Not Dead Yet: The Memoir


Phil Collins - 2016
    In his much-awaited memoir, Not Dead Yet, he tells the story of his epic career, with an auspicious debut at age 11 in a crowd shot from the Beatles’ legendary film A Hard Day’s Night. A drummer since almost before he could walk, Collins received on the job training in the seedy, thrilling bars and clubs of 1960s swinging London before finally landing the drum seat in Genesis. Soon, he would step into the spotlight on vocals after the departure of Peter Gabriel and begin to stockpile the songs that would rocket him to international fame with the release of Face Value and In the Air Tonight. Whether he’s recalling jamming with Eric Clapton and Robert Plant, pulling together a big band fronted by Tony Bennett, or writing the music for Disney’s smash-hit animated Tarzan, Collins’s storytelling chops never waver. And of course he answers the pressing question on everyone’s mind: just what does Sussudio mean? Not Dead Yet is Phil Collins’s candid, witty, unvarnished story of the songs and shows, the hits and pans, his marriages and divorces, the ascents to the top of the charts and into the tabloid headlines. As one of only three musicians to sell 100 million records both in a group and as a solo artist, Collins breathes rare air, but has never lost his touch at crafting songs from the heart that touch listeners around the globe. That same touch is on magnificent display here, especially as he unfolds his harrowing descent into darkness after his “official” retirement in 2007, and the profound, enduring love that helped save him. This is Phil Collins as you’ve always known him, but also as you’ve never heard him before.'

