By John Niven. It's not really about music but very funny.

by Seb Hunter is hilarious on heavy metal - a genre I don't really care for. "One Train Later" by Andy Summers is superb on becoming a professional musician in the late 60s and early 70s. The Police stuff is the least interesting part.

by Brett Milano is very good especially if you're into your bootlegs and Bob Dylan's 'Chronicles' is also a great read even if you don't like Dylan.

Across The Great Divide - Barney Hoskyns.

(I am personally Clinton Heylin intolerant. Smug, poor research and always self regarding).

I haven't read 'Across The Great Divide', but would love to. Barney Hoskyn's 'Waiting For The Sun' is an epic wide-screen take on the West Coast music scene from the 1940s to the mid-90s. Packed with detail and atmosphere. Superb. One of my favourite music books of all time - it turned me on to dozens of bands.

Johnny L might dismiss it, but this is a magisterial account of the punk phenomenon in its social, cultural and political context. This makes it sound like a dreary textbook, but it really isn't, it's engaging, full of detail and inspires you to re-investigate music that you thought you knew everything about, and seek out things you knew nothing about.

Can I just say that pretty much anything Paolo Hewitt has turned his hand to is sycophantic, badly written drivel.

His last book mourning his friendship with ex-pal Paul Weller read like the work of an illiterate bitterly spurned 16 year old girl...

Brilliant book about Jamaica, it's music post Marley, the drug trade and links with New York.

Reading Philip Norman's John Lennon book right now. Most people here are way ahead of me, but it is brilliant.

Anything by Peter Guralnick is essential.

"Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung"

Julian Cope "Head On" & "Repossesed"

Jon Savage "England's Dreaming"

Legs McNeil "Please Kill Me"

Lloyd Bradley

'Head On' - Julian Cope

'I need more' - Iggy Pop

'Rip it up and start again' - sorry, can't remember who wrote it

'Diary of a Rock n' Roll Star' (?) - Ian Hunter

'Revolt into Style' - George Melly

And of course the late lamented Ian McDonald, 'Revolution in the Head'

and the worst?

'Berlin Bromley' by Bertie Marshall (I have a signed copy given as a birthday pressie if anyone wants it. I'll pay for postage or personally drive it round to your house, even if it's in the Shetlands)

brilliant.

"Rip it up and start again" by simon reynolds... i'd second that as an essential read!

"the restless generation" by pete frame - amazing tales from when UK music suddenly became interesting...

and something everyone should read: "techno rebels - the renegades of electronic funk" by dan sicko... more than just about the music, there's sociology, segregation, technology...
classic book.

45 by Bill Drummond. Utterly essential.
Night Beat by Mikal (brother of Gary) Gilmore.
The Dark Stuff by Nick Kent.
Chronicles Vol One by Bob Dylan.
The Love You Make by Peter Brown and Stephen Gaines
The Rest Is Noise by Alex Ross
Across the Great Divide by Barney Hoakyns

Another vote for Giles Smith's Lost In Music. Wonderful.

I Am Still the Greatest Says Johnny Angelo
It's a novel, and the hero is a composite of various rock icons, all rolled into one fantastic creation.

Awopbopaloobop Alopbamboom
An amazing book, written around 40 years ago when he was still in his very early twenties. It remains the best collection of pieces of writing about pop/rock I've ever read.

Triksta : Life and Death and New Orleans Rap
His most recent book, from the mid-2000s. Another smashing read.

I don't think I've ever read anything by Nik Cohn that I didn't love.

Sweat - The Story of The Fleshtones - Joe Bonomo. A great dig through a struggling garage band who keep the faith!

Please Kill Me - Legs McNeil & Gillian McCain - an oral history of American punk rock

Straight Life - Art & Laurie Pepper. The most scarifying wild wild ride - brutally honest.

