With new books by or about Rik Emmett, Lollapalooza, The Shangri-Las, Paul and John (and Yoko), Brian Eno, David Bowie, Gerry Rafferty, Don Letts, Groudhogs, Oasis and plenty more on the way, it’s clear: If you can’t find something new to read next week, you’re just not trying. To the stacks:
Ten Telecaster Tales: Liner Notes for a Guitar and Its Music
By Rik Emmett
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Ten Telecaster Tales remakes the idea of the ‘concept album.’ It is music that arrives inside a book. It’s also, arguably, the most comprehensive attempt at liner notes in the history of electric instrumental fingerstyle guitar albums. In his latest offering, Rik Emmett delves into the creative process ― the roots, influences, philosophy, and spirituality involved in writing and recording. Even the story behind these stories explores creativity. (Emmett dreamed of then commissioned a guitar ― a one-of-a-kind Telecaster-style guitar ― then wrote and recorded with and for it.) Playfully, beautifully, Ten Telecaster Tales lays bare an artistic journey in an act of discovery ― that the storytelling inherent in writing good musical compositions translates into good storytelling about the process behind the songs, and how compositions turn into recordings. A generous amount of fairy-tale mythology is sprinkled throughout ― despite the whole process being assimilated by digital technology. The notion of a Telecaster tale implies something vintage at its heart, and it is humanity that glues the layers together. Principally, though, Ten Telecaster Tales is the next logical step for Emmett after publishing his memoir, Lay It On The Line. It represents the evolution of his life story into a combination of musical composition, guitar playing, and prose. After all, writing has always been the solid backbone and lifeline of his multi-faceted journey.”
Lollapalooza: The Uncensored Story of Alternative Rock’s Wildest Festival
By Richard Bienstock & Tom Beaujour
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “In Lollapalooza: The Uncensored Story of Alternative Rock’s Wildest Festival, authors Richard Bienstock and Tom Beaujour tell the no-holds-barred history of the iconic music festival. Through hundreds of new interviews with artists, tour founders, festival organizers, promoters, publicists, sideshow freaks, stage crews, record label execs, reporters, roadies and more, Lollapalooza chronicles the tour’s pioneering 1991-1997 run, and, in the process, alternative rock’s rise — as well as the reverberations that led to a massive shift in the music industry and the culture at large. The book features original interviews with some of the biggest names in music, including Perry Farrell and Jane’s Addiction, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Nine Inch Nails, Sonic Youth, Tool, Smashing Pumpkins, Ice-T, Rage Against the Machine, Green Day, Patti Smith, Alice in Chains, Metallica and many more. Conceived by Farrell as a farewell tour for Jane’s Addiction, Lollapalooza’s inaugural outing across the U.S. in the summer of 1991 helped to coalesce an ideology and aesthetic that not only washed over popular music but seeped into fashion, film, television, literature, food, politics and more. Echoes of its impact reverberate strongly today — cemented by annual sell-outs at destination events all over the world, an estimation of 400,000 attendees at the flagship Chicago fest each summer, and a spot among the world’s largest and longest-running music festivals. A nostalgic look back at 1990s music and culture, Lollapalooza traces the festival’s origins, following the tour as it progresses through the decade, and documenting the action onstage, backstage, and behind-the-scenes in detailed and uncensored and sometimes shocking first-person accounts.”
Dressed In Black: The Shangri-Las & Their Recorded Legacy
By Lisa MacKinney
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The first full-length history of The Shangri-Las, one of the most significant — and most misunderstood — pop groups of the 1960s. Sisters Mary and Betty Weiss, together with twins Mary Ann and Marguerite Ganser, were schoolgirls when they formed the band in 1963, and had a meteoric rise to fame with songs like Leader Of The Pack and Remember (Walking In The Sand). Their career was cut short for reasons largely beyond their control, derailed by the machinations of Mafia-linked record executives, and heartbreak and tragedy followed. Historian Lisa MacKinney marshals an impressive array of evidence to tell The Shangri-Las’ story, dispelling many myths and long-standing mysteries. Dressed in Black radically rewrites the accepted narrative of The Shangri-Las’ place in rock history. MacKinney’s great achievement here is to foreground The Shangri-Las’ considerable abilities and musicality, and establish the centrality of their performance to the group’s underappreciated artistic achievement. This is not to deny the critical role in the group’s success of professional songwriters (including Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry) and writer/producer George ‘Shadow’ Morton, a pioneering and eccentric figure whose self-mythologizing has generated a level of obfuscation that rivals that of The Shangri-Las themselves. Morton wrote and produced highly emotional material for The Shangri-Las because he knew they had the skills to make his mini-operas not only believable, but enthralling. The group members, particularly Mary Weiss, channeled personal anguish into their extraordinary performances, which are central to the songs’ impact. MacKinney backs up these arguments with in-depth analysis of key Shangri-Las’ recordings, and makes a powerful case that their achievements warrant a far more prominent place for the group in the history of popular music.”
