I've just finished reading the Nick Kent compendium, which - I learned to my great surprise - contains what are probably the definitive pieces on Brian Wilson, Roy Orbison (his last interview six days before he died), the post-sixties Stones and post-Transformer Lou Reed.

All in all, it's a lot better written and insightful and less annoyingly me-me-me than I remembered (unlike the Lester Bangs ones, which turned out to be a big disappointment).

'Rip It Up and Start Again' - a look at the post punk music scene - is definitely worth a go.

And Charles Shaar Murray's book on Hendrix, 'Crosstown Traffic, is excellent.

But especially...

Sweet Soul Music
Feel Like Goin' Home
Last Train to Memphis
Careless Love

I have 'Dream Boogie' still in my pile to read as well.

Andrew Marr's 'A History of Modern Britain'?

The first history book I've read that wasn't all too easy to put down (Just arrived at 1979). He's got a very readable style and also acknowledges the importance of music as a cultural force as well as a barometer of the Nation's mood.

"Fargo Rock City" by Chuck Klosterman is an entertaining read focussing on a previoulsy uncelebrated genre - Hair Metal. He also wrote "Killing Youself To Live" described as "an epic road trip, visiting the death sites of rock stars".

Other recent reads:

"Strange Fascination" by David Buckley - excellent Bowie biography

"Are You Ready For The Country" by Peter Doggett - good introduction to Country Rock, its roots and influences

"Pretty Vacant: A History Of Punk" by Phil Strongman - it's alright - goes over well-trodden ground though

"Words and Music" by Paul Morley - not to everyone's taste but I'm a fan of his work.

I assume that pop culture related writing covers films so I'd recommend Biskind's Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex, Drugs and Rock n Roll Generation Changed Hollywood as well as Down and Dirty Pictures: Miramax, Sundance and the Rise of Independent Film.
The former documents the rise of Spielberg, Lucas, Coppola and many others together with the numerous stars of their films and is a terrific read while the latter (which I'm currently reading) recounts how the Weinsteins came to dominate independent film and the emergence of Sundance Festival as a yardstick for the evolution of independent films. It is a bit name heavy and I find I'm constantly having to refer to the index to refresh knowledge of where and when a particular character came in, but it's still an interesting read.
William Goldman's Adventures In The Screen Trade is also an excellent book about Hollywood.

Archie and Larry - The Dark Stuff' sounds bang on.

Ferris - someone lent me Rip It Up, but I can't find it,would be a perfect follow on to my last two punky reads.

Carl - I've read both of those and in particular the William Goldman is one is a real treat.

Paul - I loved the Elvis ones so will check the other Guralnick's

Mutt - sounds like another winner.

Stephen - I've read Strange Fascination and Words and Music, Pretty Vacant could tempt me.

That's a summer's worth of reading sorted from your suggestions -
I'm also interested in My White Bicycle, Hotel California, Sulphate Strip and and the Visconti bio'

Nick Tosche's Jerry Lee Lewis biography 'Hellfire' rocks.

And, in a completely different ballpark, The KLF's 'The Manual: How To Have A Number One Single The Easy Way' is totally addictive.

"Scenes From A Revolution" by Mark Harris. Compares and contrasts the five movies up for the Best Picture Oscar in 1967 (In The Heat Of The Night, The Graduate, Bonnie and Clyde, Dr Doolittle and Look Who's Come To Dinner). Who knew dated clunckers like In The Heat Of The Night would be interesting to read about? Good book and much better than it looks.

I've just read Derren Brown's Tricks of the Mind and cannot recommend it highly enough. Others will have different opinions, but I skipped the stuff about conjuring tricks and hypnotism to concentrate on the superb sections on memory training and critical thinking. Genuinely useful stuff.

On The Road with Bob Dylan - Larry Sloman

Like The Night - C.P. Lee

Loving The Alien - Christopher Sandford

Return of the Last Gang in Town - Marcus Gray

The Unruly Life of Woody Allen - Marion Meade

The Life of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - John Dickson Carr

Oscar Wilde - Richard Ellman

These are all tip top ideas and I can see a few stealthy visits and spend ups via Amazon's marvellous 'new or used' happening very soon.

the peoples music-ian macdonald

revolution in the head-ian macdonald

patrick humphries book on nick drake

no more sad refrains-the life of sandy denny (cant remember the author)

shout-philip norman (one of the best on the beatles)
plus his book on buddy holly

from a whisper to a scream-barney hoskins (great essays on soul singing)

I like biographies

'Shakey' by Jimmy McDonagh - about Neil Young and his ups and downs.

'The Stones' by Philip Norman, again. Good, bad and ugly sides.

