So you didn't have much/any beef with the info presented in This Is Reggae? I'm more concerned with soaking up solid info from a reasonable perspective than I am writing style, and his style is far from perfect but it's not bugging me. His fan-boy enthusiasm actually keeps things... peppy.
I prefer Katz's book because he has amazing access to the artists and they tell things in their own words and Katz just fills in the context mostly. As well he has lived in Jamaica for extended periods of time which I think is important. Ideally someone from Jamaica who was/is directly involved will one day put out a comprehensive book. Books by Prince Buster, Sly and Robbie, Ken Boothe, John Holt, Marcia Griffiths, Prince Jammy - something like that!
I really liked these two books that were part of a series. Basically they gave topics and then just had quotes from people that were there. Some great stories and history.
I really liked these two books that were part of a series. Basically they gave topics and then just had quotes from people that were there. Some great stories and history.
I have the Sly one and I thought it had lots of interesting detail. I'd love to read the P-Funk one.
Started this tonight, and I'm loving it. Just the sort of thing I'm looking for (as of 75 pages, anyway). Thanks for the suggestion.
Ugggh... please stop bigging this book up. It is a terd.
What don't you like about it? I've only read 75 pages (which takes me up to about 1959), but they've been enjoyable and informative.
Not to answer for Faux, but I also did not like this book - mostly because I can't stand Bradley's writing style - too editorial, too many asides that do not come across as conversational or as good story-telling, just too wordy.
I agree with you on his gushing, and pair that with the dude's chatty nature, how I imagine his interview style makes me cringe a bit...this is neither here nor there on the merit on the book, unless folks didn't reveal as much to him because of it. All of this is just my take obviously.
I liked this and Katz's book on Lee Perry is essential imo.
You forgot to mention that he averages about one fact error and one usage of the word "lurve" per page.
Both of Dave Katz's books are excellent. Beth Lesser's King Jammy's book is great. The single best survey of the music is Steve Barrow's Rough Guide--don't be put off by the fact that it's part of a lame series mostly devoted to travel books.
What I'd really like to see is more book-length explorations of the lives/work of single artists/producers/studios, like Katz's book on Scratch.
You forgot to mention that he averages about one fact error and one usage of the word "lurve" per page.
Both of Dave Katz's books are excellent. Beth Lesser's King Jammy's book is great. The single best survey of the music is Steve Barrow's Rough Guide--don't be put off by the fact that it's part of a lame series mostly devoted to travel books.
Co-sign on Beth Lesser - her husband David Kingston is one of Toronto's toughest selectors as well. Every home needs Barrow's Rough Guide - more an encyclopedia than a narrative, but I refer to it all the time.
lol - I forgot about "lurve" - I must have blocked it out!
Ugggh... please stop bigging this book up. It is a terd.
What don't you like about it? I've only read 75 pages (which takes me up to about 1959), but they've been enjoyable and informative.
You forgot to mention that he averages about one fact error and one usage of the word "lurve" per page.
I can see why some people disliked the book -- the last 50 or so pages adopt a very condescending tone in regards to the last 25 years or so of Jamaican music, and his fingerpointing wags at American hip-hop a lot, too. Not that I think lyrical content should never be analyzed along moral lines or that you can't contemplate the relationship between gangster entertainment and real-life gangsterism. But this book went from seeming like it was written by a reasonably hip guy to written by Tipper Gore very quickly.
That said, up until that point I thought it was the best kind of music-history primer and for someone like myself (non-reggae-expert), very informative. Maybe if I were more up on reggae history I would've spotted factual errors, but I didn't. If the book had just ended circa 1982 instead of going on to discuss music the author doesn't care for and offering simplistic "solutions" for what "ails" Jamaican music and society, I would rate it highly.
Oh, also only spotted the word lurve ("lurrrve," actually) once.
I really loved Veal's Fela book -- I thought it was the perfect balance of sociopolitical context, biography, musical analysis, and cultural theory w/o sacrificing readability and managed to fit all that in while still telling a compelling story.
Relatively speaking, this one let me down. It's much more of an academic text -- lots of "here is what I am going to tell you, now I am telling it to you, and in summation here is what I have just said."
It also feels more like a collection of essays on dub than anything else -- you get a little history, some record reviews, some scant producer bios, and a lot of theorizing (dub channels echoes of postcolonial angst, dub is part of the Sun Ra African-diasporic sci-fi continuum, dub reflects the fragmentation of data in an era of information overload, etc).
All of which is fine -- and to its credit it doesn't claim to be anything other than what it was -- but I think I would rather have a book solely devoted to the history of dub or a book solely devoted to theorizing about dub than a book that gives you a few dabs of each.
That said, Veal has a real gift for describing music vividly in terms that'll make sense to musicians and non-musicians alike.
Also read this:
...which I loved w/o reservation. I thought the tone, scope, pacing, and content were all perfect for a Bangs bio.