Bon: The Last Highway


Jesse Fink - 2017
    You won't be able to put it down once you get started."- Chris Jericho, Talk is Jericho (Westwood One)"Fink is one of, if not the foremost authority on all things AC/DC… [Bon: The Last Highway] reads as a cross between an Agatha Christie–like novel and CSI–influenced approach to dissecting the physical evidence and outstanding questions related to the public story revolving around Bon’s death. I cannot recommend this book enough. Whether you love AC/DC, just like them or are just interested in rock ’n’ roll in general this is an amazing story."- Metal Geezers"Bon: The Last Highway by Jesse Fink is one of the most impressive biographies I've ever read. It is an absolute masterpiece that features more sources and research than most college textbooks. I was floored by the amount of effort and research that Jesse poured into this project."In the case of Bon Scott, both his tragic death and (potentially) his greatest lyrical work have been totally distorted for the sake of the legends that surround AC/DC. Jesse's book is one long re-examination of those legends, and he makes mince-meat out of most of the band's official stories... his work here is profoundly impressive."- Play That Rock’n’Roll "After being made aware of the previous poor attempts to tell Bon's story, I decided to read Bon: The Last Highway. Fink's book deserves 10 out of 10 for effort in gathering all the information possible.... Theory Two [about how Bon died] could not be any closer to the truth. I know, because I was there."- Joe Fury, Bon Scott's friend who went to the hospital in London when Bon was declared dead-on-arrivalBooks of the Year - Planet Rock (UK)Books of the Year - Herald Sun (Australia)Books of the Year - Loud Online (Australia)Books of the Year - All Music Books (USA)Books of the Year - InQuire, University of Kent (UK)Praise for Bon: The Last Highway by Jesse Fink:"A fascinating portrait of a troubled man with a serious alcohol addiction... the literary equivalent of a road movie." - Ronan McGreevy, Irish Times"One of 2017's most essential rock reads." - al.com (Alabama)"Over the years Bon Scott has become an untouchable rock god; but this book digs deeper. It's something that hasn't really been done before... it's a whole new look on the troubled frontman and a fine biography." - Jyrki "Spider" Hamalainen, Vive Le Rock (UK)"After being made aware of the previous poor attempts to tell Bon's story, I decided to read Bon: The Last Highway. Fink's book deserves 10 out of 10 for effort in gathering all the information possible.... Theory Two [about how Bon died] could not be any closer to the truth. I know, because I was there." - Joe Fury, Bon Scott's friend who went to the hospital in London to identify Bon's body"Hand-on-heart clarity and the haze of memory merge here to do justice to what is both a celebratory and cautionary tale... you will learn much on this road trip. You already know the soundtrack."- RTE (Republic of Ireland)"Jesse Fink is a very courageous writer... a fact-rich, exciting book that reads in places like a crime story. Investigative journalism at its best." - Metal Glory (Germany)"Just like the object of his desire (it is his second book on AC/DC), Fink is prone to perfectionism. He meticulously dedicates himself to the last three years in the life of Ronald Belford Scott ... Fink's book is a real gift for the fans of the tragically and much too early deceased singer." - Classic Rock (Germany)"Of the 20-plus books written about AC/DC, this one comes closest to the truth about how former singer Bon Scott died and his uncredited legacy as a songwriter... not just for fans, this is equal parts cautionary tale and meticulously researched document." - Courier Mail (Australia)"Fink's book meticulously explores the man and the many myths about Scott's life and death, and his hell of a ride in between." - Herald Sun (Australia)"A literary masterpiece." - Soundanalyse (Germany)"One of the most important publications on AC/DC... Fink has become something of an AC/DC detective and shines light on parts of the AC/DC story which have always been dimly lit. Music fans around the world have been waiting for this book - and it does not disappoint." - Denis Gray, Australian Rock Show"I read this book in seven hours, with a 20-minute break for dinner, and put it down almost breathless at the non-biased, staggering research. Bon: The Last Highway is probably one of the best books I've ever read - on anything! And I read a lot. This book goes up to 11! Extremely well done. A magnificent book." - Paul Chapman, guitarist, UFO"Crossing continents and tracking key figures down, Fink's work is impressive; his book is exhaustively investigative and engrossing." - Exclaim "Painstakingly researched." - Dangerous Minds"Phenomenal." - Sirius XM VOLUME "Debatable""Brilliant writing, many revelations. A must-read. Astonishingly good reporting." - Lori Majewski, SiriusXM VOLUME "Feedback""A great page-turner... a riveting read." - The Rockpit (Australia)"Jesse Fink is not the first writer to suggest there's something fishy about the official version of [Bon] Scott's death and its aftermath, but no one else has offered such a plausible or exhaustively researched alternative theory... vindicating old-school journalistic rigour, Fink compiled a vast testimony from multiple sources and invites the reader to decide where the truth lies, Rashomon-style. This is no easy task: key witnesses are either dead, like [Alistair] Kinnear, or their memories are clouded by the fog of war, like UFO's Paul Chapman and Pete Way. But as with his previous book, the absence of co-operation from the AC/DC inner circle has been to Fink's benefit... [he has] effectively undertaken the detective work that wasn't conducted at the time. It's a dense, tangled tale but Fink reveals the humanity behind the myth: Bon was a flawed, conflicted character, trapped in a persona, who ultimately chose the path he took and got unlucky." - Keith Cameron, MOJO"The most extensively researched book on AC/DC ever... it's outstanding. If you thought you knew Bon Scott, think again. This is as close as anyone is ever gonna get to the complete truth behind the legend, warts and all." - B.J. Lisko, Canton Repository, Ohio"The most in-depth investigation into what happened to Bon Scott on the night of his death you'll ever read." - Rich Davenport, Rich Davenport's Rock Show"This one-man investigation, born of respect for the truth and for Scott as a human being, blazes a new trail." - Joe Bonomo, author of AC/DC's Highway To Hell (33 1/3 Series)"Jesse Fink has done rock fans a great service. He dispels the many myths about how AC/DC's Bon Scott lived and died, and in doing so, brings to life one of the most influential, memorable, and complex figures in rock history." - Greg Renoff, author of Van Halen Rising"Fink leaves no stone unturned in this deep biography of Bon Scott." - Publishers Weekly "Amazing... the most in-depth researched book on Scott's final years ever written. The story of Bon's last days on earth has never been properly told...until now. This book is good enough it has me waiting for the movie." - Classic Rock Revisited

