More proof that I know nothing: I expected there to be a flood of music memoirs and other rock/roll tomes dropping for Father’s Day. But no. Either publishers planned ahead and put out all their titles early, or they assume every day really wants another tie, a round of golf and brunch. If you have one who doesn’t, here are the new releases on offer:
Under A Rock: A Memoir
By Chris Stein
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Debbie Harry defined iconic band Blondie’s look. Chris Stein ― her performing partner, lover, and lifelong friend. ―was its architect and defined its sound. Parallel Lines, their third album, catapulted to No. 1, sold 20 million copies, and launched singles like Heart Of Glass, Hangin’ On The Telephone and One Way Or Another, providing the beat when Bianca Jagger and Halston danced at Studio 54 and the soundtrack to every 1970’s punk-soundtracked romance. Stein knows how to tell a story. Under A Rock is his nothing-spared autobiography. It’s about the founding of the band, ascending to the heights of pop success, and the hazards of fortune. Famous names march through these pages ― Andy Warhol, David Bowie, Jean-Michel Basquiat and more — but you can get famous names anywhere. What you can’t get anywhere else is a plunge into the moments that made a giant 1980s artistic sensation. Stein takes us there in this revelatory, propulsive, distinctive memoir.”
Hip-Hop Is History
By Questlove & Ben Greenman
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “This is a book only Questlove could have written: a perceptive and personal reflection on the first half-century of hip-hop. When hip-hop first emerged in the 1970s, it wasn’t expected to become the cultural force it is today. But for a young Black kid growing up in a musical family in Philadelphia, it was everything. He stayed up late to hear the newest songs on the radio. He saved his money to buy vinyl as soon as it landed. He even started to try to make his own songs. That kid was Questlove, and decades later, he is a six-time Grammy–winning musician, an Oscar–winning filmmaker, a New York Times bestselling author, a producer, an entrepreneur, a cofounder of one of hip-hop’s defining acts (the Roots), and the genre’s unofficial in-house historian. In this landmark book, Hip-Hop Is History, Questlove skillfully traces the creative and cultural forces that made and shaped hip-hop, highlighting both the forgotten but influential gems and the undeniable chart-topping hits ― and weaves it all together with the stories no one else knows. It is at once an intimate, sharply observed story of a cultural revolution and a sweeping, grand theory of the evolution of the great artistic movement of our time. And Questlove, of course, approaches it with not only the encyclopedic fluency and passion of an obsessive fan but also the expertise and originality of an innovative participant. Hip-hop is history, and also his history.”
Moving Music: The Memoirs of Rikki Stein
By Rikki Stein
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Renowned music manager Rikki Stein has spent nearly six decades moving musicians around the world, and this book recounts a lifetime of adventure on the road. Always in the right place at the right time, Rikki was part of the great countercultural moments of the last century, from Woodstock to the first Glastonbury Festival. Throughout this extraordinary time, Rikki has toured some of the world’s most iconic musicians and groups, from The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Kinks, The Animals, The Yardbirds, The Moody Blues, Grateful Dead to managing the Nigerian superstar Fela Kuti and many other iconic artists. Full of extraordinary, sometimes hilarious, stories of life on the road, this memoir recounts the joys, frustrations and surprises of juggling logistics, local politics and the whims of his creative clients to deliver true, life-enhancing moments of moving music.”
I Can’t Remember If I Cried: Rock Widows On Life, Love, And Legacy
By Lori Tucker-Sullivan
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The stories of rock musicians who die young are the thing of lore and legend. Accidents, drug overdoses, plane crashes — all have taken the lives of male rock stars still in their primes. But what became of their widowed brides? How did they survive a loss so great? What is it like to have to share your grief with millions of strangers? And where are these widows today? I Can’t Remember if I Cried is part music history, part memoir, based around interviews with rock widows conducted by Lori Tucker-Sullivan — who herself lost her husband in 2010. The book is framed by the author’s own narrative to create a thread that links the stories to create a tale of how the author’s life is changed through her interactions with these women. Among the women profiled: Judy VanZant who, after losing husband Ronnie VanZant of Lynyrd Skynyrd, sued the re-formed band in order to protect her interests; Sandy Chapin, widow of Harry Chapin, who has worked tirelessly to uphold his legacy around activism and hunger prevention; Crystal Zevon, ex-wife of Warren Zevon, who details her abusive relationship and how she resolved her anger and grief; Jamie Weiland, widow of Stone Temple Pilots’ Scott Weiland, speaking openly of Scott’s mental health, which kept him housebound for days; Janna Leblanc, widow of Stevie Ray Vaughan, who shares the details of her visits with Stevie in rehab.”
