More music history and biography
Although this topic has nothing to do with the title of this blog, every once in a while I review recent books about rock music. Back in 2018, I published a post on rock and roll autobiographies (mostly), featuring eight books on Bob Dylan, Pete Townshend, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Neil Young, Warren Zevon, Morrissey, and Bob Mould. Since then I’ve reviewed enough music nonfiction to fill another omnibus post recapping past reviews on the subject. Below is the latest crop of books on rock and rollers. Click on the titles below to read the full reviews.
Biographies and Autobiographies
Bobby Womack: My Story 1944–2014 by Bobby Womack and Robert Ashton (5 stars)
This may be the best rock and roll autobiography I’ve ever read. Bobby Womack lived a hard life, enduring much tragedy and hardship, and he tells his story with an unflinching honesty that is admirable and captivating. In addition to his own successful career as a soul singer and guitarist, Womack worked with a long list of rock and roll legends, many of them now Hall of Famers like himself. The stories he tells of these famous acquaintances really reveals their personalities and enlarges your understanding of each individual. Womack’s life story will sometimes make you laugh, might make you cry, and every once in a while may even give you the heebie jeebies.
Sly and the Family Stone: An Oral History by Joel Selvin (5 stars)
This gripping band biography is compiled from interviews with about forty different people who lived and/or worked with Sly and the band. Sly Stone himself, a recluse since the 1980s, did not participate. Sly was a successful radio DJ in San Francisco before he decided to form his own band and demonstrate his musical genius on albums like Stand! and There’s a Riot Goin’ On. With escalating fame, however, came escalating drug use and paranoia. This narrative quickly goes south from a success story to a horror story, with former Family Stone members telling harrowing stories of Sly’s erratic and dangerous behavior. This is definitely not a feel-good story, but it’s a riveting read.
And on Piano . . . Nicky Hopkins: The Extraordinary Life of Rock’s Greatest Session Man by Julian Dawson (4.5 stars)
Even if you’ve never heard of Nicky Hopkins, you’ve certainly heard his work. One of the greatest piano players in rock music, Hopkins played on some of the best albums of the Rolling Stones, the Who, the Kinks, the Beatles (mostly their solo records), and more. Hopkins was an official member of a few bands, most notably Quicksilver Messenger Service, but for most of his life he was a much sought-after session man who worked as a hired gun on hundreds if not thousands of recordings. This thoroughly researched book charts the roller coaster career of this humble but highly respected session man who barely achieved fame and never really achieved fortune.
Ronnie by Ronnie Wood (4.5 stars)
Before joining the Rolling Stones, Ron Wood had already enjoyed quite a successful career in rock and roll, having previously played with The Birds, The Creation, The Jeff Beck Group, The Faces, and Rod Stewart, in addition to his own solo albums. In Ronnie, Wood charts his trajectory from blue-collar upbringing to multimillionaire superstar in charming, articulate, and humorous prose. There is plenty of interesting stuff in here about Wood’s personal life and also about what it’s like to be a Rolling Stone. Though maybe not the most candid of memoirs (as far as his drug use and love life are concerned), this is an entertaining and satisfying read and more enjoyable than Keith Richards’s Life.
The Never-Ending Present: The Story of Gordon Downie and The Tragically Hip by Michael Barclay (3.5 stars)
Though little known South of the border, The Tragically Hip is Canada’s biggest rock band, cranking out challengingly innovative rock albums since 1987. After lead singer Gordon Downie was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, the band went on a farewell tour in 2016. Their final concert was a nationally televised event, and Downie’s death inspired nationwide displays of mourning. This book provides a history of the band, but also goes off on numerous digressions. Downie is highlighted at the expense of the other band members, which is unfortunate because they’re all excellent musicians.
Hellraiser: The Autobiography of the World’s Greatest Drummer by Ginger Baker with Ginette Baker (3 stars)
Widely considered one of the greatest rock drummers of all time, Baker pounded the skins for Cream, Blind Faith, Ginger Baker’s Air Force, the Graham Bond Organization, and Nigerian jazzman Fela Kuti, among others. Baker may have been an excellent musician, but he and and his daughter, who coauthored this book, do not make a great writer. Hellraiser is a rapid-fire string of one-paragraph anecdotes, one after the other, with no continuity, momentum, or suspense. One learns a lot about Baker’s post-stardom life in Africa and his passion for polo. Though Baker and his daughter want you to think his notorious cantankerousness is lovable, he does not come out as likable as they wished. The best you can say about this autobiography is that it does give you a glimpse into the man’s personality, for better or worse.
Sticky Fingers: The Life and Times of Jann Wenner and Rolling Stone Magazine by Joe Hagan (3 stars)
Jann Wenner, founder and longtime editor of Rolling Stone, authorized this biography, but it is in now way flattering to him. It’s basically an extended psychological study about what a jerk he is. The most disappointing thing about the book is that there really aren’t much in the way of rock and roll stories, just a lot of Wenner and his friends doing drugs, sleeping around, and being mean to each other. This is a very well-researched and well-written work of investigative journalism, but it’s also just really depressing to read a book full of so many unlikable people.
Music History and Criticism
Twilight of the Gods: A Journey to the End of Classic Rock by Steven Hyden (4 stars)
Music critic Steven Hyden celebrates all things classic rock and ponders what kind of future the genre will have now that its stars are dying out. There is also an autobiographical component here as Hyden describes his youth growing up under the influence of classic rock. This will especially appeal to readers from Wisconsin who, like Hyden and myself, grew up listening to the classic rock station WAPL.
Muscle Shoals Sound Studio: How the Swampers Changed American Music by Carla Jean Whitley (2.5 stars)
Some of the greatest recordings in the history of classic rock came out of Muscle Shoals, Alabama. This book recounts the history of one recording studio, the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, run by a group of expert session musicians known as the Swampers. Unfortunately, the author just quotes a bunch of magazine articles and doesn’t really provide any inside information. I would recommend watching the documentary film Muscle Shoals instead.
Songs and Their Stories
Bob Dylan All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track by Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon (4 stars)
The All the Songs series is just what it claims to be: commentary on every album and every track recorded by the artists featured, including information on the writing and recording of each song and some explanation of lyrics. The print editions are heavily illustrated coffee table books; the ebook editions are pictureless, but still very informative.
The Songs He Didn’t Write: Bob Dylan Under the Influence by Derek Barker (5 stars)
An encyclopedia of songs that Dylan has covered, in concert or recordings, up to 2008. This book provides a detailed and enlightening glimpse into Dylan’s musical influences. At first glance, this book seems like it would only appeal to the most diehard Dylanologists, but it is quite surprising how much interesting information it delivers on the history of American popular music in general.
Dylanology
A deep dive into Dylan’s spiritual influences and the religious subject matter in his music. Marshall gives welcome attention to Dylan’s gospel period of the late ’70s to early ’80s and analyzes the interplay between Judaism and Christianity in Dylan’s life and work.
Dylan: Disc by Disc by Jon Bream (4.5 stars)
An assortment of rock critics, Dylan biographers, university professors, musicians, and DJs—arranged in pairs—debate the merits and deficiencies of each Dylan album. The selection of contributors is interesting, and every album gets equal treatment, even those that are often derided.
Bob Dylan: The Essential Interviews, edited by Jonathan Cott (4 stars)
The title is pretty self-explanatory: an anthology of Dylan interviews from throughout his career.
Bob Dylan: Like a Complete Unknown by David Yaffe (3 stars)
A collection of four highbrow music-critic essays. Two are pretty enlightening; the other two not so much.
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