I’m following up my August 9, 2023 post 121 Eclectic Rock Music Books; part of my ongoing series of book lists. As I noted in the 2023 post, “As in all of my lists, the idea is not to be exhaustive or definitive. I’ve aimed for a combination of biographies, autobiographies/memoirs, and general nonfiction, along with a few novels. Many have been published recently, although some go back decades.” {Note: there is only one novel this time, Brendan Gillen’s Static.}
As in 2023, I’ve limited the list to one author, and one book. Some of the authors on the new list were also featured last time, but with a different book.
Happy reading, and happy listening!
Brian Anderson: Loud and Clear: The Grateful Dead’s Wall of Sound and the Quest for Audio Perfection
Michael Azerrad: The Amplified Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana
Joan Baez: When You See My Mother, Ask Her to Dance: Poems
Michael Barclay: The Never-Ending Present: The Story of Gord Downie and the Tragically Hip
Ray Benson: Comin’ Right at Ya: How a Jewish Yankee Hippie Went Country, or, the Often Outrageous History of Asleep at the Wheel
Jennifer Otter Bickerdike: Eternal Flame: The Authorized Biography of The Bangles
Mark Blake: Dreams: The Many Lives of Fleetwood Mac
Cornel Bonca: The Permanent Holdout: Jackson Browne, His Music, His America
Richard Branson: Like a Virgin: Secrets They Won’t Teach You at Business School
Peter Brown and Steven Gaines: All You Need Is Love: The Beatles in Their Own Words
David Browne: Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young: The Wild, Definitive Saga of Rock’s Greatest Supergroup
David Byrne: How Music Works
Mike Campbell: Heartbreaker: A Memoir
Ray Cappo: From Punk to Monk: A Memoir
Peter Ames Carlin: Tonight in Jungleland: The Making of Born to Run
Neko Case: The Harder I Fight the More I Love You: A Memoir
Chris Charlesworth: Just Backdated: Melody Maker: Seven Years in the Seventies
Cher: The Memoir Part One
Eric Clapton: Clapton: The Autobiography
Cam Cobb: Weighted Down: The Complicated Life of Skip Spence
Phil Collins: Not Dead Yet: The Memoir
Julian Cope: Head On/Repossessed
Mackenzie Crook: If Nick Drake Came to My House
Charles R. Cross: Heavier Than Heaven: A Biography of Kurt Cobain
Cameron Crowe: The Uncool: A Memoir
David Dann: Guitar King: Michael Bloomfield’s Life in the Blues
Trevor Dann: Darker Than the Deepest Sea: The Search for Nick Drake
Mark Davidson and Parker Fishel: Bob Dylan: Mixing up the Medicine
Alan Edwards: I Was There: Dispatches from a Life in Rock and Roll
Jane Eisner: Carole King: She Made the Earth Move
Ben Fong-Torres: The Eagles: Take It To The Limit
David French: Shapes of Things: From the Yardbirds to Yusuf with Paul Samwell-Smith
Matti Friedman: Who By Fire: Leonard Cohen in the Sinai
Art Garfunkel: What Is It All but Luminous: Notes from an Underground Man
Brendan Gillen: Static
Audrey Golden: Shouting Out Loud: Lives of the Raincoats
Lizzy Goodman: Meet Me in the Bathroom: Rebirth and Rock and Roll in New York City 2001-2011
Robert Gordon: Can’t Be Satisfied: The Life and Times of Muddy Waters
Jonathan Gould: Burning Down the House: Talking Heads and the New York Scene That Transformed Rock
Jan Gradvall: The Story of ABBA: Melancholy Undercover
Bill Graham: Bill Graham Presents: My Life Inside Rock And Out
Virginia Hanlon Grohl: From Cradle to Stage: Stories from the Mothers Who Rocked and Raised Rock Stars
Jean-Michel Guesdon and Philippe Margotin: Pink Floyd All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track
Peter Guralnick: The Colonel and the King: Tom Parker, Elvis Presley, and the Partnership that Rocked the World
Kathleen Hanna: Rebel Girl: My Life as a Feminist Punk
Richard Hell: I Dreamed I Was a Very Clean Tramp: An Autobiography
Jimi Hendrix: Starting At Zero: His Own Story
David Hepworth: Hope I Get Old Before I Die: Why Rock Stars Never Retire
Will Hermes: Lou Reed: The King of New York
Robert Hilburn: A Few Words in Defense of Our Country: The Biography of Randy Newman
Robyn Hitchcock: 1967: How I Got There and Why I Never Left
Peter Hook: Substance: Inside New Order
Barney Hoskyns: Waiting for the Sun: A Rock & Roll History of Los Angeles
Mick Houghton: I’ve Always Kept a Unicorn: The Biography of Sandy Denny
John Illsley: My Life in Dire Straits: The Inside Story of One of the Biggest Bands in Rock History
Andrew Grant Jackson: 1965: The Most Revolutionary Year in Music
Nate Jackson and Daniel Kohn: Tearing Down the Orange Curtain: How Punk Rock Brought Orange County to the World
Glyn Johns: Sound Man: A Life Recording Hits with The Rolling Stones, The Who, Led Zeppelin, the Eagles, Eric Clapton, the Faces . . .
