musical history to the scene that spawned Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, Neil Young, Bruce Cockburn etc. the Nicholas Jennings book, Before the Gold Rush is a great place to start.

[MarcO]

I've read a lot of music related books and nothing comes close to Jimmy McDonough's Neil Young biography, "Shakey".

Pink Floyd freaks should be aware of Nick Mason's book "Inside Out", which I gave a good flip through to last weekend. It's pretty diplomatic but chock full of amazing photos and neat anecdotes. I may pick that up when it comes out in softcover.

The best Beatles book I have read is "Revolution In The Head" by Ian MacDonald. It's astonishing.

And everyone should sit down and read "The Dirt", Motley Crue's own story about their careers. It's absolutely revolting, and so therefore totally compelling. You'll somehow come to absolutely despise and yet love all of them.

[Deeps]

It's a little broader than the previously mentioned, but noteworthy indeed.

Songwriters on Songwriting by Paul Zollo.

It's a series of interviews with people like Neil Young, Jon Fogerty, Paul Simon, and a tonne of others. Each interview delves into the specific creative processes that lead the musicians to a written song.

Pretty cool, I loved it and then gave it to my Dad, who needs to get off his ass and write more tunes.

[FairySari]

I bought this

months ago, and started reading it a little, but it never really grabbed me, and i started reading a tom robbins book instead. Maybe when I'm done I'll get back to it...

[dark_starr]

I love listening to Alan Cross' "History of New Music" on CFNY... he's written a few books that I've really enjoyed' date=' mostly on Alternative music.

I was looking for an Almanac he wrote a long time ago but had no luck finding it. So I wrote him an email, asking where I could find a copy. He wrote me back and told me they were no longer being sold on the shelves BUT he would send me a copy he had lying around in his basement. It arrived 2 days later with a nice little message autographed inside. Pretty cool dude, if you ask me.[/quote']

chuck from rose garland aka dark_starr worked for him in hammertown for a while, seemd to have good things to say about him. the guy knows his music.

It was in fact Alan who hired me to come to Y108 in Hamilton. He is indeed a great guy (and not just because he gave me a job!)

SHAMELESS PLUG--> Y108 (107.9 on your fm dial) carries The Ongoing History of New Music with Alan Cross, Sunday nights at 10pm.

[doug]

"Miles to Go" was pretty good. Written by Miles Davis' road manager.

I also really enjoyed "Drumming at The Edge of Magic" by Mickey Hart