DISQUS

Michael Brewster · 9 months ago

hands down, my fave is "Lipstick Traces" by Greil Marcus... I did my best to have it included in every "Works Cited" page I wrote in college...

Matt · 9 months ago

nonfiction: Skydog: The Duane Allman Story
fiction: Fortress of Solitude Jonathan Lethem

Eli Klein · 9 months ago

"Beginning To See The Light: Sex, Hope & Rock n Roll" by Ellen Willis.

patrick · 9 months ago

I haven't really hit up too many music book, so my fave would probably have to be "Learning how to die". I have always been meaning to check out the 33 1/3 books, just never got around to it.

Strogan(twitter) · 9 months ago

No One Here Gets Out Alive by Jerry Hopkins and Danny Sugerman

AE · 9 months ago

david cavanagh's voluminous yet fascinating creation records history "My Magpie Eyes Are Hungry For The Prize"

Paul Cutler · 9 months ago

My favorite book is one I got for Christmas a few years ago from a co-worker, The Daily Adventures of Mixerman, by Mixerman (anonymous).

Originally published on the 'net as a blog (before there were really blogs), it was independently published. Tells the story of an engineer and his behind the scenes account of making an album that, to say the least, crashed and burned along with the band that made it.

Jeremy · 9 months ago

funny story... one day i was getting my haircut and struck up a conversation with the man in the booth next to me. I was recording with my band in los angeles at the time under a horrible 360 production deal. the guy went out to his car and gave me a book that he had written called The Daily Adventures of Mixerman and suggested i read it before going into the studio. if only he gave me that book before we signed the deal...

Ben · 9 months ago

Let it Blurt by Jim DeRogatis, about Lester Bangs

Paul · 9 months ago

Still my favourite - The Real Frank Zappa Book.

Micheal · 9 months ago

Woodstock: The Summer of our Lives

Andrew Lynes · 9 months ago

"Please Kill Me" the uncensored history of punk. None of the usual navel-gazing, my-opinions-matter-soooo-much crap that so many books on music suffer from, just quotations from the artists about how much time they spent navel-gazing, and how their opinions mattered soooo much.

Tyler Parker · 9 months ago

Love is a Mixtape by Rob Sheffield not specifically a music book so much as how we connect music with memory and emotion, beautiful and vaguely heartbreaking.

francesk · 9 months ago

I have several:
Psychic Reactions & Carberator Dung by Lester Bangs (without whom)
Lennon Remembers --The Rolling Stone Interviews
U2 at the End of the World -- Bill Flannigan

bdeank · 9 months ago

High Fidelity. Is that cheesy? I might be cheesy.

Jeremy · 9 months ago

Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of the Beatles by Geoff Emerick. This guy engineered every Beatles record from Revolver to the White Album starting when he was only 19 years old. This guy changed the way records were made. A must read for any musician.

Rosemary · 9 months ago

writings on music by steve reich. without a doubt.

Alix MacLean · 9 months ago

Cash by Johnny Cash. Hands down.

Jen · 9 months ago

Belle and Sebastian: Just a Modern Rock Story by Paul Whitelaw

largehearted boy · 9 months ago

I really enjoyed this B&S biography as well.

Ryan · 9 months ago

"Woody Guthrie: A Life" by Joe Kelin

Jeff · 9 months ago

My favorite recent music book is definitely Let's Talk About Love: A Journey to the End of Taste by Carl Wilson

Riley · 9 months ago

John Darnielle - Master of Reality

Carolyn · 9 months ago

Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks. As a scientist, I enjoyed learning how music playing and listening has such a profound influence on brain functioning. I experience these effects daily and it was fun to learn Sacks' insights into what's going on between my ears.

Lila R M · 9 months ago

I think my favorite music book will always be "England's Dreaming" by Jon Savage. I read it for the first time in my early teens, and it was a revelation as to what music can be to my little suburban existence.

SK · 9 months ago

I'd have to be honest and say I've mostly been a music magazine person and haven't really read any music books (or have only seen movie versions of them!)...but I've really wanted to since seeing the massive number of music books available online...the 331/2 series has been on my list!