Bach: Music in the Castle of Heaven


John Eliot Gardiner - 2013
    How can such sublime work have been produced by a man who (when we can discern his personality at all) seems so ordinary, so opaque—and occasionally so intemperate? John Eliot Gardiner grew up passing one of the only two authentic portraits of Bach every morning and evening on the stairs of his parents’ house, where it hung for safety during World War II. He has been studying and performing Bach ever since, and is now regarded as one of the composer’s greatest living interpreters. The fruits of this lifetime’s immersion are distilled in this remarkable book, grounded in the most recent Bach scholarship but moving far beyond it, and explaining in wonderful detail the ideas on which Bach drew, how he worked, how his music is constructed, how it achieves its effects—and what it can tell us about Bach the man. Gardiner’s background as a historian has encouraged him to search for ways in which scholarship and performance can cooperate and fruitfully coalesce. This has entailed piecing together the few biographical shards, scrutinizing the music, and watching for those instances when Bach’s personality seems to penetrate the fabric of his notation. Gardiner’s aim is “to give the reader a sense of inhabiting the same experiences and sensations that Bach might have had in the act of music-making. This, I try to show, can help us arrive at a more human likeness discernible in the closely related processes of composing and performing his music.” It is very rare that such an accomplished performer of music should also be a considerable writer and thinker about it. John Eliot Gardiner takes us as deeply into Bach’s works and mind as perhaps words can. The result is a unique book about one of the greatest of all creative artists.

A Freewheelin' Time: A Memoir of Greenwich Village in the Sixties


Suze Rotolo - 2008
    It chronicles the back-story of Greenwich Village in the early days of the folk music explosion, when Dylan was honing his skills and she was in the ring with him.A shy girl from Queens, Suze Rotolo was the daughter of Italian working-class Communists. Growing up at the start of the Cold War and during McCarthyism, she inevitably became an outsider in her neighborhood and at school. Her childhood was turbulent, but Suze found solace in poetry, art, and music. In Washington Square Park, in Greenwich Village, she encountered like-minded friends who were also politically active. Then one hot day in July 1961, Suze met Bob Dylan, a rising young musician, at a folk concert at Riverside Church. She was seventeen, he was twenty; they were young, curious, and inseparable. During the years they were together, Dylan was transformed from an obscure folk singer into an uneasy spokesperson for a generation.Suze Rotolo’s story is rich in character and setting, filled with vivid memories of those tumultuous years of dramatic change and poignantly rising expectations when art, culture, and politics all seemed to be conspiring to bring our country a better, freer, richer, and more equitable life. She writes of her involvement with the civil rights movement and describes the sometimes frustrating experience of being a woman in a male-dominated culture, before women’s liberation changed the rules for the better. And she tells the wonderfully romantic story of her sweet but sometimes wrenching love affair and its eventual collapse under the pressures of growing fame.A Freewheelin’ Time is a vibrant, moving memoir of a hopeful time and place and of a vital subculture at its most creative. It communicates the excitement of youth, the heartbreak of young love, and the struggles for a brighter future.

Rip it Up and Start Again


Simon Reynolds - 2005
    RIP IT UP AND START AGAIN is a celebration of what happened next.Post-punk bands like PiL, Joy Division, Talking Heads, The Fall and The Human League dedicated themselves to fulfilling punk's unfinished musical revolution. The post-punk groups were fervent modernists; whether experimenting with electronics and machine rhythm or adapting ideas from dub reggae and disco, they were totally confident they could invent a whole new future for music.

Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys


Viv Albertine - 2014
    Her memoir tells the story of how, through sheer will, talent, and fearlessness, she forced herself into a male-dominated industry, became part of a movement that changed music, and inspired a generation of female rockers.After forming The Flowers of Romance with Sid Vicious in 1976, Albertine joined The Slits and made musical history in one of the first generations of punk bands. The Slits would go on to serve as an inspiration to future rockers, including Kurt Cobain, Carrie Brownstein, and the Riot Grrrl movement in the 1990s. This is the story of what it was like to be a girl at the height of punk: the sex, the drugs, the guys, the tours, and being part of a brilliant pioneering group of women making musical history. Albertine recounts helping define punk fashion, struggling to find her place among the boys, and her romance with Mick Jones, including her pregnancy and subsequent abortion. She also gives a candid account of what happened post-punk, beyond the break-up of The Slits in 1982, including a career in film, surviving cancer, and making music again, twenty-five years later.A truly remarkable memoir told in Viv’s frank, irreverent, and distinctive voice, Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys. is a raw, thrilling story of life on the frontier.

