It doesn’t get any bigger than this, people. There are more than two-dozen new titles hitting the racks next week, including memoirs by / bios of Thurston Moore, Britney Spears, George Harrison, Ronnie Lane, Tupac, Nirvana, Harry Styles, Dolly Parton, Patsy Cline, Jimmie Rodgers, Bob Wills and even Johnny Marr’s guitar collection. Toss in the usual slew of photo tomes, graphic novels, histories and you’ve got the busiest week of the fall — until next week, anyway. Get reading of get the hell out of here:
Sonic Life: A Memoir
By Thurston Moore
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Thurston Moore moved to Manhattan’s East Village in 1978 with a yearning for music. He wanted to be immersed in downtown New York’s sights and sounds — the feral energy of its nightclubs, the angular roar of its bands, the magnetic personalities within its orbit. But more than anything, he wanted to make music — to create indelible sounds that would move, provoke, and inspire. His dream came to life in 1981 with the formation of Sonic Youth, a band Moore cofounded with Kim Gordon and Lee Ranaldo. Sonic Youth became a fixture in New York’s burgeoning No Wave scene — an avant-garde collision of art and sound, poetry and punk. The band would evolve from critical darlings to commercial heavyweights, headlining festivals around the globe while helping introduce listeners to such artists as Nirvana, Hole and Pavement, and playing alongside such icons as Neil Young and Iggy Pop. Through it all, Moore maintained an unwavering love of music: the new, the unheralded, the challenging, the irresistible. Sonic Life offers a window into the trajectory of a celebrated artist and a tribute to an era of explosive creativity. It presents a firsthand account of New York in a defining cultural moment, a history of alternative rock as it was birthed and came to dominate airwaves, and a love letter to music, whatever the form. This is a story for anyone who has ever felt touched by sound — who knows the way the right song at the right moment can change the course of a life.”
The Woman In Me
By Britney Spears
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “In June 2021, the whole world was listening as Britney Spears spoke in open court. The impact of sharing her voice — her truth— was undeniable, and it changed the course of her life and the lives of countless others. The Woman In Me reveals for the first time her incredible journey — and the strength at the core of one of the greatest performers in pop music history. Written with remarkable candor and humor, Spears’s groundbreaking book illuminates the enduring power of music and love — and the importance of a woman telling her own story, on her own terms, at last.
Bob Dylan: Mixing up the Medicine
By Mark Davidson & Parker Fishel
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Several years ago, a treasure trove containing some 6,000 original Bob Dylan manuscripts was revealed to exist. Their destination? Tulsa, Oklahoma. The documents, as essential as they are intriguing — draft lyrics, notebooks, and diverse ephemera — comprise one of the most important cultural archives in the modern world. Along with countless still and moving images and thousands of hours of riveting studio and live recordings, this priceless collection now resides at The Bob Dylan Center in Tulsa, just steps away from the archival home of Dylan’s early hero, Woody Guthrie. Nearly all the materials preserved are unique, previously unavailable, and, in many cases, even previously unknown. Mixing Up The Medicine is the first wide-angle look at the Dylan archive, a book that promises to be of vast interest to both the Nobel Laureate’s many musical fans and to a broader national and international audience as well. Edited by Mark Davidson and Parker Fishel, Mixing Up The Medicine focuses on Dylan’s working life, particularly from the dynamic perspective of his ongoing and shifting creative processes — his earliest home recordings in the mid-1950s right up through Rough and Rowdy Ways (2020), his most recent studio recording, and into the present day. The centerpiece of the book is a carefully curated selection of over 600 images including never-before-circulated draft lyrics, writings, photographs, drawings and other ephemera from the Dylan archive.”
Anymore For Anymore: The Ronnie Lane Story
By Caroline Stafford & David Stafford
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Anymore For Anymore is a biography on cult British musician Ronnie Lane. During the 1960s Lane co-founded one of the quintessential British bands of the era: Small Faces. Hits including Itchycoo Park followed, but before long, with frontman Steve Marriott leaving, the band gained Rod Stewart and then morphed into Faces, before continuing their success. Anymore… charts the fortunes of Lane throughout the period as well as his later work and life. His health struggles and early death are also sensitively recounted. The only full-length book regarding Lane, it was written by David and Caroline Stafford, whose previous work includes Fings Ain’t Wot They Used T’ Be, a full-length biography of Lionel Bart.”