SK · 9 months ago

(331/3...brain freeze!)

John · 9 months ago

Chronicles: Volume 1. Dylan.

Jaime · 9 months ago

This Wheel's On Fire: Levon Helm and the Story of the Band

paul · 9 months ago

bound together about the libertines

john ferris · 9 months ago

"England's Dreaming " by John Savage

kshane · 9 months ago

Without a doubt my favorite music book, and one of my favorite books period, is the first volume of Peter Guralnick's epic biography of Elvis Presley, "Last Train to Memphis."

Roger · 9 months ago

Love Is A Mixtape-Rob Sheffield

Taylor · 9 months ago

I'd have to go with "Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley" by Peter Guralnick.

Carter · 9 months ago

Tie -- Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley by Peter Guralnick, The Smiths: Meat Is Murder by Joe Pernice, and Route 666: On the Road to Nirvana by Gina Arnold.

justin · 9 months ago

Mr. Tambourine Man: The Life & Legacy of the Byrds' Gene Clark by John Einarson

shane · 9 months ago

Flowers in the Dustbin by James Miller.

Justin · 9 months ago

I'm gonna have to go with Alex Ross ~ The Rest is Noise.

JBliss · 9 months ago

The Ground Beneath Her Feet by Salmon Rushdie. a great work by the great author.

Seth Christenfeld · 9 months ago

Bob Spitz's brilliant book about the Beatles is my top choice, although Alex Ross's awe-inspiring The Rest Is Noise is a close second

Gaelen · 9 months ago

I haven't read very many music books, but, fittingly, my favourite is "Master of Reality" by John Darnielle.

J Wolfe · 9 months ago

On The Road With Bob Dylan By Ratso Sloman

Tony · 9 months ago

I'm reading Our Band Could Be Your Life right now and really enjoying it, so I think its my favorite.

shannon Baas · 9 months ago

Probably Coal Miner's daughter.

Adam · 9 months ago

I have to go with Love Is A Mixtape

Peet · 9 months ago

"On the Road with the Ramones" - no question...

joe dicker · 9 months ago

Guided by Voices: A Brief History: Twenty-One Years of Hunting Accidents in the Forests of Rock and Roll

Erik · 9 months ago

" Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk" by Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain, though a close second is "Bing Crosby - A Pocketful of Dreams" by Gary Giddens.

Austin · 9 months ago

Hickory Wind: Life and Times of Gram Parsons - Ben Fong-Torres

JY · 9 months ago

Carl Wilson's "Let's Talk About Love"

agordon10 · 9 months ago

Love "Master of Reality"

dittman · 9 months ago

Favorite? Hebdige's Subculture: The Meaning of Style.

Tim · 9 months ago

Yeah, I know it might cost me some cred to say High Fidelity, but I'm going to say it. Hornby is, or rather once was, just too good.

Steve Anderson · 9 months ago

Definately 'Diary of a Rock,n,Roll Star' by Ian Hunter. A great vocalist in a great band, and better still ...Mott the Hoople reforming for 5 nights in London in October...and I am going to be there!!!

alsek · 9 months ago

STRAIGHT LIFE by Art Pepper. Gripping autobiography of an underated jazz genius.

probertoj · 9 months ago

Rip It Up & Start Again - Simon Reynolds

J · 9 months ago

Nick Tosches' Country: The Twisted Roots of Rock 'n' Roll. Dense with research and good writing.

mightyflynn · 9 months ago

It's a tie!

Chronicles, vol. One by Bob Dylan

Rock and Roll is Here to Stay: An Anthology edited by William McKeen

Tracey Byram · 9 months ago

My favorite music book is Eminem The Way I Am.

Shelley Pierce · 9 months ago

"Never Mind The Pollacks" by Neil Pollack

brilliantly funny!!!

Jeb · 9 months ago

Cash by Cash is definitely solid. Anything by Lester Bangs I enjoyed, and 33 1/3 has some great books, including one on "Electric Ladyland" which goes through the entire recording process, which is pretty awesome.

