Home Read News Next Week in Music | Feb. 3-9 • 16 New Books

Next Week in Music | Feb. 3-9 • 16 New Books

Can you spot the difference between a book lover, a collector and a hoarder?

What’s the difference between a book lover, a collector and a hoarder? Beats me. Near as I can tell, like me, they all have to navigate the stacks of hardcovers and paperbacks that line the shelves, cover the surfaces and amass on the floorboards of their lives. But like me, this won’t deter them in slightest from adding some of these worthwhile titles to the top of the pile:

 


Everything Under the Sun: The Complete Guide to Pink Floyd
By Mike Cormack

THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE:Pink Floyd formed in London in 1965, signed with EMI in 1967, and recorded their first album, The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn, which was released to immediate acclaim in the same year. Since then, they have released 15 studio albums and sold over 250 million records. Their eighth album, Dark Side Of The Moon, is the highest-selling British album in the world (and fourth overall), at over 40 million copies. Their last album, The Endless River (2014), has sold over 10 million copies, and Roger Waters and Nick Mason still (separately) tour the world. Indeed, they hardly need an introduction: Their profile remains very high, with millions of fans around the world. Everything Under the Sun is a high-level, fully sourced and footnoted analysis of the music of Pink Floyd, and the first serious survey of the group’s work and achievements. As such, it will also be a cultural history of the U.K., seen through the prism of the band. While there is no shortage of books about Pink Floyd and by ex-members, none are truly comprehensive or do what this book seeks to do. In addition to a song-by-song analysis, it includes exclusive band interviews, a full chronology and gig guide, and a full bootleg guide. It’s the go-to book for any Pink Floyd fan.”


The Secret Public: How Music Moved Queer Culture From the Margins to the Mainstream
By Jon Savage

THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE:Jon Savage, the author of the canonical England’s Dreaming, explodes new ground in this electrifying history of pop music from 1955 through 1979. In demonstrating that gay and lesbian artists were responsible for many of the greatest cultural breakthroughs in the last half of the 20th century, he shows that it was their secretly encoded music ― appealing to a closeted but greatly oppressed public ― which led to the historic dismantling of discriminatory gay laws and the fusion of queer and straight culture. Fittingly, Savage’s kaleidoscopic work begins with the pomp-and-pompadour appearance of Little Richard, whose relentlessly driving sound, replete with gospel shrieks and sexual contortions, enthralled a generation of 1950s stultified white teenagers. While music, with supporting roles from cinema and fashion, became the key medium through which homosexuality could be clandestinely enacted, overt expressions of gay behavior were met with arrests and crackdowns. While hippies reveled in 1967’s Summer of Love, gays remained harassed by police, demonized by the media and politicians, imprisoned simply for being who they were. Yet the music itself produced a cultural eruption that simply could not be stanched. Even though roadblocks remained, the gear-grinding crunch of the music signaled that the gay civil rights movement could no longer be suppressed. Ending the narrative with the sudden collapse of disco, The Secret Public asserts then that the genie was out of the bottle, that queer culture had finally entered the mainstream, producing a transcendent vision of pop culture that could never be marginalized again.”


Interficial ARTelligence: The Moments That Met Me
By Chuck D

THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “In Interficial ARTelligence: Moments That Met Me, Chuck D presents his encounters with some of his greatest heroes and other public figures. These seminal moments in Chuck D’s life include: an editorial meeting with John F. Kennedy Jr.; presenting an award to David Bowie; being recruited by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay to act in a film; eating chips and guac with Quincy Jones; being inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame by Harry Belafonte; lobbying on Capitol Hill with Anita Baker; musical collaborations with Prince, Sheryl Crow, Janet Jackson, Erykah Badu and John Mellencamp; and visiting Mumia Abu-Jamal in prison. “For a PErson like myself — an aged distance beyond a half century of life on Earth — I have experienced a vast array of PEople, PlacEs & Things,” Chuck D says. “The memories are always a looping swirl in my mind. I’m often asked about them and I consider myself a decent storyteller. As an illustrator, I’m able to recreate that point of view as I saw it. So Interficial ARTelligence: Moments That Met Me is a tale with images from my PErspective in a time when so many people listen with their eyes.”