George Harrison: The Reluctant Beatle
By Philip Norman
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Despite being hailed as one of the best guitarists of his era, George Harrison, particularly in his early decades, battled feelings of inferiority. He was often the butt of jokes from his bandmates owing to his lower-class background and, typically, was allowed to contribute only one or two songs per Beatles album out of the dozens he wrote. Now, acclaimed Beatles biographer Philip Norman examines Harrison through the lens of his numerous self-contradictions. Compared to songwriting luminaries John Lennon and Paul McCartney he was considered a minor talent, yet he composed such masterpieces as While My Guitar Gently Weeps and Here Comes the Sun, and his solo debut album All Things Must Pass achieved enormous success, appearing on many lists of the 100 best rock albums ever. Harrison railed against the material world yet wrote the first pop song complaining about income tax. He spent years lovingly restoring his Friar Park estate as a spiritual journey, but quickly mortgaged the property to help rescue a film project that would be widely banned as sacrilegious, Monty Python’s Life of Brian. Harrison could be fiercely jealous, but not only did he stay friends with Eric Clapton when Clapton fell in love with Harrison’s wife, Pattie Boyd, the two men grew even closer after Clapton walked away with her. Unprecedented in scope and filled with numerous color photos, this rich biography captures George Harrison at his most multi-faceted: Devoted friend, loyal son, master guitar player, brilliant songwriter, cocaine addict, serial philanderer, global philanthropist, student of Indian mysticism, self-deprecating comedian, and, iconic artist and man beloved by millions.”
Tupac Shakur: The Authorized Biography
By Staci Robinson
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Tupac Shakur is one of the greatest and most controversial artists of all time. More than a quarter of a century after his tragic death in 1996 at the age of just 25, he continues to be one of the most misunderstood, complicated, and influential figures in modern history. Drawing on exclusive access to Tupac’s private notebooks, letters, and uncensored conversations with those who loved and knew him best, this estate-authorized biography paints the fullest and most intimate picture to date of the young man who became a legend for generations to come. In Tupac Shakur, author and screenwriter Staci Robinson — who knew Tupac from their shared circle of high school friends in Marin City, California, and who was entrusted by his mother, Afeni Shakur, to share his story — unravels the myths and unpacks the complexities that have shadowed Tupac’s existence. Decades in the making, this book pulls back the curtain to reveal a powerful story of a life defined by politics and art — a man driven by equal parts brilliance and impulsiveness, steeped in the rich intellectual tradition of Black empowerment, and unafraid to utter raw truths about race in America. It is a story of a mother and son bound together by a love for each other and for their people, and the relationship that endured through their darkest times. It is a political story that begins in the whirlwind of the 1960s civil rights movement and unfolds through a young artist’s awakening to rage and purpose in the ’90s era of Rodney King. It is a story of dizzying success and its devastating consequences. And, of course, it is the story of Tupac’s music, his timeless, undying message as it continues to touch and inspire us today.”
The Amplified Come As You Are: The Story Of Nirvana
By Michael Azerrad
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “It has been three decades since Nirvana upended the pop cultural landscape with Nevermind, the landmark album that became the soundtrack of Generation X, capturing its confusion, frustration, and passion. In 1993, Michael Azerrad published what stands as the definitive biography of this revolutionary band and its star-crossed leader Kurt Cobain. Written with the band’s complete cooperation, Come As You Are: The Story Of Nirvana became a massive bestseller and was, in the words of Cobain, “the best rock book I’ve ever read.” Seven months after the book’s original publication, Cobain was dead by suicide, making Come As You Are the only book about Nirvana that features original interviews with Cobain, bassist Krist Novoselic, and drummer Dave Grohl. Now, Azerrad has revisited and reconsidered his original text. The result is this “amplified” version — a truly unique book-within-a-book featuring hundreds of extensive new essay-like annotations that deepen our understanding of this legendary band and the time in which it existed. Azerrad reconsiders the key players and their cultural context; ruminates on topics such as punk rock, selling out, and Generation X; and offers insights into the inner life and creative mind of one of the most significant songwriters and musicians in rock history — a haunting and haunted artist whose influence continues powerfully to the present day. It all comes down to a search for the answer to the question: Why was this music so extraordinarily powerful? Vivid, evocative, and thought-provoking, this gorgeous hardcover book — featuring 100 photos — is an essential document not just for fans but for anyone interested in the cultural legacy of the 1990s.”
Bowie At The BBC: A Life in Interviews
By Tom Hagler
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “David Bowie had a unique relationship with the BBC, making more appearances on ‘the Beeb’ than any other broadcaster throughout his career. An anonymous pre-fame teenager, a blossoming starlet, a white-hot rock star and a veritable elder statesman of pop: the BBC had the inside scoop on it all. In this fascinating collection of BBC television and radio transcripts, Bowie’s life story is told in his own words, across more than 35 appearances spanning over 40 years. Each provides an illuminating snapshot of moments in a remarkable career. But read together, they offer a completely new take on Bowie himself, a first-person look at the rise and rise of a star. Compiled and guided by Bowie expert and BBC journalist Tom Hagler, Bowie At The BBC is the complete story of an incredible life lived on the airwaves.”