Nick Bahula · 9 months ago

On the Road was a pretty good book about music. From a listener's perspective.

nickbahulaisdead@yahoo.com

John James · 9 months ago

TWO CLASSICS:

"Waiting for the Sun: Strange Days, Weird Scenes and the Sound of Los Angeles" by Barney Hoskyns.

"Bootleg: The Secret History of the Other Recording Industry"
by Clinton Heylin

and any of Black Dog Publishing's "LABELS UNLIMITED" series on record labels such as Warp, Rough Trade and Ace.

Monty Miller · 9 months ago

Wilco: Learning How to Die, by Greg Kot

Nathan · 9 months ago

Easy. Cash by Johnny Cash

EightE1 · 9 months ago

Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung by Lester Bangs.

notdickless · 9 months ago

Guralnick's Last Train to Memphis

Jason Slatton · 9 months ago

I really love Our Band Could..., but right now I'm going with the Guralnick two-parter on Elvis, Last Train To Memphis and Careless Love.

Tony Aiken · 9 months ago

Stand and Deliver by Adam Ant

charlotte · 9 months ago

"let's talk about love" by carl wilson

Susan C · 9 months ago

I am currently reading To Hell and Back an autobiography by Meat Loaf, I am enjoying it immensely!

adam · 9 months ago

I like a lot that have been mentioned already. One that has not been: Everything I'm Cracked Up to Be by Jen Trynin. Great insight into the music business by a pretty good (and jaded) artist.

Pat Walsh · 9 months ago

I've read a few of the 33 1/3 series & I quite liked the ones on The Rolling Stones & ABBA.
I've enjoyed loads of music books, including many above, but may favourite is:
Revolution in the Head by Ian MacDonald and its in-depth look at all of the Beatles's songs

paul edward · 9 months ago

"The Heart of Rock and Soul" by Dave Marsh.

Austin Kleon · 9 months ago

Another vote here for CASH by Johnny Cash

eddie · 9 months ago

high fidelity by nick hornby. not really about music, but its plays a huge role. better than the movie

3rdparty · 9 months ago

The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band by Neil Strauss w/ Mötley Crüe

Andrew Flanagan · 9 months ago

Any of the Best Music Writing books, Please Kill Me, This Is Your Brain on Music

KC · 9 months ago

Capturing Sound, by Mark Katz

Nickie · 9 months ago

My absolute fav is Please Kill Me by Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain - I was just blown away and highly entertained by the interviews and love how they were intercut to create a fuller picture of each band. I've sold off many music-related books but not this one!

Chris · 9 months ago

Mine is actually "Our Band Could Be Your Life" too. It's a great peek into the indie/college music world of the 80s, with great glimpses into the early days & history of a lot of seminal bands (and, inexplicably, Beat Happening).

Michael Stefanowicz · 9 months ago

favorite music book "Invisible Republic, Bob Dylan's Basement Tapes" (alternately titled Weird Old America",) by Greil Marcus ... History of the Basement Tapes- Dylan, the Band, and Dock Boggs - great stuff!

Cassi Saari · 9 months ago

The Real Frank Zappa Book by Zappa :D

Scott · 9 months ago

Favorite music book (of the moment) - Shakey, Neil Young's biography, by Jimmy McDonough. Well-written, and fascinating.

Runners up: Woody Guthrie: A Life, by Joe Klein and Searching for the Sound by Phil Lesh, who writes almost as well as he plays bass.

RK · 9 months ago

The Devil's Dream by Lee Smith.

Andy · 9 months ago

"Master Of Reality" by John Darnielle

evan · 9 months ago

neil youngs bio: shakey

Kevin · 9 months ago

My favorite music book of all time would have to be

"The Secret History of Rock" by Roni Sarig.

The book features a comprehensive breakdown of underground, left-of-the-dial bands with anecdotes from contemporary bands who were influenced by the sound of these seminal artists. This book introduced me to a whole new world of music that I had never been exposed to before. I would never again wonder what people found so beguiling about Big Star, Television, Can and DNA.