The Musical Life of Melanie: From the Village to Woodstock and Beyond
By Craig Harris

THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “At just 22 years old, Melanie was the first female solo performer at the historic 1969 Woodstock festival, transforming into an overnight sensation. Craig Harris chronicles her remarkable journey, revealing her dedication to artistic integrity for more than half a century. Inspired by a candle-lighting ceremony before her Woodstock performance, Melanie’s Lay Down (Candles in the Rain) became a groundbreaking gospel-pop hit. A month after its 1971 release, Brand New Key knocked Don McLean’s American Pie out of the Billboard pop chart’s top slot. Melanie often sang about love and world peace, but things usually weren’t so rosy. At a time when female artists were pressured to be subservient, she was encouraged to put down her guitar, give up writing songs, and stick to saccharine pop. However, she remained true to herself. Twice named Female Artist of the Year by Billboard, she scored an Emmy for songwriting and became the first woman to own a major record label. Based on extensive research and interviews, this book thoroughly explores Melanie’s influential life in music.”


Roots and Rhythm: A Life in Music
By Charlie Peacock

THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “In this artful memoir, Grammy-winning producer Charlie Peacock flexes his literary chops and gives readers the gritty backstage stories they crave: Artist anecdotes, geeky trivia, and how the hits were written and recorded. Threaded throughout is Peacock’s unique ancestral and spiritual story — the roots. Peacock, the great-grandson of a Louisiana fiddler, is an American musical polymath. He’s been the young jazz musician sitting at the feet of trumpeter Eddie Henderson and pianist Herbie Hancock; the singer-songwriter plucked from the Northern California punk/pop underground by legendary impresarios Bill Graham and Chris Blackwell; a pioneering, innovative contributor to the nascent rise of gospel rock in the 1980s; and the genre-busting producer behind such diverse artists as Al Green, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Chris Cornell, Audio Adrenaline, The Civil Wars, Switchfoot, Turtle Island Quartet and John Patitucci. Roots and Rhythm includes Peacock’s seminal NorCal days, the story of indie labels Exit and Re:Think, the Nashville Christian music scene (1989–1999), and his essential role in the 21st-century folk/Americana boom. While his exploits and achievements grace the book, Peacock is hardly the only character. Instead, he writes as a Joan Didion-style essayist, weaving together a quintessential American story. Beat poet Gary Snyder, evangelist Billy Graham, producer T Bone Burnett, saxophonist Wayne Shorter and writers Wendell Berry and Isabel Wilkerson all appear in this sweeping tale where ancestry, migration, teenage love and Miles Davis collide.”


I Like People That Can’t Sing: Paul Nelson Interviews Leonard Cohen & Lucinda Williams
Edited by Kevin Avery

THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “In 1991, legendary but down-and-out rock critic Paul Nelson landed his dream assignment: Fly from New York to Los Angeles and separately interview two of the most distinguished popular music artists — Leonard Cohen and Lucinda Williams. He encounters them at a time in their careers when both are wrestling with their respective record companies to be better taken seriously ― in some cases just to be heard. Previously unpublished, these landmark interviews provide the opportunity to compare, among other things (upbringing, education, influences, loves and losses), the thought processes behind Cohen and his music (“I’ve always admired the people who could write great songs in the back of taxicabs like Hank Williams. I was never one of those guys”) to Williams and hers (“See, I’m trying to dispel the myth … that you have to be miserable and suffering and so on and so forth to be able to write”).”


Searching for Jimmie Strother: A Tale of Music, Murder, and Memory
By Gregg D. Kimball PhD

THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “In June 1936 James Lee Strother performed 13 songs at the Virginia State Prison Farm for famed folklorist John Lomax and the Library of Congress. Rooted in the rich soil of the Piedmont region, Strother’s repertoire epitomized the Black songsters who defy easy classification. Blinded in a steel mill explosion, which only intensified his drive to connect to the world through song, Strother drew on old spirituals and country breakdowns as readily as he explored emerging genres like blues and ragtime. Biographer Gregg Kimball revives this elusive but singular talent and the creative and historical worlds in which his dramatic life unfolded. Myths surround Strother but, as Kimball reveals, the facts of Strother’s life are just as compelling as the fanciful embellishments proffered by early folklorists. Musician, murderer, and beloved family member-Strother somehow played each of these roles, and more. And while the songster’s comedic ditties, spirituals, and blues tunes reached a wide range of listeners (and were later covered by musicians like Pete Seeger and Jefferson Airplane), they carried a dark undercurrent that spoke directly to the experiences of Black Americans: Sundown towns, segregation, and labor exploitation. As Kimball shows, Strother’s powerful songs and remarkable, tumultuous life continue to influence and remain deeply relevant to American culture to this day.”