Jimmy Page: Magus, Musician, Man: An Unauthorized Biography


George Case - 2007
    From his childhood in war-torn Britain and his pivotal role in the recording studios that launched the British Invasion of the '60s to his milestone achievements, his dark, nefarious excesses with Led Zeppelin, and his emergence as a revered cultural icon and honored philanthropist, this biography - the first ever written about Jimmy Page - portrays all his spiritual, artistic, and personal dimensions. Swinging London, the Sunset Strip, Bron-yr-Aur, Kashmir, and Clarksdale: Magus, Musician, Man traverses through all of Page's hallowed stomping grounds and tells, at last, the complete story of one of rock 'n' roll's most enigmatic and influential talents.

Ska'd for Life: A Personal Journey with The Specials


Horace Panter - 2007
    Founded by Jerry Dammers, their fusion of punk, reggae, and ska created a new musical fashion—spearheaded by their own Two Tone record label—that stood for unity and racial harmony in a polarized society. This musical odyssey with The Specials moves from their early days on Coventry's punk circuit, to their chart-storming success with singles like Too Much Too Young and the eerily prescient Ghost Town, released as the race riots of 1982 saw Toxteth and Brixton go up in flames. Written with wry humor, this affectionate look at a band whose sublime music remains influential today is a must for all fans of The Specials.

Johnny Cash: The Life


Robert Hilburn - 2013
    Johnny Cash's extraordinary career stretched from his days at Sun Records with Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis to the remarkable creative last hurrah, at age 69, that resulted in the brave, moving "Hurt" video.As music critic for the Los Angeles Times, Hilburn knew Cash throughout his life: he was the only music journalist at the legendary Folsom Prison concert in 1968, and he interviewed both Cash and his wife June Carter just months before their deaths. Drawing upon a trove of never-before-seen material from the singer's inner circle, Hilburn creates an utterly compelling, deeply human portrait of a towering figure in country music, a seminal influence in rock, and an icon of American popular culture. Hilburn's reporting shows the astonishing highs and deep lows that marked the journey of a man of great faith and humbling addiction who throughout his life strove to use his music to lift people's spirits.

Mercury: An Intimate Biography of Freddie Mercury


Lesley-Ann Jones - 1997
    But few people ever really glimpsed the man behind the glittering faÇade.      Mercury was the first major rock star to die from AIDS. Now, twenty years after his death, those closest to him are finally opening up about this pivotal figure in rock n’ roll. With unprecedented access to Mercury’s tribe, rock journalist Lesley-Ann Jones has crafted the definitive account of Mercury’s legendary life. Jones details Queen’s slow but steady rise to fame, and Mercury’s descent into dangerous, pleasure-seeking excesses. Jones doesn’t shy away from Mercury’s often colorful lifestyle—this was, after all, a man who once declared, “Darling, I’m doing everything with everyone.”     In her journey to understand Mercury, Jones traveled to London, Zanzibar, and India—talking with everyone from Freddie’s closest friends, to the sound engineer at Band Aid (who was responsible for making Queen louder than the other bands), to second cousins halfway around the world, an intimate and complicated portrait emerges. Meticulously researched, sympathetic yet not sensational, Mercury offers an unvarnished, revealing look at the extreme highs and lows of life in the fast lane.      Freddie Mercury will be the subject of a major motion picture titled Mercury, slated for 2012 production, produced by Graham King, starring Sacha Baron Cohen. This book is a key source for the film. Mercury is the most compelling, up-to-date portrait of an enigmatic entertainer who thrilled audiences around the world with a magnetism matched by few performers.