Hey Ho Let's Go - The Story Of The Ramones - Everett True.
On The Road WIth The Ramones - Monte Melnick. Can't remember which of these has the band being shepherded around a truckstop by Monte, buying milk & cookies for the van, and the cashier praising the good work he's doing with "Jerry's kids". Both fantastic

The Heart & Soul of Rock & Soul - the 1000 greatest singles ever made - Dave Marsh. Told with missionary zeal, introduced me to loads of great soul music like Sam & Dave. Opinionated, always interesting.

Our Band Could Be Your Life : Michael Azzerad. Scenes from the American Indie Underground 81-91. Black Flag, Sonic Youth, and especially illuminating on the Butthole Surfers.

Nick Tosches - Dino. Hilarious. Scuzzy.

Lastly - both Peter Guralnick's books on Elvis.

travelogues with/about Pet Shop Boys, Literally and Pet Shop Boys Versus America are both witty, stylish and intelligent (much like the Boys themselves). His biography of the Robster is said to be very good too, but it's still on my burgeoning 'to read' pile.

Thought provoking and very readable even if you're not a prog fan (I'm not much of one meself, but enjoy a bit of Crimson). Surprisingly candid about former bandmates and employers!

David Bowie: an Illustrated Record by Charles Shaar Murray and Roy Carr - introduced me to Iggy, Lou Reed, George Orwell, John Osborne, Andy Warhol, Brian Eno, Robert Fripp and a million others. A real cultural eye-opener for me and still a good read 30 years on.

Another vote for Lost in Music.
Bye Bye Baby by Caroline Sullivan is great, if a little disturbing...

Lieber and Stoller's Autobiography, Hound Dog. Superb!

Merseybeast - the Ian McNabb autobiography and very good it is too. He leads a very debauched life and makes no apologies for it. Biggest surprise was one of the labels giving him nearly a £100,000 pay off to cancel his contract. What did the big stars get?

Also Bringing it all back home by Ian Clayton and Last shop standing are both indispensable for people with a passion for music.

'Last Night a DJ saved my Life' by Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton.

So much more than a look at Studio 54, the Hac and the like. I dip in once a year and end up investigating previously unknown pleasures. Covers everything from Jimmy Saville to Belgian New Beat.

And I second 'Revolution in the Head'.

What about the 'Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy' anthology collected by Dylan Jones? Great look at rock writing in development including the still peerless 'The Great Greenland Mystery' by Danny Baker. Funniest piece of music journalism committed to print.

but the best books on music are Deke Leonard's books "I wish I'd stayed in bed" and "Man - the history of a rock 'n' roll band" - sidesplittingly hilarious.

Ian 'unter of course - "Diary" etc.

Dylan - Chronicles

NME Book of Rock - which I read cover to cover repeatedly!

..."Take It like A Man" .You don't need to be a fan it's just such a good read. A frank account of being an 80's superstar , hilarious and harrowing in equal measure.
Someone has already mentioned Julian Cope's "Head On" & "Repossessed"
again documenting all the madness of being in a band but also loads more besides ,he's a brilliant writer.

Words + Music, Nothing and the Joy Division book are all superb

"Revolution In The Head"- probably my favourite book.

and agree with "Margrave of the Marshes" too.

or U2...
"i was bono's doppleganger" by neil mccormick is definately worth reading... all about the trials and tribulations of growing up in a small irish town, getting a job with a local music newspaper, making cringeworthy career-damaging decisions...
there is a bit about the band and such, but like i said, even if you're not a fan, it's stil interesting as a microcosm of the early 80's music scene... and is very funnily written in parts!

Bob Dylan 'Chronicles'

Julian Cope 'Head-On'

Nick Hornby 'High Fidelity'

(500 Greatest Singles Since Punk And Disco) by Gary Mulholland is marvellous.

Once In A Lifetime by Jane Bussman, essential for anyone near dance music 1988-1998.

Guy Pratt's "My Bass and Other Animals" is a fun romp through the ups and downs of his session career.

Mo Foster's "17 Watts?" (also known as "Play Like Elvis") is a good collection of stories anecdotes and other HORA-like material from the birth of the British Rock 'n' Roll era.

Finally, if you can stomach the man for long enough Simon Napier Bell's three books, "Black Vinyl, White Powder", "You don't have to say you love me" and "I'm coming to take you to lunch" are a diverting read.