Absolute Beginner: Memoirs Of The World’s Best Least-Known Guitarist
By Kevin Armstrong
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Growing up in a world of punk squats and the London pub-rock scene, suburban rookie guitarist Kevin Armstrong found himself signed to EMI as a solo artist in the early ’80s, but fate had other plans for him, his life and career changing in an instant when he was called for a studio date with an unnamed star at Abbey Road. That unnamed star was soon revealed to be David Bowie, and that afternoon’s recording catapulted this unlikely lad onto the world’s grandest stages alongside some of the biggest names in the business. Kevin has gone on to carve out a singular career as a producer, songwriter, and guitarist, performing live and recording with everyone from Grace Jones to Paul McCartney, Iggy Pop to Roy Orbison, Sandie Shaw to Alien Sex Fiend. Absolute Beginner is the story of what it takes to survive as a self-taught musician. It provides an honest and funny glimpse into the backstage world of the artists Kevin has worked with, and is packed with acerbic, laugh-out-loud observations on popular music and musicians from someone who has had a prime seat at the high table of rock ’n’ roll for more than 40 years.”
Harry Styles
By Alex Bilmes, Aya Kanai, Jem Aswad
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Fabulously dressed with a flair all his own, unapologetic yet vulnerable, talented yet supremely humble: Harry Styles is a cultural phenomenon and icon for our times. This photo-packed, gold-foiled luxe gift book celebrates the global superstar’s impact on music and fashion and how his choice of positive and authentic self-expression and tolerance has helped redefine modern masculinity and celebrity worldwide. Divided into three sections — each with a short introduction about the music, the fashion, and the joyful magic of his appeal — this amazing collection of Harry’s signature moments includes: The Met Gala and his Gucci sheer pussy-bow black blouse and heeled boots; the sparkling Coachella performance with Shania Twain; the incredible launch of the No. 1 hit and video As It Was; his stunning appearances at red carpets, the Grammys, BRIT Awards and more!”
Dolly Parton: 100 Remarkable Moments In An Extraordinary Life
By Tracey E. W. Laird
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Everyone’s favorite country music star and American icon, Dolly Parton, has accomplished incredible things in her life, from releasing the hit I Will Always Love You to creating a nonprofit for children. This beautiful volume will take you on a journey through Dolly’s life. Look back on her star roles, hit songs, and philanthropic aspirations, all accompanied by photos from throughout the years. Some of the notable moments you will find include: At 13 years old, Dolly graced the stage at The Grand Ole Opry, easily the most prestigious country venue in Nashville; Dolly’s start in show business; Dolly launched her first country album, Hello, I’m Dolly, in 1967; Dolly’s rise to superstardom: her famous song I Will Always Love you hits the country music charts; Classic movie moments from 9 to 5 to The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas to Steel Magnolias; the creation of her incredibly popular resort and theme park, Dollywood; Dolly’s philanthropy efforts and her $1 million donation for Covid vaccine research; And so much more!”
The Life and Times of Patsy Cline
By Margaret Jones
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The riveting and heart-wrenching story of country music diva Patsy Cline, from her against-all-odds rise from poverty and a strange, lonely childhood shrouded in secrecy, to her tragic and untimely death at the age of 30 when, ironically, she had finally achieved the triumph she had sought all her life.”
My Husband, Jimmie Rodgers
By Carrie Rodgers
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “My Husband, Jimmie Rodgers was the first book-length biography ever published about a country musician, and fittingly so. No single performer left as profound an impression on early country music. Songs that Rodgers popularized — T for Texas, Daddy and Home, In the Jailhouse Now, Miss the Mississippi — are still a regular part of country performers’ repertoires. Despite a recording career that lasted only six years (1927-1933) and ended with Rodgers’s untimely death from tuberculosis, in many ways Jimmie Rodgers is still very much with us.”
Bob Wills: Hubbin’ It
By Ruth Sheldon
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “An expert fiddler and a magnetic showman, Bob Wills (1905–1975) popularized a style of Southwestern dance music known as western swing, a rhythmic hybrid of fiddle music, blues, and big band swing. In 1938, when Wills was 33 and nearing the height of his fame, journalist Ruth Sheldon chronicled Wills’s rags-to riches rise. She produced a biography that captures the ebullient personality of Wills and reflects the bandleader’s vision of himself. Hubbin’ It provides a window into the daily life of a working musician during the Depression and a rich source of historical detail on one of America’s great musical innovators.”
