Blender's 40 Greatest Rock 'N Roll Books
Categories: Entertainment , Staff Picks
As library people we love lists...Especially booklists. So if you happen to love rock music and lists, like some of us libraryfolk, below you will find Blender music magazine's "40 Greatest Rock 'N Roll Books", from their October issue. I am also pleased to report that we own most of the books on the list (and ordering those we do not, if in print).
Having stated that lists are lovable, it must also be said that they can be problematic, causing negative reactions in some by what they include and exclude. Blender's list rose the ire of music blog/zine Stereogum. Having read through the flames and rants, I discovered three books that Stereogum readers were most dismayed by Blender's omission: Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981-1991, Cash: The Autobiography, and "Serge Gainsbourg: A Fistful of Gitanes".
On the other hand, Kirkus Reviews agrees with Blender's choices, and reviews 13 of the 40 picks in this article from The Book Standard.
Kind reader, what about you? What's missing from the list? What's on it that shouldn't be? Comments...?
40. Yes Yes Y'All: The Experience Music Project Oral History Of Hip-Hop's First Decade
39. Stairway To Hell: The 500 Best Heavy-Metal Albums In The Universe
38. Dreaming Out Loud: Garth Brooks, Wynonna Judd, Wade Hayes, and the Changing Face of Nashville
37. Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History Of Punk
36. Nowhere To Run: The Story Of Soul Music
35. The Aesthetics Of Rock
34. Heavier Than Heaven: A Biography Of Kurt Cobain
33. Have Gun Will Travel: The Spectacular Rise And Violent Fall Of Death Row Records
32. Led Zeppelin IV
31. The Dark Stuff: Selected Writings On Rock Music
30. The Last Party: Studio 54, Disco, And The Culture Of The Night
29. Great Jones Street
28. Yes I Can: The Story of Sammy Davis, Jr.
27. Christgau's Record Guide--The '70s, '80s And '90s
26. Hit Men: Power Brokers And The Fast Money Inside The Music Business
25. Psychotic Reactions And Carburetor Dung
24. Divided Soul: The Life of Marvin Gaye
23. Rip It Up And Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984
22. High Fidelity
21. Sound Effects: Youth, Leisure, and the Politics of Rock'n'roll
20. Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation
19. Revolution In The Head: The Beatles' Records And The Sixties
18. Chronicles: Volume One
17. The Sound Of The City: The Rise Of Rock And Roll
16. Fargo Rock City: A Heavy Metal Odyssey in Rural Nörth Daköta
15. The Life And Times Of Little Richard: The Quasar of Rock
14. Hammer Of The Gods
13. Hellfire: The Jerry Lee Lewis Story
12. Awopbopaloobop Alopbamboom: The Golden Age of Rock
11. The Commitments
10. Lipstick Traces: A Secret History of the Twentieth Century
9. The True Adventures Of The Rolling Stones
8. The Dirt
7. England's Dreaming: Anarchy, Sex Pistols, Punk Rock, and Beyond
6. Deep Blues
5. Starlust: The Secret Fantasies of Fans
4. I'm With The Band: Confessions Of A Groupie
3. Ego Trip's Book Of Rap Lists
2. Last train to Memphis: the Rise of Elvis Presley/Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley
1. Dino: Living High In The Dirty Business Of Dreams
5 Comments
Yo, yo, rockers, punks, hip-hoppers and lovers of music! Great review, Andrew! I like some of the extremes…that is Stairway to Hell (Sign of the goat, dude!) as well as the aesthetics of rock. And where would we (or I, myself) be without the lads from Liverpool?! Rock on, y’all!
Eric
Touching From a Distance: Ian Curtis and Joy Division, Hawkwind: Sonic Assassins, Spacemen 3 & the Birth of Spiritualized, No One Here Gets Out Alive, Tape Delay, England’s Hidden Reverse: A Secret History of the Esoteric Underground, Nick Drake and Nick Cave biographies,and Siouxsie & The Banshees’ authorized biography are all missing from the list!
UPDATE: FYI, PLCH now owns “Serge Gainsbourg: A Fistful of Gitanes: Requiem for a Twister”, “The Dark Stuff: Selected Writings on Rock Music”, “Christgau’s Consumer Guide: Albums of the 90’s”, “Awopbopaloobop Alopbamboom: The Golden Age of Rock”, “Ego Trip’s Book of Rap Lists”, as well as almost every book in my earlier comment!
Some very obvious titles were left out of the rock list. Craig Fenton’s Jefferson Airplane book “Take Me To A Circus Tent” that has over 90 photos, most never in print, 32 interviews and looks at 121 live Airplane performances should be on the list and Beatles- The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions: The Official Story of the Abbey Road Years 1962-1970 by Mark Lewisohn
Only thoughts from a long time fan of all things rock and roll.
An excellent rock ‘n roll biography is Room Full of Mirrors by Charles Cross. It’s a revealing bio of Jimi Hendrix, written by the same author as Heavier than Heaven (#34 on the list above).