And another bigging up of "Lost In Music" and "Powder".

Quite enjoyed Iain Banks' "Espedair Street" even if I did think the ending was a wee bit weaker than it could've been

Proper rock 'n' roll, inasmuch as it contained some of the stories..

aka Mark Oliver Everett's Things The Grandchildren Should Know.

Greg Milner's Perfecting Sound Forever.

Chuck Klosterman's Fargo Rock City: A Heavy Metal Odyssey in Rural Nörth Daköta.

by Fred Goodman covers Dylan, Neil Young and Springsteen (and a few others) from the view of their management - outstanding stuff. Johnny Rogan's "Starmakers and Svengalis" is a history of British management using a stack of case studies. You might need a team of tracker dogs to find it, but it's worth the effort.

Seconded for "England's Dreaming" - might just be the best book on popular culture ever published.

Harry Shapiro's "Waiting For The Man" is a history of drugs in music. Doesn't cover the music so well, but for a study of the social and musical use of pharmaceuticals, can not be faulted.

And for one of the funniest books ever, Motley Crue's "The Dirt" is recommended without hesitation.

The Ian Dury autobiography

David Cavanagh's My Magpie Eyes are Hungry for the Prize: The Creation Records Story is bloody great. Good story, well told.

White Bicycles - Joe Boyd. Wonderful book by the Zelig of 60s and 70s music.

Sweet Soul Music - Peter Guralnick. Pretty much perfect.

Richard Thompson : Strange Affair
Nick Drake, The Biography

Are both well written and informative reads.
The RT one is especially good, full of early Fairport stuff, and his slow transition into full on, sparkling solo artist.

Howling At The Moon is one of the funniest books I've ever read about the music industry.

I would also recommend the two Elvis books Last Train To Memphis and Careless Love by Peter Guralnick. Even if you aren't a big Elvis fan, they are a fascinating insight into The American Dream.

I'll second the vote for David Cavanagh's My Magpie Eyes are Hungry for the Prize: The Creation Records Story - it's a huge, brilliantly put together book.

Other faves, off the top of my head:

Rip It Up and Start Again
Tearing down the wall of sound, The Phil Spector Story
Hellfire, Nick Tosches book on Jerey Lee Lewis
Frank Zappa by Barry Miles is more interesting than any Zappa record
Chris Heath's Robbie & PSB books
Simon Napier Bell's You Don't Have to say... & I'm coming to take you to lunch
Ginger Geezer, Viv Stanshall bio
Mark Lewisohn's Complete Beatles Recording Sessions - I wish I could read that book again for the first time

By Joe Boyd is a very good portrait of early 60s Uk blues tours, and the whole UFO/Witchseason scene.(Robin williamson and Mike Heron both strenuosly deny that they did not get on as said in the book, however). Excellent window on the times.

by Dave Marsh covers the Who up to the early 80s; I read it avidly as a teenager. Much more recently, Bad Vibes by Luke Haines was great and way too brief. And The Last Party by John Harris was enjoyable too.

Also seconded:
Lost in Music
My Magpie Eyes are Hungry for the Prize
the Dirt
England's Dreaming
17 Watts?
My Bass and Other Animals

Bad Vides - Luke Haines

Oceans of Sound & Haunted Weather both by David Toop

and I have sat with notebook in hand getting ideas for more books on music, of which I am a voracious reader.

I second the comments on Giles Smith Lost In Music, it a lovely story well told.

Also seconded is rip it up and start again, take it like a man (now theres a lesson in fucking up your life), Englands Dreaming (the great academic study of punk which contextualises everything, but remains interesting throughout).

I would also add The Last Party by John Harris covering the Britpop and Blair, Adventures on the Wheels of Steel by Dave Haslam and Still Suitable For Minors, the Billy Bragg biography by Mr. Collins of this parish,

I really want to give Lloyd Bradley's Bass Culture a go which has always looked like a good read.

