A writer I respect, best known as a superb newspaper news reporter, is
Dennis McDougal whose biography of Bob Dylan is to be released in May.
This is likely to be the definitive book on Bob.

I continue to admire Stanley Booth, who I know has at least one great book
left in him. Same could be said of Michael Lydon.

SO...who do YOU respect? Whose music books stand the test of time?

Lester Bangs was the best.

Stanley Booth's book was great but, alas, the drugs, the back... so sad he wrote so little. he was also a little too much the fanboy for my taste. But he wrote the best book on the stones IMO. Would be great if he wrote another.

Chuck Klosterman was pretty good over the past 10-20 years, until he tried to turn himself into a broader observer of culture (and NYTimes ethicist).



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2014-04-19 02:09 by sonomastone.

James Young's book on the life and tours of Nico in the eighties remains a favorite. The writing is funny, witty and a completely accurate account--because James Young was Nico's keyboard player for those last tours, after having met the iconic chanteuse through a mutual acquaintence, a would-be impresario named Demetrius, in 1981. John Cale makes some memorable drunken, cocaine-fueled cameos as the producer of Nico's final studio album, 1985's Camera Obscura, on which Young plays as part of the band credited as "The Faction", even co-writing the album's opening instrumental track with John Cale. Here is the opening page of the book, and you'll see what I mean about the engaging style of Young's writing, who, as it turns out, only had one book in him--as he only knew one Nico--but it was a beauty:

AQUAVILLE

'Libraries are where you go when you're afraid of your dreams.'

You can't get up to much in a library. They're like monasteries but with the whispered torture of a thousand rustling nylons. SILENCE must be obeyed at all times, yet distractions are infinite as every train of thought is derailed by boredom or lust or the soft, over-ripe thud of bulging briefcases yielding their dead weight of learning; the screams of chairs dragged to favoured corners; and always the breathy flutter of the turning page.

It was November 1981 and I was going insane -- though, as this was Oxford, very discreetly -- when a familiar rotund figure stood at the top of the steps to my flat, blocking out the daylight. I hadn't seen him in five years, since when he'd put on an extra few stone, lost his hair, and awarded himself a doctorate.

'Looks like I beat you to it, old boy,' said Dr Demetrius in a mock Oxford accent as if he was still continuing some running argument, some unresolved rivalry from half a decade before.

Then the deepest female voice I'd ever heard, wearing a German accent as heavy as a leather Gestapo coat and louder than the foghorn on the Bismarck, boomed around the corner.

'Where are yoooo?'

'Neek ... Neek ...' shouted Demetrius. 'Come and meet my old friend Jim, or rather "James" as I believe it is now.'

'Hey-lloo.' There was a rather heavy-set woman of about forty staring through and beyond me and into the flat next door, with strange blue/grey eyes that were striated with red veins, like a map of Hell.

'May I use your bathroom?'

--James Young, Nico: The End, pp. 1-2, 1993, The Overlook Press (Woodstock, New York, USA)

The Faction in action, with track 5 from Camera Obscura, Das Lied vom einsamen Mädchen:





Front album cover for Camera Obscura (recorded March-April 1985 at the Strongroom in London and released on the Beggars Banquet label):



Nico and The Faction live in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, in 1985, with author James Young, in the left of the clip frame, on keyboards:

For me, nobody has touched Peter Guralnick's 2-volume Elvis bio, or his book "In Search Of Robert Johnson". Mark Lewisohn's new Beatles bio is fantastic, and it's only the first of three volumes!

Quote
71Tele
For me, nobody has touched Peter Guralnick's 2-volume Elvis bio, or his book "In Search Of Robert Johnson". Mark Lewisohn's new Beatles bio is fantastic, and it's only the first of three volumes!

i'll have to check guralnick out. i also thought lewisohn's beatles book was tremendous, although stanley booth and lester bangs both have/had more feel to them IMO.

Essential ... been revised nearly as many times as the bible but each
time it resurfaces Mr Marcus has added valuable new information ....Oh yeah and the lucky man's heard Without You .......

Colin Escott for his absolutely stunning research on Hank Williams and
amazing info on every cat who's knocked out a country boogie--rockabilly record....... Oh yeah and the lucky guy's heard Ronnie Self's demo of Sweet Nothin's ....

Guralnick is good with the Elvis stuff ... Sweet Soul music ....and dare say another man who's heard Without You .........

Robert Palmer -- Deep Blues



ROCKMAN

For everything I've read on the Stones, I'll go with Stanley Booth as the ultimate story teller on those wild rides. I also love the works of Bill Flanagan and Chet Flippo (RIP) for their articles on the Stones and others. And of course, the amazing Lester Bangs.
Cheers,

Agree about Stanley Booth and Greil Marcus, very mixed feelings about Lester Bangs.

