The Beatles

Davies, Hunter, 1936-. The Beatles, New York : W.W. Norton, [2010]

408 pages of very well written, behind-the-scenes, deeply researched, honest, and insightful summaries about how the most famous group in musical history functioned—and then didn’t. Hunter Davies, as the only authorised biographer, was granted unparalleled access—not only to The Beatles, but also to their friends, family, and colleagues—and spent eighteen months with the Fab Four at the peak of their brilliant career. This book is like getting a window view directly through to John, Paul, George, and Ringo’s world: how John the rebellious school student met then chubby Paul, how Paul met George on a school bus, how Ringo became the official drummer, how they went from a group of Liverpudlian kids playing music, to the famous band with the inestimable Beatlemaniacs following. First published in 1968, in this updated edition the London based author has included a new introduction and addresses the changes that have since taken place: Paul’s marriage, George’s death and their new records. This book defines a band that defined a generation.

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Strange Fascination: David Bowie: The Definitive Story

Buckley, David, 1965-. Strange fascination : David Bowie : the definitive story, London : Virgin Books, 1999.

To date, this 533 page book is the most complete account of London born singer/songwriter David Bowie and his impact on pop culture ever written. With exclusive and revelatory interviews with the Thin White Duke's closest collaborators and the man himself, and an unrivaled degree of access to excessively photographic material, the Liverpudlian music journalist David Buckley presents a lot of detail with great precision. Readers can sense the extensive research that is behind this updated and revised biography. Focus on the art not the gossip, Buckley knows what—or who—he’s talking about. Very academic and thorough.

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Bad Seed: The Biography of Nick Cave

Johnston, Ian (Ian Robert). Bad Seed : The Biography of Nick Cave, London : Little, Brown, 1995.

This 344 page chronicle is fun to read, well researched, befittingly dark, gripping, and seedy, yet perfectly paced. Mick Harvey as well as a lot of other close members give insight and direct quotes into Nick and the band which makes the book feel real and engaging. Although this biography only covers the time up until the release of Let Love In, the freelance music and film writer Ian Johnston does a great job revealing the inside story of this maverick Australian post-punk songwriter—it presents a timeline of Cave’s staggering body of work, balancing with heroin, riots, fights, electrocutions, stolen cars, and exploded cars. A must-have biography for Cave’s fans.

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I'm Your Man: The Life of Leonard Cohen

Simmons, Sylvie. I’m your man : the life of Leonard Cohen, New York Ecco Press, 2012.

This vibrant, enthusiastic, and carefully researched chronicle has deftly narrated Leonard Cohen’s evolution. San Fransisco based rock historian Sylvie Simmons craftily explores the extraordinary life and creative genius of arguably one of the most important and influential musical artists of the past fifty years. Following Cohen’s trail from his birthplace in Montreal, to how Cohen found fame as a poet in the fifties; to New York where he first launched his music career in the sixties; through to his simultaneous successes of a happy marriage to a beautiful actress and selling a million copies worth of albums; to a rocky mountain top above Los Angeles where he entered a monastery; and finally to his re-emergence for his sold-out world tour almost fifteen years later. A 570 page compulsive read for Cohen enthusiasts seeking details regarding sex, religion, power, and meaning of love.

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Bob Dylan: Behind the Shades Revisited

Heylin, Clinton. Bob Dylan : behind the shades revisited, New York, NY : William Morrow, c2001.

This unauthorised biography is deemed by The New Yorker as “the most readable and reliable” of all Bob Dylan biographies. This recommendation is probably due to the fact that Manchester native Clinton Heylin wrote it with a close-up and personal narrative-style which is refreshingly free of either uncritical worship or parochial judgments. Originally published in 1991 as Behind the Shades, in 2001 Heylin added new sections, substantially reworked text, and brought the story up-to-date with the American singer/songwriter’s explosive career in 2000. Though he was denied access to Dylan for this book, his exhaustive research and 260 interviews with important people in Dylan’s life—George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Emmylou Harris, Robbie Robertson, to name a few—give Heylin story considerable depth. In 780 pages, the readers follow the story of Dylan from his humble beginnings in Minnesota to his arrival in New York in 1961, his subsequent rise in folk circuit of Greenwich Village and continued with his Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde success, his motorcycle accident, his protest-fuelled songs, to his controversial conversion to born-again Christianity. The fans will be given what they have always wanted: a chance to get to know the man behind the shades.

