Best music biographies

thenakedanddead

I've recently finished reading "NO one here gets out alive", the biography of Jim Morrison written by two people who's name presently slip my mind (couldn't be arsed checking either) and found it a pretty good read.

Any other rock biographies you would like to plug? FTR, I'd like to say that i thoroughly enjoyed Johnny Cash's autobiography and have read it at least two times.

ButtersSuki

Slash's and Axl's are both pretty good with differing takes on how the band broke up. Slash's is a lot better but they're both interesting - and I say this without being a massive GNR fan in any way. Read them both one after the other on hols.

Awful_Bliss

Down At The End Of Lonely Street about Elvis is great and there was another I read about Frank Sinatra of which I can't remember the name. +1 on Slash's book.

thenakedanddead

"The Real Frank Zappa book", is it any good?

Rubik.

Bob Dylan's "Chronicles - volume one". Hope he gets on to writing volume two sometime.

smokedeels

I enjoyed Eye Mind: The Saga of Roky Erickson and The 13th Floor Elevators.

The books one flaw is that it's too heavy on information in places, forcing you to wade through trivial information to get to the interesting parts.

I enjoyed the sub-plots about the College-lifestyle in Austin, Texas during the 1960's. In particular, how the students studying plant-science would know the best peyote to pick and the chemistry students would covert it into hallucinogenic cocktails.

As I mentioned, it's very heavy on information, every bit-part player is interviewed to create a picture of Tommy Hall's LCD influenced philosophy the bands emergence and downfall, and the tragic arrest Erickson for drug possession (the amount in his possession equalled enough for one joint) and his plea of insanity that sent him to a psychiatric hospital where he involuntarily received electro-convulsive therapy and Thorazine treatments.

Well worth reading if you're a fan or not.

claiva

John Lennon : The Life by Philip Norman.
Great book, really gives a good insight into what made Lennon tick.
It finished quite abrubtly though I thought. Not enough about his time in New York.

thenakedanddead

claiva wrote: »

John Lennon : The Life by Philip Norman.
Great book, really gives a good insight into what made Lennon tick.
It finished quite abrubtly though I thought. Not enough about his time in New York.

Was that the one that Yoko was meant to authorize but found "mean"?

bigwormbundoran

Marvin Gaye - Divided Soul by David Ritz (twas originally supposed to be a joint venture but Marvin kinda died a wee bit, but its built up over years of interviews the author did with him and those around him, quality stuff altogether. He was one messed up man)

Where did our love go? - The rise and fall of the Motown sound by Nelson George (tis basically a Berry Gordy biography as well as the organisation as a whole)

+1 on Johnny Cash' autobiography too


Cant think of any more of the top of my head that arent pompus self-loving autobiographies of gobsh1tes

anti-venom

I recommend 'Living with the Dead: Twenty Years on the Bus with Garcia and the Grateful Dead' by Rock Scully.

Scully was manager of that band for twenty years and this biography is, considering the amount of drugs they consumed, remarkably lucid, detailed and well written. What struck me most about it was Scully's modesty: he takes little credit for their success and there's no 'if it wasn't for me they'd still be busking in Haight-Ashbury' style self-aggrandizement. The book's warts 'n' all candour is admirable and his honesty shines through.

Recommended even if your not a fan of The Grateful Dead because you still get an insightful depiction of the Summer of love and the conditions that created it.

strobe

ButtersSuki wrote: »

Slash's and Axl's are both pretty good with differing takes on how the band broke up. Slash's is a lot better but they're both interesting - and I say this without being a massive GNR fan in any way. Read them both one after the other on hols.

Thought "Watch You Bleed" http://www.amazon.com/Watch-You-Bleed-Saga-Roses/dp/1592403778 was far better than both of the above.

thenakedanddead

anti-venom wrote: »

I recommend 'Living with the Dead: Twenty Years on the Bus with Garcia and the Grateful Dead' by Rock Scully.