One Hell of a Ride: A Memoir
By Chuck Kirkpatrick

THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE:Chuck Kirkpatrick is an American musician and recording engineer who gained notoriety from working with dozens of popular acts in addition to being behind the recording console as an engineer for some of the most iconic records made in the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s. growing up in a sleepy little beach town in South Florida and then hitting the motherlode with a record deal in Los Angeles, Chuck has seen it all. With a career spanning eight decades he has ridden in both the fast lane and slow lane experiencing highs and lows that would challenge the toughest of characters. Through it all, his resilience and endurance remained intact. From earning gold records for his work as an engineer to rocking it on stage as a world class guitarist, Chuck has been on one hell of a ride and lives to tell about it all.”


From the Shadow of the Blues: My Story of Music, Addiction, and Redemption
By John Lee Hooker Jr.

THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Born in Detroit, John Lee Hooker Jr. began singing as a featured attraction in his father’s shows as a teenager. His father was a sharecropper’s son who became known for hit songs like Boogie Chillen, I’m in the Mood and Boom Boom, and in 1972, he and his father performed live and recorded an album in Soledad Prison. Junior seemed to have a golden ticket to a successful music career, but problems brewed as his father’s troubled marriage ripped apart the family. Drug addiction and a series of crimes landed Junior in and out of jails and prisons for several decades. A brush with the law led to a sentence at Synanon, the infamous drug rehabilitation program turned religious cult. Shot, stabbed, and convicted multiple times, Junior was at his lowest point when he found the Lord. He emerged clean and sober and began a successful career as a blues singer, earning two Grammy nominations as well as the Bobby “Blue” Bland Lifetime Achievement Award. He eventually devoted himself fully to his faith. He testifies, preaches, and performs gospel music in churches and prisons in both America and Germany.”


Here I Stand
By Paul Robeson

THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE:Paul Robeson recounts his journey from star athlete to esteemed actor, singer, and civil rights activist, and the racism and political persecution he faced that attempted to silence him. In the first half of the 20th century, Robeson’s international achievements in starring roles on stage and screen made him the most celebrated Black American of his day. But his outspoken criticism of racism in the United States, his strong support of African independence, and his fascination with the Soviet Union placed him under the debilitating scrutiny of McCarthyism. A bold answer to his accusers, Here I Stand details how these challenges Robeson faced only strengthened his resolve to fight against injustice. In our own time of increased scrutiny and attempts to limit people’s right to protest, Robeson’s unwavering courage and commitment to his principles offers an inspiring model for how we all must continue to stand up for what we believe in. Here I Stand is not simply a memoir, but a testament to the enduring spirit of resilience and resistance in the face of adversity.”


Monument Eternal
By Alice Coltrane

THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE:Alice Coltrane (1937–2007) was a composer, master of various musical instruments, improviser, spiritual leader, and wife of John Coltrane. Throughout her adult life, she worked within and combined a broad range of musical genres, including gospel, R&B, bebop, free jazz, Indian devotional song, and Western art music. She recorded more than 20 albums for Impulse and Warner Bros. Her music speaks to her experiences as a child playing for church congregations in Detroit; the transcendent and mind-bending avant-garde improvisations she performed with her husband John; and her religious pilgrimages to India. When Monument Eternal was originally published in 1977, Alice Coltrane was living in Southern California and had recently become a swami, building and nurturing an alternative spiritual community. In these pages, she says that the book is “based upon the soul’s realizations in Absolute Consciousness and its spiritual relationships with the Supreme One.” Monument Eternal offers deep insight into Coltrane’s tremendous musical output, and shines a light on her transformation from Alice McLeod, Detroit church organist and bebopper, to sage thought leader Swami Turiyasangitananda. It also reflects the extraordinary fluidity of American religious customs in the mid and late 20th century.”


33 1/3 | Yo La Tengo’s And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out
By Elliott Simpson

THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Hailed as a ‘quiet masterpiece’ upon release, Yo La Tengo’s And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out proposed a radical new future for rock music. Released at a time when the music industry was changing dramatically thanks to the rise of online file sharing, it suggested that the only way for a band to survive was to listen to themselves. A delicate and hushed album, its songs explore the quiet battles that take place every day and the beauty that can emerge from the ordinary. In many ways, this is reflective of the story of the band that made it — self-managed for most of their career and having maintained the same lineup since 1992, Yo La Tengo almost resemble a suburbs-based nuclear family. And Then Nothing… argues that great art does not come from suffering, but instead, steady, unglamorous work. It is an album that helped forge a new mythology for rock ’n’ roll: One not built on sex, drugs and debauchery, but instead the quiet lives of people living in peaceful suburban homes. From the nothingness of the everyday, something incredible can emerge.”


