Note #24: A Year of Reading Books on Music
A Year of Reading Books About, and Related To, Music
I try to read 50 books a year. For some reason this year I barely cracked the forties. But of those, 29 books were related to music, as 2023 was my immersive music year.
These books aren’t ranked in any order, other than that I’ve listed them based on the date I read them.
First number is the book order, then title, author, rating and maybe a bit about the book. At the end of this the parenthesis encloses a reference number of the book in my overall reading list (other books not about music that I read are not listed here).
Ratings. I rate 1 to 5 stars (with halves as necessary). I usually don’t rate anything lower than 3 stars. Probably because once it hits 2 1/2 stars, I tend to stop reading. If it gets 4 or 4 1/2 stars, I’m enjoying it.
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The black box designation: This is for a 5 star book. Usually I can pull two or three out of a year. This year it went to #16 and #21 (read on to find out).
*
Asterisk is a Notable designation. This means I liked the book enough to recommend, but it didn’t cross the threshold to get the black box designation.
1.
“Long Road: Pearl Jam and the Soundtrack of a Generation” by Steven Hyden
3 ½ stars. More than you might ever want to know. ((4) 29 Jan)
2.
“Song Noir: Tom Waits and the Spirit of Los Angeles” by Alex Harvey
4 stars. A bit repetitive, but interesting. ((7) 18 Feb)
3.*
“The Nineties: A Book” by Chuck Klosterman
4 ½ stars. I let this one slip in to the list because it dealt so much with pop culture and hence, music, of which the nineties were exemplary. As well, Klosterman has a unique take on cultural stuff, and his writing is stellar. ((8) 01 Mar)
4.*
“Closer You Are: The Story of Robert Pollard and Guided by Voices” by Matthew Cutler
4 ½ stars. For any GbV fans, a must read. ((9) 05 Mar)
5.
“Kurt Cobain: The Last Interview”
3 stars. Interview collections aren’t usually that remarkable, and this one is no exception. ((10) 08 Mar)
6.*
“Faith, Hope and Carnage” by Nick Cave and Sean O’Hagen
4 stars. I saw Nick Cave a year earlier, and it had to be one of the best concerts I’d attended for 2022. This is a fascinating in depth exploration of Cave’s proclivities… ((13) 27 Mar)
7.
“Anatomy of 55 More Songs” by Mark Myers
3 1/2 stars. A lot of information, some enlightening. ((14) 10 Apr)
8.*
“Remain in Love” by Chris Frantz
4 stars. Mostly because it is informative; but he never fails to repeatedly dig at David Byrne, which feel gratuitous, and unnecessary. Though, surprisingly, I enjoyed this a slight bit more than Byrne’s book, see #10, below. ((15) 19 Apr)
9.
“Cool Town: How Athens, Georgia, Launched Alternative Music and Changed American Culture” by Grace Elizabeth Hale
3 ½ stars. A bit biased and specific about a lot of forgotten bands, though informative on a lot of curious details. Of course, I read it primarily to find more out about R.E.M. ((16) 03 May)
10.
“How Music Works” by David Byrne
4 stars. A bit like a textbook, though some intriguing nuggets within. Of course, I was most interested in personal T.H. info, which is unfortunately limited. ((17) 07 May)
11.
“Bang Bang Crash” by Nic Brown
3 ½ stars. Ambivalent former drummer becomes writer, sort of the opposite of me. He really does not like being a musician, it seems. Or maybe this book just belies the sense of the drummer being the butt of everyone’s joke. ((18) 09 May)
12.
“Sellout: The Major Label Feeding Frenzy that swept Punk, Emo and Hardcore 1994–2007” by Dan Ozzi
4 stars. Though I’m not especially a fan of most of the music related about here, the stories of record companies and producers is enlightening and exhaustive, portraying this period and the record companies involved in the cynical light that is probably deserved. And I did listen to some bands that I wouldn’t have listened to otherwise. ((20) 26 May)
13.*
“Big Day Coming: Yo La Tengo and the Rise of Indie Rock” by Jesse Jarnow
4 1/2 stars. A friend pointed this one out to me, and like any band history, it will either whet your appetite or bore you. I enjoyed it quite a bit. I’ve seen them in concert at least half a dozen times over the years. ((21) 05 Jun)
14.
“Soul Mining: A Musical Life” by Daniel Lanois
3 1/2 stars. I am a big fan of Lanois’ work, but have learned more watching interviews with him on Youtube. This memoir left quite a bit to be desired in terms of personality and depth. And I have to wonder whose idea was it to use the title of The The’s phenomenal 1983 album for this memoir (an album from which I don’t think Lanois had anything to do with)… ((22) 11 Jun)
15.