'Inside Out' by Nick Mason. Dry and witty account of Floyd.

'Nico: The End' by James Young - insider relates pathetic decline of ex-Velvets chanteuse. Also 'Songs They Never Play On The Radio' different author on same subject, extraordinary.

Marianne Faithfull's autobiography tells a fascinating tale - of days as a down and out junkie and much more.

"Starmakers and Svengalis" - a history of English pop management up to the mid-eighties. Obviously a touch out of date, but quite gripping.
"The Severed Alliance" - the best Smiths book around. My favourite bit: Morrisey's mother ringing the record company to support/condemn the treatment of her son.
Halfway through Barney Hoskins excellent Hotel California. Almost enough to make me go and buy an Eagles album (but not quite).
Shamefully I can't remember the authors, but The Last Party (about Britpop) and Mansion On The Hill (How American rock music became art and then commerce) are utterly outstanding.

Joe Jackson's autobiography A Cure For Gravity is really good - I enjoyed it hugely. And available on Amazon for £1 in new and used!

Hmm, what else...Bill Bryson's books Mother Tongue and Made In America are really, really good, completely fascinating about language and funny too. (89p and 0.01p on Amazon!)

Just finished Guy Pratt's "My Bass And Other Animals" which was a light read but diverting. Random memoirs of his life as a session player and latter day Pink Floyd bassist. Also worth seeking out is veteran sessioneer Mo Foster's "17 Watts?" (also published as "Play Like Elvis") which is a collection of memories of the birth of British pop and rock in the '60s and '70s by a host of the great and good and the not so well known.

Also enjoyed Simon Napier Bell's "Black Vinyl White Powder" which is a history of British pop (from his particular perspective). An easy and interesting read. I've got his book "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me" too but have yet to get round to it.

For muso related fiction I rather enjoyed Iain Banks' "Espedair Street" and "Powder: An Everyday Story of Rock'n'roll Folk" by Kevin Sampson and "The Best a Man Can Get" by John O'Farrell too

Oh yeah, and "What with Being Stone Deaf and Everything: Rock Musician's Survival Guide" by David Hallamshire will forever have a place in my heart. Track down a copy if you can!

Really enjoyed Andy Summers "One train later" and I would warmly recommend Levon Helm's "This Wheels on Fire" which charmed the bejesus outta me and made me want to adopt him as my Dad!

Steve Martin's "Born Standing Up" was fascinating and went some way towards distracting me from how bad he has become.

... is a great read.

I love Levon's new album too. Great to hear him doing so well.

I'm determined to go to one of his "Midnight Rambles" in the Catskills sometime.

Guralnick's brace of Presleys, Macdonald's Beatles and CSM's Hendrix – all peerless, scholarly and eminently readable...

And raise you Stanley Booth's Rythm Oil [sic], a primer to the music of the Deep South from WC Handy through Phineas Newborn and Furry Lewis to Otis Redding and Gram Parsons.

(The aforementioned Hellfire, Nick Tosches' life of Jerry Lee, is also a terrific, atmospheric read although great swathes of it have to be charitably described as well-crafted faction).

I'd recommend White Bicyles by Joe Boyd for a diverting read on the mid-to-late 60's scene in the UK, and also White Line Fever by Lemmy.

This latter being a straight forward, warts and all (boom boom!) tale of his life hammering his Rickenbacker while ingesting on, and often above, a Keithrichardsian level. Entertaining.

..for 'Black Vinyl White Powder'. Covers so much ground!

For the Beatles Geek in me, 'Revolution In The Head' can't be beaten, along with Keith Badham's 'After The Breakup' diary. David Quantick's 'Revolution' making-of book is a great read too.

'24 Hour Party People' by Tony Wilson is great, though you're never sure how much is true and how much is overblown fluff...

Rich

'Always Magic In The Air' about the Brill Building songwriters is a fabulous and evocative read.

Surprised also that no one has mentioned 'The Dirt' the oral, if you will, history of Motley Crue.

Johnny Rogan's Van Morrison biog 'No Surrender' offers lots of good insights into The Man, partiularly when it comes to his Ulster upbringing.

'Love Is The Drug', edited by John Aizelwood is a fine collection of rock-fan essays. Particularly good are Stuart Maconie's recollections of stalking Elvis Costello's dad.

'Bye Bye Baby' by Caroline Sullivan is a poignant tale of obsession with the Bay City Rollers.

is Crystal Zevon's bio of Warren Zevon, I'll Sleep When I'm Dead.