Quote
71Tele
For me, nobody has touched Peter Guralnick's 2-volume Elvis bio, or his book "In Search Of Robert Johnson". Mark Lewisohn's new Beatles bio is fantastic, and it's only the first of three volumes!

His book on Southern Soul (sweet soul music) is the best book about music I ever read.

Spanish Tony Sanchez.

Quote
Bliss
Spanish Tony Sanchez.

But how much did he write himself?

I like Stanley Booth, both for True Adventures and Rhythm Oil.

However, Michael Stressguth on Johnny Cash and the OUtlaw movement is fairly good. Ian Carr on Miles Davis is also excellent, but my all time favourite is Nick Tosches on Jerry Lee Lewis with his Hellfire. Sometimes it reads more like a novel, what with the Southern baptist allusions.

Don't forget the guys who were writing for NME in the 70's:Nick Kent, Charles Shaar Murray, Ian McDonald and the late Mick Farren.Bob Stanley's'Yeah Yeah
Yeah is a recent must-read, ditto Bill Janovitz's Rocks Off (aka 50 Great Stones songs).

Writing about the Stones, Stanley Booth and Keith Richards.

As far as Stones literature goes, I have more and more started to appreciate Sean Egan.

- Doxa

No one touches Albert Goldman

Jan Donkers

Elijah Wald

Stanley Booth and Chet Flippo

Quote
Green Lady
Elijah Wald

Yep, I like him too, and have sure learned a lot from his books.
I wish he'd write a series of articles, though - I think that would suit his ideas better.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2014-04-19 18:02 by with sssoul.

Don't know if he was a great or even good writer but as far as rock books go's Levon Helm and his This Wheels On Fire is far and away my personal favorite. Just like The Last Waltze is my favorite rock doc film.

Peter Guralnick
Nick Kent
Tony Fletcher
Ben Fong-Torres
Stanley Booth
Robert Gordon
Greil Marcus
Ian McDonald

Yes, I liked the Levon Helm book VERY much.

And re Lester Bangs, it's a big loss that he never got round to writing a book...He was one of the best people I ever knew.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2014-04-20 09:09 by stonesrule.

Interesting take on Lester Bangs, stonesrule, I'd like to hear more. Perhaps more context would make me accentuate the positive, so to speak.

I should have also mentioned Lisa Robinson, who, unbelievably, I didn't realize was married to Richard R. Here's an interesting interview about her new book, including her relationships with Mick and Keith.

I always thought Levon drank a good vintage of sour grapes concerning Robbie Robertson.

Oh Aquamarine...you are so bright!
We can talk about Lester when we meet...not to mention Lisa.
Lester would have enjoyed and agreed with your little summation above.

Greil Marcus is always a good read--

As a Beatles fan, Mark Lewisohn's work is and has been indespensible- he is always spot on

David Dalton did some nice Stones work in the 70's

Barry Miles biography of Paul McCartney was terrific
Danny Sugermans Jim Morrison bio was entertaining as well

As far a musician's autobiographys go:

Bill Wyman's Stone Alone was a really good read
Mick Fleetwood did a nice job with his a number of years ago
Levon Helm -- loved it !
Neil Young's had me laughing out loud-- really enjoyable
Graham Nash's was fun
Pete Townsend's gave me the creeps
Mickey Dolenz's was hilarious
Keith's, for me, was 50/50...loved a lot of it, but.....

Nick Kent "The dark Stuff". He makes himself obvious in what he writes about; he doesn't try to be objective really, he just helps create rock and roll myths from the unextraordinary lifes of rock and rollers. Once in a while, that kind of "gonzo" rock critic is welcomed , I believe.
Rock an roll,
Mops

i think bob dylan's was the best "autobiographical" work. i hope he writes more. Keith's was also one of the best. haven't read levon helm's.
wyman's stone alone was, i thought, incredibly lacking in discussion of music.

Greil Marcus is good. My favourite book about rock 'n' roll is by Fred Goodman and it is called Mansion On The Hill about the collision of rock 'n' roll and commerce. The funniest writer about rock 'n' roll is Rob Sheffield. In Rolling Stone Record Guide he has some beautiful lines. He describes Bob Dylan At Budokan as "immaculately frightful" (quoting Desolation Row and effectively reviewing the album in two words). He also has a line about Chicago having a great name for disguising how totally L.A. they were. Lester Bangs was probably the heart and soul of early rock 'n' roll criticism but for me the best representation of him was Phillip Seymour Hoffman's portrayal of him in Almost Famous.