Kevin

http://eclectic-grooves.blogspot.com

Paul Hoffman · 9 months ago

Deadbase. For niche nerds (deadheads to be specific), there was nothing finer.

edmur · 9 months ago

Simon Reynolds' "Rip It Up and Start Again" is pretty high up on my list...but I also just picked up Christopher Hjort's "Strange Brew: Eric Clapton & The British Blues Boom, 1965-1970" and so far, it's stunning (as are ALL books published by Jawbone Press, I'm discovering...)

mtalbot · 9 months ago

Autumn de Wilde's book, Elliott Smith, is my favorite music book, though it is so heartbreaking I can only read small bits at a time.

Stu · 9 months ago

Well, you mentioned "Our Band Could Be Your Life," which was the first choice that came to mind, but then I remembered _Cash_ by Johnny Cash. Which is the correct answer.

jon · 9 months ago

I'll go:

Fiction - High Fidelity
Non-Fiction - tie between the 33 1/3 series on NMH's "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea" and the EMI Records released "The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions".

The fiction title is heartbreaking, witty, snarky, and has a geeky music love that stands proud before everything else.

The NMH title gives a brilliant history of the entire Elephant 6 collective, in addition to exposing the brilliant psyche of one Jeff Mangum

Finally, the Beatles book shows you detailed session logs and studio arrangements (including gear choices and placement of microphones, in some examples) of EVERY session the Beatles took while on the EMI label. Pretty amazing stuff. It really shows the dedication to their craft, considering how many takes it often took to complete a song.

Oh - and that Mixerman book is pretty amazing as well :)

Lu · 9 months ago

'Beneath the underdog' by Charlie Mingus...

Lisa Peet · 8 months ago

Lester Bangs' "Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung" and "Brother Ray - Ray Charles' Own Story"

Nick C · 8 months ago

My favorite is 'Can't Stop, Won't Stop' by Jeff Chang. The book chronicles the social and economic conditions in NYC that laid the foundations for hip-hop. I was expecting a fun, kind of fluffy read but this turns out to be a text book level of detail and thoroughness. As a perspective, the book is 400 or so pages long and the words 'Run DMC' don't appear until a bit more than half way through. I had to take notes!! A great read.

Lord Carrett · 8 months ago

My favorite music book is Nick Tosches' HELLFIRE: The Jerry Lee Lewis Story. I could use the 33 1/3 books as source material for my IMPOSSIBLY HARD Rock & Roll Trivia Game.

Alex Ross · 8 months ago

Literary Riffs...It's a ridiculous range of short stories all loosely or closely inspired by rock songs

Seth · 8 months ago

"Rip it Up and Start Again" by Simon Reynolds

Cheng-Chung Tsai · 8 months ago

My favorite music book is:
Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung by Lester Bangs

Joseph Csontos · 8 months ago

I know that this pick will draw the ire of younger posters but I defy anyone to qualify a better written book than Stanley Booth's The True Adventures of The Rolling Stones. The structure and the writting are poetic.

Bring it on!

Emily · 8 months ago

My favorite is Simon Reynolds's Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984. As someone who started getting interested in rock music in the late '90s (when I was a teenager), I'd long written off the '80s as a fairly uninteresting time, music-wise--with a few exceptions, of course. But Reynolds's book really shows what fascinating, vibrant music was made in the late seventies and the first half of the eighties, introducing me to a lot of great and interesting bands.

Hiram · 8 months ago

Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung. Probably because I read it at 13. Seems like the right time to read it.

Caitlin · 8 months ago

Chuck Klosterman, "Fargo Rock City."

I love your blog! There's nothing else like it.
Thanks :)

Professor Fury · 8 months ago

Mine is Invisible Republic/The Old Weird America by Greil Marcus.

Ignatius · 8 months ago

It is a Tie between Crazy from the Heat (David Lee Roth bio) and the Vanilla Ice bio whose name I cannot remember.

Secretly Belgian · 8 months ago

Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984

Janet · 8 months ago

I would have to say either High Fidelity or Songbook by Nick Hornby - though I finished Love is a Mixtape this weekend and it was wonderful.

David · 8 months ago

I know it's a lame to offer three books when asked for one, but I can't get it down to less than that. So my three-way tie is Maynard Solomon's biography of Mozart, Alex Ross's *The Rest is Noise*, and Simon Reynolds's *Rip It Up and Start Again*. Masterpieces all.

