Bookstrut (Music/RR)
DB_Cooper
Manhatin' 7,823 Posts
I just started reading this:
and it's pretty fascinating. But there's tons of good music-related stuff out there, so what do you recommend?And on the record-related tip, how about those 33 1/3 books? 
Worth the price of admission?And what about record price guides? Is there a place for this sort of thing anymore:
or has the market been cornered by Popsike?And how many questions is too many questions?Three? Four? Eight? Inquiring minds want to know.
and it's pretty fascinating. But there's tons of good music-related stuff out there, so what do you recommend?And on the record-related tip, how about those 33 1/3 books? Worth the price of admission?And what about record price guides? Is there a place for this sort of thing anymore:or has the market been cornered by Popsike?And how many questions is too many questions?Three? Four? Eight? Inquiring minds want to know.
Comments
OK, not that hard to believe for some of you, but at least a few of you must own books. You know, to impress the ladies you hope to one day lure to your bachelor pad.
Yeah, that was just a little playful baiting to bump the thread. No malice intended.
It's an pretty good read, if completely off the mark in places. Loads of interesting stories and trivia if you have an interest in punk and post punk, and it isn't entirely UK-centric.
Have you read "Rip It Up and Start Again?" If so, how do they compare?
i love this cover scene of reggie jackson high-tailing it off the field after they won the WS in '77...i never seen such a euphoric panic-striken moment before...just buldozing his way to the dugout...anyways...
I know, I know.
I think the wise collector still reads collector's guides, because those are true values, not what escalates on eBay. Sometime you may have a seller working with two or three others just to raise the price. Obviously there's supply and demand, and even with records that now have a much bigger supply than many of us thought, the prices go up. Record stores will jack up the price, and now some thrift stores are raising it because "that's what it goes for on eBay". There is still a need, especially in the information age where there's a lot of misinformation.
I've had the first book (the one about music and obsession) on my want list but haven't had the time (or the means) to get it. It apparently investigates a bit into the phenomenon that was touched upon throughout "Vinyl Junkie", but in a serious manner (rather than "I have 22 foreign pressings of Frampton Comes Alive[/b], inclduing this one which is the entire album, but just the left channel").
I saw one at Barnes & Noble about the radio industry (title escapes me right now), that's probably the one I'll get next.
I'm wrapping up on "Freakonomics", about halfway through "Scott's Almanac 2007", and maybe this weekend I'll finally start on "The Seven Orchids" by Ian MacMillan.
Excellent book
I've been meaning to read "Freakonomics", but keep forgetting to pick it up. What's "Scott's Almanac 2007"?
Been saving that for the plane trip I have in a couple of weeks, but it looks good. I just hope that I can make it through all of the sections about bands I have no interest in. I don't care enough about Throbbing Gristle to read 50 pages on them.
"The Bronx Is Burning" was an excellent read as well.
It's pretty heady stuff. You don't necessarily need a background in neurology or microbiology to understand it, but the prose gets fairly dense at times, if you know what I mean. Still, I don't know if one could write a book about the neurological processes of music appreciation without that level of specificity.
I'm down with both politics and baseball, but that's an awful lot of Yankees talk for a Sox fan such as myself. Still, maybe that's a library pick-up (so I wouldn't have to see a picture of the Yankees winning a World Series on my shelf).
Yeah, it's a pretty long book. I think it's worth reading all the way through, though. The thrust of the book is that the first wave of post-punk was heavily influenced by deconstructionism and other ideological premises, and Reynolds then goes on to group bands into sections based upon shared musical ideologies. So, each section is interesting as a conceptual piece without regard to the quality of the music created by the bands in that section.
Which is a good thing, because, while I love a lot of the music discussed, some of it is virtually unlistenable.
The Yankees are really only 1/3 of the focus of the book, it's pretty split between them, the Blackout, and the Mayoral race in 77. The stuff that is Yankee related isn't boosterism at all, a lot about Reggie Jackson and Billy Martin and how much they hated each other. Even a Sox fan should be able to appreciate it.
I have a copy of this guide. No surprise here but it is beyond useless for soul 45s. I mostly picked it up because I thought it might help me with rock 45s, but I've barely used it at all since buying it a few months ago. If you want something that will help you with soul and funk 45s then just reach for the Manship guide. You might be able to find a cheap copy of Vol. 3 since Vol. 4 came out a few months ago. Also, I don't understand the above comment about a price guide containing "true values." The only true value that I know about is some cash in my hand after completing a sale.
I tend (tend?) to be a fact junkie,
and the person who got me this book knows this. It's written by Ben Schott, and covers various things of a political and social nature, trends, sports, crimes, American Idol, and a lot of useless facts that made 2006 what it was.
http://www.schottsalmanac.com
http://www.benschott.com
Occasionally there are hints of humor, at least in placement of certain lists and essays. Anyone who was a fan of "The Book Of Lists" from the early 80's will get into this.
I'd like to read Rage to Survive (Etta James) next...what did folks who've read it think?
but no music book will top:
as embellished and mythic it may be.
Man, it's been years since I thought about that book. I must have read that when I was 15 or so.
The red snapper story?
Got this from my mother in law for my birthday. Its pretty well put together.
This new Iggy bio is pretty well-researched,lots of good stories, and concentrates on the most interesting parts of his career(ie the relationship between him and the Ashtons and the creation of the Stooges). A bit like reading a long Mojo article, but as far as rock books go, that is hardly a criticism.
Man, I love me some Stooges, so this sounds like a winner.
What's happenin, Larry?!
Hey Chris!
Not much. Just got a little free interwebs time so I figured I do a little lurking.
Great book. It was compiled from three sets of trading cards that Crumb put out years ago (blues, jazz & country). It's enjoyable on multiple levels. The artwork is, of course, classic. There are nice little bios on each artist (many of them quite obscure). And it comes with a CD. All for $20. Recommended.