Our Band Could Be Your Life by Michael Azerrad, chronicles the U.S. hardcore scene of the 1980s – the trail-blazing bands that unwittingly laid the foundations for the commercial behemoths of grunge and alternative rock. Each chapter is a potted biography of one of the key players in the scene - Black Flag, Minor Threat, Fugazi, The Replacements, Mission of Burma etc.

The most entertaining section of the book documents The Butthole Surfers' odyssey of lunacy. In particular an occasion at the Pandora’s Box festival in the Netherlands, at which Gibby Haynes, high several tabs of acid and a bottle of Jim Beam, goaded Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds from the side of the stage until guitarist Blixa Bargeld wandered over and kicked him in the groin. Unbowed, Haynes went on to loudly question the sexuality of the festival’s thuggish security staff, resulting in a chain of violent beatings that were exacerbated by him fervently apologising and claiming to have a brain tumour, only to hurl more insults as soon as his attackers had walked away.

The Gun Club’s stock has risen in recent years. Go Tell The Mountain is frontman, Jeffrey Lee Pierce’s, account of life in the band. The book was compiled posthumously and contains a wayward autobiography (written snapshots of Pierce’s chaotic life arranged in a loosely chronological order) and most of the lyrics. A work of short fiction titled Young Kyoko demonstrates that he had decent writing chops.

Ian MacDonald’s “Revolution in the head” is one of the best books on music (rather than music books) I’ve ever read. It sent me back to the original recordings confident he was mistaken – and he was right. Every time.

If you are a fan of The Band I would recommend Barney Hoskyns’ “Across the great divide” and Levon Helm’s “This wheel’s on fire”. The Helm book gets a bit feisty half way through when “Robbie” suddenly becomes “Robertson”.

For fiction “Powder” by Kevin Sampson is really good.

David Cavanagh's excellent blow by blow account of the rise and demise of Creation records. Never have the Jasmine Minks appeared more interesting!

As well as all the excellent tomes already mentioned

Just Like The Night by CP Lee is one of my faves - the updated edition sicne the official release with new revelations about 'Judas' is a must. To be read alongside the recording and Andy Kershaw's superb 'Ghost Of Electricity' radio docco

Everett True's recent Nirvana biog is the only book you'll ever need on em

Bob Dylan - Anthony Scaduto still takes some beating in the Zimmy book stakes.

I like the bitchiness of Philip Norman's Beatles book. Also of a Fab tip Lewishon's two 'Recording Sessions' and 'Chronicles' are an anorak-y delight

REM: It Crawled From The Soutn

A Drink With Shane MacGowan - does what it says on the tin

Great White Wonder - Clinton Heylin's history of the bootleg

'head on' is a great read as is its sequel. the lydon book 'no blacks no irish' is also a good one. for salacious tales of rock'n'roll hedonism gone too far look no further than the motley crue 'the dirt' and zeppelin 'hammer of the gods'.

as featured on a recent podcast - not strictly non fiction, but seems to be formed around enough anecdotal incidents to qualify.

Has anyone read it though?

best memoirs - head on by julian cope

best theory - music and words by paul morley

best detail - recording the beatles by brian kehew & kevin ryan

best childrens - ronnie by ronnie wood

best photos - kaleidoscope eyes by brian kehew & kevin ryan

I really enjoyed Giles Smith's 'Lost in Music' when it came out several years ago. It's a story of growing up with pop/rock music and then trying to live the dream for yourself.

The Thirty Three and a Third series of 'Making Of's' are good value too. I especially liked 'Doolittle' by Ben Sisario and 'Daydream Nation' by Matthew Stearns.

Matthew Collin wrote a great book about the break up of Yugoslavia and the undergroung radio station that broadcast throughout the conflict 'This Is Serbia Calling' is worth checking out.

One of my very favourites though is Simion Reynolds' epic tome 'Lost In Music'. If you just missed punk then this brillaint book about the post-punk era from 1978-1984 is essential reading.

Barney Hoskyns also wrote the excellent "Hotel California" about CSNY, Joni Mitchell etc living it up in the early 1970s

Recently read Lennon biographies by Ray Coleman and Albert Goldman...much preferred Goldman's..tonnes of anecdotes even if many are probably codswallop

Highly recommended film bios are "Robert Mitchum: Baby I don't care" by Lee Server and the absolutely barking "Kinski Uncut: Autobiography of Klaus Kinski"

...can be found in Rage and Roll, the story of swashbuckling US concert promoter Bill Graham. It's a Laugh-a-minute as an unsuspecting security guard finds himself being beaten to a pulp in a backstage trailer for the minor misdemeanour of clipping a small boy around the ear. If ever a clip was misdirected, paid back with interest, yet proved to have far-reaching and unexpected consequences, this was that clip.