Born to Run


Bruce Springsteen - 2016
    In these pages, I’ve tried to do this.” —Bruce Springsteen, from the pages of Born to RunIn 2009, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band performed at the Super Bowl’s halftime show. The experience was so exhilarating that Bruce decided to write about it. That’s how this extraordinary autobiography began. Over the past seven years, Bruce Springsteen has privately devoted himself to writing the story of his life, bringing to these pages the same honesty, humor, and originality found in his songs. He describes growing up Catholic in Freehold, New Jersey, amid the poetry, danger, and darkness that fueled his imagination, leading up to the moment he refers to as “The Big Bang”: seeing Elvis Presley’s debut on The Ed Sullivan Show. He vividly recounts his relentless drive to become a musician, his early days as a bar band king in Asbury Park, and the rise of the E Street Band. With disarming candor, he also tells for the first time the story of the personal struggles that inspired his best work, and shows us why the song “Born to Run” reveals more than we previously realized. Born to Run will be revelatory for anyone who has ever enjoyed Bruce Springsteen, but this book is much more than a legendary rock star’s memoir. This is a book for workers and dreamers, parents and children, lovers and loners, artists, freaks, or anyone who has ever wanted to be baptized in the holy river of rock and roll. Rarely has a performer told his own story with such force and sweep. Like many of his songs (“Thunder Road,” “Badlands,” “Darkness on the Edge of Town,” “The River,” “Born in the U.S.A.,” “The Rising,” and “The Ghost of Tom Joad,” to name just a few), Bruce Springsteen’s autobiography is written with the lyricism of a singular songwriter and the wisdom of a man who has thought deeply about his experiences.

No Quarter: The Three Lives of Jimmy Page


Martin J. Power - 2015
    Starting with the early Sixties session scene when the teenage Page contributed to recordings by The Who, The Rolling Stones, Tom Jones and many more, the author goes on to explore Page's time in The Yardbirds, the band that would metamorphose into the legendary Led Zeppelin.Supported by album reviews, rare photographs, a full discography and candid conversations with Page's friends, managers and musical collaborators, author Martin Power's No Quarter: The Three Lives Of Jimmy Page represents the most comprehensive and up-to-date biography yet written about Jimmy Page—a "one man guitar army" and true music legend.

Kicking and Dreaming: A Story of Heart, Soul, and Rock and Roll


Ann Wilson - 2012
    Since finding their love of music and performing as teenagers in Seattle, Washington, Ann Wilson and Nancy Wilson, have been part of the American rock music landscape. From 70s classics like “Magic Man” and “Barracuda” to chart- topping 80s ballads like “Alone,” and all the way up to 2012, when they will release their latest studio album, Fanatic, Heart has been thrilling their fans and producing hit after hit. In Kicking and Dreaming, the Wilsons recount their story as two sisters who have a shared over three decades on the stage, as songwriters, as musicians, and as the leaders of one of our most beloved rock bands. An intimate, honest, and a uniquely female take on the rock and roll life, readers of bestselling music memoirs like Life by Keith Richards and Steven Tyler’s Does the Noise in My Head Bother You? will love this quintessential music story finally told from a female perspective.

Remain in Love: Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club, Tina


Chris Frantz - 2020
    With never-before-seen photos and immersive vivid detail, Frantz describes life on tour, down to the meals eaten and the clothes worn--and reveals the mechanics of a long and complicated working relationship with a mercurial frontman.At the heart of Remain in Love is Frantz's love for Weymouth: their once-in-a-lifetime connection as lovers, musicians, and bandmates, and how their creativity surged with the creation of their own band Tom Tom Club, bringing a fresh Afro-Caribbean beat to hits like "Genius of Love."Studded with memorable places and names from the era--Grace Jones, Andy Warhol, Stephen Sprouse, Lou Reed, Brian Eno, and Debbie Harry among them--Remain in Love is a frank and open memoir of an emblematic life in music and in love.

Fargo Rock City: A Heavy Metal Odyssey in Rural North Dakota


Chuck Klosterman - 2001
    With a voice like Ace Frehley's guitar, Klosterman hacks his way through hair-band history, beginning with that fateful day in 1983 when his older brother brought home Mötley Crüe's Shout at the Devil. The fifth-grade Chuck wasn't quite ready to rock -- his hair was too short and his farm was too quiet -- but he still found a way to bang his nappy little head. Before the journey was over, he would slow-dance to Poison, sleep innocently beneath satanic pentagrams, lust for Lita Ford, and get ridiculously intellectual about Guns N' Roses. C'mon and feel his noize.