Yoko: A Biography
By David Sheff
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “John Lennon once described Yoko Ono as the world’s most famous unknown artist, saying ‘Everybody knows her name, but no one knows what she does.’ She has only been important to history insofar as she impacted Lennon. Throughout her life, Yoko has been a caricature, curiosity, and, often, a villain — an inscrutable seductress, manipulating con artist, and caterwauling fraud. The Lennon/Beatles saga is one of the greatest stories ever told, but Yoko’s part has been missing — hidden in the band’s formidable shadow, further obscured by flagrant misogyny and racism. This definitive biography of Ono’s life will change that. In this book, Ono takes centerstage. Her life, independent of Lennon, was an amazing journey. Yoko spans from her birth to wealthy parents in pre-war Tokyo, her harrowing experience as a child during the war, her arrival in avant-garde art scene in London, Tokyo, and New York City. It delves into her groundbreaking art, music, feminism, and activism. We see how she coped under the most intense, relentless, and cynical microscope as she was falsely vilified for the most heinous cultural crime imaginable: breaking up the greatest rock ’n’ roll band in history. This book was nearly a half-century in the making: In 1980, David Sheff met Yoko and John and interviewed them just months before John’s murder. In the aftermath of the killing, he and Yoko became close as she rebuilt her life, survived threats and betrayals, and went on to create groundbreaking art and music while campaigning for peace and other causes. Drawing from his experiences and interviews with her, her family, closest friends, collaborators, and many others, Sheff shows us Yoko’s nine decades — one of the most unlikely and remarkable lives ever lived. Yoko is a harrowing, moving, propulsive, and vastly entertaining biography of a woman whose story has never been accurately told.”
John And Paul: A Love Story In Songs
By Ian Leslie
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “A majestic biography of two young geniuses who merged their talents to create one of the greatest bodies of music in history, John & Paul begins in 1957, when two teenagers in suburban Liverpool meet and decide to play rock ’n’ roll together. It ends 23 years later, when one of them is murdered. In between, we see them become global stars, create countless indelible songs, and play a central role in shaping the modern world. Lennon and McCartney were more than friends, rivals or collaborators. They were intimates who both had the fabric of their world ruptured at a young age, and who longed to make emotional connections; with each other, and with audiences. The pop song was a vessel into which they poured feelings of grief and euphoria and everything in between. When they couldn’t speak what they felt, they sang it. After the breakup of their group, they maintained a musical dialogue at a distance, in songs full of recrimination, regret, and affection. Ian Leslie traces the twists and turns of their relationship through the music it produced and offers rich insights into the nature of creativity, collaboration and human connection. Drawing on recently released footage and recordings, this is a startlingly fresh take on two of the greatest icons in music history.”
There And Black Again
By Don Letts
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Don Letts — filmmaker, musician, DJ, broadcaster, social commentator, husband and father — has always defied conformity. A British-born son of Jamaican parents, he seamlessly pivoted between London’s punk and reggae scenes, earning his reputation as the ‘Rebel Dread’. In There And Black Again, Letts looks back on his exceptional life, which has seen him befriend Bob Marley after sneaking into his hotel, join The Clash’s White Riot tour as manager of The Slits and become one of the U.K.’s most highly regarded video directors just as the MTV boom hit. Told in part as scenes from a movie shot on location in London, Kingston, New York City, Los Angeles, Windhoek, Salt Lake City and Goldeneye, There And Black Again has a cast including Joe Strummer, John Lydon, Bob Marley, Chrissie Hynde, Chris Blackwell, Paul McCartney, Nelson Mandela, Keith Richards, Patti Smith, Chuck D., Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood. With reflections on the Black Lives Matter movement and the highs and lows of personal relationships, this impactful book includes moments of civil unrest, live music, humour and political struggle.”
Brave New Music: The Martyn Bennett Story
By Gary West
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Martyn Bennett was an artist ahead of his time. Piper, violinist, composer, producer, DJ — his radical blend of tradition and technology created an audacious new sound that was uniquely his own. Steeped in the folk cultures of Scotland, yet inspired too by deep-rooted traditions from far beyond, his music ignored boundaries and celebrated cultural difference wherever he found it. Although classically trained, he was drawn to the gritty excitement of the urban dance club scene, and his fusion of folk, classical, jazz and hard-edged electronica was championed by the likes of Peter Gabriel and the folklorist Hamish Henderson who labelled it ‘brave new music.’ This biography traces his story through personal struggles and artistic triumphs, and offers an assessment of his place in the pantheon of major Scottish artists. It is a story of resilience as well as innovation: twice diagnosed with unrelated cancers, his professional career lasted little more than a decade, and he fought serious illness for half of it. He died in January 2005, aged 33. Yet his art continues to inspire: where he led, others have followed, and his music still wins awards and fills concert halls at major international festivals two decades after his death.”
Cozy Powell: A Life In Vision
By Laura Shenton
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Cozy Powell: A Life In Vision is the perfect companion to Dance With The Devil: The Cozy Powell Story, author Laura Shenton’s previous book on the late, legendary drummer. Whereas Dance With The Devil charted Cozy’s life in words, this book predominantly portrays Cozy in pictures. Full of photos, many previously unseen, as well as loads of memorabilia, along with a smattering of text from both biographer Shenton, as well as recollections from photographers and friends plus a few choice quotes from Cozy himself.”
I Feel Famous: Punk Diaries 1977-1981
By Angela Jaeger
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “A music enthusiast living in New York’s East Village, Angela Jaeger’s story unfolds chronologically, charting her late adolescence in tandem with her transition from observer of the nascent punk scene to eager participant. Gradually becoming a nightly fixture of her neighborhood’s vibrant underground rock milieu at CBGB and Max’s Kansas City, by 1978 she had continued to fulfill her punk fantasy abroad. She followed The Clash on a tour across England, finally returning home in 1979 to start her own band. Angela encountered an impressive cast of characters on her adventures, including Lydia Lunch, Joe Strummer, Billy Idol, Klaus Nomi and Sid Vicious.”