Thanks for the groovy contest, LhB.

Dan Bindschedler · 8 months ago

My favorite music book, if it counts as one, is "High Fidelity" by Nick Hornby.

A close second would be either "Fargo Rock City" or "Killing Yourself to Live" both by Chuck Klosterman

and 3rd, "31 Songs" by Nick Horny

SacredSpud · 8 months ago

Try as I might, I can't think of a more enjoyable music book than The Real Frank Zappa Book by Frank Zappa and Peter Occhiogrosso.

Corey V. · 8 months ago

For the person above who asked if High Fidelity is a cheesy choice:

No. It's a well written book that captures the lifestyle of record store rat.

And I second the choice. Nick Hornby is still trying to top it.

Matt Walker · 8 months ago

Favorite music book?

Probably "Silence" by John Cage. Not in a pretentious way, but I used it in college as the basis for a paper, and thoroughly enjoyed delving past the surface of his wacky poetry and formatting.

Eric Deines · 8 months ago

Tarantula by Bob Dylan!

Christina · 8 months ago

My favorite music book is "Let It Blurt," Jim DeRogatis' biography of Lester Bangs. A stretch, sure, but Lester, while primarily a critic, did make music! Thanks for the contest!

Rico · 8 months ago

Thanks for STEALING "Our Band Could Be Your Life," thus forcing me to think of something equally good. But howzabout Joe Jackson's autobiography "A Cure For Gravity?" It's been a while since he made music that mattered to me, but this book is smart and thoughtful -- the first half an involving tale of growing up sickly and artistically-inclined in working-class England, the second half a plea for eclecticism in a music industry growing stale.

Runner-up: the combined 4th edition and "1990's" edition of the Trouser Press Guide. Except for completely misgauging the value of Slint when "Tweez" came out, the Guide was a pretty dead-on accurate arbiter of alternative music back when that label meant something... and also amazingly exhaustive. Sad they don't still publish new editions. Of course each new one would be 12 gillion pages long these days...

Jeffrey Marculescu · 8 months ago

No question for me.

Rock and the Pop Narcotic by Joe Carducci

fallingsteven · 8 months ago

Right now, it's definitely Jeff Chang's "Can't Stop, Won't Stop" -- a recap of the hip-hop generation that goes beyond the music, including how politics and graffiti played into the scene.

tara · 8 months ago

Buried Alive - Biography of Janis Joplin, by Myra Friedman

Hassanchop · 8 months ago

High Fidelity is my favorite book about music

Hyun-Soo · 8 months ago

I like Food, Food Tastes Good by Kara Zuaro

John · 8 months ago

Chronicles by Bob Dylan. He's still cagey as ever, but the light he does shed on his development, creative process and working habits makes this a must read not only for fans but for anyone who cares about the art of songwriting.

Cutter · 8 months ago

My favorite music book is the 33 1/3 series book on "Bee Thousand." Essay by Bob Pollard? Check!

Bill Fuller · 8 months ago

Praise be the 33 1/3 series! What a great series of books. I'm not a big reader of music books (I agree that most are ill-conceived), but these are fantastic. My favorite is the Pixies' Doolittle. I'm about to start Carl Wilson's Let's Talk About Love and really looking forward to it.

Teresa · 8 months ago

EASY: Killing Yourself to Live: 85% of a True Story by Chuck Klosterman

Mark Neigh · 8 months ago

Lost Joy by Camden Joy

Sarah · 8 months ago

Definately High Fidelity.

Nate Tredinnick · 8 months ago

That Azzerad book is good, but I have to go with "Mystery Train" by Greil Marcus. Runner up status goes to "The Dark Stuff" by Nick Kent.

CRwM · 8 months ago

It's a tough call. I'm going to have to go with "Bill Evans: How My Heart Sings," by Peter Pettinger.

queer_theory · 8 months ago

Radio On: A Listener's Diary by Sarah Vowell

She listened to the radio everyday in 1995 and wrote about what she heard.

(My birthday is this week. *fingers crossed*)

K. · 8 months ago

My favorite music book, and the first music book I ever read (long before I had heard any of the bands written about) is Our Band Could be Your Life. A friend of mine disappeared from my life with my copy a whole ago, and this post is a great reminder for me to replace it.

