What are your favorite music-related books? Could be history, biography, theory, instrumental study/technique, etc., not necessarily limited to a specific genre.
To this day, the best rock biography I've read is Al Kooper's Backstage Passes and Backstabbing Bastards.
Keep in mind, I'm no real fan of Al Kooper nor particularly apeshit over anything he's worked on/produced, but they guy has great stories to tell about working with Dylan, Stephen Stills, Blood, Sweat, and Tears, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Tubes, etc. He lived very much the wild rock n' roll lifestyle and recounts it all with great humor and candor.
Martin Popoff's The Collector's Guide To Heavy Metal – Volume 1: The Seventies and Southern Rock Review.
(http://img600.imageshack.us/img600/4233/ledzeppelinhammeroftheg.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/600/ledzeppelinhammeroftheg.jpg/)
Even tho it's exaggerated and inaccurate, it really is entertaining. Trashing hotel rooms, devil worship, heroin use, the Shark incident, and number one albums.
Quote from: Isabellacat on December 22, 2011, 08:13:40 PM
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Even tho it's exaggerated and inaccurate, it really is entertaining. Trashing hotel rooms, devil worship, heroin use, the Shark incident, and number one albums.
sounds up my alley
Good call Izzie. I read that back in college & it was a fun read.
That book is awesome. Don't want to spoil it but they were total crazy asses,John Bonham especially.
Just finished this, excellent:
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http://www.amazon.com/Life-Times-Little-Richard-Authorised/dp/0711997616/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1325342861&sr=1-1 (http://www.amazon.com/Life-Times-Little-Richard-Authorised/dp/0711997616/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1325342861&sr=1-1)
Has anyone read any of the books about the Eagles?
really loved popoff's "ye old metal books". he wrote 5 of them covering 67' to 78', then just stopped.was hoping he'd go to at least the mid 80's. but from what i gathered from his website, i think he gave up.
"Has anyone read any of the books about the Eagles?"
Which one? If you are referring to the Don Felder one, then yes.
How is that one, black?
Quote from: black on January 18, 2012, 01:51:00 PM
"Has anyone read any of the books about the Eagles?"
Which one? If you are referring to the Don Felder one, then yes.
yes...the Don Felder book does come to mind...how was it?
Like many of these band bios written by just one member, you have to figure in butthurt as well as one-sidedness. This book if rife with both. I enjoyed the "insider" peeks, and Don Felder's childhood is interesting. The guy developed his chops and rep early on. Had some rough times with marriage, kids and cash, but hit the jackpot with the Eagles.
The bulk of the book however seems to be a lot of him whining about how unfair he was treated by "The Gods" (frey and Henly). Felder has a point, but rather than getting a decent manager or even standing up to these cats with his beefs, he chooses to be kind of a pussy/stoner about it and cash his checks (which were/are quite hefty). It's interesting to read about the inner workings and politics of a giant band like this, and "Fingers" Felder gives up a lot of the goods, albeit with a crybaby slant (imo). I say that unless you're a big Eagles fan, check this out from the library, get it on a Kindle (where the price is much lower than a hard copy), buy it used or borrow from a friend.
I have a confession to make; I read way too many of these musician bios. Some are really fun, but most are barely above National Enquirer/People magazine drek. None the less, I will not be daunted! And being a Kindle and Kindle Fire owner, it's so easy to get these tomes.
Rock bios are, easily, my favorite things to read. Yeah, they aren't "true" literature, but I don't care. I enjoy them. They are the only thing that keeps my attention outside of great true crime or outdoors adventure/peril.
I'm a casual Eagles fan, but I've always admired Felder's songwriting talents the most of almost anyone in the band. He came up with a lot of the great riffs that are hallmarks of the Eagles set. His solo album, Airborne, and the stuff he contributed to the Heavy Metal soundtrack are pretty good, too.
"Rock bios are, easily, my favorite things to read. Yeah, they aren't "true" literature, but I don't care. I enjoy them..."
Couldn't have said it better (longer, perhaps, better? no!), GodShifter. You made my admission less shameful!
Thanks guys...I'm gonna give it a read. Should be fairly cheap on my iPad. I'm an Eagles/James Gang fan.