“See a Little Light: The Trail of Rage and Melody” by Bob Mould
4 stars. I came to appreciate the journey and struggles of Mould, an artist I’ve only had a glancing familiarity with. I would have liked it more without it going into depth on his personal life. (I realize I’ve contradicted myself: I either want this info, or I don’t!) ((23) 17 Jun)
16. █
“Folk Music — A Bob Dylan Biography in Seven Songs” by Greil Marcus
5 stars. I give this the black box designation, though I originally gave it 4 ½ stars. I think Marcus’s enthusiasm, and plumbing of depths, is compelling. I mean, he makes Dylan interesting, which is something. ((26) 05 Jul)
17.
“This Is What it Sounds Like: What the Music You Love Says About You” by Susan Rogers
3 ½ stars. Prince’s producer. A little overly-technical for my taste, and more about psychology than nuts and bolts music, but occasionally intriguing. ((28) 26 Jul)
18.
“Just Kids” by Patti Smith
4 stars. I came to appreciate Patti Smith, someone I used to see in Ferndale (Michigan) when some friends and I would trek there to go thrift shopping (in the mid-eighties). While I was reading this, I had a dream in which Patti Smith said to me, “You have an okay aura.” ((29) 28 Jul)
19.
“Hotel California — The True-Life Adventures of Crosby, Stills, Nash, Young, Mitchell, Taylor, Browne, Ronstadt, Geffen, the Eagles, and Their Many Friends” by Barney Hoskyns
4 stars. Picked this up in a thrift store for a couple bucks, enjoyed it more than the guy who sold it to me would have imagined. If nothing else, wins the award for longest title. ((30) 21 Aug)
20.
“More Songwriters on Songs” by Paul Zollow
4 stars. I’m a sucker for learning about musicians’ songwriting processes. ((32) Sep ?)
21. █
“On Some Faraway Beach: The Life and Times of Brian Eno” by David Sheppard
5 stars. Thoroughly enjoyable, fascinating life story of the curious byways of Brian Eno’s sonic life. ((34) 7 Oct)
22.
“Exit Stage Left: The Curious Afterlife of Pop Stars” by Nick Duerden
4 stars. More information about some obscure, some not so obscure, British pop bands. I feel like there’s more interest in these kind of stories across the pond than here, but I tend to gravitate toward them. ((35) 18 Oct)
23.*
“Stay True” by Hua Hsu
4 ½ stars. Indirectly about music, but enough music informs this story to make it on my list. Great story about male friendship, cultural divides, loss, and nostalgia. Beautifully written. ((36) 23 Oct)
24.*
“Deliver Me From Nowhere — The Making of Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska” by Warren Zanes
4 ½ stars. I might have given this the black box designation, but decided ultimately not to. It’s a great read, however, with minutiae about recording (which I love). ((38) 10 Nov)
25.
“The Masters — Conversations with Bono Dylan Garcia Jagger Lennon Springsteen Townshend” by Jann Wenner
3 ½ stars. As with any interview compilation, this book suffers in its peaks and valleys. Not all of the interviews are incisive, though overall there’s enough curiosity here to whet a music aficionado’s appetite. ((39) 14 Nov)
26.
“Homeward Bound: The Life of Paul Simon” by Peter Ames Carlin
3 stars. Though this also has a lot of information, there was almost too much speculation and interjection of the author’s opinions to weigh down the sense of, “Is this what really happened?” But I have always been amazed by Simon’s songwriting, so it was a must read. ((40) 25 Nov)
27.*
“Set the Boy Free” by Johnny Marr
4 ½ stars. I enjoyed Marr’s personality, and indomitable spirit that has fueled a spectacular career. Though he doesn’t gossip, and keeps it all copacetic, which leaves a bit to be desired. And, besides songwriting, he is a decent writer. ((41) 02 Dec)
28.*
“Verse, Chorus, Monster!” by Graham Coxon
4 ½ stars. This one almost squeaked into the black box category. A very interesting guitarist/artist whose work with Blur (1991-present) and in his own work, defies peer. And, in the words of Ed Grimley, “He seems like a decent guy.” After reading this one and the Marr book, I’m convinced these old rock and rollers feel a necessity to make themselves likeable for some reason. ((42) 9 Dec)
29.*
“Black Vinyl White Powder — The Real Story of the British Music Industry” by Simon Napier-Bell
This book from an embedded insider (he was the manager of several huge stars from several eras: The Yardbirds, T. Rex, Wham!, etc.) touches on so much of the cliched drug and sex debauchery of the rock set, that at some point I decided I was reading a novel. And it’s a little too weighted on drug culture and its influence. The anecdotes are often fascinating, however, and can veer into the perverse, so, of course, I read with some dubiety. Particularly as some of the stories have been debunked later (for example, how Yoko Ono “broke up” the Beatles). Still, a fascinating insider read on the history of British rock ‘n roll. As well, Napier-Bell has had a lot of influential friends who are quoted copiously. Another curious anecdote: the book ends around 2001, so Napier-Bell only hints at the massive changes that were to come in the music world. “Sir George Martin thinks, in ten years’ time, record companies as we know them will have ceased to exist.” ((43) 16Dec)
