The only thing better than a great biography is a great biography. Here’s hoping new memoirs from Richard Thompson, Rickie Lee Jones, Brandi Carlile and Ten Years After’s Ric Lee fit the bill. If not, well, you can already learn something new about Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen, or try to find Alice Cooper. Read all about ’em:
Beeswing: Losing My Way and Finding My Voice 1967-1975
By Richard Thompson & Scott Timberg
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “In this moving and immersive memoir, Richard Thompson, international and longtime beloved music legend, recreates the spirit of the 1960s, where he found, and then lost, and then found his way again. Known for his brilliant songwriting, his extraordinary guitar playing, and his haunting voice, Thompson is considered one of the top 20 guitarists of all time, in the songwriting pantheon alongside Bob Dylan, Paul Simon and Randy Newman. Now, in his long-awaited memoir, the British folk musician takes us back to the late 1960s, a period of great change and creativity — both for him and for the world at large. Thompson packed more than a lifetime of experiences into his late teens and 20s. During the pivotal years of 1967 to 1975, just as he was discovering his passion for music, he formed the band Fairport Convention with some schoolmates and helped establish the genre of British folk rock. That led to a heady period of songwriting and massive tours, where Thompson was on the road both in the U.K. and the U.S., and where he crossed paths with the likes of Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and Jimi Hendrix. But those eight years were also marked by change, upheaval, and tragedy. Then, at the height of the band’s popularity, Thompson left to form a duo act with his wife Linda. And as he writes revealingly here, his discovery and ultimate embrace of Sufism dramatically reshaped his approach to music — and of course everything else. An honest, moving, and compelling memoir, Beeswing vividly captures the life of a remarkable artist during a period of creative intensity in a world on the cusp of change.”
Last Chance Texaco: Chronicles of an American Troubadour
By Rickie Lee Jones
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Have you met Ms. Jones? One weekend night on primetime television, a then-unknown singer and vital part of the burgeoning Los Angeles jazz-pop scene skyrocketed to fame overnight after a now iconic performance on Saturday Night Live. The year was 1979, the song was Chuck E’s in Love, and the singer, donning her trademark red beret, was the soon-to-be-pronounced “Duchess of Coolsville,” Rickie Lee Jones. Last Chance Texaco is the first ever no-holds-barred account of the life of one of rock’s hardest working women in her own words. With candor and lyricism, Rickie Lee Jones takes us on the journey of her exceptional life: From her nomadic childhood as the granddaughter of vaudevillian performers, to her father’s abandonment of the family and her years as a teenage runaway, her beginnings at L.A.’s Troubadour club, to her tumultuous relationship with Tom Waits, her battle with drugs, and longevity as a woman in rock ’n’ roll. These are never-before-told stories of the girl in “the raspberry beret,” a songwriter who inspired American culture for decades.”
Broken Horses: A Memoir
By Brandi Carlile
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Brandi Carlile was born into a musically gifted, impoverished family on the outskirts of Seattle and grew up in a constant state of change, moving from house to house, trailer to trailer, 14 times in as many years. Though imperfect in every way, her dysfunctional childhood was as beautiful as it was strange, and as nurturing as it was difficult. At the age of five, Brandi contracted bacterial meningitis, which almost took her life, leaving an indelible mark on her formative years and altering her journey into young adulthood. As an openly gay teenager, Brandi grappled with the tension between her sexuality and her faith when her pastor publicly refused to baptize her on the day of the ceremony. Shockingly, her small town rallied around Brandi in support and set her on a path to salvation where the rest of the misfits and rejects find it: through twisted, joyful, weird, and wonderful music. In Broken Horses, Brandi Carlile takes readers through the events of her life that shaped her very raw art — from her start at a local singing competition where she performed Elton John’s Honky Cat in a bedazzled white polyester suit, to her first break opening for Dave Matthews Band, to many sleepless tours over 15 years and six studio albums, all while raising two children with her wife Catherine Shepherd. This hard-won success led her to collaborations with personal heroes like Elton John, Dolly Parton, Mavis Staples, Pearl Jam, Tanya Tucker and Joni Mitchell, as well as her peers in the supergroup The Highwomen, and ultimately to the Grammy stage, where she converted millions of viewers into instant fans. Evocative and piercingly honest, Broken Horses is at once an examination of faith through the eyes of a person rejected by the church’s basic tenets and a meditation on the moments and lyrics that have shaped the life of a creative mind, a brilliant artist, and a genuine empath on a mission to give back.”
