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Good reads, anyone?

Yellow LedbellyYellow Ledbelly Posts: 3,749
edited December 2007 in Other Music
Being a devoted Clapton fanatic I got EC's autobiography for Christmas and am thoroughly enjoying it 120 pages in.
Anyway, I read only in spurts -- by 10 books and read maybe four of them -- but once I get started it lasts a few months usually, through the cold.

So, while the iron is hot what are some of your suggestions on good rock bios? I've considered grabbing a copy of Slash's book, but figure I would only be let down for some reason. Any thought's on that one?
All I have to do is revel in the everyday....then do it again tomorrow

They say every sin is deadly but I believe they may be wrong...I'm guilty of all seven and I don't feel too bad at all
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • tybirdtybird Posts: 17,388
    It's my thought (and my wife's) that it would be interesting to read Clapton's bio and then read Patty Boyd Harrison Clapton's bio next. In fact, my wife supposes that Patty's book might be more interesting.
    All the world will be your enemy, Prince with a thousand enemies, and whenever they catch you, they will kill you. But first they must catch you, digger, listener, runner, prince with the swift warning. Be cunning and full of tricks and your people shall never be destroyed.
  • Yellow LedbellyYellow Ledbelly Posts: 3,749
    tybird wrote:
    It's my thought (and my wife's) that it would be interesting to read Clapton's bio and then read Patty Boyd Harrison Clapton's bio next. In fact, my wife supposes that Patty's book might be more interesting.

    The same had occurred to me, but I think its quite possible I would get bogged down in the "relationship" nature of Boyd's...therefore making it one I would be unlikely to finish.

    Any thought's from someone who has read Boyd's?
    All I have to do is revel in the everyday....then do it again tomorrow

    They say every sin is deadly but I believe they may be wrong...I'm guilty of all seven and I don't feel too bad at all
  • merkinballmerkinball Posts: 2,262
    Bill Grahams bio (Bill Graham Presents) is a great read, provides a lot of info about Bill, and the SF scene in the 60's.

    Johnny Rottens Bio (Rotten: No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs) is one of my favorites.

    Not necessarily a bio on a single individual, but I really enjoyed Good Rockin' Tonight: Sun Records and the Birth of Rock 'n' Roll. Almost a bio on Sun Records and the artists that were involved with it (Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins, etc.).
    "You're no help," he told the lime. This was unfair. It was only a lime; there was nothing special about it at all. It was doing the best it could.

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  • Yellow LedbellyYellow Ledbelly Posts: 3,749
    Yeah, I actually just saw Graham's book on Amazon and thought it would make an interesting read. That guy pretty much saw it if it happened back in those days
    All I have to do is revel in the everyday....then do it again tomorrow

    They say every sin is deadly but I believe they may be wrong...I'm guilty of all seven and I don't feel too bad at all
  • smarcheesmarchee Windsor, Ontario Posts: 14,539
    Anthony Keidis's book Scar Tissue was great.

    Nick Mason's book was pretty good too.

    Heavier Than Heaven about Kurt Cobain is also worth the read, as well as Come As You Are by Michael Azzerad (sp)
    1998 ~ Barrie
    2003 ~ Toronto
    2005 ~ London, Toronto
    2006 ~ Toronto
    2008 ~ Hartford, Mansfied I,
    2009 ~ Toronto, Chicago I, Chicago II
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    2011 ~ Toronto I, Toronto II, Ottawa, Hamilton
    2013 - London, Pittsburgh, Buffalo
    2014 - Detroit
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  • sexysurfergirlsexysurfergirl Posts: 159
    a watchtower was given me on saturday.....actually it was really interesting!!!?
  • sexysurfergirlsexysurfergirl Posts: 159
    ive just killed this thread now havent i, sorry all, ill leave head hung low
  • Yellow LedbellyYellow Ledbelly Posts: 3,749
    sexysurfergirl wrote:
    ive just killed this thread now havent i, sorry all, ill leave head hung low

    No need to hang your head, although I wasn't quite sure what exactly you meant by "a watchtower". I suppose I missed the joke so maybe I should be ashamed
    All I have to do is revel in the everyday....then do it again tomorrow

    They say every sin is deadly but I believe they may be wrong...I'm guilty of all seven and I don't feel too bad at all
  • sexysurfergirlsexysurfergirl Posts: 159
    Yellow Ledbelly wrote:
    No need to hang your head, although I wasn't quite sure what exactly you meant by "a watchtower". I suppose I missed the joke so maybe I should be ashamed


    jehovahs witnesses leave them?