Read it and was very enjoyable....would not pass it onto my Mum though!!

A gentler tome is the Jools Holland book,nothing earth shattering just good anecdotes told in an amusing manner.

If you like Bowie,Bolan etc then Tony Visconti's autobiography gave a lot of insight into that time in the 70's right up to his days producing Morrissey...i thought it was a facinating memoir.

Lastly Hotel California by Barney Hoskins all about the Laurel Canyon set in the late 60's early 70's with the usual suspects Geffen,The Eagles,Neil Young,Joni,Jackson etc etc

http://www.lulu.com/content/1087266

for personal safety run through Deke Leonard's two books about being in a rock 'n' roll band from South Wales in the sixties and seventies and beyond.

If you want an amusing and informative read that uses Deke's personal musical journey, and the extraordinary tale of the band called Man as the backdrop to a series of hilarious anecdotes, buy both of his titles:

Maybe I Should've Stayed in Bed: The Flip Side of the Rock 'n' Roll Dream
and
Rhinos, Winos and Lunatics: The Legend of Man, a Rock'n'Roll Band

Both highly recommended.

Bill Drummond's '45'. Lots of random musings, recollections of the late 70's Liverpool scene, KLF nonsense etc.

Rich

Lauren St John's biography of Steve Earle has to be on the list. Pretty much defines the phrase "warts and all".

Mark Oliver Everett's Things The Grandchildren should know is a top read

Can't go wrong with this new hardback edition of the complete novels of the god like Flann O'Brien. See how the Irish mind used to work before we all got rich and laugh until you puke.

Victor Bokris's biographies of Lou Reed and Keith Richards are both worth a look

Julian Cope's 'Japrocksampler' is a fantastic read, and I'd heartily recommend it. Even if you know nothing about Japanese rock music of the 60s, 70s and 80s - or indeed, have relatively little interest in it - you'll find something of interest. It's chock-full of strange stories. The only downside is that you'll come away wanting to check out some of the records mentioned, and they're an absolute pain to find.

Guy Pratt's 'My Bass And Other Animals' is great fun, too.

is fabulous.

The following all encapsulate Spinal Tap excess at the their best. I have mentioned some of them before here:

"Hammer of the Gods" - just about every Led Zep story you have heard is unearthed or originated here. The template for an entire genre

"The Dirt" - Like other have said, whether you like Motley Crue or not (the latter in my case) this is an astonishingly good read and includes EVERY rock cliche in the book, including sex with Baywatch "actresses," enough drugs to give every Afgan and Columbian a full annual Sky subcription, to REAL "I know what it's like to be dead"/pass me the Table-tennis-bat-machine where everyone shouts out "clear" moments.

"You Cannot Live as I Have Lived and Not End Up Like This" - The biography of Willie Donaldson, who starts off as the ever-so-establishment producer of "Beyond the Fringe,"goes on to have affairs, amongst others, with Carly Simon and Sarah Miles, writes The Root Letters, blows two or three fortunes, and ends his life as a crack addicted ponce (his own term) who main interest seemed to be S and M mind games with ex-page 3 girls and other dodgy professional women.

"Edie: American Girl" I really can't recommend this enough. The first Warhol superstar and quintessential Factory Girl. She starts off from a VERY rich family with patrician roots. But even then, under the surface there are hints of weirdness. She goes off to New York in the early sixties become the equivalent of a Gotham Debutante, but then quickly slips into the Factory coterie. From there on things get interesting: A muse to Dylan, briefly engaged to him even - allegedly "just Like a Women" is about her. Around while Lou Reed and the Velvets were in Warhol's orbit. Slowly her life begins to circle down the plug hole. After all the drugs, glamour and sex it doesn't end well. Warhol comes out of it as a sinister figure - a bit like Frank from Blue Velvet.
Warning the first couple of chapters are a bit like reading an American version of the Mitfords. stick with it though.

by Nick Hornby is definitely worth dipping into. I suppose the best music writing makes you want to go and listen to a recommended song or album, and this book prompts further enquiry. I'd also concur with the recommendation to read Julian Cope's Head On/Repossessed.

Mark

By the ex-manager of The Farm. Fiction, but one of those "I wonder if that's..." he's talking about books.
Thank you Mr. Bryer, by the way, I was about to say the same myself... http://www.myspace.com/doyoudoanywings

Things The Grandchildren Should Know by Mark Oliver Everett.

Now you're really living.

Ian Hunter's diary of a rock n' roll star is my favorite rock book, should be a movie?
Mott The Hoople were a unique british band who were great in every sense of the word, their music, style and attitude was what set them apart from the others of their time. What a shame they didn't realise it themselves.