The Delmore Brothers: Truth Is Stranger Than Publicity
By Alton Delmore
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The Delmore Brothers — Alton and Rabon Delmore — molded blues and country-gospel into an influential, guitar-driven harmony sound with classic songs such as Brown’s Ferry Blues and Blues Stay Away From Me. Older brother Alton also left behind this fascinating, long-unpublished autobiography, which brings to life the early Grand Ole Opry and the struggles of pioneering country musicians. Edited by historian Charles K. Wolfe, The Delmore Brothers: Truth is Stranger Than Publicity lives up to its title.”
Marr’s Guitars
By Johnny Marr
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The guitarist’s guitarist, Johnny Marr redefined music for a generation. His ringing arpeggios and chordal innovations helped elevate The Smiths to be one of the most influential and important British bands of all time. Tracing Marr’s career from his teenage years to his recent work on the Bond soundtrack, Marr’s Guitars showcases the most significant of Marr’s superb collection of electric and acoustic guitars, revealing through them the evolution of his iconic sound and style of playing. Each guitar is identified with a crucial moment, a specific song, or a particular sound, and each embodies a key aspect of Marr’s lifelong passion. Renowned photographer Pat Graham presents each instrument as a full portrait, supported by micro shots highlighting the specific details that make each one unique, while Marr himself reveals in his accompanying commentary on what tracks and at which shows the guitars were played. Many of the guitars are closely associated with Marr, such as the Rickenbacker 330, the Gibson ES-355 and the Johnny Marr Signature Fender Jaguar. Some were passed down to him, including Nile Rodgers’ Stratocaster, Bryan Ferry’s Roxy Music Hagstrom and Bert Jansch’s Yamaha. Others are guitars once owned by Marr that have since been passed on to the next generation of guitar heroes, including the Stratocaster used by Noel Gallagher on Wonderwall and the Gibson Les Paul Goldtop used on In Rainbows by Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien. Punctuating the photography of the guitars and the accompanying commentary are contextual studio, backstage, and onstage shots. Together, they make Marr’s Guitars a unique cultural history of modern music and guitar playing told through the prism of Marr’s experiences and achievements.”
Negatives: A Photographic Archive of Emo (1996-2006)
By Amy Fleisher Madden
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “While the term emo has become a familiar label, there was a time when that wasn’t the case. Many bands of the mid-to-late ’90s would never have classified themselves as such. With the advent of the 2000s, the previously underground emo scene was put on the map, and the term and sound of the genre morphed into something new. Today, the musical and cultural impact of this movement is alive and well, responsible for some of the biggest and most influential acts of the 21st century, from Jimmy Eat World to My Chemical Romance, and the emo label has been reclaimed by those who can’t imagine life without it. Through rare and never-before-seen photographs Amy Fleisher Madden, founder of Fiddler Records (Dashboard Confessional, New Found Glory, Recover and more), thoughtfully and lovingly put together this moving archive of the second and third waves of emo. With a foreword by Chris Carrabba of Dashboard Confessional and revealing essays from Frank Iero, Geoff Rickly, Norman Brannon, Matt Pryor, Jesse Johnson, Andrew McMahon and Bob Nanna, as well as insights and bite-sized narratives from photographers and other musicians of the era, this heartwarming time capsule expounds an extraordinary moment in music history — a scene that gave life to not only numerous big names but also to a powerful sound and even more powerful friendships. Negatives captures the heart of what made up this tight-knit community, an official archive of life as it was, taking you on stage, behind the curtain, and on the road.”
The Great History of Rock: From Elvis Presley to the Present Day
By Ernesto Assante
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Rock is not just a genre of music. It is a way of being, it’s an attitude. It is a movement that has swept around the world from the 1950s until today. The universe of rock is a star-studded one; filled with artists and songs that have changed the world with their innovation, their ideas, their thoughts, and their style. The Great History of Rock presents 80 of these amazing artists from Elvis Presley to Bob Dylan, The Beatles to The Rolling Stones, KISS to Nirvana, and Amy Winehouse to Coldplay.”
