Thanks, Mother Nature. All your snowbound days and frigid nights of late have helped me make a decent dent in my backlog of music bios and audio books. Over the past few weeks, I have polished off Tim Curry’s frank memoir Vagabond, Jason Schneider’s expansive Hey Joe history That Gun In Your Hand, Greil Marcus’s expanded edition of Mystery Train, Rik Emmett’s poetry collection Leaning Into It and Liz Pelly’s eye-opening Spotify takedown Mood Machine — plus I have listened to Bill Janovitz’s revealing Cars bio Let The Stories Be Told, Peter Wolf’s star-studded memoir Waiting On The Moon, Robyn Hitchcock’s sweetly nostalgic 1967 and the in-depth Fela Kuti podcast Fear No Man. Right now I’m finishing Jay Nachman’s informative Graham Parker bio Howlin’ Wind. On deck are Evan Dando’s memoir Rumours Of My Demise, Daniel Bedrosian’s Make My Funk The P-Funk, Mark Ronson’s Night People, Ozzy Osbourne’s Last Rites — and maybe a few titles from this list:
A Trick Of Memory: The Autobiography Of Jethro Tull’s Guitarist
By Martin Barre
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Martin Barre, legendary Jethro Tull guitarist, defined rock with iconic riffs, a prolific career, and influential solo work. Martin started his music journey playing the flute and saxophone before he switched to the guitar. He spent his early career performing in different bands, which helped him refine his skills and create his own distinctive style. A major turning point came in 1968 when Barre joined Jethro Tull, launching an illustrious career. His iconic riff in Aqualung is widely recognized as one of the best guitar riffs in rock, and was voted one of the top rock guitar solos of all time by Guitar Player readers. He was a key member of Jethro Tull from their second album in 1969 until their last in 2014. His guitar work defined much of the band’s sound, contributing to their success and enduring popularity. Martin played on all of Jethro Tull’s studio albums from 1969’s Stand Up to 2003’s The Jethro Tull Christmas Album. Beyond his time with Jethro Tull, Barre has pursued a successful solo career, releasing albums that showcase his versatility across rock, blues, and acoustic music genres. His contributions to music have been recognized with numerous accolades, including a Grammy for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance in 1989. His innovative guitar playing has inspired countless musicians across various genres, cementing his influence in the music industry.”
When Rock Met Hip-Hop: How Run-DMC, Aerosmith, Anthrax, The Beastie Boys, And More Crossed Cultural And Musical Boundaries
By Steven Blush
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “One of the most important events in modern music remains the late ’80s cross-collision of rock and hip hop. Aerosmith and Run-DMC, Beastie Boys’ Paul’s Boutique, Public Enemy and Anthrax, Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons, De La Soul and Third Bass, and the 318 hip-hop records that sampled Billy Squier’s The Big Beat exemplify the era. Rap records sampled rock bands, elevating sampling into an art form, while influencing all other forms of popular music. One of the themes this book will explore is the way the fusion of rap and rock gave hope to a sense of interracial harmony. In keeping with When Rock Met Disco and When Rock Met Reggae, this title relates the musical cross collision, and cultural fallout that changed music for the better, and remains an influence through today.”
Hardtail Strat: Guitars, Heroin, Songs And Stories
By Peter Gallway
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “A Jewish kid born in Queens in 1947, Peter Gallway grew up with caring but emotionally aloof parents, and when the Leave It To Beaver 1950s gave way to counterculture, free love, and the chaotic rock ’n’ roll of the next two decades, he took the ride of his life. From shooting rubber bands in Arthur Miller and Marilyn Monroe’s apartment to shooting heroin in the backrooms of New York, Gallway plunges into the intoxicating world of New York’s Night Owl Café alongside The Lovin’ Spoonful and James Taylor, through the Troubadour, Mama Cass, the Manson family, and the record companies of L.A.’s Sunset Strip. Signed first with The Fifth Avenue Band, and then as a solo artist, Gallway’s music career culminated in a six-city Japanese tour. When he moved to Maine, a Fender “hardtail” Stratocaster guitar offered him a second chance-an unlikely rebirth, when he was lucky to still be alive. Written in the raw, lyrical rhythm of a songwriter, through poetry, music, and prose, Hardtail Strat is an unputdownable story of music and madness, abuse and opportunity, loss and redemption-and the enduring power of song to set us free.”