Uncommon People
By Miranda Sawyer

THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “When Miranda Sawyer interviewed Liam Gallagher in 1994, his gag wishing Damon Albarn would die of AIDS became front-page news all over the world. This fascinating pop history, exploring the moment British music suddenly meant everything, explains why. Picking out 20 key songs, delving into the surprising stories behind them and their unlikely creators, Uncommon People takes us back to when Jarvis Cocker became a national hero, films like Trainspotting were international hits, rave became what everybody did — and it felt like the revolution was happening. Initially a mocking tabloid nickname, Britpop became an unexpected musical movement created by squatters, activists, students and kids barely out of school and their songs have proved timeless. Exploring the era’s most definitive anthems, Sawyer transports us back to the beating heart of the ’90s, to relive the mad exhilaration of what it was like to hear these songs for the very first time — and what it was like to make them. Based on amazing new interviews with the leading figures, this book offers a backstage pass to all the most interesting bits of Britpop’s greatest hits.”


The Birth of Seattle Rap
By Novocaine 132

THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “In the early 1980s, a subterranean shift in Seattle’s music scene began. Disco’s reign over parties and dance clubs faded, and hip-hop became the new attraction. A generation of young musicians emerged, and local rappers catapulted the genre into the spotlight. From Sir Mix-A-Lot, who won a Grammy in 1993, to Silver Chain Gang and Jam Delight, the Emerald City produced some incredible talent. These formative years of hip-hop set the tone for the decades that followed, and this once-fledgling music still resonates in pop culture today. Author and producer Novocaine132 explores Seattle’s early rap artists and their groundbreaking sound.”


Dreaming in Ensemble: How Black Artists Transformed American Opera
By Lucy Caplan

THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The inauguration of a golden age in Black opera is often dated to 1955, when Marian Anderson became the first Black singer to perform in a leading role at New York’s Metropolitan Opera. Yet Anderson’s debut was actually preceded by a rich Black operatic tradition that developed in the first half of the 20th century. Lucy Caplan tells the stories of the Black composers, performers, critics, teachers, and students who created this vibrant opera culture, even as they were excluded from the genre’s most prominent institutions. Their movement, which flourished alongside the Harlem Renaissance, redefined opera as a wellspring of aesthetic innovation, sociality, and antiracist activism. Caplan argues that Black opera in the early twentieth century had decidedly countercultural ambitions. In opera’s sonic grandeur and dramatic maximalism, artists found creative resources for expressing the complexity of Black life. The protagonists of this story include composers Harry Lawrence Freeman and Shirley Graham, whose operas boldly interpreted Black diasporic history; performers Caterina Jarboro and Florence Cole-Talbert, who both starred in the racially fraught role of Aida; and critics Sylvester Russell and Nora Holt, who wrote imaginatively about the genre in the Black press. Yet Caplan also focuses on the many Black students, amateurs, opera house staff, and listeners who contributed indelibly to opera’s meanings. With the creation of new companies, choruses, and audiences, opera not only circulated in the Black public sphere but itself became a public sphere with radical potential.”


Folk Music and Song in the WPA Ex-Slave Narratives
By John Minton

THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Between 1937 and 1940 fieldworkers in the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Writers’ Project interviewed around 3,500 formerly enslaved people in North America, resulting in roughly 20,000 pages of still unedited and inadequately indexed typescript. These accounts — the WPA ex-slave narratives — are the most substantial collection by far of folklore and oral history gathered directly from enslaved people in America. It is arguably the single greatest body of African American folklore extant, and a significant portion is devoted to folk music and song. This book considers this treasure trove in all its relevant social, cultural, and historical contexts. Despite their inestimable value, most of the ex-slave narratives remained unpublished until the late 1970s, being almost unknown except to folklorists. Even after publication, the collection’s sheer size was a barrier. Quoting extensively from the narratives and exhaustively annotated and indexed, this volume provides readers with detailed explanations and full references for every musical item or tradition featured in the ex-slave narratives. John Minton covers instrumental music and social dancing, spirituals and hymns, singing games and lullabies, ring plays and reels, worksongs, minstrel songs, ballads, war songs, slavery laments, and much, much more. Written for both specialists and general readers, with 134 illustrations, the book also offers a general overview of the ex-slave narratives, their contents, creation, and relation to the field of African American folklore.”