Last week served up a veritable feast of new titles. Hope you saved room for dessert. On the menu: Tasty titles about Iggy & The Stooges, The Pretenders, Guns N’ Roses, the currently ubiquitous Oasis and more. Open wide:
Randy Travis: Storms Of Life
By Diane Diekman
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Randy Travis’s 1986 breakthrough put him at the forefront of Nashville’s new traditionalist sound and, in the words of Garth Brooks, saved country music. The singer’s warm baritone and all-time classic songs like Forever And Ever, Amen landed him atop the charts sixteen times. His cross-genre appeal brought a level of multiplatinum success that no country artist before him had ever achieved. Diane Diekman’s biography follows the life and career of one of country music’s most beloved figures. Steered from a troubled path as a teen, Travis served a long apprenticeship under manager and future wife Lib Hatcher before being rejected by the Nashville music industry as “too country.” The single On The Other Hand and his smash debut album did away with the doubters and began a dominant four-year run that stretched into ongoing success as a recording artist, trailblazing live performer, and actor in film and television. Diekman uses dozens of interviews and in-depth research to fill in the details of Travis’s pre-fame life and his enormous impact on country, popular, and gospel music. From there, she pivots to telling the story of the singer’s difficult divorce from Hatcher, subsequent problems with alcohol, run-ins with the law, and the challenges he overcame in the aftermath of a devastating 2013 stroke. Informed by a wealth of new research and interviews, Storms Of Life is the first in-depth biography of the country music legend.”
Sound N’ Fury: Rock N’ Roll Stories
By Alan Niven
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Most rock ’n’ roll books are a bore. They all have the same narrative arc and are aimed at the dwindling following that now follows an artist that has long passed their AARP date. Sound N’ Fury does not have a story arc. It is a collection of anecdotes, like a record comprised of various tracks ― each one has its point and purpose. Alan Niven, who guided Guns N’ Roses from the gutter of Los Angeles to Wembley Stadium, shares stories from his remarkable life as a manager with an immediacy delivered by an extraordinary recall of dialogue. Readers will encounter not just Guns N’ Roses (who have sold almost 10 million tickets to their shows) but The Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, Clarence Clemons, Whitesnake, Elton John and others who came from humble origins and experienced fame known only to few. Small-town minds collided with worldwide adulation, expectations, and demands. The results are amusing, affirming, and, predictably, disastrous. Keep in mind that rock ’n’ roll is God’s occupation for the unemployable. Written with a crisp and fluid style, the magnificence and idiocy of the music world will dance off the pages and engross even those who are not rock fans.”
Music And Mayhem: One Man’s Journey Through The Golden Era Of Irish Music
By Keith Donald
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Keith Donald is a renowned saxophone and clarinet player who has played with some of the biggest names in Irish music, including Van Morrison, Ronnie Drew, Moving Hearts and Christy Moore. Over a six-decade long career, Donald has played alongside hundreds of artists, and recorded over 20 albums. Keith is also a composer for theatre, film and television. Keith was also part of the team that won a BAFTA award for United, a film which was conceived as a commentary on the divisive issue of parades in Northern Ireland politics. In addition he has composed music for many BBC documentaries and a film called Great Journeys.”
The Pocket Oasis
By Gemini
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “From their meteoric rise with Definitely Maybe to their unforgettable hits like Wonderwall and Don’t Look Back in Anger, the unofficial and unauthorized pocket book to Oasis delves into the band’s origins, unforgettable feuds and celebrates their lasting impact on rock music. With behind-the-scenes stories and bursting with Britpop nostalgia, it’s a must-read for any Oasis fan, as we gear up for the band’s sold-out 2025 reunion tour.”
Iggy & The Stooges: Every Album, Every Song
By Robert Day-Webb
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Exploding onto the late 1960s scene, The Stooges were a band unlike any other before. A bunch of misfit Mid-Western delinquents, their charismatic frontman Iggy Pop was a performer extraordinaire. Confrontational and theatrical, this maniacal entertainer was originally joined by the Asheton brothers, Ron and Scott, and their pal Dave Alexander. This original lineup delivered two albums of primal, brutal-sounding rock noise before the band fractured. A fortuitous crossing of paths with a certain David Bowie in 1971, however, led to a creative rebirth for Iggy and the band. With new guitarist James Williamson in place and the Asheton brothers making up the rhythm section, the reconstituted group delivered a third album of nihilistic ferocity. Once again though, the album bombed, leaving the band to limp on until 1974 before calling it a day — at least for nearly three decades. During their absence, their influential legacy blossomed, and in 2003, the surviving trio of Iggy, Ron and Scott reunited, once again performing under The Stooges banner. The band toured extensively, finally achieving the respect and adulation that had been lacking the first time around. A new album appeared in 2007 before Ron’s passing in 2009. Williamson subsequently returned to the fold, enabling the band to continue touring and recording before more sad news ensued in 2014 when Scott passed away, thus leading to the cessation of the band. The Stooges’ music has influenced countless other bands, artists and genres, and this book examines the band’s enduring musical legacy by taking a fully comprehensive look at all the group’s officially recorded output in detail.”
