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Good music reads.


Auldbenches

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Just finished reading Brix Smith's autobiography and the first book by stuart cosgrove on northern soul.  Got his other book about Detroit to read next and looking for good music biographies etc.

Any suggestions?

Read Keith Richards and really enjoyed it.  

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3 minutes ago, Cruyff said:

Johnny Cash was the best I've read. 

 

Johnny Marrs is decent. 

I read one Johnny cash autobiography but it was at the time of his religious conversion so was a bit saccharine.  

Johnny marr is a great suggestion.  

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Apathy For The Devil the autobiography by ex NME journalist Nick Kent is a fantastic read, taking in most of the 70’s and 80’s and unlike a lot of music books is very well written.
Marianne Faithfull’s autobiography Faithfull is up there as well, from being a teenage star all the way through living as a homeless heroin addict in London in the 70’s. She’s lived an amazing life. 

Possibly the best autobiography I’ve read is Mile Davis’. A very rare case of someone being willing to tell it like it is and pull no punches about being an utter *******. 

Edited by Tazio
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been here before

Top of my head...

 

Keefs autobiography is probably the ultimate rock n roll one.

 

Other recommendations...

 

Here Comes Everybody, The Story of The Pogues by James Fearnley

 

Rod Stewarts autobiography

 

Billy Bragg Suitable For Miners

 

Noddy Holders Who's Crazee Now

 

Madness- When We Was We.

 

Chas Hodges- Chas and Dave- All About Us.

 

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1 minute ago, Tazio said:

Apathy For The Devil the autobiography by ex NME journalist Nick Kent is a fantastic read, taking in most of the 70’s and 80’s and unlike a lot of music books is very well written.
Marianne Faithfull’s autobiography Marianne is up there as well, from being a teenage star all the way through living as a homeless heroin addict in London in the 70’s. She’s lived an amazing life. 

Possibly the best autobiography I’ve read is Mile Davis’. A very rare case of someone being willing to tell it like it is and pull no punches about being an utter *******. 

Miles Davis sounds well worth it.  I'd recommend Cider with Roadies by Stuart Maconie 

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1 minute ago, been here before said:

Top of my head...

 

Keefs autobiography is probably the ultimate rock n roll one.

 

Other recommendations...

 

Here Comes Everybody, The Story of The Pogues by James Fearnley

 

Rod Stewarts autobiography

 

Billy Bragg Suitable For Miners

 

Noddy Holders Who's Crazee Now

 

Madness- When We Was We.

 

Chas Hodges- Chas and Dave- All About Us.

 

Keefs was a surprisingly good read.  Didn't expect it to be that good.  

I'll keep noddy holder and Billy Bragg in mind.  Didn't know Noddy had done one.  

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1 minute ago, Auldbenches said:

Miles Davis sounds well worth it.  I'd recommend Cider with Roadies by Stuart Maconie 

I’m not sure how easy it is to get now. I couldn’t find a copy and then by sheer chance I was walking past a 2nd hand bookshop in Washington DC and heard the guy had jazz playing in the background so went in on spec and asked if he had a copy and low and behold he did. Though I’m sure with Amazon and Kindles should be easier to find. 

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11 minutes ago, Auldbenches said:

I read one Johnny cash autobiography but it was at the time of his religious conversion so was a bit saccharine.  

Johnny marr is a great suggestion.  

Johnny Cash, Life was the one I read. 

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1 minute ago, Auldbenches said:

Keefs was a surprisingly good read.  Didn't expect it to be that good.  

I'll keep noddy holder and Billy Bragg in mind.  Didn't know Noddy had done one.  

The surprising one is Marianne Faithfull’s. she has lived a remarkable life. I love Keith but let’s be honest people like him were millionaire junkies. She hit the lowest you can get and still come out the other side. Oddly Nick Kent and Miles were addicts as well, looks like there’s a theme running through a lot of these books. 

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1 minute ago, Tazio said:

The surprising one is Marianne Faithfull’s. she has lived a remarkable life. I love Keith but let’s be honest people like him were millionaire junkies. She hit the lowest you can get and still come out the other side. Oddly Nick Kent and Miles were addicts as well, looks like there’s a theme running through a lot of these books. 

Brix Smith had the same sort of issues though different substances.  Millionaire junkie is a brilliant description.  