Quote from: GodShifter on January 19, 2012, 02:35:10 PM
Rock bios are, easily, my favorite things to read. Yeah, they aren't "true" literature, but I don't care. I enjoy them. They are the only thing that keeps my attention outside of great true crime or outdoors adventure/peril.
I'm a casual Eagles fan, but I've always admired Felder's songwriting talents the most of almost anyone in the band. He came up with a lot of the great riffs that are hallmarks of the Eagles set. His solo album, Airborne, and the stuff he contributed to the Heavy Metal soundtrack are pretty good, too.
I want to like a lot more of them than I do. I find so many of them lacking in some way. The truly great ones are awesome though.
Quote from: black on January 19, 2012, 02:15:33 PM
Like many of these band bios written by just one member, you have to figure in butthurt as well as one-sidedness. This book if rife with both. I enjoyed the "insider" peeks, and Don Felder's childhood is interesting. The guy developed his chops and rep early on. Had some rough times with marriage, kids and cash, but hit the jackpot with the Eagles.
The bulk of the book however seems to be a lot of him whining about how unfair he was treated by "The Gods" (frey and Henly). Felder has a point, but rather than getting a decent manager or even standing up to these cats with his beefs, he chooses to be kind of a pussy/stoner about it and cash his checks (which were/are quite hefty). It's interesting to read about the inner workings and politics of a giant band like this, and "Fingers" Felder gives up a lot of the goods, albeit with a crybaby slant (imo). I say that unless you're a big Eagles fan, check this out from the library, get it on a Kindle (where the price is much lower than a hard copy), buy it used or borrow from a friend.
I have a confession to make; I read way too many of these musician bios. Some are really fun, but most are barely above National Enquirer/People magazine drek. None the less, I will not be daunted! And being a Kindle and Kindle Fire owner, it's so easy to get these tomes.
I'm reading the Felder thing at the moment, but haven't gotten to the part where he has joined the Eagles yet. So far, I'm really enjoying it. It's well written and the narrative is pretty compelling, IMO.
Cash by Johnny Cash
Life: Keith Richards
The Dirt:Motley Crue
A Biography of Led Zeppelin-When Giants Walked the Earth
Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk Rock
I've only read a few music related books but one I really liked was AC/DC: Maximum Rock & Roll.
Quote from: diasdegalvan on March 08, 2012, 11:50:37 AM
I've only read a few music related books but one I really liked was AC/DC: Maximum Rock & Roll.
If you haven't read it yet, get the Mark Evans autobiography. It's a must-read for any AC/DC fan, especially cool for the Bon Scott stories and the insights into AC/DC's creative/songwriting/recording process.
Quote from: L. Ron on March 09, 2012, 11:18:05 AM
If you haven't read it yet, get the Mark Evans autobiography. It's a must-read for any AC/DC fan, especially cool for the Bon Scott stories and the insights into AC/DC's creative/songwriting/recording process.
Thanks I loved reading about the Bon (not much of a Brian Johnson era fan) years so I definitely have to get that book.
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Quote from: black on January 19, 2012, 02:15:33 PM
Like many of these band bios written by just one member, you have to figure in butthurt as well as one-sidedness. This book if rife with both. I enjoyed the "insider" peeks, and Don Felder's childhood is interesting. The guy developed his chops and rep early on. Had some rough times with marriage, kids and cash, but hit the jackpot with the Eagles.
The bulk of the book however seems to be a lot of him whining about how unfair he was treated by "The Gods" (frey and Henly). Felder has a point, but rather than getting a decent manager or even standing up to these cats with his beefs, he chooses to be kind of a pussy/stoner about it and cash his checks (which were/are quite hefty). It's interesting to read about the inner workings and politics of a giant band like this, and "Fingers" Felder gives up a lot of the goods, albeit with a crybaby slant (imo). I say that unless you're a big Eagles fan, check this out from the library, get it on a Kindle (where the price is much lower than a hard copy), buy it used or borrow from a friend.
I very much agree with your assessment here, black. I just finished the book tonight and while I enjoyed a lot of it, Felder becomes pretty hard to take by the end of it. By the last 20 or so pages, I was literally rolling my eyes at some of his whining about his perceived ill treatment by Henley and Frey ("The Gods"). <-- He uses that phrase so much in the book that after a time it's like, "enough!".
