Your top five (or ten) favorite music books.

brianlux

Kind of an updated version of an earlier thread because times and tastes change. 

What are your all-time top 5  (or 10) favorite music books and/or biographies?

It's super hard for me to go with just 10 but as of now my top 10 are:

Pete Townshend, Who I Am

My current favorite.  I devoured this one!

Michael Azarrad, Our Band Could Be Your Life

An essential edition among my music books.

Keith Richards, Life

A must read!

John Lydon, Anger is An Energy

Inspiring and motivating!  No bullshit, no lies.

John Lydon, Rotten

Excellent stories of changing times.

Kris Needs, Dream Baby Dream, Suicide, a New York Story

Excellent in every way.  A strong glimpse of early 70's NYC and an incredible musical duo.

John Densmore, Riders of the Storm

Loved it!  Doors Unhinged is really good to and I got John to sign my copy.  Sweet guy, too.

Neil Young, Waging Heavy Peace

Marvelous though a bit scattered (a great song!).  Neil's the real deal.

Bob Meir, Trouble Boys, The True Story of the Replacements

An excellent book about one of my all-time favorite bands that I found rather disturbing.

Keith Morris, My Damage

As real as it gets.  And what a cool guy.  Got to meet him briefly and bet my copy signed.

I wanted to add a Henry Rollins title since I have, and have read, 33 of them, but Henry is about way more than just music.

Thoughts_Arrive

Scar Tissue - Anthony Kiedis
Inside Out - Nick Mason
Come As You Are - Michael Azerad 
Being John Lennon - Ray Connoly (still reading it but loving this)

I own a copy of Life by Keith Richards, received it as a gift years ago as the person who bought it thought I was a Stones fan.
I have not read it but might have to.

brianlux

Thoughts_Arrive said:

Scar Tissue - Anthony Kiedis
Inside Out - Nick Mason
Come As You Are - Michael Azerad 
Being John Lennon - Ray Connoly (still reading it but loving this)

I own a copy of Life by Keith Richards, received it as a gift years ago as the person who bought it thought I was a Stones fan.
I have not read it but might have to.

I've heard Kiedis' book is really good.  I might have to give that one a read!

Life is great.  I was blown away by what a great story teller Keith is!  A friend of mine liked it so much that when he finished reading it, he went back to page one and read it straight through all over again.

Thoughts_Arrive

brianlux said:

Thoughts_Arrive said:

Scar Tissue - Anthony Kiedis
Inside Out - Nick Mason
Come As You Are - Michael Azerad 
Being John Lennon - Ray Connoly (still reading it but loving this)

I own a copy of Life by Keith Richards, received it as a gift years ago as the person who bought it thought I was a Stones fan.
I have not read it but might have to.

I've heard Kiedis' book is really good.  I might have to give that one a read!

Life is great.  I was blown away by what a great story teller Keith is!  A friend of mine liked it so much that when he finished reading it, he went back to page one and read it straight through all over again.

Looking forward to it.
I could re-read Scar Tissue over and over again. What a life Anthony has lived.

ST66483

I really like Please Kill Me - The Uncensored Oral History of Punk by Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain

Gern Blansten

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fargo_Rock_City

Fargo Rock City

brianlux

ST66483 said:

I really like Please Kill Me - The Uncensored Oral History of Punk by Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain

Yes, excellent book! 

Gern Blansten said:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fargo_Rock_City

Fargo Rock City

Klosterman is cool, I should check into this one.  Love the Kiss Cow cover.

Gern Blansten

Definitely check it out....great book

timdwilli

A couple good relatively recent ones:
Closer You Are: The Story of Robert Pollard and Guided By Voices - Matthew Cutter
Meet Me in the Bathroom: Rebirth and Rock and Roll in New York City 2001-2011 - Lizzy Goodman

RYME

(Left) is a Waylon biography.  Got it from the merch tent (and a few t-shirts & a hat of course) at a concert of his in Janesville WI.  Rock County Fair 1996 on his Right For The Time tour. (I was18 yrs old at the time lol)  I stood in line for an hour after the show to get it signed and a handshake.  The other book needs no explanation.  Its a great book.

goldrush

I definitely agree on Life and Scar Tissue; they’re both great books that I’ve read more than once. Waging Heavy Peace takes some work but it is worth it!

‘Neil & Me’ by Scott Young is one of my favourite Neil books, and I also really enjoyed ‘Detours’ by Tim Rogers recently. ‘Slash’ by Slash was a lot better than I expected it to be as well.

On the downside, I was given The Negative Dialectics of Poodle Play (a Frank Zappa biography of sorts) years ago - it’s so pretentious it’s bordering on unreadable!