The Beach Boys: Pet Tracks
By Michael Francis Taylor
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The Beatles will be remembered, and rightly so, as the sociological phenomenon of the ’60s… but if you’re talking about music, it has to be Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys. That’s who they’ll be studying.” (anonymous fan) The Beach Boys are one of the most celebrated bands in the history of pop music. In a career that began before The Beatles and lasted long after their demise, they were responsible for almost single-handedly spearheading a new music genre, and along the way creating what is still referred to as one of the greatest albums of all time, and another cited as one the greatest albums that never was. Over the subsequent years, the band has been the subject of countless books and essays by some of the most esteemed writers in the business, with both words and music scrutinised in the most finest of detail. But what of the stories behind the songs? This is a book that tells you all you need to know about what I consider to be their finest recordings — their inspiration; the writing and recording; the squabbles and controversies, and their ultimate success or failure. But most of all, it takes you inside the mind of one man, the band’s legendary leader, Brian Wilson, and a journey that began a little over half a century ago and now, and forevermore, is rightly acknowledged as a genius of his chosen art, and a man who truly “just wasn’t made for these times.”
Poster Child: The Psychedelic Art & Technicolor Life of David Edward Byrd
By David Edward Byrd & Robert von Goeben
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Beginning in the late 1960s, graphic artist David Edward Byrd pioneered the iconic visual styles that have come to define rock ’n’ roll graphics. Byrd created poster, concert, and album art for Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Lou Reed, Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, Ravi Shankar, Traffic, Van Halen, The Grateful Dead, the 1969 Woodstock Festival and KISS, among others. In fact, the 1968 poster that Byrd created for the Jimi Hendrix Experience was voted No. 8 in the Top 25 Rock Posters by Billboard. Byrd is considered one of the foremost graphic artists of 20th-century pop culture, and yet, he has never achieved widespread name recognition. Poster Child shares the artwork of Byrd — including never-before-seen sketches of famous posters for celebrated musicians — with incredible accompanying anecdotes about his encounters with rock ’n’ roll legends, which combine to create a book that is sure to thrill music lovers and cultural connoisseurs alike for its visual vibrancy and storytelling.”
What Music!: The Fifty-year Friendship between Beethoven & Nannette Streicher, Who Built His Pianos
By Laurie Lawlor & Becca Stadtlander
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “In 1787, aspiring yet unknown composer Ludwig van Beethoven arrives at young Nannette Stein’s home. What follows is a decades-long friendship that persists whether life hits a low or high note. Acclaimed nonfiction writer Laurie Lawlor deftly depicts how these two fascinating friends — a composer with hearing loss and a woman who became an innovative piano maker in a time that discouraged female entrepreneurship — fought the odds and worked together in perfect harmony. Lawlor masterfully uses forgotten historical letters, a glossary, and rich back matter on both friends’ lives and art to introduce readers to the man behind the music, from his loud laughter to his crushing handshake. Complete with collaborator Becca Stadtlander’s intricate mixed-media artwork, What Music deftly dives into musical history — and herstory — in an intimate yet expansive picture book biography that hits just the right note.”
The Tragically Hip ABC
By The Tragically Hip
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The Tragically Hip, fronted by the late Gord Downie, is a legendary, bestselling Canadian band. And now, almost 40 years of music can be appreciated in a brand-new way: An ABC picture book! From A is for Ahead by a Century to N is for New Orleans is Sinking all the way to Z is for Frozen in My Tracks, this illustrated ode to the band will be enjoyed by readers of all ages. Featuring art from Canadian illustrators Clayton Hanmer, Julia Breckenreid, Bridget George and Monika Melnychuk, this is the perfect gift for Hip fans old and new!”
Rolling Stones Legends Alphabet
By Beck Feiner
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “From Angie to Wild Horses, Start Me Up to Ruby Tuesday, Rolling Stones Legends Alphabet is a blues-soaked journey through the works of Mick, Keith, Jones, Wyman, Wood and Watts. Grab a Jagger-inspired velvet suit, and prepare for pure satisfaction as we dive into the Stones’ greatest hits!”
Harry Styles Legends Alphabet
By Beck Feiner
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “From Watermelon Sugar to Adore You, Matilda to As It Was, Harry Styles Legends Alphabet is a swooning, pop-filled voyage through the greatest hits of Britain’s brightest star. Put on your flashiest suit jacket (or dress!) and get ready to fall head-over-heels for Harry Styles.”
Taylor Swift Legends Alphabet
By Beck Feiner
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “From Shake It Off to Lover, Blank Space to I Knew You Were Trouble, Taylor Swift Legends Alphabet is an enchanting journey through the heart and soul of the greatest pop-country singer ever. So grab your acoustic guitar and get ready to fall in love with and feel empowered by T-Swift.”
Fame: Brad Paisley
By Darren G. Davis & Ramon Salas
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Brad Paisley, the acclaimed country artist, rises from a modest Virginian background to achieve Grammy success. TidalWave Productions unveils his captivating life tale in a groundbreaking comic book, marking a first for this celebrated musician.”