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Hacienda - How Not to Run a Club by Peter Hook.

 

Not an autobiography as such, but a very telling inside look at Factory Record, New Order and Joy Division detailing some of the epic shithousery that was going on. Brilliant read. 

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CF11JamTart
9 hours ago, trotter said:

Hacienda - How Not to Run a Club by Peter Hook.

 

Not an autobiography as such, but a very telling inside look at Factory Record, New Order and Joy Division detailing some of the epic shithousery that was going on. Brilliant read. 

That is very good.

 

I'm re-reading Creation Stories by Alan McGee. It's good too.

 

I have no really interest in listening to Thin Lizzy, but "Cowboy Song", a biography of Phil Lynott was excellent. 

 

I enjoyed Stuart Cosgrove's Soul Trilogy too.

 

There's a lot of good stuff out there.

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CF11JamTart
10 hours ago, Auldbenches said:

Miles Davis sounds well worth it.  I'd recommend Cider with Roadies by Stuart Maconie 

 

I haven't read Cider With Roadies for years. Might give it a whirl again.

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10 hours ago, Auldbenches said:

Just finished reading Brix Smith's autobiography and the first book by stuart cosgrove on northern soul.  Got his other book about Detroit to read next and looking for good music biographies etc.

Any suggestions?

Read Keith Richards and really enjoyed it.  

Given you liked Brix Smith, would highly recommend The Big Weekend by Steve Hanley.

For New Order/Joy Division Hooky's and Steve Morris books are good. Bernard Sumner's is a bit disappointing.

Brett Anderson's two books also really good, the first one, Coal Black Mornings is fantastically written.

Edited by Costanza
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CF11JamTart
48 minutes ago, Costanza said:

 

Brett Anderson's two books also really good, the first one, Coal Black Mornings is fantastically written.

 

 

Suede pretty much passed me by,  but I was given that book. I really enjoyed it. Very well written. 

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Auldbenches
1 hour ago, CF11JamTart said:

 

I haven't read Cider With Roadies for years. Might give it a whirl again.

Wasn't that keen on maconie at the time (cynical 20s) but really enjoyed that. 

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Auldbenches
10 hours ago, trotter said:

Hacienda - How Not to Run a Club by Peter Hook.

 

Not an autobiography as such, but a very telling inside look at Factory Record, New Order and Joy Division detailing some of the epic shithousery that was going on. Brilliant read. 

Brilliant suggestion.  Forgot he had done a book.  That's getting ordered

 

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10 hours ago, trotter said:

Hacienda - How Not to Run a Club by Peter Hook.

 

Not an autobiography as such, but a very telling inside look at Factory Record, New Order and Joy Division detailing some of the epic shithousery that was going on. Brilliant read. 

It’s a good book that. Hooky’s a bit of a knob but he can spin a good yarn.
 

Speaking of knobs, Motley Crue are shite but The Dirt is a cracking read. Proper rock n roll debauchery. The film was pish though. 

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Auldbenches
1 hour ago, CF11JamTart said:

That is very good.

 

I'm re-reading Creation Stories by Alan McGee. It's good too.

 

I have no really interest in listening to Thin Lizzy, but "Cowboy Song", a biography of Phil Lynott was excellent. 

 

I enjoyed Stuart Cosgrove's Soul Trilogy too.

 

There's a lot of good stuff out there.

I'm enjoying the cosgrove book and glad I've got tbe second one.  Also a great source for northern soul stuff

Most of it is either on spotify or YouTube. 

If you like northern soul, there's a guy called widdersoul who has a channel on YouTube that has lots of northern soul stuff.  Three songs on every video.  Brilliant stuff there.

 

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Love a music book, a few I've read recently include:

 

Motley Crue's "The Dirt" is fantastic entertainment, quite shocking in parts

Charles Shaar Murray "Crosstown Traffic" tackles a number of taboos in music

Joe Boyd "White Bicycles", some great insights into a number of artists, including Pink Floyd and Nick Drake

Phill Brown "Are We Still Rolling", similar vein to above

David Byrne "How Music Works", not an autobiography as such, but a great read nonetheless.

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I P Knightley
30 minutes ago, JWL said:

Read Chubby Checker's autobiography, not the greatest but there's a cracking twist at the end.