    ...ill hang my head.....and read my watchtower!
  • Yellow LedbellyYellow Ledbelly Posts: 3,749
    Oh, the last time a Jehovah Witness stopped at my house i let the garage door up about the time she was walking toward the house. I was heading out to take my dog -- a wild lab of about four months at the time -- to the vet and he charged at her, jumped up on her, caught his head on the hem of her skirt and yanked it up to her chest. THAT WAS NOT A PLEASANT SIGHT ON A HUNGOVER SATURDAY MORNING!! TRUST ME!! It was, however, damned funny.

    See, this is a lot better than talking about books!! We don't need no stinking books!!
    All I have to do is revel in the everyday....then do it again tomorrow

    They say every sin is deadly but I believe they may be wrong...I'm guilty of all seven and I don't feel too bad at all
  • sexysurfergirlsexysurfergirl Posts: 159
    Yellow Ledbelly wrote:
    Oh, the last time a Jehovah Witness stopped at my house i let the garage door up about the time she was walking toward the house. I was heading out to take my dog -- a wild lab of about four months at the time -- to the vet and he charged at her, jumped up on her, caught his head on the hem of her skirt and yanked it up to her chest. THAT WAS NOT A PLEASANT SIGHT ON A HUNGOVER SATURDAY MORNING!! TRUST ME!! It was, however, damned funny.

    See, this is a lot better than talking about books!! We don't need no stinking books!!


    aww poor lady!
  • Yellow LedbellyYellow Ledbelly Posts: 3,749
    What about my poor dog? I think he was greatly traumatized by the whole experience!?!?!
    All I have to do is revel in the everyday....then do it again tomorrow

    They say every sin is deadly but I believe they may be wrong...I'm guilty of all seven and I don't feel too bad at all
  • sexysurfergirlsexysurfergirl Posts: 159
    Yellow Ledbelly wrote:
    What about my poor dog? I think he was greatly traumatized by the whole experience!?!?!


    awwwww! poor lil thing.


    the whole experience sounds somewhat of a drama
  • surferdudesurferdude Posts: 2,057
    I just finished Slash, an autobiography - it was alright. The guy's not a rocket scientist that's for sure. Nothing too insightful but still a decent read. It's hard not to like Slash, nary a bad word about anyone.

    Also just finshed the The Herion Dairies by Nikki Sixx of Motley Crue. It follows a year of his drug addiction right around the Girls, Girls, Girls album. It's supposedly his actual dairies for a one year period with remarks made by others. Surprisingly very good.

    Can't remember the title at the moment but I've yet to read a bad book on Bob Marley.
    “One good thing about music,
    when it hits you, you feel to pain.
    So brutalize me with music.”
    ~ Bob Marley
  • Hitch-HikerHitch-Hiker Posts: 2,873
    Shakey - Neil Young's Biography. Absolutely brilliant book.
    I'll Ride The Wave Where It Takes Me
  • Yellow LedbellyYellow Ledbelly Posts: 3,749
    sexysurfergirl wrote:
    awwwww! poor lil thing.


    the whole experience sounds somewhat of a drama

    Ah, it didn't affect the dog at all, nothing does to this day...he's crazy! As for the woman, it didn't affect her at all either...never stopped talking. It was, as I said, quite funny. I was in a pissy hangover mood before and that whole thing just brightened my day!!
    All I have to do is revel in the everyday....then do it again tomorrow

    They say every sin is deadly but I believe they may be wrong...I'm guilty of all seven and I don't feel too bad at all
  • Yellow LedbellyYellow Ledbelly Posts: 3,749
    surferdude wrote:
    I just finished Slash, an autobiography - it was alright. The guy's not a rocket scientist that's for sure. Nothing too insightful but still a decent read. It's hard not to like Slash, nary a bad word about anyone.

    Also just finshed the The Herion Dairies by Nikki Sixx of Motley Crue. It follows a year of his drug addiction right around the Girls, Girls, Girls album. It's supposedly his actual dairies for a one year period with remarks made by others. Surprisingly very good.

    Can't remember the title at the moment but I've yet to read a bad book on Bob Marley.

    Yeah, I kind of figured the Slash book would lack for much substance aside from wild drug and drink stories. For some reason, though, I had seriously considered the Sixx book, figuring it might be a bit better of a read.
    All I have to do is revel in the everyday....then do it again tomorrow

    They say every sin is deadly but I believe they may be wrong...I'm guilty of all seven and I don't feel too bad at all
  • lucylespianlucylespian Posts: 2,403
    My trick wiht Jehovah's Witness' is to leave them standing in teh hot sun, whichle I stnd inside the doorway with a cool drink, arguing wiht them. Once tehy get uncomfortable and start shuffling like they want to leave, I give them hell about dragging their kids around instead of letting them do healthy kid things. Strangely, I rarely get another visit.