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A Long Strange Trip: The Inside History of the Grateful Dead

McNally, Dennis. A long strange trip : the inside history of the Grateful Dead, New York : Broadway Books, 2002.

This 684 page biography is presented as a kaleidoscopic narrative, with the same zeal and spirit that the Californian band Grateful Dead brought to their music. The band’s historian and publicist Dennis McNally packs this book full of intimate details previously unavailable, such as how the Dead treated their tie-dyed, drugged up and devoted fans 'the Deadheads' as equals—as “companions in an odyssey,” or the time the group’s janitor vetoed a suggestion from multimillion-dollar promoter Bill Graham as “too commercial.” If you want to know what happened, why it happened, how it happened, and what it was like to be in one of the most long-lived and legendary bands in rock history, this is for you.

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Fleetwood Mac: The Definitive Story

Evans, Mike, 1941 October 30-. Fleetwood Mac : The Definitive Story, New York : Sterling, c2011.

“Definitive” probably the most apt word to describe this book, which is more akin to a fascinating but not too in-depth coffee table book. Overall, it is a nice overview of the British-American soft-rock legend, Fleetwood Mac, complete with incredible pictures and illustrations throughout—featured on almost every other page. Presenting excessive photos of the band, album covers, tour books, other odds and ends, the London based author, Mike Evans triumphantly tells the tale of Fleetwood Mac in his written-meets-visual combination. If you are new to the band or a long time Fleetwood Mac pack rat, this book represents a 288 page encyclopaedia: each album is given it’s own page with album info (tracks, credits and full cover artwork) including most of the solo albums up through Stevie Nick’s Rock a Little. Along the way, most of the famous stories—sexual affairs within the band, high consumptions of drugs and alcohol, partnership breakup and reconciliations—told.

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When Giants Walked the Earth: A Biography of Led Zeppelin

Wall, Mick. When giants walked the earth : a biography of Led Zeppelin, London : Orion Books, 2008.

This 534 page biography of Led Zeppelin provides second-person narrative style, fan fiction-esque interlude, and is written as if the author had almost insight into the main characters (Led Zeppelin). Written by British veteran rock journalist Mick Wall who happens to also be a former associate of both Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, the biography is rich and revealing: delving into the depths of the four band members unique personalities (Page is fascinated with English occultist Aleister Crowley and his active Ordo Templi Orientis religious practice) and the chronology of events is well-organised; starting with the time of Jimmy Page in the Yardbirds and his struggle to bring together an “album-centered” band through every obstacle, as well as great stories about the album covers, management, Elvis, The Who, the rise and sad loss of Bonham, everything you should know about the Biggest Band in the World.

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Enter Night: A Biography of Metallica

Wall, Mick. Enter Night : A Biography of Metallica, New York : St. Martin’s Press, 2011.

This narrative-style biography is straightforward and fast-paced. The wordy storytelling-style by British music journalist Mick Wall successfully provides an in-depth portrait of the infamous thrash metal group: the personalities of all key—and ex-key—members of Metallica (Dave Mustaine might be a bitter alcoholic jerk but he was kicked out of the band because he was a threat to the leadership Lars Ulrich held within the band), the various incarnations of the LA quartet (James Hetfield, in the beginning, wasn’t all that comfortable being the front man and the face of the band), the bad musicianship (especially the drummer), and many other wild, wonderful, emotionally draining never-known-before and other somewhat uncomfortable truths. Written in two main parts—pre and post And Justice For All—this 480 page Metallisaga is the ultimate chronicle for both old cracks and newbies, young-at-heart adult and young adult ‘tallica fans.

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Meetings with Morrissey

Brown, Len, 1957-. Meetings with Morrissey, London ; New York : Omnibus Press, c2009.

This 324 page book is beautifully written, thoroughly researched, and intimate in style. The former New Musical Express journalist Len Brown has produced a very intelligent and insightful account of the career of Morrissey, covering his 25 years as The Smiths frontman, and onto his solo work. In this biography Brown revisits his own NME-era interview with the English singer/songwriter, explores in detail the extraordinary lyrical content of Morrisey's songs—there’s even a great chapter detailing Oscar Wilde’s influence on Moz’s lyrics. He takes a retrospective look at the singer-songwriter's most distinctive memories—he dyed his hair gold at the age of 13 and it turned purple; he was then sent home from school. It is the personal and socio-political context of the period which Brown weaves into Morrissey’s life and art which makes this biography such a tender and worthwhile exposition essential reading for Morrissey fans.