HarveyCanal"a distraction from my main thesis." 13,234 Posts
Books available for loan through the Narcisse-Banks Library (which is a local foundation that my wife and I started last year). So to clarify beforehand, these books aren't available for y'all...but I thought the link would serve as a decent reading list:
one of my favorite reads, the real frank zappa book. i read this before i even heard his music...and to be honest i dont really listen to a lot of his music, and yet this book is still amazing.b, 21b, 21
posted this elsewhere, but recently finished SHAKEY, the Neil Young bio. I liked, maybe even loved, the first 600 ( img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/oof.gif" alt="" 21 ) pages; it even remained interesting during the 1980s, when a lot of failed experiments and family issues had Young's career in a major tailspin. b, 21b, 21However, around the time when the author paints himself as a member of Young's inner circle, I got frustrated. Too often for me to believe, it's the author who is giving Young career advice, as though the musician's surrounded by pansy yes-men, and only the author had the guts to prevent Young taking this or that integrity-smashing sell-out path. img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/suspect5es.gif" alt="" 21 otherwise a good read.
lol @ someone giving props to jim "kelefa's rockism strawman" derogatisb, 21b, 21b, 21b, 21b, 21my favorite bangs collection is actually the one w/ his trip to jamaica to interview lee perry - incredible piece.b, 21b, 21b, 21b, 21b, 21b, 21b, 21should also mention i thought 'last night a dj saved my life' had a good thesis and some great chapters but at the end sounded way amateurish
Comments
I prefer Katz's book because he has amazing access to the artists and they tell things in their own words and Katz just fills in the context mostly. As well he has lived in Jamaica for extended periods of time which I think is important. Ideally someone from Jamaica who was/is directly involved will one day put out a comprehensive book. Books by Prince Buster, Sly and Robbie, Ken Boothe, John Holt, Marcia Griffiths, Prince Jammy - something like that!
I've added Katz's book to my list. Glad to see the Bmore library has it.
I have the Sly one and I thought it had lots of interesting detail. I'd love to read the P-Funk one.
You forgot to mention that he averages about one fact error and one usage of the word "lurve" per page.
Both of Dave Katz's books are excellent. Beth Lesser's King Jammy's book is great. The single best survey of the music is Steve Barrow's Rough Guide--don't be put off by the fact that it's part of a lame series mostly devoted to travel books.
What I'd really like to see is more book-length explorations of the lives/work of single artists/producers/studios, like Katz's book on Scratch.
Remember any of the more flagrant ones?
I read the book when the UK edition was published something like seven years ago, and I don't think I've owned a copy for at least five... so, no.
Co-sign on Beth Lesser - her husband David Kingston is one of Toronto's toughest selectors as well. Every home needs Barrow's Rough Guide - more an encyclopedia than a narrative, but I refer to it all the time.
lol - I forgot about "lurve" - I must have blocked it out!
I can see why some people disliked the book -- the last 50 or so pages adopt a very condescending tone in regards to the last 25 years or so of Jamaican music, and his fingerpointing wags at American hip-hop a lot, too. Not that I think lyrical content should never be analyzed along moral lines or that you can't contemplate the relationship between gangster entertainment and real-life gangsterism. But this book went from seeming like it was written by a reasonably hip guy to written by Tipper Gore very quickly.
That said, up until that point I thought it was the best kind of music-history primer and for someone like myself (non-reggae-expert), very informative. Maybe if I were more up on reggae history I would've spotted factual errors, but I didn't. If the book had just ended circa 1982 instead of going on to discuss music the author doesn't care for and offering simplistic "solutions" for what "ails" Jamaican music and society, I would rate it highly.
Oh, also only spotted the word lurve ("lurrrve," actually) once.
Read this over the holiday.
I really loved Veal's Fela book -- I thought it was the perfect balance of sociopolitical context, biography, musical analysis, and cultural theory w/o sacrificing readability and managed to fit all that in while still telling a compelling story.
Relatively speaking, this one let me down. It's much more of an academic text -- lots of "here is what I am going to tell you, now I am telling it to you, and in summation here is what I have just said."
It also feels more like a collection of essays on dub than anything else -- you get a little history, some record reviews, some scant producer bios, and a lot of theorizing (dub channels echoes of postcolonial angst, dub is part of the Sun Ra African-diasporic sci-fi continuum, dub reflects the fragmentation of data in an era of information overload, etc).
All of which is fine -- and to its credit it doesn't claim to be anything other than what it was -- but I think I would rather have a book solely devoted to the history of dub or a book solely devoted to theorizing about dub than a book that gives you a few dabs of each.
That said, Veal has a real gift for describing music vividly in terms that'll make sense to musicians and non-musicians alike.
Also read this:
...which I loved w/o reservation. I thought the tone, scope, pacing, and content were all perfect for a Bangs bio.
yaeh i really liked this
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=282796325&blogID=332146306
Next on my reading list after some Lester Bangs re-reading inspired by Let It Blurt.