Scully was manager of that band for twenty years and this biography is, considering the amount of drugs they consumed, remarkably lucid, detailed and well written. What struck me most about it was Scully's modesty: he takes little credit for their success and there's no 'if it wasn't for me they'd still be busking in Haight-Ashbury' style self-aggrandizement. The book's warts 'n' all candour is admirable and his honesty shines through.

Recommended even if your not a fan of The Grateful Dead because you still get an insightful depiction of the Summer of love and the conditions that created it.

Not meaning to suggest any aversion to your opinion, but The Grateful Dead were probably the worst composers of intros I know.

Amazotheamazing

Most music books are rubbish, but some good biographies are Andrew Loog Oldham's Stoned and 2Stoned, about his time managing the Rolling Stones and the former head of CBS' autobiography, Howling at the Moon by Walter Yetnikoff. Dylan's Chronicles Vol 1 is very good too.

Avoid anything Griel Marcus wrote about Dylan, I understand his stuff on Elvis is great but his Dylan books are beyond rubbish.

Things the Grandchildren should know by Mark Oliver Everett (E from Eels) is a great read too, he loves himself but the book is still worth reading.

delbertgrady

For me, one of the best is Dear Boy: The Life of Keith Moon by Tony Fletcher. A superb, accurate biography of the man that clarifies all the myths and doesn't shirk from pointing out that it wasn't all fun with Moon the Loon.
Graeme Thomson's recent Kate Bush biography, Under the Ivy, is excellent, and manages to construct a decent picture of the woman, based mainly on archive interviews with her and her collaborators.
Bright Lights, Dark Shadows: The Real Story of Abba by Carl Magnus Palm is an incredibly detailed book, particularly good on the early years.
I'd also vouch for the aforementioned Things the Grandchildren Should Know, which isn't a conventional autobiography by any stretch, but is a bloody good book.
Also, equally atypical by "rock autobiography" standard, but well worth reading is Neil Peart's Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road, a chronicle of his 55,000 mile motorcycle trek across Canada and North and South America in the wake of the death of his wife and daughter.

The Swordsman

I'll Sleep When I'm Dead: The Dirty Life and Times of Warren Zevon by Crystal Zevon (Warren's ex-wife) is a great book.

Crystal Zevon gathered up and compiled anecdotes from people in Warren Zevon's life, including famous musicians he had worked with (e.g. Jackson Browne and Bruce Springsteen).

It's a no holds barred account of Zevon's life (apparently it was what he wanted) and deals with his alcoholism, his obsessive behaviour and how he dealt with discovering he had terminal cancer.

I make it sound like a hard read, but actually its not.

vrobot

'Scar Tissue' by Anthony Kiedis is worth reading although how he manages to recall details so well when he's totally out of it it amusing...

lyverbird1

I enjoyed 'Hammer of the Gods' - a Led Zeppelin biog - interesting reading that included looking at some of the more colourful tour based legends. It was a red snapper, not a shark apparently...

ButtersSuki

strobe wrote: »

Thought "Watch You Bleed" http://www.amazon.com/Watch-You-Bleed-Saga-Roses/dp/1592403778 was far better than both of the above.

Cool, will add those to my amazon wishlist. Thanks!

ButtersSuki

vrobot wrote: »

'Scar Tissue' by Anthony Kiedis is worth reading although how he manages to recall details so well when he's totally out of it it amusing...

Forgot about that, yep, it's good and amusing for the fact you listed!

Rigsby

At present, I'm halfway through the new ( published Feb. 2010 ) authorised biography of Jack Bruce. It is called "Jack Bruce : Composing Himself" by Harry Shapiro. So far I'm really enjoying it.

There have been lots of books written about other major artists, but very few about this iconic one.

odonopenmic

The Swordsman wrote: »

I'll Sleep When I'm Dead: The Dirty Life and Times of Warren Zevon by Crystal Zevon (Warren's ex-wife) is a great book.

Crystal Zevon gathered up and compiled anecdotes from people in Warren Zevon's life, including famous musicians he had worked with (e.g. Jackson Browne and Bruce Springsteen).