I love rock biographies and this one was interesting, as you said, about the inner workings of a huge corporation that is the Eagles. They're not a band, but more of a business entity for sure. No way I can take their music seriously anymore (at least not anything past
The Long Run). But, back to the book, it's pretty obvious that Felder has a major ax to grind against Henley and Frey and he makes that abundantly clear in the book. Never the less, the dude is rich & set for life, so it's hard to feel too sorry for him. Besides, he could always quit at any juncture when he was unhappy in the band, but preferred the paychecks to his integrity, so boo hoo.
Gregg Allman's autobiography My Cross To Bear comes out May 1st for any ABB fans here.
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Got two music books that I haven't read but intend to Hank Williams: The Biography and Skydog: The Duane Allman Story.
Just reading the Mark Evans book (at the same time as Ubik by Philip K Dick) love it so far, the story behind Bon turning up at the Countdown TV show in drag - having seen that video always thought it was something they did regualrly back then, but no, he just did it without telling any of the others - fucking excellent, have some of that.
Interested by the Young Brothers apparent coldness/glumness, apart from sporadic shared joy. Fascinating reading this level of detail of a band who have been in my life for 30 years, and I am only about 50 pages in.
Fixing to read Popoff's book on UFO. Already a little disappointed that he only spends 3 pages on the pre-Schenker days, but he's not into space rock.
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Hands down favorite. The UK obscenity trial transcriptions were especially uproarious (keeping in mind that there were men in powdered wigs reading Zappa lyrics aloud in extreeeeemely slow motion so that the judges could record them in longhand).
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I personally dug the hell out of Slash's autobiography, pretty good shit. The story about him ordering heroine while in rehab is a funny one.
"Rock and the Pop Narcotic" by Joe Carducci. Finally a book about music that really is about music instead of using music culture to investigate or describe sociology or contemporary culture, although it kinda ends up doing a little of that anyway. You come away from this book with an idea of what the bands he talks about actually sound like instead of knowing what they think about politics and society, or who they are going to vote for. Definately doesn't take any prisoners.
Quote from: GodShifter on March 10, 2012, 08:34:26 PM
Quote from: black on January 19, 2012, 02:15:33 PM
Like many of these band bios written by just one member, you have to figure in butthurt as well as one-sidedness. This book if rife with both. I enjoyed the "insider" peeks, and Don Felder's childhood is interesting. The guy developed his chops and rep early on. Had some rough times with marriage, kids and cash, but hit the jackpot with the Eagles.
The bulk of the book however seems to be a lot of him whining about how unfair he was treated by "The Gods" (frey and Henly). Felder has a point, but rather than getting a decent manager or even standing up to these cats with his beefs, he chooses to be kind of a pussy/stoner about it and cash his checks (which were/are quite hefty). It's interesting to read about the inner workings and politics of a giant band like this, and "Fingers" Felder gives up a lot of the goods, albeit with a crybaby slant (imo). I say that unless you're a big Eagles fan, check this out from the library, get it on a Kindle (where the price is much lower than a hard copy), buy it used or borrow from a friend.
I very much agree with your assessment here, black. I just finished the book tonight and while I enjoyed a lot of it, Felder becomes pretty hard to take by the end of it. By the last 20 or so pages, I was literally rolling my eyes at some of his whining about his perceived ill treatment by Henley and Frey ("The Gods"). <-- He uses that phrase so much in the book that after a time it's like, "enough!".
I love rock biographies and this one was interesting, as you said, about the inner workings of a huge corporation that is the Eagles. They're not a band, but more of a business entity for sure. No way I can take their music seriously anymore (at least not anything past The Long Run). But, back to the book, it's pretty obvious that Felder has a major ax to grind against Henley and Frey and he makes that abundantly clear in the book. Never the less, the dude is rich & set for life, so it's hard to feel too sorry for him. Besides, he could always quit at any juncture when he was unhappy in the band, but preferred the paychecks to his integrity, so boo hoo.
I was hoping for more details & info about the "gods". Felder did come off like a whiner, however I guess he has reason to. A 3 out of 5.
I am now ready Iommi's Iron Man. I can only hope it is better with information, songs etc..
