Read any good books recently?

[herbychimp]

I am sure that I won't be the only one who enjoys a good music related yarn. I have a weakness for quasi-autobiographical nonsense that one can pick up for a tenner in an Amazon sale but recently I have read a few interesting guitar related tomes, so here they are:

1) Electric Eden - essentially the story of British music (not strictly a guitar only tale) - a bold claim it is true but an awseome book if you have some time to dedicate to it
2) Bang your Head - an exploration of Heavy Metal subculture. A tad American in tone but it contains some lovely stuff on Laar's obsession with NWOBHM
3) Fire and Rain  - A story of 1970 (Beatles, James Taylor, CSNY) - loved this, full of anecdotes and wry observations
4) Trampled Underfoot - Barney Hoskins collection of thoughts / interviews on Led Zeppelin. Interesting, very interesting.

Whose pages are yous turning?

[Ian Price]

Recent(ish) music reading for me:

The Dirt - Motley Crue
Howling at the Moon - Walter Yetnikoff
Shakey - Neil Young
Lowside of the Road: A Life of Tom Waits
Innocent When you Dream - Tom Waits

All great reads. I've not noted the names of the authors (being lazy and can't be bothered to look them up!)

I seem to be more of a biography person than anything else. I really can't remember the last non-bio based book that I read. I am branching out though. I have read the following non music books in recent times (recent times meaning before the twins were born and I had time to read!)

Hiding the Elephant - A book about the golden age of magicians (and Houdini was neither liked or respected amongst his peers)
Silent Night - about the WWI 1914 Christmas truce
The Game - about chat up artists (whilst some of it was highly unbelievable it was a pretty good read)
The Gulag Archipelago - to be honest I had to stop reading this as I found it a little too harrowing. I'll man up and try harder next time I pick it up.

And I'm just about to start reading 'Agent Zigzag'.

[Andrew W]

Big +1 for Electric Eden, a really great book. I've also enjoyed Dazzling Stranger, a biography of Bert Jansch and Ginger Geezer, the Vivian Stanshall bio. Both highly recommended.

[TheyCallMeVolume]

I've read almost all the rocker books, some of my favorites are The Dirt, Jacob Slichter's bio, Tony Iommi's bio, Slash, the Wilson sisters, Sammy Hagar, Neil Peart, Anthony Kiedis, Ace Frehley, and probably a few others I'm forgetting.

Some of the ones that got the most press were the ones I liked least. Steven Tyler, Keith Richards, Pete Townshend, their books were pretty bad IMO.

[Philly Q]

^

I have to disagree, I found Keith Richards' book Life absolutely fascinating!  That said, I'm not a huge fan of the Stones and I'm not a huge fan of biographies, so I'm probably at odds with you biography fans to start with!  :lol:

Most of the biographies/autobiographies I've read are just a series of anecdotes, badly structured and appallingly written (even though they're nearly all ghostwritten by "professional" authors).  The Tony Iommi book was a good example, I learned a few interesting facts but as a book, even though I'm a fan, it's very dull.  Whereas Keith Richards' book is relatively low on facts and musical details, but gives a real insight into his personality.  That's much more interesting to me.

Another music-related autobiography I did really enjoy is Guy Pratt's My Bass and Other Animals.  Oh, and Neil Peart's Ghost Rider.  Again, because it tells me more about the person than just what they do for a job.
 

[JJretroTONEGOD]

I'm reading gordon ramsay's 'playing with fire' it's good so far and quite funny, he has had a more interesting life than I expected, it's a bit of a surprise because I expected it to be rubbish

[Plenum n Heather]

I just finished Abbey Road to Ziggy Stardust by Ken Scott; reviews have it as being very dry, but I found it a fascinating and inspiring read.

