Band Biographies Worth Bothering With
 

I tend to read lots of these but rarely find them that interesting. Just wondering if there were any you'd read that you enjoyed.

the long hard road out of hell.

Who's that about?

my master mystikal marilyn manson

I assume you've already read Head On/Repossessed? That and Shakey [Neil Young] probs top the pile for me.
And while it's not a band bio, Danny Sugarman's Wonderland Avenue takes some beating in the rock'n'roll memoir stakes.

I all seriousness, David Lee Roth's auto-bio "Crazy From The Heat" is pure entertainment.

motley crue's dirt.

"Heavier than the sky" was funny to read.

Are We nOT mEN? bio of DEVO is quite a great read

how Jerry Casale was present at the Kent State shootings, the early history of the band when they opened for Sun Ra (and alienated the crowd so bad they were the only audience left when Sun Ra played) and cool booji boy fun

i was never a big nirvana fan, always a fan though, but after reading that nirvana book (forget the author) that was actually about the band and not kurt and his heroin habit (allthough theres plenty of that mentioned) i was an uber fan.

both no wave books

the slash autobiography is hilarious

the book about the recording of 'ecile on main street' is a good read

the sun ra biography by john f szwed is a good read

Dream Brother: The Lives and Music of Jeff & Time Buckley

It's fucking incredible. By David Browne, the guy that just wrote the new Sonic Youth bio.

If you don't have it already, the "Wreckers Of Civilization" book about Coum Transmisions/Throbbing Gristle is pretty ace.

i was going to buy wreckers of civiilization before i went skint.

i recommend the germs/darby crash bio lexicon devil and the spacemen 3 book.

i'm starting lemmy's autobio very soon.

dance of days and banned in dc

I quite enjoyed Jayne County's Man Enough To Be A Woman. I don't remember a great deal about it to be honest, but I remember enjoying reading it.

A really great book though is Redemption Song, the Joe Strummer biography by Chris Salewicz. One of the best biographies I've ever read, music or otherwise.

Riders on the Storm by John Densmore......although everybody here hates The Doors so..............

I bought No One Here Gets Out Alive and never read it. Not sure if I'll ever get around to it. Maybe on some vacation.

The Doors have their place. Great jukebox music.

no way, i love them


room full of mirrors, about jimi hendrix (i think that's what it's called??)
a season in hell with the rolling stones
up and down with the rolling stones (seriously entertaining, was written by their dealer)

The Doors are shit. I thought that was a basic given these days.

Not liking the Doors just means you suck at billiards.

I've done research.

I DO suck at billiards. That's uncanny!

i happen to rule at billiards/pool

hmmm

your study may have some merit

Fuck, Acoustic, you want to get this theory off to MIT.

There is logic behind it, but I won't explain because it's probably shit logic.

Shit logic is ok. don't know where I'd be without it sometimes.

True. I think my life is mostly based on it.

people who use real logic are bores.

logic is the last refuge of the uninspired

Logic is like classical music. It's only interesting to smart people with nothing to say.

Logic is telling yourself you're gonna stop posting inane crap on a messageboard, then spending the morning posting utter bollocks about Motorhead, foot pain and ... logic.

Yeah. Total shit, logic.

there's no logic to it at all. When you think about it. logic is totally ilogical.

sorry to be boring and bring this back on topic, but i'm reading this:



and it's been pretty fab so far...

There's a Ramones biography that was very good. I can't remember what it was called though.

One of the first bands I truly loved as a kid.


Summer's almost gonnne.......

I just finished reading Eric Clapton's autobiography, which isn't half as bad as it sounds. I'm starting Slash's one tonight. I tend to read everything on GnR - more out of habit these days, I must admit.

I think the best one I've read was Heroes and Villains, about the Beach Boys. A truly epic, tragic tale that I'd recommend even to non BB fans.

The Motley Crue bio Dirt was ok for the first third or so, but then it just became a case of how many more times do I want to read about a bunch of scum bags oding and screwing groupies. Well, probably more than most here, but even I have my limits.

On the road with the ramones is a good oral history.

Shakey: A biography of Neil young is very thourough but a great read if you love Neil. Very detailed... sometimes almost to a fault

More recommends:

The Hendrix biography by Charles Shaar Murray - an excellent tome, and from this book alone I got into loads of different music - it was here that I first read about Miles Davis and John Coltrane.
The Nick Cave biog by Nick Johnstone ("Bad Seed") - some priceless Birthday Party stories here, the Tracey Pew ones are especially great.
The Einstuerzende Neubauten biog "Listen With Pain" (aka "Hoer Mit Schmerzen") - covers their origins, Berlin 82' etc years nicely well. Good piccies too.
"England's Hidden Reverse" - a fucking amazing book about the English "noise/industrial/experimental" scene of the 80's and beyond, focusing mainly on Current 93, Nurse With Wound, and Coil. The end bits about Coil's John Balance are deeply saddening to read, bearing in mind how he died...

EDIT: I HATED The Doors as a snotty teenaged spod. It was on the off-chance of finding the "No One Here Gets Out Alive" biog in a mate's flat when I was 20 (and reading it with a stinking hangover) that I "got" what the Doors were about.