Scatman John: The Remarkable Story Of The World’s Unlikeliest Popstar
By Gina Waggott
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “John Larkin — a fast-living, hard-playing, stuttering jazz pianist — overcame abuse, addiction, ageism and obscurity to stage one of the most improbable debuts in pop music history by turning his greatest pain into his purpose.At 52, Larkin was a recovering alcoholic and veteran pianist, haunted by shame because of his lifelong stutter. His stutter meant he could scat-sing better than anyone else on the planet, grabbing and firing syllables like bullets — yet he couldn’t even say his own name. But when a small, indie record label took a gamble on an oddball fusion of John’s scat-singing and dance music, his life changed overnight: Scatman John was born. In 1995, his singles Scatman (Ski-Ba-Bop-Ba-Dop-Bop) and Scatman’s World shot to No. 1 across Europe and Asia, turning a man who’d spent his life hiding into a global star. Audiences were captivated by the absurdity and charm of a middle-aged man in a fedora, machine-gunning syllables over a dance beat. But behind the novelty was a deeper story: John’s scat-singing was creative camouflage for his stutter — his music, a last-ditch attempt to survive. When fame finally found him, he chose to reach others who felt broken or silenced, especially stutterers like him, by harnessing the one thing he was most afraid of: His voice. Based on rare archives and interviews with those who knew him best, this authorized biography is a redemptive, deeply human story of struggle, heartbreak, and triumph. For anyone who’s ever felt like an outsider, this book inspires with a powerful message: your deepest fear can become your greatest strength, and your pain can become your purpose.”
No One You Know: Early Blur Photos
By Dave Rowntree & Miranda Sawyer
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Dave Rowntree, drummer and founder member of Blur, brought his camera along to all of the band’s first adventures. He used it to capture insider moments: close-up and personal pictures of singer Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James and himself in the thrilling early stages of the band’s rise to the top. Here are photographs from Blur’s debut tours of America and Japan, in the studio in the U.K., playing games in the tour bus, larking around backstage, messing about in hotel rooms, at video shoots, with fans and friends. A one-of-its kind document of what it’s really like to be in a young band during the vital first few years, when everything is new, romantic and fresh. With hundreds of previously unseen photographs, a personal foreword and detailed quotes of memories attached to the images, No One You Know is a unique visual insight into the first few years of one of Britain’s most successful and well-loved bands, from one of the only four people who knows what it was really like.”
33⅓ | Stiff Little Fingers’ Inflammable Material
By Kevin Dunn
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Situating the band and its groundbreaking debut within the context of The Troubles, this book explores the band’s complicated and controversial relationship with the Belfast punk scene, a scene that actively defied violent social divisions to create important non-sectarian spaces through which an Alternative Ulster was imagined and put into practice. Stiff Little Fingers’ 1979 debut album Inflammable Material was the first independent album to ever reach the UK Top 20 and is regarded as one of the most influential punk releases of all time, containing the singles Suspect Device and Alternative Ulster. Inflammable Material was both a product of, and response to, The Troubles, the era of political violence in Northern Ireland that claimed more than 3,500 lives over three decades.”
From Ibiza To The Norfolk Broads: A Bowie Odyssey Hardcover
By James Briggs
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “James Briggs had never known what David Bowie’s Life On Mars? meant. And 25 years later, with a career stealing his soul, a relationship in stasis and a hairline in furious retreat, life on Earth had him cornered. So when a lightning bolt of inspiration struck, he left everything behind to cycle one of the song’s lyrics — ‘From Ibiza to the Norfolk Broads — to discover what life, love and Life On Mars? really mean. What followed was life-affirming, inspirational and often hilarious. Criss-crossing Europe, he visited French chateaus where Bowie recorded, Spanish Olympic stadiums he played, former communist states where his music was banned, and the Berlin Wall he helped topple — all while navigating angry Soviet ballerinas, suspicious village mayors, and an irate Cliff Richard fan. James found kindred spirits and a new love (and occasionally hatred) for cycling as he discovered what happens when, instead of following the crowd, you follow the lyrics and music of the greatest artist of the 20th century. As the world reconsiders its priorities, From Ibiza to the Norfolk Broads is a clarion call to embrace the strange, blaze your own path, and live as fearlessly as the Starman himself.”
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source tinnitist.com ’
