Your Summer Music Reading List
Kanye West has just added another hyphen to his absurdly long list of titles. The rapper-fashion designer-producer-philanthropist-entrepreneur-college dropout-entertainer is now a rapper-fashion designer-producer-philanthropist-entrepreneur-college dropout-entertainer-AUTHOR. His humbly titled book, "Thank You and You're Welcome," promises - in Kanye's words - to deliver "the creative, humorous, and insightful philosophies and anecdotes used in creating my path to success." In other words, Kanye gets to be Kanye without interruption.
Authorship is the last bastion of legitimacy for the musician with nothing left to conquer. Where do you go after you've scaled the Billboard heights and pop-culture peaks? Or, more importantly, who else can you mine for a few extra bucks after the record label and concert promoter's pockets are emptied?
Making a book deal is a potential triple-threat for a musician: it helps pay the bills, offers legitimacy, and potentially introduces him to the New York Times Book Review crowd that isn't buying records but always wants a good poolside read at the Hamptons. Ask Jay-Z - he's reportedly close to a deal with Random House. What's good enough for Kanye is good enough for Mr. Roc-A-Fella.
Kanye-isms aside, the best musical memoirs offer some compelling summer reading. Once you get past the sensationalistic, tell-all, unauthorized biographies and the poorly ghost-written autobiographies of one-hit wonders, you'll find some revealing and absorbing books on the shelves. Not surprisingly, musicians often make the best authors (or else the subject of the best memoirs). Secrets to songs and success are revealed. Lessons in perseverance are taught.
So as you look for the perfect summer book, forget about those Presidential biographies, romance novels, or self-help garbage. Pick up one of my favorite musician bios. You'll never hear the music the same way again. That's a Shawn-ism you can trust. You're welcome.
GALLERY: See the subjects of our music summer reading list
Bob Dylan, "Chronicles: Volume One" (2004)
Bob Dylan's
first installment of a proposed autobiographical trilogy is as sweeping
in scope as his best songs. It's also as confounding, with major events
like his folk-to-electric transformation virtually overlooked in
exchange for a chapter on his "New Morning" album. Still, it's as close
as you'll ever get to the inside of Dylan's head. And impossible to put
down. For audiobook fans, Sean Penn reads an abridged version.
Quincy Jones, "Q: The Autobiography of Quincy Jones" (2001)
This book is not only a revealing look at an American institution, it's also a history lesson in 20th century American music. Quincy Jones
tells stories of rooming with Ray Charles as a teenager and later, as a
50-year-old, giving Michael Jackson his biggest success. The book also
contains chapters written by family members and friends (like Charles),
who share their memories of life with Q. It's epic stuff. Someone
please make a movie already.
Jimmy McDonough, "Shakey: Neil Young's Biography" (2002)
The story behind this book is almost as intriguing as the publication itself. Neil Young was so impressed with a "Village Voice" article McDonough had written about him, he hired the writer to be his authorized biographer. For the next seven years Young sat down for more than 300 interviews and loaned McDonough $50,000 to finish the 800-page book. Then Young backed out and attempted to block its release. No such luck. Pick up a copy and find out what made Neil so nervous.
Peter Guralnick, "Last Train to Memphis" The Rise of Elvis Presley (1994)
Guralnick has done more to document American
music than any writer around. His "Feel Like Going Home"/"Lost
Highway"/"Sweet Soul Music" trilogy is the Old and New Testament for
anyone who wants to know music's journey from chain gang to pop
culture. His exhaustive overview of the King's
rise to fame is free of the tabloid conjecture that feeds most
unauthorized Presley books. Instead, Guralnick does what great
historians and storytellers do: dig for the facts then intersect those
narratives with our own.
Nikki Sixx, "Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star" (2007)
Motley Crue's bassist
has written one of the most difficult and unflinching reads of any
musical biography. "Heroin Diaries" recounts a year in the depths of
Sixx's drug addiction. The book is made up of his diary entries at the
time, along with present-day reflections from Sixx, his fellow band
mates, and others who watched him spiral into a paranoid, doped-up
shut-in. Even more sensational than the stories is the fact that Sixx
made it out alive. He's donating a portion of book proceeds to Running
Wild in the Night, a charity dedicated to keeping troubled youth off
the streets.
Other honorable mentions:
Michael Azerrad, "Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana" (1993)
Levon Helm & Stephen Davis, "This Wheel's on Fire: Levon Helm and the Story of The Band" (1993)
Sammy Davis, Jr. (with Burt and Jane Boyar), "Yes I Can: The Story of Sammy Davis, Jr." (1965)
Miles Davis (with Quincy Troupe), "Miles: The Autobiography" (1989)
Jerry Hopkins & Danny Sugarman, "No One Here Gets Out Alive" [Jim Morrison biography] (1980)
