Which Books Can Hang...?
onetet
1,754 Posts
...with these?
Very into books about particular labels or scenes that are big on history and readability -- and thoughtful but less in-depth in their musical analysis.
Very into books about particular labels or scenes that are big on history and readability -- and thoughtful but less in-depth in their musical analysis.
Comments
my co-worker just recommended this to me recently, i must check it out.
that design reminds me of the Malo logo.
Very cool book... a lot more breezy and anecdotal that I was expecting, but very lively at the same time, and dude's musical odyssey has definitely been a fascinating one.
and
Both are very very dope. There's a lot of major pasueing in Cheren's book.
The first two above are excellent reads while the last one is an incredible source of info (label
information and specific single recommendations). Good books (imho) by knowledgeable collectors/dealers who have been into/collecting this stuff for years.
Have read the former and enjoyed it quite a bit... had been meaning to read the latter for some time and am doing so now after the double recommendation. Very enjoyable so far.
Here's two more I've dug in recent memory...
Please keep the suggestions coming if more along these lines come to mind...
I'm not opposed to more rigorous reading and/or academic writing about music, so list those if that's your preference, I've just been more in the mood for these kind of informative-but-lively histories these days (especially as these books tend to presuppose that you've already made up your mind about the music and concentrate on the lives of the people involved, rather than forcing their interpretation down your throat).
dug both these. these were good too:
A friend lent me that book to read a few years ago. My girl at the time was convinced he was secretly gay and trying to convert me by reading that book. She was a pinhead though. He does love describing sucking cocks in public toilets a little more than the average joe however. But I cosign - amazing story.
theres also a book by johnny otis on central avenue called like "oops upside your head" or something. been wanting to check it out. the pictures that is.
Great book, lots of info, should be mandatory for any DJ.
Best rock history I have ever read. It's a crime that this book is not currently in print. If you want more, I recommend Hoskyns' 'Hotel California'
I can sorta read the small print on the image, but what's the focus of Hotel California in regards to those artists and how much does it overlap and/or replicate w/ the portions discussing those acts in Waiting for the Sun?
It basically takes a narrower view and concentrates/elaborates on the singer/songwriter/Laurel Canyon stuff in WFTS. It really just adds a lot of detail about people featured, like David Geffen, David Crosby, JD Souther, etc. I personally don't care much about the Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, Joni Mitchell, et al, but that's why Hoskyns is a brilliant writer....he makes this stuff really compelling. And maybe because I never really knew a lot of the background stuff on all that, it was all pretty fresh to me. Really peels back the curtain on how the industry will take a scene and squeeze every ounce of vitality out of it and leave it a soulless husk. Fascinating stuff even if you will never own a Crosby Stills and Nash LP.
I agree, I was dreading the portion of Waiting for the Sun that dealt with the mid-70s but he really made the material fascinating by illuminating the common threads between that eras and those that came before and after -- especially in discussing the post-Manson dread in some of the lyrical content, the irony of the laid-back vibe versus the rampant cocaine consumption, etc etc.
It made reading about the Eagles (for instance) satisying without ever having to listen to the Eagles.
this book is trashy and fun. i liked the part where the stooges drive their 14-ft truck under a 13ft overpass. heroin's a helluva drug
anyway, i just added a bunch of these to my to read list. if anyone is on goodreads.com, add me so i can spy on your list and get more book recommendations
http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/573104
I never LOL by myself while reading, but that made me seriously LAUGH OUT LOUD. I had to go back over it and read it again! Hysterical, but only because nobody died.
His hash smoking, curry eating, anti-social perspective of Nick Drake is great.
- spidey
How is this? I'm just about to read this one:
oh and also this one:
Librarian girlfriend advantages
- spidey
True, but most of this stuff you read on Drake is so depressing. This one actually had insights to what he was like as a person.
Even going into how his mother influenced his guitar playing.
- spidey
Yeah, I'm getting all these from the library as well.
I liked both House That Train Built and Love Supreme... the former is a good overview while the latter finds more of a story.
House breaks the Impulse story by label head, which is handy as far as looking at their output in eras, but doesn't always work as a)some of the individuals are more interesting than others b)he approaches them all slightly deferentially, so if there's dirt in their stories we generally don't get it, and c)I'd rather read about the musicians any day. All that said, I learned a good amount, liked the style, and would recommend it.
Love Supreme was really nice; just enough backstory, put you in the moment very well, and the musical analysis was insightful w/o being overbearing.
I could see some readers being frustrated by the way these basically double as coffee-table books, but that's sort of the mode I'm in right now so I appreciated all the lavish pics and the spreads (narrative asides that interrupt the main story of both books every few pages).
I agree, it was very well-written and had a strong emotional impact. You could tell Boyd still had pride in having known Drake and confusion that neither he nor anyone else ever seemed to be able to get very close to him. But within those limitations, he gave a surprisingly detailed picture of the guy.