To avoid - johnny Green, A Riot Of Our Own -terrible book on the Clash; No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs by John Lydon (an interetsing story but extremely poorly written) and Black Vinyl, White Powder by Simon Napier Bell (youd think he was pretty much solely responsible for everything in the music industry in the UK from 68 to 88)

"Owning Up" - is about meeting and joining the Mulligan band is a wonderful book about musical obsession, the tribal nature of the way the British enjoyed their music (seems less so nowadays), provincial Britain dance halls and especially London in the 1940's and 1950's. Some of that world was still around in the lives of my London relatives when I was a child in the 70's and I used to hunt round for echoes of it when I was a student in London 25 years ago. He's an amazingly funny writer too and some of this book has an almost dangerous cumulative hysteria. Like JG Ballard he also has unsettling descriptive insights that completely blindside you and won't leave your head. I've re-read this and his other autobiographies every few years my whole adult life and there is always something fresh about it. Can't recommend it too highly.

Plus - the Dark Stuff by Nick Kent. Like a less gun happy Hunter S Thompson but more humane and usually right.

Marc Almond's autobiography is a graphic depicition of late 70's/early 80's disco excess in a northern town and is utterly fabulous.

No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs - Lydon's autobiography lays a few myths open and interesting historical insight.

Last Gang In Town - The Story of The Clash also exposes a few myths and lays some pretty heavy careerist accusations at the door of Rhodes and Strummer.

For my money though, the best book I've ever read on the subject is the aforementioned England's Dreaming.

Chris Salewicz' Strummer biog 'Redemption Song' is super too. The Word interview podcast with Mark Ellen was v good too.

Chris Salewicz' Strummer biog 'Redemption Song' is super too. The Word interview podcast with Mark Ellen was v good too.

In 35 years reading books about music, the best reference work I have ever come across is the 1,600-page "Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings" by Brian Morton and the late, much-missed Richard Cook. 14,000 albums across the whole history and spectrum of jazz reviewed and assessed. An incredible piece of work. How on earth did they do it?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Footnote-Boff-Whalley/dp/1904590004/ref=sr_1_4?i...

For the story of the band:
Morrissey and Marr: The Severed Alliance by Johnny Rogan

For more than you could ever want to know about the songs:
The Smiths: Songs That Saved Your Life by Simon Goddard.

The Longest Cocktail Party by Richard DiLello - 'An insider's diary of the Beatles million pound 'Apple' empire and its wild rise and confusion' it says rather awkwardly on the cover.

... a thinly veiled and often hilarious dig at "the singer".
great tour stories, involving the other two attractions(who both seem slightly unhinged) and plenty of anecdotes...

Dexys Midnight Runners - Young Soul Rebels: another great music biog, this time by richard white... worth it for the first half alone!

The True adventures of The Rolling Stones. Recording Sticky Fingers, touring America, hanging out with Gram Parsons and listening to Charlie play old jazz records in hotel rooms.

Big up, as they say, for Giles Smith and Guy Pratt, who also makes an appearance in Nick Mason's engaging and irreverent book on Pink Floyd. If you're looking for a good serious read, I have an excellent examination of the history of political / protest music by Robin Denselow called When The Music's Over.

Deke has written two very entertaining books, so far. Firstly "Rhinos, Winos and Lunatics", which is a history of the legendary Welsh space-rockers Man, and also has the most early-70s-ludicrous band photo I've ever seen on the cover. And then "Maybe I Should've Stayed In Bed", which is his account of how he ended up in Man in the first place.

"Ginger Geezer" by Lucian Randall and Chris Welch is about Vivian Stanshall and is excellent.

"White Bicycles" by Joe Boyd is a great account of making music in the later part of the 60s.

"45" by Bill Drummond, as mentioned above, is a very good read.

"Miles Davis" by Ian Carr is the best book by far on Miles.

"The Real Frank Zappa Book" by Frank Zappa with Peter Occhiogrosso is very good if taken with the necessary large pinch of salt.

"Espedair Street" by Iain Banks is a good work of music-related fiction.