From Headstocks To Woodstock: A Drummer’s Tale
By Ric Lee
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Following the Woodstock Festival in August 1969 and the movie in 1970, Ric Lee’s band Ten Years After became huge on the world stage. Ric’s autobiography charts the journey from the coal mining town of Mansfield in the U.K. to performing alongside the greats of the music scene: Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull, Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention, Miles Davis and The Godfather of Soul James Brown all became part of Ric’s life and helped enhance the band’s burgeoning worldwide appeal. Appearances at The Newport Jazz Festival, along with he Miami, Atlanta and Texas Pop Festivals, 1970’s Isle of Wight Festival (with Jimi Hendrix and The Who), and headline shows at London’s Royal Albert Hall, New York’s Madison Square Garden and Tokyo’s Budokan further exposed the band’s music to a global audience. It’s thought Ric performed to almost four million people a year between 1969 and 1975, not including the estimated 300,000 to 500,000 who saw their amazingly powerful performance at Woodstock more than 50 years ago. From Headstocks To Woodstock is a must-read for anyone who wants to find out more about the music scene in the mid-20th century and at a time when revolution in music was in the air.”
Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen: Deaths and Entrances
By David Boucher & Lucy Boucher
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Both Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen have been a presence on the music and poetry landscape spanning six decades. This book begins with a discussion of their contemporary importance, and how they have sustained their enduring appeal as performers and recording artists. The authors argue that both Dylan and Cohen shared early aspirations that mirrored the Beat Generation. They sought to achieve the fame of Dylan Thomas, who proved a bohemian poet could thrive outside the academy, and to live his life of unconditional social irresponsibility. While Dylan’s and Cohen’s fame fluctuated over the decades, it was sustained by self-consciously adopted personas used to distance themselves from their public selves. This separation of self requires an exploration of the artists’ relation to religion as an avenue to find and preserve inner identity. The relationship between their lyrics and poetry is explored in the context of Federico García Lorca’s concept of the poetry of inspiration and the emotional depths of ‘duende.’ Such ideas draw upon the dislocation of the mind and the liberation of the senses that so struck Dylan and Cohen when they first read the poetry and letters of Arthur Rimbaud and Lorca. The authors show that performance and the poetry are integral, and the ‘duende,’ or passion, of the delivery, is inseparable from the lyric or poetry, and common to Dylan, Cohen and the Beat Generation.”
Where is Alice Cooper?
By Lindsay Lee & David Calcano
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Can you find Alice Cooper? Search for the famous frontman amid elaborately illustrated scenes that depict the madness and mayhem of the musician’s legendary avant-garde aesthetic. For more than 50 years, Alice Cooper has surprised fans with his rule-breaking, genre-defining, horror-filled theatrical performances. Now, fans can bring a little of the band’s vaudeville-infused magic home with them with Where Is Alice Cooper?, an official, fully authorized seek-and-find book featuring the king of hard rock. With 14 double-page puzzles inspired by Alice Cooper’s iconic albums — including Welcome to My Nightmare, Billion Dollar Babies and Hey Stoopid — Where Is Alice Cooper? pays proper homage to the classic style expected from the architect of shock-rock. Say hello to Alice Cooper’s nightmare with these vibrant, whimsical scenes that bring the band’s celebrated horror aesthetic to life. Crafted by the same creative minds who brought you the critically acclaimed seek-and-find book Motörhead: Where is Lemmy? and the fan-favorite graphic novel Rush: The Making Of A Farewell To Kings, Where Is Alice Cooper? is the perfect addition to every Alice Cooper fan’s collection.”