Tom Johnston and Pat Simmons: Long Train Runnin’: Our Story of The Doobie Brothers
Grace Jones: I’ll Never Write My Memoirs
Jorma Kaukonen: Been So Long: My Life and Music
David Kirby: Little Richard: The Birth of Rock ‘n’ Roll
Preston Lauterbach: Before Elvis: The African American Musicians Who Made the King
Geddy Lee: My Effin’ Life: From Holocaust Roots to Rock and Roll Stardom
Donovan Leitch: The Autobiography of Donovan: The Hurdy Gurdy Man
Michelle Leon: I Live Inside: Memoirs of a Babe in Toyland
Ian Leslie: John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs
Stephen T. Lewis: Richard Manuel: His Life and Music, from the Hawks and Bob Dylan to The Band
John Lingan: A Song For Everyone: The Story of Creedence Clearwater Revival
Kenny Loggins: Still Alright: A Memoir
Steve Lukather: The Gospel According to Luke
Johnny Marr: Set the Boy Free: The Autobiography
John Mayall: Blues From Laurel Canyon: John Mayall: My Life as a Bluesman
Barry Mazor: Blood Harmony: The Everly Brothers Story
Paul McCartney: Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run
Evelyn McDonnell: Queens of Noise: The Real Story of the Runaways
Roger McGuinn, Chris Hillman, and David Crosby: The Byrds: 1964-1967
William McKeen: Everybody Had an Ocean: Music and Mayhem in 1960s Los Angeles
Douglas K. Miller: Washita Love Child: The Rise of Indigenous Rock Star Jesse Ed Davis
Moby: Porcelain: A Memoir
Morrissey: Autobiography
Kate Mossman: Men of a Certain Age: My Encounters with Rock Royalty
Tiffany Murray: My Family and Other Rock Stars
Marc Myers: Rock Concert: An Oral History as Told by the Artists, Backstage Insiders, and Fans Who Were There
Alanna Nash: Elvis and the Memphis Mafia
Jim Newton: Here Beside the Rising Tide: Jerry Garcia, the Grateful Dead, and an American Awakening
John O’Connell: Bowie’s Bookshelf: The Hundred Books that Changed David Bowie’s Life
Gary Oelze and Stephen Moore: All Roads Lead to The Birchmere: America’s Legendary Music Hall
Ozzy Osbourne: Last Rites
Alan Paul: One Way Out: The Inside History of the Allman Brothers Band
Tanya Pearson: Pretend We’re Dead: The Rise, Fall, and Resurrection of Women in Rock in the ’90s
Liz Pelly: Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist
Edward Tudor Pole: The Pen is Mightier: Autobiography of a Punk Rocker
Ann Powers: Traveling: On the Path of Joni Mitchell
Katherine Reed: David Bowie and the Moving Image: A Standing Cinema
Linda Ronstadt: Simple Dreams: A Musical Memoir
Shaun Ryder: How to Be a Rock Star
Chris Salewicz: Redemption Song: The Ballad of Joe Strummer the Definitive Biography
Daryl Sanders: That Thin, Wild Mercury Sound: Dylan, Nashville, and the Making of Blonde on Blonde
Joel Selvin: Drums & Demons: The Troubled Journey of Jim Gordon
Peter Shapiro with Dean Budnick: The Music Never Stops: What Putting on 10,000 Shows Has Taught Me About Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Magic
Patti Smith: Bread of Angels: A Memoir
Bob Spitz: Barefoot in Babylon: The Creation of the Woodstock Music Festival, 1969
Chris Stein: Under a Rock: a Memoir
Yusuf/Cat Stevens: Cat On The Road To Findout: The Official Autobiography
Rod Stewart: Rod: The Autobiography
Sting: Broken Music: A Memoir
Sly Stone: Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin): A Memoir
Jeff Tamarkin: Got a Revolution!: The Turbulent Flight of Jefferson Airplane
Serj Tankian: Down with the System: A Memoir (of Sorts)
Lol Tolhurst: Goth: A History
Brad Tolinski, Jaan Uhelszki, and Ben Edmonds: MC5 : An Oral Biography of Rock’s Most Revolutionary Band
Sandra B. Tooze: Levon: From Down in the Delta to the Birth of THE BAND and Beyond
Stephen Tow: London, Reign Over Me: How England’s Capital Built Classic Rock
Jeff Tweedy: World Within a Song: Music That Changed My Life and Life That Changed My Music
Richie Unterberger: Jingle Jangle Morning: Folk-Rock in the 1960s
Alex Van Halen: Brothers
Elijah Wald: Dylan Goes Electric! Newport, Seeger, Dylan, and the Night That Split the Sixties
Gayle F. Wald: Shout, Sister, Shout!: The Untold Story of Rock-and-Roll Trailblazer Sister Rosetta Tharpe
Michael Walker: Laurel Canyon: The Inside Story of Rock-and-Roll’s Legendary Neighborhood
Ed Ward: The History of Rock & Roll, Volume 1: 1920-1963
Jude Warne and David Paich: Lowdown: The Music of Boz Scaggs
Ann and Nancy Wilson: Kicking & Dreaming: A Story of Heart, Soul, and Rock and Roll
Peter Wolf: Waiting on the Moon: Artists, Poets, Drifters, Grifters, and Goddesses
Warren Zanes: Petty: The Biography