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Motörhead: Live to Win

Burridge, Alan, 1951-. Motörhead : live to win, Los Angeles : Cleopatra, 2012.

This 220 page chronicle is a first class, serious, in-depth look at the metal band Motörhead. Written by British Alan Burridge, who happens to also be the president of the fan club "Motörheadbangers", he takes the readers back to the beginnings of the musical group who once won the New Musical Express poll for “the best worst band in the world”. The struggles, the hardships, the poverty, many never before published facts and a great deal of rare and early photos are revealed in this full colour, glossy, thick paper biography. Longing for incredible attention to detail about Motörhead since the pre-Ace of Spades era? This is the ace of reads.

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Comfortably Numb: The Inside Story of Pink Floyd

Blake, Mark. Comfortably Numb : The Inside Story of Pink Floyd, Cambridge, Mass. : Thunder’s Mouth Press, 2008.

Lucidly written, this could arguably be the most comprehensive book ever written about the English progressive rockers Pink Floyd. As meticulous, exacting and ambitious as any David Gilmour-Roger Waters (plus Syd Barret) creation, this 448 page chronicle covers a lot of ground, from a background story and history of the band, to how the albums charted and were received by critics and fans, the meaning of the songs, to musical progression versus creative tension. In addition to this, the book also incorporates hundreds of new and exclusive interviews—with band members, friends, road crew, musical contemporaries, former housemates, and university colleagues. Notoriously private and very guarded when it comes to their past and their personal lives, the British popular music and culture writer Mark Blake very thoroughly disclosed the problems of each Pink Floyd member, which means that, as a reader, you really do feel as if you’re being sucked into the drama. Well researched. Well documented. Accurate. Every chapter is a trove. Indeed.

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The True Adventures of the Rolling Stones

Booth, Stanley, 1942-. The true adventures of the Rolling Stones, Chicago, IL : A Capella, 2000.

“In the backstage doorway Jagger was standing, dressed in black trousers with silver buttons down the legs, black scoop-neck jersey with white Leo glyph on chest, wide metal-studded black belt, long red flowing scarf, on his head an Uncle Sam hat, his eyes wide and dark, looking like a bullfighter standing in the sun just inside the door of the arena, seeing nothing but the path he walks, toreros and banderilleros beside and behind him, to his fate.” Yes, this 416 page book by the American music journalist Stanley Booth, the Stones’ inner circle, is that detailed and engaging, with many more moments in this huge rock band's history captured in similar descriptive detail. A truly entertaining read.

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Wild Years: The Music and Myth of Tom Waits

Jacobs, Jay S., 1962-. Wild Years : The Music and Myth of Tom Waits, Toronto : ECW Press, c2006.

This 336 page biography presents over 30 images and isn’t for those looking for juicy details and scandalous stories. That being said, the Philadelphia-based author Jay S. Jacob exposes the truth about the man with the gravely voice: the details of his music career are recorded here as nowhere else—the most detailed discography on the planet, from his early years, when Waits embraced the beatniks and the grimy realities of life on the streets, to more recent tonal experiments. Overall, the biography is painstakingly researched, clear cut, unapologetic, and highly informative—it gives readers a sense that they could actually know Waits. Those looking for a portrait of Waits, the artist, will be amply rewarded by this newly updated book.

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Neil Young: The Definitive History

Evans, Mike. Neil Young : The Definitive History, New York : Sterling, 2012.

This coffee table book is a quick but entertaining encyclopaedia of Neil Young’s nearly six-decade rock ’n’ roll journey. Written by London based musician-cum-writer Mark Evans, this overly illustrated life retrospective traces the Canadian singer/songwriter’s collaborative work (with Crazy Horse, Buffalo Springfield, and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young), solo career—highlighting almost every album, his tour—his live performances often used as his stage to advertise his political point, his activism—particularly for green causes and Farm Aid, as well as his personal life—his relationship and his near fatal brain aneurism. All in all, the book is 288 pages of informative and encyclopaedic-like chronicle which will easily appeal general adult readers and definitely hungry-for-more “Neilophytes”.

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