The Pretenders 1978-1990: Every Album, Every Song
By Richard Butterworth
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Dinner with David Bowie, kissing with Jackie Wilson, close encounters with Iggy Pop, Rod Stewart and Ron Wood. Not even 20, still less a rock goddess, but Chrissie Hynde wasn’t hanging around. The talented, charismatic writer-singer escaped Ohio for Britain in 1973, hoping to form a rock ’n’ roll band. She befriended journalist Nick Kent, designer Vivienne Westwood, hustler Malcolm McLaren and famous musicians from Nick Lowe to Lemmy. She wrote for The NME and narrowly avoided becoming Mrs. Sid Vicious. Meeting Pete Farndon, James Honeyman-Scott and Martin Chambers, Chrissie finally realised her dream: The Pretenders, one of the world’s most exciting, enduring and best-loved rock groups. The Pretenders proved revelatory, lashing hard rock to the sexy, sassy swagger of streetwise punk and catchy, chart-busting pop. Brass In Pocket was a worldwide hit. America took to its heart the ex-pat from the Heartlands, as Chrissie became an international star and a reluctant flagbearer for rock’s sisterhood. Weathering tragic loss, The Pretenders have continued to make great music. Combining dry wit with diligent research and a deep knowledge of rock music, Richard Butterworth appraises The Pretenders’ turbulent, vital early years: from Chrissie’s arrival in Britain, through the band’s 1978 birth to 1990. Enjoy the ride.”
Gong: Every Album, Every Song Revised & Updated
By Kevan Furbank
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Every now and then, a band comes along that defies convention, refuses to be pigeon-holed, thumbs its nose at comfy predictability and blows raspberries at commercial wisdom. That band is Gong. From 1970 to the present day, Gong have ploughed a unique musical furrow — part progressive rock, part spacey psychedelia, part proto-punk, ambient trance, drum ‘n’ bass and absurdist political performance art. In this revised and updated edition, long-time fan Kevan Furbank examines all the Gong albums from Magick Brother in 1970 to 2023’s Unending Ascending and chronicles the stories behind each recording. He examines the songwriting, arrangements and mythology that inspired each track — with new insights from, amongst others, the current fantastic Gong lineup of bassist Mike Howlett, violinist Graham Clark and guitarist Josh Pollock. He salutes the many great musicians who have passed through Gong in the last 50-odd years, including guitar hero Steve Hillage, drummer Pierre Moerlen, flute and sax maestro Didier Malherbe and, of course, whimsical visionary and founder Daevid Allen. The author also discusses the offshoots of the Gong family tree — including Mother Gong, Gongmaison and Pierre Moerlen’s Gong. If you have never heard any Gong, this book is the perfect introduction. If you have, you will want to go back and revisit the glorious music this band has made.”
Songs Of Nashville: The Real Stories Behind Country Music’s Greatest Hits
By Jake Brown
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Here are the untold stories behind country’s most influential songs from the tunesmiths themselves — featuring interviews with Jelly Roll, Taylor Swift cowriters Liz Rose and Lori McKenna, Luke Combs cowriter Drew Parker, Morgan Wallen hit writer Josh Thompson, chart-toppers Clint Black and Vince Gill, legends and trendsetters like the late Merle Haggard and Kinky Friedman, Americana troubadour Jim Lauderdale, and song crafters with scores in film and television like A Star Is Born Oscar nominees Hillary Lindsey and Natalie Hemby and Songland judge Shane McAnally. Songs Of Nashville is a look inside the lives and work of the artists who’ve shaped Nashville and the sound of country. It reveals the emotional fuel, melodic and lyrical science, and pure magic of the Music Row hitmaking machine. Through in-depth profiles and conversations, country artists reveal the birth stories of the songs you know and love — and some you may not, but you definitely should! — from spontaneous moments of inspiration to the chemistry of collaboration. Songs Of Nashville is a must-read to discover the secrets of the creative process and the enduring power of storytelling that makes country music timeless.”