Rhythm Oil by Stanley Booth is an excellent book. If you have any interest in blues, R&B, jazz and the beginnings of rock & roll it's required reading. Same for just about all of Peter Guralnick's books but especially Feel Like Going Home, Lost Highway and Sweet Soul Music. His 2 part biography of Elvis Presley is also outstanding. They're both worth reading even if you're not an Elvis fan for the historical information.
One of the best music bios I've ever read is Raising Cain about Johnny Winter. It's very well researched and Johnny gave the author many exclusive interviews. Very well written, which is unusual in this field.
One to avoid is Ron Wood's autobiography. Borrowed it from the library but stopped reading when I saw that he referred to Zigaboo Modeliste as the drummer in Booker T. & The MG's. I figured it wasn't going to get any accurate information after I saw that.
Just ordered The Saga of Hawkwind. Really hoping it is good.
Finished reading Iommi's book. Expected more. I am now reading Ace Frehleys. I can only hope he talks about all the booze and drugs he did.
Quote from: CanookieWookie on August 13, 2012, 04:16:15 PM
Finished reading Iommi's book. Expected more. I am now reading Ace Frehleys. I can only hope he talks about all the booze and drugs he did.
Was it better than Ozzy's piece of shit?
I have not read Ozzy's book, but Iommi's did not provide as much detail as I would have liked. He played it pretty safe.
Quote from: The Shocker on August 13, 2012, 02:07:45 PM
Just ordered The Saga of Hawkwind. Really hoping it is good.
It is. You'll enjoy. Shit loads of info but written in an entertaining style.
The denseness is a little intimidating, but it reads easy.
Quote from: The Shocker on September 03, 2012, 08:04:15 PM
The denseness is a little intimidating, but it reads easy.
I'm going to have to dig my copy out again. Did you know Stacia is now an artist and lives in Ireland?
Damn I'm really a sucker for bandbios... Well at least until they get famous and fuck up. And get religious in the end.
But still I love reading about the struggles, the commitment and the "counquer the world" approach. They always gives me more strenght to carry on regardless of everyday struggles. Hallelujah!!! :D
The last ones that was out of the ordinary:
Dave Mustaine: A life in metal - Very interesting acctually!
AND
Turbonegro: Droger, deathpunk & denim. - That one really changed my view of the band (Which I had really high opinons of before though). Really, really good!
But I'm not sure if it's translated into english though.
Not a music bio, but if you are a musician I cannot recommend enough to grab a copy of 'The Music Lesson' by Victor Wooten.
It's as much about life philosophy as it is about music and instruction.
Just, wow. Really changes the way you think about things.
Sent from a can on some string using Tapatalk
the neil young bio 'shakey' is a good read.
Although I'm no fan of the Crue, the dirt is pretty great (just skip the last chapter from Tommy Lee)
Our Band Can Be Your Life...by Michael Azerrad. The Butthole Surfers chapter is awesome (Gibby rubs dick on Jimmy Carter's daughters' suitcase handle.)
Fargo Rock City
Chuck Klosterman can suck the Bandit's dick.
Our Band is excellent.
Maximum R&B - Richard Barnes. To this day, it's still the best book on The Who, imo. George Tremlett also wrote a good book on The Who in '74 that unfortunately never received a revised and updated edition.
On the Road with the Ramones - It's credited to Monte Melnick but mostly it's a collection of interview quotes from the Ramones and their associates. It's a great read though.
Strange Days - Patricia Kennealy Morrison. This woman really pisses off most Doors fans but she seems pretty cool to me. As she was a music journalist and later a record company ad copy writer in the late 60's and into the 70's she has lots of insider stories on bands other than the Doors. There's also some good drug taking memoirs in it. It goes back and forth between being very funny and very depressing and it holds up well to re-readings.
Love The Dirt, and the Nikki Sixx book.
Quote from: CanookieWookie on August 14, 2012, 03:11:23 PM
I have not read Ozzy's book, but Iommi's did not provide as much detail as I would have liked. He played it pretty safe.
Ozzy's book was much better. I respect Iommi but his biography was not a worthy read.
Right now now I am listening to Keith Richard's book on tape (Life). I got it at the library. So far, I'm at the point where he gets busted in Toronto. I'm enjoying it.