Steve · 8 months ago

"Rip It Up and Start Again," Simon Reynolds. Not even close.

Grant Blaisdell · 8 months ago

Mansion On The Hill - Fred Goodman

Tells a great story - and also illustrates the courtship and marriage of rock music and commerce.

(also love the Azzerrad book, the recent parsons bio, Please Kill Me, the Guralnick authored Presley books, etc.)

Justin Z. · 8 months ago

I love books by Chuck Klosterman, especially when he talks about music, he's so knowledable and witty when it comes to pop culture.

Russ Brooks · 8 months ago

My favorite music book is probably "Stranded"--Rock and Roll For a
Desert Island by Greil Marcus.

Todd · 8 months ago

Bob Dylan Chronicles Vol. 1

Angela Jacobs · 8 months ago

The Beatles

Jake · 8 months ago

"Redemption Song: The Ballad Of Joe Strummer" by, Chris Salewicz

J Edge · 8 months ago

Mine is Michael Azzerad's Our Band Could Be Your Life too! It's every band that got me cheesing for music 15 years ago's histories. Worth buying just to read and reread the recount of the meeting of The Butthole Surfers and Alex Chilton(or Gibster's lil' Gibster meeting Jimmy Carter's hand) or Grant Hart describing how tackling women at shows could totally get you signed to SST.

Doug Burton · 8 months ago

"Black Postcards" by Dean Wareham

ben · 8 months ago

Please Kill Me

Matt · 8 months ago

Not sure if it qualifies as a 'music book' but seeing as music is intrinsic to the story, my favorite would be 'The Majic Bus' by Douglas Brinkley. Before it was reprinted, it took me a little while to track down a hard cover copy, but it was worth it.

Joe · 8 months ago

Lords of Chaos by Micheal Moynihan and Didrik Soderlind

adam · 8 months ago

psychotic reactions and carburetor dung by lester bangs

Andrew Sherman · 8 months ago

Mystery Train

tempist · 8 months ago

My favorite book about music is also Our Band Could Be Your Life. Though I also enjoy Lester Bangs' Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung.

delani · 8 months ago

I haven't read many music books either...in the 33 1/3 series I did enjoy Colin Meloy's take on Let It Be.

Tom McReynolds · 8 months ago

The Improbable Rise of Redneck Rock, by Jan Reid, covering the "Great Progressive Country Scare," aka the Austin cosmic cowboy scene.

Mark Hartmann · 8 months ago

Neutral Milk Hotel's In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (33 1/3);
If possible, makes listening to this epic work more amazing.

Dan · 8 months ago

I loved High Fidelity. I consider that a music book because it took place in a record store. Also, loved Greg Kott's Learning How to Die.

Greg Degl · 8 months ago

Cash, by Johnny Cash

Samir · 8 months ago

'The Dirt' by Motley Crue. Insane and hilarious.

Sara · 8 months ago

"The Rest is Noise" by Alex Ross

Dwight · 8 months ago

I actually really enjoyed Nick Hornby's "Songbook" -- to me it reads like Lester Bangs for people who aren't into drugs. My fave 33 1/3 book was "Armed Forces" by Franklin Bruno because it's one of my absolute fave albums, dissected by someone whose musical tastes (and articulateness) I really admire, and it gave me a new perspective on music I thought I knew really well. That's the series, at its best, in a nutshell.

Carson · 8 months ago

My favorite is the recent "The Rest is Just Noise" by Alex Ross! I've gotten a chance to check out a few 33 1/3 books, they are great, would love to read these, especially The Stone Roses!

Brian · 8 months ago

'Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk' by Legs Mcneil. So many great stories, direct from the source.

