Book picks similar to
Memories and Commentaries by Igor Stravinsky


music
biography-history
type_theatre-of-dreams_music_plays
type_modernism_and_avant-garde

High Times, Hard Times


Anita O'Day - 1981
    -The New York Times Book Review

Girl in a Band


Kim Gordon - 2015
    Telling the story of her family, growing up in California in the '60s and '70s, her life in visual art, her move to New York City, the men in her life, her marriage, her relationship with her daughter, her music, and her band, Girl in a Band is a rich and beautifully written memoir.Gordon takes us back to the lost New York of the 1980s and '90s that gave rise to Sonic Youth, and the Alternative revolution in popular music. The band helped build a vocabulary of music—paving the way for Nirvana, Hole, Smashing Pumpkins and many other acts. But at its core, Girl in a Band examines the route from girl to woman in uncharted territory, music, art career, what partnership means—and what happens when that identity dissolves.Evocative and edgy, filled with the sights and sounds of a changing world and a transformative life, Girl in a Band is the fascinating chronicle of a remarkable journey and an extraordinary artist.

Concrete, Bulletproof, Invisible + Fried: My Life as a Revolting Cock


Chris Connelly - 2007
    Live shows were transformed into an ear-splitting redneck disco from hell, under the influence of a mind-boggling cocktail of every conceivable narcotic, with sleazy strippers and even reports of live cattle on stage.As well as Jourgensen and all the Wax Trax crew, the book features cameo appearances by Ogre of Skinny Puppy, Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, Killing Joke, Jah Wobble, and Cabaret Voltaire.Despite the unrelenting chaos, both Ministry and the Revolting Cocks have been immensely successful; Connelly appeared on two US gold albums ("The Land of Rape and Honey" and "The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste") and worked as songwriter on the million-plus selling platinum album "Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed and the Way to Suck Eggs."Connelly's superbly written, funny, irreverent, and sometimes downright scary memoir is one of the finest portrayals of a man trapped in the eye of a post-punk industrial storm this side of Armageddon.Chris Connelly was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, and now lives in Chicago where he has pursued a successful solo career.

Before Their Time: A Memoir


Robert Kotlowitz - 1997
    208 pp. 15,000 print.From the Hardcover edition.

An Accidental Bookseller: A Personal Memoir of Foyles


Bill Samuel - 2019
    From fond childhood memories of his eccentric and brilliant grandfather William Foyle, 'the Barnum of Bookselling' and his aunt, the beautiful, charming, witty, self centred and at times utterly ruthless Christina Foyle, to the 21st century rejuvenation of a dying family business, An Accidental Bookseller will appeal to all who have their own memories of Foyles.

33 Days: Touring In A Van. Sleeping On Floors. Chasing A Dream.


Bill See - 2011
    This deeply personal, coming of age, on the road memoir follows critically acclaimed 80s indie alt rock band Divine Weeks’ first tour. Liberated from alcoholic upbringings and rigid cultural constraints, all they have is their music and each other’s friendship. The road is filled with yuppies, brothels, riots, sleeping on floors, spiked drinks, DJs with no pants, and battles with racism. They set out on the road to discovery to drink in all they could and maybe sell a few records. They grew up instead.

It Won't Hurt a Bit: Nursing Tales from the Swinging Sixties


Jane Yeadon - 2010
    But before her training the nearest she got to anything swinging was the udder of the cow on their farm in the north-east of Scotland. It was time to leave for the bright lights and some modern life. It Won't Hurt a Bit is the story of Jane's journey from the farm she loved and the schoolwork she hated through to her nurse training and the many adventures along the way. It's a warm, funny and affectionate memoir from a simpler time as Jane and her new friends tackle the ups and downs of a gruelling three-year training, some scary matrons and a variety of challenging patients and their relatives. All to the backdrop of the fabulous Swinging Sixties.