:biglaugh:

 

Devid Hepworth writes good stuff. Uncommon People (the rise and fall of the rock star) is the first one of his I read and I found it to be excellent.

 

Pete Townshend's Who I Am is also worth a read.

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Auldbenches
25 minutes ago, Craig_ said:

Love a music book, a few I've read recently include:

 

Motley Crue's "The Dirt" is fantastic entertainment, quite shocking in parts

Charles Shaar Murray "Crosstown Traffic" tackles a number of taboos in music

Joe Boyd "White Bicycles", some great insights into a number of artists, including Pink Floyd and Nick Drake

Phill Brown "Are We Still Rolling", similar vein to above

David Byrne "How Music Works", not an autobiography as such, but a great read nonetheless.

The Charles Shaar Murray one looks worth reading. 

 

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I’ve just remembered one to avoid at all costs. Scar Tissue by Antony Keidis the lead singer of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. I grabbed a copy in an airport as I wanted something light to read on a long flight. Utter nonsense, the man is a massive egomaniac and, I felt, a bullshitter on an epic scale. 

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Good Old Fashioned Scandal

i've read A Kind Of Magic by Mark Blake, and it was pretty good. I aso read and loved Motley Crues The Dirt. 80's rock/metal is my favourite so i'd love to hear if anyone else has read anything else similar they could reccomend me :)

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I recently read Steve Jones Lonely Boy Tales from a Sex Pistol, it was a good read, some interesting stuff about the beginning of The Sex Pistols! Another good one I read just before his death was Greg Allman's Not My Cross to Bear, I was a huge Allman Brothers fan back in the day and knew of many of the local places he referenced when I lived in Daytona Beach! One book which I bought to read on my Cuba vacation which got cancelled last April was Nick Mason's Inside Out a personal history of Pink Floyd, Hopefully I'll read it on a Cuban beach this December!

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invernessjt

Hard to Handle : The Life and Death of the Black Crowes by Steve Gorman is a really well written book and a really good read.

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Auldbenches
2 hours ago, Tazio said:

I’ve just remembered one to avoid at all costs. Scar Tissue by Antony Keidis the lead singer of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. I grabbed a copy in an airport as I wanted something light to read on a long flight. Utter nonsense, the man is a massive egomaniac and, I felt, a bullshitter on an epic scale. 

I felt the same disappointment with the Johnny cash book I read.  It looked like he had only done it to make money for Billy Graham. 

It was all about his conversion.  

 

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N Lincs Jambo

Have read some great muso autobiographies over the years. Favourites are Nile Rogers, Graham Nash - Wild Tales, Eric Clapton’s one and also John Lydon’s. Going to check out a few of the suggestions already made. Loved Slade when I was a nipper so Noddy’s is now on the list!

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Салатные палочки

Currently reading Happy Mondays by Simon Spence. Really enjoying it and what I've read so far I would recommend it. 

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Салатные палочки
16 hours ago, Auldbenches said:

Just finished reading Brix Smith's autobiography and the first book by stuart cosgrove on northern soul.  Got his other book about Detroit to read next and looking for good music biographies etc.

Any suggestions?

Read Keith Richards and really enjoyed it.  

 

Was the Brix Smith one good? Looking for a good one on the Fall from a different perspective. I read Mark E Smith's and although it was funny, it just seemed like him ranting about a lot of stuff. 

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16 hours ago, Auldbenches said:

Just finished reading Brix Smith's autobiography and the first book by stuart cosgrove on northern soul.  Got his other book about Detroit to read next and looking for good music biographies etc.

Any suggestions?

Read Keith Richards and really enjoyed it.  

Keef's, Ronnie Wood's, Rod Stewart's and Eric Clapton's all contain many of the same stories (Eel Pie Island, Long John Baldry, London in the 60's etc) but from different perspective's. Keef's - life on the road and 5 string tuning, Ronnie and Rod about drinking, drugs and shagging, but, IMO the best of them all is Eric Clapton's.

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2 minutes ago, Greenbank2 said:

Keef's, Ronnie Wood's, Rod Stewart's and Eric Clapton's all contain many of the same stories (Eel Pie Island, Long John Baldry, London in the 60's etc) but from different perspective's. Keef's - life on the road and 5 string tuning, Ronnie and Rod about drinking, drugs and shagging, but, IMO the best of them all is Eric Clapton's.