Kat Mandell · 8 months ago

Oh, man. Killing Yourself To Live: 85% of a True Story, by Chuck Klosterman.

bulb64 · 8 months ago

Simon Frith, Music for Pleasure: Essays in the Sociology of Pop

just pipping alphabetically by author's last name

Caroline Coon, 1988: The New Wave Punk Rock Explosion
Evan Eisenberg, Recording Angel: Essays in Phonography
Robert Gordon, It Came from Memphis
Peter Guralnick, Sweet Soul Music: Rhythm and Blues and the Southern Dream of Freedom
Dick Hebdige, Subculture: The Meaning of Style
Gerri Hirshey, Nowhere to Run: The Story of Soul Music
Paul Morley, Words and Music: A History of Pop in the Shape of a City
Simon Reynolds, blissed out: The Raptures of Rock

AK · 8 months ago

Please Kill Me.

theholygoof · 8 months ago

I didn't see this yet, but if you haven't read the 33 1/3 book on Exile on Main Street -- to me, that's been the best one I've read so far from the series.

Josh Mock · 8 months ago

Nick Hornby's High Fidelity takes the cake for me.

goldenfoot · 8 months ago

About a Boy

Tix · 8 months ago

Mine would be Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties by Ian MacDonald because is there anything greater than someone going song by song through a band's career?

I agree, Michael Azerrad's Our Band Could Be Your Life is wonderful too. I go back to that one constantly.

biffpow · 8 months ago

Predictably and sadly, High Fidelity, Nick Hornby

Michael · 8 months ago

I'd say my favorite is probably the Greil Marcus penned "Mystery Train".

Mike · 8 months ago

Favorite music book would have to be the 33 1/3 "Let's talk about love" about Celine Dion : )

Great site and contest. thanks!

KP · 8 months ago

Tough call... but I'm gonna have to go with "Dylan's Chronicles Vol 1". Don't know if we'll ever see a Vol. 2, but that book alone stands as a time machine into a lost era.

Phillip Sherick · 8 months ago

No one here gets out alive

John · 8 months ago

Before I Get Old: The Story of The Who by Dave Marsh... the first music book I read multiple times.

Cory H · 8 months ago

Bob Dylan Chronicles Volume One

Darren Woodlief · 8 months ago

"Shakey" by Neil McDonough or "Cash" by Johnny Cash

Todd · 8 months ago

Miles Davis autobiography

Melissa D · 8 months ago

It's a tie:
Lexicon Devil: The Fast Times and Short Life of Darby Crash and the Germs by Don Bolles, Adam Parfrey, and Brendan Mullen

AND

We Got the Neutron Bomb : The Untold Story of L.A. Punk by Marc Spitz and Brendan Mullen

Thanks!

John · 8 months ago

Perfect Sound Forever: the Story of Pavement by Rob Jonanovic

Alli Sands · 8 months ago

Chuck Klosterman's "Killing Yourself to Live: 85% of a True Story" inspired me to become a music journalist.

Darin K · 8 months ago

Radio On: A Listener's Diary by Sarah Vowell

Joe Ruiz · 8 months ago

"Backstage Passes and Backstabbing Bastards" by Al Kooper (yes, THAT Al Kooper).

Jay French · 8 months ago

My favorite music book is "Rock Critic's Choice The Top 200 Albums" by Paul Gambaccini. This is the book I picked up in high school and, with the Rolling Stone Record Guide, used as a guidebook to bands I knew and bands I wanted to learn about. This book is the reason I bought "Pet Sounds". On 8 track.

Bobby J · 8 months ago

The Old, Weird America by Greil Marcus

David S. · 8 months ago

My personal favorite music novel is High Fidelity. I realize that's unoriginal, but it's still a great book.

Dr Ivory Love · 8 months ago

I enjoyed Bob Dylan's Chronicles. I just read Musicophilia. My favorite though is High Fidelity.

Mitch · 8 months ago

This Wheel's On Fire - Levon Helm

Patrick Brennick · 8 months ago

My favorite is probably the first Rolling Stone Record Guide (red cover), which is around, tattered with pages falling out. I've looked at that constantly since it came out.

Anything by Peter Guralnick is great - Sweet Soul Music was the first that I read, but his Elvis Presley and Sam Cooke bios are haunting (since the subjects are ultimately unknowable).

jason · 8 months ago

"Everything I'm Cracked Up to Be: A Rock and Roll Fairytale"--Jen Trynin. great description (i imagine) of being the next big thing that doesn't quite make it.