Loujoe

Just read .'punk avenue' by the guy from the senders. Usually takes me weeks to read a book. Read it in one night. 

brianlux

goldrush said:

I definitely agree on Life and Scar Tissue; they’re both great books that I’ve read more than once. Waging Heavy Peace takes some work but it is worth it!

‘Neil & Me’ by Scott Young is one of my favourite Neil books, and I also really enjoyed ‘Detours’ by Tim Rogers recently. ‘Slash’ by Slash was a lot better than I expected it to be as well.

On the downside, I was given The Negative Dialectics of Poodle Play (a Frank Zappa biography of sorts) years ago - it’s so pretentious it’s bordering on unreadable!

I have a copy of Neil and Me.  I should read that one!

Thirty Bills Unpaid

Heavier Than Heaven

and Scar Tissue

Hammer of the Gods was a good one too.

brianlux

Thirty Bills Unpaid said:

Heavier Than Heaven

and Scar Tissue

Hammer of the Gods was a good one too.

A lot of kudos for Scar Tissue here, looks like I need to read that one!

Thirty Bills Unpaid

brianlux said:

Thirty Bills Unpaid said:

Heavier Than Heaven

and Scar Tissue

Hammer of the Gods was a good one too.

A lot of kudos for Scar Tissue here, looks like I need to read that one!

It’s awesome. I might re-read.

dankind

Adam Horovitz and Michael Diamond (and special guests), Beastie Boys Book

Patti Smith, Just Kids

Kim Gordon, Girl in a Band

John Fine, Your Band Sucks

Greil Marcus, Mystery Train

Lester Bangs, Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung

Peter Guralnick, Lost Highway

Carrie Brownstein, Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl

Neil Young, Waging Heavy Peace

Louis Armstrong, Satchmo

Timothy White, Catch a Fire

Rob Sheffield, Love Is a Mix Tape (Talking to Girls About Duran Duran is pretty good, too)

Chuck Klosterman, Fargo Rock City

Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain, Please Kill Me

Jerry Hopkins, No One Here Gets Out Alive

Woody Guthrie, Bound for Glory

Evelyn McDonnell and Ann Powers (eds.), Rock She Wrote

Jeff Chang, Can’t Stop Won’t Stop

Miles Davis with Quincy Troupe, Miles

David Hajdu, Positively 4th Street

Billie Holliday with William Dufty, Lady Sings the Blues

Andrew Grant Jackson, 1965

Pamela Des Barres, I’m with the Band

Stephen Davis, Hammer of the Gods

Mötley Crüe with Neil Strauss, The Dirt

iOnlyownMymind

Everybody Loves Our Town: An oral history of grunge   by Mark Yarm

Indifference71

Clapton's autobiography is phenomenal.  I couldn't put that one down...finished it in a couple days.

HesCalledDyer

I’ve been trying to find a decently priced copy of Peter Garrett’s (Midnight Oil) book “Big Blue Sky: A Memoir” but the decently priced part eludes me to no end. If anyone has any leads, please let me know.

brianlux

dankind said:

Adam Horovitz and Michael Diamond (and special guests), Beastie Boys Book

Patti Smith, Just Kids

Kim Gordon, Girl in a Band

John Fine, Your Band Sucks

Greil Marcus, Mystery Train

Lester Bangs, Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung

Peter Guralnick, Lost Highway

Carrie Brownstein, Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl

Neil Young, Waging Heavy Peace

Louis Armstrong, Satchmo

Timothy White, Catch a Fire

Rob Sheffield, Love Is a Mix Tape (Talking to Girls About Duran Duran is pretty good, too)

Chuck Klosterman, Fargo Rock City

Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain, Please Kill Me

Jerry Hopkins, No One Here Gets Out Alive

Woody Guthrie, Bound for Glory

Evelyn McDonnell and Ann Powers (eds.), Rock She Wrote

Jeff Chang, Can’t Stop Won’t Stop

Miles Davis with Quincy Troupe, Miles

David Hajdu, Positively 4th Street

Billie Holliday with William Dufty, Lady Sings the Blues

Andrew Grant Jackson, 1965

Pamela Des Barres, I’m with the Band

Stephen Davis, Hammer of the Gods

Mötley Crüe with Neil Strauss, The Dirt

More great books and I few I will check out.  Nicely done, Dan!

dankind

brianlux said:

dankind said:

Adam Horovitz and Michael Diamond (and special guests), Beastie Boys Book

Patti Smith, Just Kids

Kim Gordon, Girl in a Band

John Fine, Your Band Sucks

Greil Marcus, Mystery Train

Lester Bangs, Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung

Peter Guralnick, Lost Highway

Carrie Brownstein, Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl

Neil Young, Waging Heavy Peace

Louis Armstrong, Satchmo

Timothy White, Catch a Fire

Rob Sheffield, Love Is a Mix Tape (Talking to Girls About Duran Duran is pretty good, too)

Chuck Klosterman, Fargo Rock City

Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain, Please Kill Me

Jerry Hopkins, No One Here Gets Out Alive

Woody Guthrie, Bound for Glory

Evelyn McDonnell and Ann Powers (eds.), Rock She Wrote

Jeff Chang, Can’t Stop Won’t Stop

Miles Davis with Quincy Troupe, Miles

David Hajdu, Positively 4th Street

Billie Holliday with William Dufty, Lady Sings the Blues

Andrew Grant Jackson, 1965

Pamela Des Barres, I’m with the Band

Stephen Davis, Hammer of the Gods

Mötley Crüe with Neil Strauss, The Dirt

More great books and I few I will check out.  Nicely done, Dan!

Thanks, Brian. 

That Beastie Boys Book was ridiculously awesome. I read the whole thing with a smile on my face, even while lamenting that my favorite Beastie is no longer with us to provide his perspective.

I have Jeff Tweedy's book in the hole. I was going to read it next, but I have a feeling that it would be unfair to read the guy's book who asks his audience to be quiet at concerts after reading a dazzling book by guys who always asked their concert audiences to make some noise and participate -- including when it came to helping them make one of the best concert films ever, Awesome; I Fuckin' Shot That!  

So I'm going with a book on America's prison system next to wind me down.

eeriepadave

Haven't picked this book up yet but kinda curious to read Laura Jane Grace's book.

Tranny: Confessions of Punk Rock's Most Infamous Anarchist Sellout

hrd2imgn

Steve Goodman: Facing the Music

One of the most amazing and tragic stories in music history.

brianlux

I just finished David Hepworth's Never a Dull Moment, 1971 The Year That Rock Exploded. Hepworth presents the argument that 1971 was the year pop music died (with the break up of the Beatles) and rock exploded. I wasn't convinced of this premise and there were a few sections of the book that dragged a bit for me but there were also many sections of this book that were highly engaging, fascinating, and well written. Also, Hepworth's breadth of knowledge of music and the making of it is impressive. Overall, a fine read and one I'll hang on to and refer back to.

Although this one won't necessarily break into my top ten favorites, I liked it enough to mention and recommend it.

cp3iverson

This book is incredible.  The author spent 40+ years off and on interviewing artists who were on the tour, fans who were there, store owners in those towns, etc. to give a day by day account of the tour from hell.  I read this in two days.  Imagine touring during a polar vortex in a bus with no heat in rock n roll’s early days.  Plus the most in depth account of the final show and crash.  

brianlux

I'm reading a really good one right now!  Eric Burden (of The Animals), Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood.  Great stories.  Forthright, honest, self-effacing, real.  Burden is the man! 

brianlux

 It would be almost impossible, maybe even slightly ludicrous to try to name one favorite music book, but if I were to, a definite contender would be Warren Zanes, Petty; The Biography. Zanes' book is a labor of love. Thankfully, Tom Petty gave Zanes free reign to write the book he (Zanes) wanted and Zanes, despite being a good friend, was honest and forthcoming with his words yet respectful enough to not at all make this work sensationalist or gossip filled. The writing is superb, the story is marvelous and the experience of reading this work is unforgettable. This will surely stand as one of my all-time favorite music book about one of our greatest (and most missed) song writers and musicians.  I was literally in tears when I finished this book because, like the life of the man himself, I didn't want the book to end.

tempo_n_groove

If you haven't read American Hardcore you need to.

Great insight and depth to our great music scene.

Man there are a bunch of good stories in there.

brianlux

tempo_n_groove said:

If you haven't read American Hardcore you need to.

Great insight and depth to our great music scene.

Man there are a bunch of good stories in there.

For sure!  I'm looking at the book as I type this.  Well, OK, I looked at it and then typed.  My typing kind of sucks, haha!

Yeah, they did a fine job with the film as well.  I have the DVD and have watched it three or four times. 

brianlux

Even though I've only gotten a few chapters into it, I have a feeling this one will easily make it into my top 10.  I ran across it the other day and just started it and already am hooked! A Spy in the House of Loud; New York Songs and Stories by Chris Stamey. Stamey has worked with Yo La Tengo, briefly worked with Alex Chilton, formed the dBs with Peter Holsapple and has produced several albums. The writing is excellent and the stories first rate!