A brilliant one from that same era is Ian McLagan’s book All The Rage going from his time in the Small Faces all the way through the 70’s and his time with other bands and Dylan. Lots of great stories and written in a nice style. 

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Auldbenches
53 minutes ago, Salad Fingers said:

 

Was the Brix Smith one good? Looking for a good one on the Fall from a different perspective. I read Mark E Smith's and although it was funny, it just seemed like him ranting about a lot of stuff. 

It is worth reading, especially for tbe fall stuff.   Interesting life.  I felt the same about the mark e Smith one.  He comes across as a bit of a swine and a hypocrite when you read what she says.  

I paid about 6 quid and worth it.  

 

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Auldbenches
59 minutes ago, Salad Fingers said:

Currently reading Happy Mondays by Simon Spence. Really enjoying it and what I've read so far I would recommend it. 

I read the one bez done a few years ago and it was worth a read.  

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Салатные палочки
7 hours ago, Costanza said:

Given you liked Brix Smith, would highly recommend The Big Weekend by Steve Hanley.

For New Order/Joy Division Hooky's and Steve Morris books are good. Bernard Sumner's is a bit disappointing.

Brett Anderson's two books also really good, the first one, Coal Black Mornings is fantastically written.

 

Think that will be my next one. 

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7 hours ago, CF11JamTart said:

 

 

Suede pretty much passed me by,  but I was given that book. I really enjoyed it. Very well written. 

Yeah, I was expecting to be more intrigued about life in Suede, but the writing pre band was more interesting as it turned out.

His second book is a good read as well.

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Nookie Bear
1 hour ago, Tazio said:

A brilliant one from that same era is Ian McLagan’s book All The Rage going from his time in the Small Faces all the way through the 70’s and his time with other bands and Dylan. Lots of great stories and written in a nice style. 


Read that a few years ago on holiday. As you say, a good read 👍🏻

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44 minutes ago, Salad Fingers said:

 

Think that will be my next one. 

I've read the Mark E Smith one and also the Dave Simpson book The Fallen, but this was the best of the Fall books for me.

Will need to get the Brix Smith one.

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Nookie Bear

Bruce Springsteen’s is excellent. I am not much of a fan of his music but he comes across really well, as you can imagine. 
 

I would recommend the Lester Bangs books: Psychotic Reactions and Carburator Dung (a compilation of music reviews) and his life story, Let it Blurt. 
 

Mystery Train by Greil Marcus is another reviews compilation by a 60s writer that is a good read. 
 

Also just finished One, Two, Three, Four which is about the Beatles. Seemed to tell a familiar story in an interesting way and pleasingly irreverent when it comes to Beatles obsessives. 

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5 hours ago, Tazio said:

I’ve just remembered one to avoid at all costs. Scar Tissue by Antony Keidis the lead singer of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. I grabbed a copy in an airport as I wanted something light to read on a long flight. Utter nonsense, the man is a massive egomaniac and, I felt, a bullshitter on an epic scale. 

Absolute wank of a man.

 

Can't remember the name but Lemmy's was brilliant 

 

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crunchy frog

Shakey by Neil Young, semi official. If I remember correctly he pulled the plug near the end of his interviews with the author. 

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Салатные палочки

Ronnie by Ronnie Drew was a good one. Sadly he died while writing it but it's finished off by his son and daughter. Some great drinking stories in it.

 

I read Slash years ago and enjoyed it. I'm amazed that he is still alive if he was being honest about his drug and alcohol use, which he no doubt was. 

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CF11JamTart
1 hour ago, Costanza said:

These are non autobiographical but would recommend these 2 books if you like post punk/ early 80s alternative music.

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rip_It_Up_and_Start_Again

 

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/This-Uncool-Greatest-Singles-since/dp/1844031055

I've had Rip It Up And Start Again sitting in the pile for a while.  I'll defo read it soon.

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been here before
2 hours ago, Smithee said:

 

 

Can't remember the name but Lemmy's was brilliant 

 

 

White Line Fever?

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Unknown user
12 minutes ago, been here before said:

 

White Line Fever?

Just a cold.

 

But yeah, that's the one, really good

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