Music Books

By Various Authors (Edit. By Sean Manning)
The Show I’ll Never Forget

For some inexplicable reason, attending concerts will always hold lingering memories for almost anyone. The Show I’ll Never Forget finds 50 different writers giving personal takes on memorable concerts.

Book review appears in issue # 25 Buy Issue

By Steve Turner
The Gospel According To The Beatles

Music journalist Steve Turner, whose previous Fab Four book, A Hard Day’s Write, delves into the inspiration for each Beatles’ track, returns to evaluate the group’s spiritual journey throughout its decade-long career. In exploring John, Paul, George, and Ringo’s personal biographies, Turner discovers critical moments that shaped each individual’s spiritual leanings.

Book review appears in issue # 25 Buy Issue

By Dave Thompson
Hallo Spaceboy: The Rebirth Of David Bowie

While most biographies of David Bowie focus on the enigmatic glam era of Ziggy Stardust, Space Oddity or the Berlin period with albums of Low, Heroes, and Lodger, Thompson’s book examines the iconic artist’s redemption from premature blandness.

Book review appears in issue # 25 Buy Issue

Roadshow: Landscape with Drums: A Concert Tour by Motorcycle
By Neil Peart

For his fourth memoir that revolves around sprawling journeys, Neil Peart delivers the first travelogue involving his band’s touring. While the tone is similar to his previous writings, Roadshow provides fleeting glimpses behind the curtain of Rush. He reminisces about his storied career with Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, who have served in the trenches with the reclusive drummer for 30 years at the time of writing.

Book review appears in issue # 24 Buy Issue

Skydog: The Duane Allman Story
By Randy Poe

The long overdue biography of Duane Allman, the late Southern rock guitar virtuoso of The Allman Brothers, portrays the man’s talent and staggering accomplishments, particularly for someone who died before turning 25. Poe does a remarkable job at tapping sources close to Allman to accurately paint the guitarist’s life.

Book review appears in issue # 24 Buy Issue

The Drummer: 100 Years of Rhythmic Power and Invention
By Adam Budofsky

In just over 170 pages, Adam Budofsky’s volume provides an excellent overview of drumming in the past century. Packed with excellent live and studio photos and sprinkled with amusing or insightful quips from the masters, the work begins with the “founding fathers” of drumming (Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich, Elvin Jones). Highlighting the pioneering technical prowess and electrifying showmanship, the evolution then quickly unfolds into the likes of Keith Moon and John Bonham, who added blistering power to the finesse of the early masters.

Book review appears in issue # 24 Buy Issue

U2 By U2
By U2 And Neil Mccormick

As the currently reigning most important rock band in the world, U2 has sold over 130 million albums and have played virtually everywhere on the globe.

Book review appears in issue # 23 Buy Issue

Rush: Chemistry
By Dean Truitt

Jon Collins’ detailed official biography is an interesting undertaking on a number of levels. He has vigorously interviewed virtually every person who has had a hand in the lengthy career of the Canadian trio.

Book review appears in issue # 23 Buy Issue

Dark Magus: The Jekyll and Hyde Life of Miles Davis
By Dean Truitt

As with any maverick artist, Miles Davis’ dominating legacy will ultimately endure largely within the confines of his art.

Book review appears in issue # 23 Buy Issue

Catch a Wave: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson
By Dean Truitt

Like so many great artists throughout history, The Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson has endured inconceivable bouts of depression, chemical addiction, fear, crippling self-doubt, and a myriad of other obstacles.

Book review appears in issue # 22 Buy Issue

Paul Weller And John Hellier
By Dean Truitt

As one mod legend salutes another, The Jam’s and The Style Council’s Paul Weller culls through his favorite Small Faces’ songs and presents them for guitar and vocal. The work is quite unique in that it serves many purposes.

Book review appears in issue # 22 Buy Issue

Al Stewart: The True Like Adventures of a Folk Rock Troubadour
By Dean Truitt

Though Glasgow, Scotland’s Al Stewart is most famous for his international hit in 1976, “Year of the Cat,” he has lived a colorful life and career that began in the mid-‘60s. Inspired by the early protest songs of Bob Dylan, Stewart began writing his own material and went on to sell more albums than any folk artist except Dylan and Paul Simon.

Book review appears in issue # 22 Buy Issue

The Guitar Amp Handbook: Understanding Tube Amplifiers and Getting Great Sounds
By Pat Mavromatis

Dave Hunter in his book The Guitar Amp Handbook: Understanding Tube Amplifiers And Getting Great Sounds (BackBeat 2005) provides you, the guitar player and his/her ever-ending search for the perfect tone, with everything you need to understand the mighty tube amplifier and how it relates to your own style and sound.

Book review appears in issue # 20 Buy Issue

Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of The Beatles
By Dean Truitt

Although recording engineer Geoff Emerick was only a 19-year-old boy when he began working with The Fab Four in 1966 and his tenure with the group lasted but two years, the young man’s experience ultimately helped shape history by crafting some of music’s finest material of any era.

Book review appears in issue # 20 Buy Issue