    I finished Slash's bio last night. I found it an interesting read. The growing up part was cool, it got bogged down in the middle with his drug abuse, but picked up a bit after that.
    Lots of good info on why and how GNR foundered, told pretty objectively without any abuse or invective. I think it was more valid that way, plus there is still an ongoing lawsuit with Axl, so I guess he did not want to give the lawyers more grist.
    It was an honest tale which did not cover up or glamourize any bad behaviour, and there was plenty of that.

    Last year I read Jimi's bio, A Room Full of Mirrors, which was really good. There have probably been any number written on him, but I really enjoyed it.
    Music is not a competetion.
  • sexysurfergirlsexysurfergirl Posts: 159
    Yellow Ledbelly wrote:
    Ah, it didn't affect the dog at all, nothing does to this day...he's crazy! As for the woman, it didn't affect her at all either...never stopped talking. It was, as I said, quite funny. I was in a pissy hangover mood before and that whole thing just brightened my day!!


    well glad it brightened your day!
  • Yellow LedbellyYellow Ledbelly Posts: 3,749
    sexysurfergirl wrote:
    well glad it brightened your day!

    Hey, and I got a watchtower out of it to boot!!! You can't beat that, now can you?
    All I have to do is revel in the everyday....then do it again tomorrow

    They say every sin is deadly but I believe they may be wrong...I'm guilty of all seven and I don't feel too bad at all
  • sexysurfergirlsexysurfergirl Posts: 159
    Yellow Ledbelly wrote:
    Hey, and I got a watchtower out of it to boot!!! You can't beat that, now can you?


    wooohoooo!


    get reading!

    i feel for the dog though.... he kinda got the raw end of the deal.....
    you got ya mag, lady placed it, dog got a smack in the face from a door....


    youll have to share ya mag with him!
  • Rhinocerous SurpriseRhinocerous Surprise Posts: 4,423
    Yellow Ledbelly wrote:
    Yeah, I kind of figured the Slash book would lack for much substance aside from wild drug and drink stories. For some reason, though, I had seriously considered the Sixx book, figuring it might be a bit better of a read.

    I'm trusting you've read The Dirt, right?
    Smokey Robinson constantly looks like he's trying to act natural after being accused of farting.
  • AnonAnon Posts: 11,175
    i just started tom brokaw's new book "BOOM!" and its great so far. the special on the history channel "1968" was based on this book. i am really into the 60s, so this stuff interests me. even though im not finished with it, im still going to recommend it.

    also, idk if you are into hunter s. thompson at all, but there are 2 books out that are relatively new, both called "Gonzo." one is a hardcover picture book that chronicles the life of hunter and the other is essentially a biography in the words of people he knew. i havent read it yet, but ive glanced through it and it is very interesting. the picture book is a beautiful book to look though.
  • JordyWordyJordyWordy Posts: 2,261
    "The Testament of Gideon Mack"

    VERY good book
  • catefrancescatefrances Posts: 29,003
    what's welsh for zen by john cale is a good read. :)
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    lie beside me
    i just need to say
  • Jeremy1012Jeremy1012 Posts: 7,170
    Our band could be your life.

    The only book on American punk you ever need to read, except maybe American Hardcore.
    "I remember one night at Muzdalifa with nothing but the sky overhead, I lay awake amid sleeping Muslim brothers and I learned that pilgrims from every land — every colour, and class, and rank; high officials and the beggar alike — all snored in the same language"
  • pjl44pjl44 Posts: 9,949
    I'm almost done with Slash's book and have really enjoyed it. Certainly plenty of drug stories, but a very interesting look at GNR if you're into them.

    Other recommendations would be Jacob Slichter of Semisonic's book...really cool look at the music biz and all it entails. As a big Floyd fan, I also enjoyed Nick Mason's book.
  • godpt3godpt3 Posts: 1,020
    Jeremy1012 wrote:
    Our band could be your life.

    The only book on American punk you ever need to read, except maybe American Hardcore.

    Please Kill Me by Legs McNeill is really good, too. Traces everything back to the Velvet Underground and the Stooges.
    "If all those sweet, young things were laid end to end, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised."
    —Dorothy Parker

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  • lalalalaaaaaaaalalalalaaaaaaaa Posts: 2,445
    Yellow Ledbelly wrote:
    Being a devoted Clapton fanatic I got EC's autobiography for Christmas and am thoroughly enjoying it 120 pages in.
    Anyway, I read only in spurts -- by 10 books and read maybe four of them -- but once I get started it lasts a few months usually, through the cold.

    So, while the iron is hot what are some of your suggestions on good rock bios? I've considered grabbing a copy of Slash's book, but figure I would only be let down for some reason. Any thought's on that one?
    hmm...I'd be surprised if Slash could even remember enough to write a book.

    I would say anything about Pink Floyd or Patti Smith would be good.
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