It's a no holds barred account of Zevon's life (apparently it was what he wanted) and deals with his alcoholism, his obsessive behaviour and how he dealt with discovering he had terminal cancer.

I make it sound like a hard read, but actually its not.

+1 - amazing read!

Also anything by Nick Tosches but especially Hellfire (Jerry Lee Lewis's bio)

blastman

+1 for Thing The Grandchildren Should Know by Mark 'E' Everett

I read David Crosby's autobiography about 20 years ago (think he's written another one or two since then!) and thought it was very entertaining. Likewise Mick Fleetwood's from around the same time.

Don Felder's account of life in the Eagles is good (and paints Frey and Henley as control freaks and w@nkers of the highest order).

And I Don't Want To Live This Life by Deborah Spungen's mother Nancy is a great read, too.

henryporter

The Swordsman wrote: »

I'll Sleep When I'm Dead: The Dirty Life and Times of Warren Zevon by Crystal Zevon (Warren's ex-wife) is a great book.

Crystal Zevon gathered up and compiled anecdotes from people in Warren Zevon's life, including famous musicians he had worked with (e.g. Jackson Browne and Bruce Springsteen).

It's a no holds barred account of Zevon's life (apparently it was what he wanted) and deals with his alcoholism, his obsessive behaviour and how he dealt with discovering he had terminal cancer.

I make it sound like a hard read, but actually its not.

Its a great read in fact. I read the book before I discovered the music and it's a brilliant introduction to the mans work.

thenakedanddead

henryporter wrote: »

Its a great read in fact. I read the book before I discovered the music and it's a brilliant introduction to the mans work.

How did you discover the music? what was the first source?

rednik

lyverbird1 wrote: »

I enjoyed 'Hammer of the Gods' - a Led Zeppelin biog - interesting reading that included looking at some of the more colourful tour based legends. It was a red snapper, not a shark apparently...

Great read. Try reading Stairway to Heaven by Richard Cole, you should be familiar with Cole through the Hammer book. He was Zeppelin's tour manager and got them out of some tight situations. To be fair he probably got them into these situations in the first place.

thenakedanddead

U2 by U2 was rather interesting

siltirocker

Heavier Than Heaven by Charles Cross (Kurt Cobain) is decent. Shakey: Neil Young's Biography By James McDonough is alright. Those Motley Crue, Motorhead, Guns'N'Roses, etc books are all meant to be gas craic too!

christeb

The Dirt by Motley Crue has to be one of the best written. Totally OTT and utterly hilarious. One of my favourite books.

I've also read the "Heroin Diaries" by Nikki Sixx, quite good but not a patch on The Dirt.

I've read David Lee Roth's autobiog, it was OK. I didn't particularly enjoy "No one Get Out of Here Alive", the Jim Morrison biog.

+1 to Chronicles by Dylan also - excellent.

Peter Freestone's account of Freddie Mercury is horrifically bad, coming from a huge Queen fan. Don't go near it.

Laura Jackson's biography of Brian May was only OK, I hope he gets around to doing an autobiog soon.

Oasis_Dublin

'Never Enough' about The Cure
fascinating how someone who wrote songs as ridiculously happy as "Just Like Heaven" or "Why Can't I Be You?" could have come so close to committing suicide so as to be considered in the same artistic league as Ian Curtis. Don't get me wrong though, the book is very interesting and not depessing at all!

Irish Guitarist

My favourites are the Syd Barrett biography Lost In The Woods by Julian Palaciaos and the David Bowie biography Strange Fascination by David Buckley. Revolution In The Head by Ian McDonald is great too. It's about the Beatles but it's not really a biography as such, it lists all their songs and gives information on things like how they were recorded.

Howard the Duck

Not about a band or singer but the best auto-biography i have read is John Peels...really entertaining. The man had some adventures in his life. It's really well written. Sadly he died before finishing it so his wife wrote the second half of it. She does a good job but of course it would have been better had he gotten the chance to finish it himself.