I am also reading

- Stealer of Souls, the first Elric omnibus by Michael Moorc0ck
- The Sword of Welleran and other stories by Lord Dunsany
- The Complete Works of Edgar Allen Poe
- 99 Stories of Robert E Howard
- The Complete HP Lovecraft

[Philly Q]

I am also reading

- Stealer of Souls, the first Elric omnibus by Michael Moorc0ck
- The Sword of Welleran and other stories by Lord Dunsany
- The Complete Works of Edgar Allen Poe
- 99 Stories of Robert E Howard
- The Complete HP Lovecraft

Good stuff, Ben! :D  Must admit I have never read Lord Dunsany, except maybe a short story or two.

I love the Elric books and most of Michael Moorc--k's work, but his popularity seems to come and go - most of his books seem to be out of print in the UK at the moment.

[herbychimp]

Loving the Poe - I am a big fan of the gothic genre. If you like that you might be interested in a little Maupassant as he offers some similarly macabre tales. The Hagar book surprised me in it's frankness. I wanted to think that he was making up all the stuff about Eddie and Alex but actually quite a lot of it rang true. The fact that EVH is so hellbent on selling his band and promoting his brand these days makes a great deal of sense if he spent years too ar**holed to make a single penny. I recently read a very dull Randy Rhoads book where the only bit I enjoyed was about his Sandoval polka V.

[Andrew W]

I love the Elric books and most of Michael Moorc--k's work, but his popularity seems to come and go - most of his books seem to be out of print in the UK at the moment.

Gollantz are working with his beardy majesty to put together definitive editions of the Elric and Corum books. They're supposed to start going back into print very soon: http://www.gollancz.co.uk/2012/09/gollancz-to-publish-the-definitive-michael-moorc--k/

[Philly Q]

I love the Elric books and most of Michael Moorc--k's work, but his popularity seems to come and go - most of his books seem to be out of print in the UK at the moment.

Gollantz are working with his beardy majesty to put together definitive editions of the Elric and Corum books. They're supposed to start going back into print very soon: http://www.gollancz.co.uk/2012/09/gollancz-to-publish-the-definitive-michael-moorc--k/

Sounds good!  I bought the 14(?) volume Eternal Champion series when they came out a few years ago, that was a nicely-done set.  I have probably the majority of his stuff apart from a few things which were out of print (last time I looked).  I don't always enjoy his more "literary" works like the Colonel Pyat books, and I got very bored with Blood and its sequels.  Not a massive fan of Jerry Cornelius either.

[blue]

i always liked the Elric books, i read most of them, and a few of his other books, when i was a teenager.  back then you could actually go to libraries and get books! :)

regrettably, i haven't had much time for reading lately. the last book i read all the way through was Fevre Dream by George RR Martin.  i wanted to try a standalone book of his before wading into Game Of Thrones.  it was quite good.  that was a year ago this week!  i really must get some more reading done

[Philly Q]

i always liked the Elric books, i read most of them, and a few of his other books, when i was a teenager.  back then you could actually go to libraries and get books! :)

That's exactly my experience!  Happy days in Mumbles library.  They had a really good fantasy/science fiction/horror section. :D  I remember being quite bewildered and not a little disturbed by Behold the Man and The Dancers at the End of Time, aged about 13 or 14!  :lol:

The last book i read all the way through was Fevre Dream by George RR Martin.  i wanted to try a standalone book of his before wading into Game Of Thrones.  it was quite good.  that was a year ago this week!

I really like Fevre Dream, read it when in first came out back in the '80s.  I also love The Armageddon Rag (coming back to the original music theme of this thread!).  George RR Martin's early work is great, I didn't realise he was still alive then suddenly all the Game of Thrones stuff appeared.  I was going to start reading them but there are just too many!

[Lezard]

I've just acquired the complete works of Poe as read by Basil Rathbone.


Really liking it so far.

[Elliot]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Agreements-Levellers-Constitutional-English-Revolution/dp/0230542700/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1361896940&sr=8-1

Especially the parts by Elliot Vernon (me!)