Is anybody familiar with this "On Track" series of books? I have not seen one in person and am curious. Reviews posted on amazon can range from one star to five stars for the same book. I'm interested in the Van der Graaf, Gentle Giant and Camel books in particular.
I think it is. The good news is that he only reads the first and last chapters and his voice is monotone. Taron literally acts it out as if it were a play so it is so much better than just reading pages.
I'm reading "The Sound of the City - The Rise of Rock and Roll" by Charlie Gillett (2nd edition) and it's loaded with information of Rock n' Roll (and much more) from 1954 to 1971.
I got the new Peter Guralnick book w/coupon at B&N as part of Xmas presents from my wife! I met him a few yeras ago when he gave a presentation at the University of Richmond. A very nice and congenial man.
Anybody go for the Folio Society edition of Greil Marcus's Mystery Train? I just finished Music Lessons by Pierre Boulez. Fairly dense and opaque.
Ok how would you describe his manner of speaking? A majority of reviews/articles on the guy uses that exact term and UK friends have also said that while it may not be 100% it's there.
On a jazz kick and looking for recommendations on great books on jazz. Could be autobiographies, biographies, books on scenes, labels, etc. Thanks in advance! Last jazz book I read and enjoyed was Miles's autobiography (I'm probably due to read it again). Currently reading Glyn Johns's Sound Man.
I've been slowly getting into jazz for almost two decades, and have a decent collection. I would recommend biographies/documentaries/etc. of -Bill Evans -Dave Brubeck -Stan Kenton -Paul Desmond
Robin D.G. Kelley's Monk biography for recently published. My standard recommendations are Spellman's Four Lives in Bebop and John Litweiler's The Freedom Principle.
Whitehead goes into detail on films featuring jazz performances, in great detail. From 1929 to the present.
I read that one about a month ago. Interesting read, but I thought it got a little tedious toward the end. For those not familiar, his focus is on what artists recorded for which record company.
This one in French is quite thick and pretty good! The author really loves Jimi and knows music. For the life of me though I can't understand why he didn't cover the Rainbow Bridge version of "Here My Train A' Comin'", one of my favorite recorded Hendrix pieces.
A friend who knew I was on a kick listening to Arsenio Rodriguez's 1940s Cuban sides this summer recently sent me a copy of Ned Sublette's Cuba and Its Music: From the First Drums to the Mambo. It's absolutely brilliant, profoundly informative and thought provoking. One of the best books about music of any sort I've ever read. Almost a natural history of African diasporic music at is arrived and developed in the new world, going back to ancient Phoenicia, and actually older than that, and taking us up to Perez Prado. A second volume is supposedly in the works. Couldn't give a book a higher recommendation.
Ted Templeman's autobiography. Great read... a lot about Eddie Van Halen which feels timely about now.
I'll second @ATR's recommendations of Robyn Kelly's Thelonious Monk bio and AB Spellman's Four Lives in the Bebop Business. Also, John Szwed's Sun Ra biography is terrific.
I finally got hold of a copy of the most recent edition of Vernon Joynson’s shelf breaking psych-lopedia Fuzz, Acid and Flowers. The poor shelf now holds this, an earlier edition, the two volume expanded Tapestry of Delights and a copy of Dreams, Fantasies & Nightmares all by the same author.
Not long ago, I picked up two Kindle books that were on sale: Mo' Meta Blues: The World According to Questlove Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981-1991 I have read some of each so far, and they're looking to be quite good. As usual, I am reading with YouTube and Spotify nearby.