The Book of Disquiet


Fernando Pessoa - 1982
    He attributed his prolific writings to a wide range of alternate selves, each of which had a distinct biography, ideology, and horoscope. When he died in 1935, Pessoa left behind a trunk filled with unfinished and unpublished writings, among which were the remarkable pages that make up his posthumous masterpiece, The Book of Disquiet, an astonishing work that, in George Steiner's words, "gives to Lisbon the haunting spell of Joyce's Dublin or Kafka's Prague." Published for the first time some fifty years after his death, this unique collection of short, aphoristic paragraphs comprises the "autobiography" of Bernardo Soares, one of Pessoa's alternate selves. Part intimate diary, part prose poetry, part descriptive narrative, captivatingly translated by Richard Zenith, The Book of Disquiet is one of the greatest works of the twentieth century.

Straight Up and Personal: The World According to Grapes


Don Cherry - 2014
         Known for his opinions--and unabashed expression of them--Don Cherry has been causing debate for decades. Topics on "Coach's Corner" sometimes veer away from sports and on to other matters that are near and dear to Cherry's heart: the war in Afghanistan and politics, among many others.      In Straight Up and Personal, Cherry shares his thoughts on a broader range of issues than he ever has before. He shares some of his personal experiences on and off the ice, and offers the lessons he's learned along the way. This is Don Cherry: straight up and personal.

Faithfull


Marianne Faithfull - 1994
    She recalls her love and life with Mick Jagger, how Bob Dylan wooed her, the Rolling Stones courted her and finally, how drugs trapped her into a world where nothing else mattered but the next fix. She also reveals the contradictions of life as a "star", first as the pop confection she was packaged as, and later as the hard-edged artist who co-authored "Sister Morphine" and shocked the world with "Broken English".

Harvest of Yesterdays


Gladys Taber - 1976
    Taber shares memories of her childhood in the Southwest and Mexico as well as her married life and early pursuit of a writing career.

To Live's to Fly: The Ballad of the Late, Great Townes Van Zandt


John Kruth - 2005
    Worth, Texas, hounded by alcoholism and an unshakable depression, Van Zandt pursued a nomadic existence following his muse, whatever the cost to himself, friends, and family. Based on exclusive interviews with everyone who knew Van Zandt, including his best friend Guy Clark and colleagues like Steve Earle and John Prine, To Live’s To Fly is a compelling portrait of a complex, haunted artist.

Americana: The Kinks, the Riff, the Road: The Story


Ray Davies - 2013
    Then, as part of the British Invasion, he toured the US with the Kinks during one of the most tumultuous eras in recent history—until the Kinks group was banned from performing there from 1965-69. Many tours and trips later, while living in New Orleans, he experienced a transformative event: the shooting (a result of a botched robbery) that nearly took his life. In Americana, Davies tries to make sense of his long love-hate relationship with the country that both inspired and frustrated him. From his quintessentially English perspective as a Kink, Davies—with candor, humor, and wit—takes us on a very personal road trip through his life and storied career as a rock star, and reveals what music, fame, and America really mean to him. Some of the most fascinating characters in recent pop culture make appearances, from the famous to the perhaps even-more-interesting behind-the-scenes players. The book also includes a photographic insert with images from Davies's own collection from the band's archive.

Dear, Dear Brenda: The Love Letters of Henry Miller to Brenda Venus


Henry Miller - 1986
    

I'm In the Band: Backstage Notes from the Chick in White Zombie


Sean Yseult - 2010
    The band became a multiplatinum, two-time Grammy nominee with the release of their 1992 album, La Sexorcisto. But while most people will remember their bizarre look and macabre lyrics, what many failed to realize was that their lanky, high-octane bass player was a woman.I’m In the Band combines eleven years of tour diaries, flyers, and personal photos and ephemera to chart White Zombie’s rise from the gritty music scene of New York’s Lower East Side in the eighties to arena headliners during the nineties. It also shares the unlikely story of a female musician who won the respect and adoration of male metal musicians and fans. From 1985 to 1996, Sean Yseult was the sole woman not only in White Zombie, but in the entire metal scene.With I’m In the Band, Yseult has created both a coffee table book and a striking visual memoir. Her personal memorabilia offers fans a unique vantage on the life of a mega-band during rock’s last golden age.