"But Beautiful" by Geoff Dyer is undoubtedly my favourite music-related title. Eight short pieces of fiction based on the lives of great jazz musicians; Lester Young, Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell, Ben Webster, Charles Mingus, Chet Baker and Art Pepper, linked with a running account of a journey to a gig taken by Duke Ellington and Harry Carney. A brilliant book.

fantastic account of his time with Black Flag touring all over the place in the back of a van.

You can really feel the blood, sweat and tears of a band on the road, and I have felt the blood and sweat of Mr Rollins dripping on my head a few times I can tell you!

Every young band created on MySpace and the internet should read this as I fear the days of touring and playing every dive bar and shitty support slot, building up a real dedicated following are long gone!

I don't think any book on the Who has ever topped this one.

I also really like Faithful by Marianne Faithful,

Strange Days by Patricia Kennealy Morrison which chronicles her relationship with Jim Morrison and experiences working for Jazz and Pop magazine and Columbia and RCA Records' advertising and creative departments,

and On the Road with the Ramones edited by Monty Melnick.

- Greil Marcus is beautifully written - in that style that the best American novelists - Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Carver - have. Seemingly simple, endlessly revealing. Precise and resonant.

Similarly, read anything by Nik Cohh, Nick Tosches and Peter Guralnick

From the Brit corner - Barney Hoskyns (particularly Say it One Time for the Broken Hearted and Hotel California) is superb as is Jon Savage.

is an absolute gem. Invisible Republic is also indispensable re. the great American music lineage that crystalises in The Basement Tapes.

For the 50's in Britain, Pete Frame's 'Restless Generation' is wonderful.
Philip Norman's biography on Buddy Holly also considers the subject from this side of the water.

Anything by Mark Lewisohn is essential, and I believe that his first volume of his Beatles opus is being published next year.
Beatles' product that really will be a vital purchase.

Can't believe nobody has mentioned Bez's book. I cant remember what its called as my copy fell apart and I have not replaced it yet. It is very funny.
Other usual suspects are Mystry Train,Rip It Up and Start Again and Howling at THe Moon. The last one is about an music executive whose name I cant remember ,but its very good.

the umpteenth person to agree on Giles Smith's Lost In Music,but I don't think anyone has mentioned my personal favourite "songs they never play on the radio" by James Young,a classic telling of the final days of Nico's career.

thread reminded me of another wonderful book, Bert Jansch : Dazzling Stranger by Colin Harper, who I've just learned is a contributor here.
Apologies for the belated inclusion, Colin. It is a wonderfully researched and written work, an absolute must for anyone interested in the Bert and the whole 60's folk scene and beyond. Essential reading.

Ian MacDonald - The People's Music. A collection of essays on The Band, Laura Nyro, Bob Dylan, Hendrix, S&G, Bob Marley and many others.

Paul Williams - The 100 Best Singles. A very entertaining read with a couple of pages on each one.

Richie Unterberger - Eight Miles High and Turn Turn Turn - a thoroughly engrossing study of folk/rock in the 60's.

Peter Doggett - Are You Ready For The Country. Excellent on Americana/Alt Rock as are;-
Brian Hinton - South By South West and Country Roads.
Nick Tosches - Country
Nicholas Dawidoff - In The Country of Country

*actually by Ray Davies. It's fab.

Superb book about the commercialisation and exploitation of rock.

Also, 'Hit Men' by Frederic Dannen - an account of chart-fixing in the 80s - seminal work on the machinations of the 'Biz'.

Most band stories follow the same arc - struggling - success - touring - dissolution (or death)(and maybe comeback) - ultimately depressing, but I keep reading them.

Not music exactly, but Richard Neville's 'Hippie Hippie Shake' is an interesting take on the 60s.

The 'Nearest Far Away Place' is ostensibly about Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys, but attempts to place them within a broader view on the growth of Los Angeles, its social development, car and surf culture. The early chapters detailing South Californian history and the Westward migration of the Okies (including the Wilson family) are fascinating in themselves, even if the more grandiose analysis doesn't quite hang together. Enjoyable.