Dustin Nelson · 8 months ago

I think I'd probably have to go with 'Our Band Could Be Your Life' as well. It's just so good. Though I just finished and enjoyed Thurston Moore & Byron Coley's 'No Wave' as well

Joe · 8 months ago

The Replacements: All Over But the Shouting by Jim Walsh

James · 8 months ago

Although I haven't read many "Music" books I remember enjoying Killing Yourself to Live: 85% of a True Story by Chuck Closterman. Not exactly a music book, but music is a dominant element throughout the book.

matthew · 8 months ago

I probably wouldn't think so at all, but when I was eighteen Lipstick Traces more or less changed my life.

claire · 8 months ago

High Fidelity.

AnnKingman · 8 months ago

No contest, LIPSTICK TRACES by Greil Marcus is my all-time favorite music book. That said, I love the latest novel from Chuck Klosterman but have not yet read any of his nonfiction, so I need to do that.

Lou · 8 months ago

Robert Palmer - Deep Blues

christopher h · 8 months ago

To Hell and Back by Meatloaf

Jay · 8 months ago

Non-fiction: "Musicolphilia: Tales of Music and the Brain"
Fiction: probably "High Fidelity"

Jennifer Schroeder · 8 months ago

Cash by Johnny Cash

Chris Gray · 8 months ago

Alex Ross: The Rest is Noise

Though anyone who said Fortress of Solitude is a genius. Feel bad stealing that.

Mike · 8 months ago

"Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley" by Peter Guralnick. Amazing writing about the popular culture phenomenon of the 20th century.

Zach Hart · 8 months ago

"Divided Soul: The Life Of Marvin Gaye" by David Ritz.

Jamie · 8 months ago

My favorite music book of all time was actually the 33 1/3 book about In the Aeroplane over the Sea by Kim Cooper. It is so easy to mythologize Jeff Mangum and his music. The book does a great job of portraying him as just a simple guy who wrote some songs while at the same time allowing you to keep the myth alive. Reading the book gave me the same sensation as listening to the album, which is one of wonder, hope and awe. The story of how Oh, Comely was recorded captures why it is that so many people find Mangum's music, and perhaps music in general, to be so amazing.

Anthony Romaker · 8 months ago

Guided by Voices: A Brief History: Twenty-One Years of Hunting Accidents in the Forests of Rock and Roll

mandee · 8 months ago

Greil Marcus, "Like a Rolling Stone: Bob Dylan at the Crossroads".

Chris Campbell · 8 months ago

"Cash" by Johnny Cash.

Laurie · 8 months ago

I don't read many music books either. The last one I read was Lit Riffs by Jonathan Lethem. Even that is a stretch, but it was a good book for the plane.

t. jay fowler · 8 months ago

Lipstick Traces by Griel Marcus

mverno · 8 months ago

The Bee Gees Guitar Songbook

Chris Pomeroy · 8 months ago

Far and away, my favorite is Alex Ross's *The Rest is Noise*; a 20th century classical music primer for dunderheads like me who know next to nothing about classical, but are curious...

Toby · 8 months ago

Elliott Smith by Autumn De Wilde

thanks for the offer!

gkran · 8 months ago

Complete Preludes, Nocturnes and Waltzes: 26 Preludes, 21 Nocturnes, 19 Waltzes for Piano by Frederic Chopin :)

Ardy22 · 8 months ago

One of my favs is Rockin' Out Popular Music In The USA

garrettsambo · 8 months ago

John, Paul, George & Ringo: The Definitive Illustrates Chronicle of the Beatles, 1960-1970 is my favorite. garrettsambo@aol.com

jeny · 8 months ago

Our Band Could Be Your Life is my favorite tooooo!

Heather C · 8 months ago

Let's go with Jethro Tull: Aqualung!

lilyk · 8 months ago

I love High Fidelity!

largehearted boy · 8 months ago

Dan is the winner. This lover of Nick Hornby's High Fidelity will have the 6 33 1/3 books shipped to him Monday morning.

Thanks again for entering the giveaway, and stay tuned to LHB for weekly (and hopefully more often) contests.