The Dead Milkmen get dissected, Electro-Harmonix get underfoot, and Bob Dylan, Black Sabbath, The Doobie Brothers, Focus and Love get thoroughly probed. Welcome to your reading list. Let’s get to it:
The Dead Milkmen
By Tyler Sonnichsen
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The Dead Milkmen emerged from the Philadelphia hardcore scene in 1983, released their debut album Big Lizard In My Backyard in 1985, and quickly became hard-touring college rock chameleons who eviscerated American exceptionalism, Generation X, and even their own left-field MTV success. When alternative rock took over, the scenes and styles they helped forge suddenly had no place for them, and the band dissolved as the internet began changing everything. After the odyssey and death of a founding member, an increasingly fucked-up world brought the veterans back together. Against remarkable odds, the Milkmen have returned to their world-building DIY roots, inspiring a new generation of fans.”
I’m Not With The Man: A Writer’s Life With The Music Mavericks
By Sylvia Patterson
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Whatever happened to the weirdos? The rock ’n’ roll rebels? The children of the revolution who not so much raged against the man as barely acknowledged the concept of authority? Sylvia Patterson remembers them. The freaks, geeks and oddballs who picked up microphones and instruments not to become rich or famous but because they were too mad (or unemployable) to do anything else. I’m Not With The Man is the flipside to Sylvia’s award-winning memoir I’m Not With The Band, celebrating the era of ‘the rock ’n’ roll nutter’ through her own encounters with some of music’s most uncompromising mavericks. From a cursing Adam Ant to a formidable Chrissie Hynde, from a carousing Liam Gallagher to a coruscating Sinead O’Connor, from a comedic Wu Tang Clan to an unrepentant Marianne Faithfull, and many, many more. Hilarious, revealing and poignant, I’m Not With The Man heralds a farewell fanfare to the heroically unhinged, those who lived on the edge of not only society but their own precarious sanity. We will not see their like again.”
Made On Earth For Rising Stars: The Electro-Harmonix Story
By Josh Scott, Daniel Danger & Dan Epstein
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Follow the untold story of how one of America’s greatest companies changed our culture and our music with their unorthodox devices. In 1968, Mike Matthews founded Electro-Harmonix and began assembling a worldwide team of the most talented engineers, creatives, and musicians he could find — people who would create imposing metal boxes with odd names that changed the sound and attitude of music forever. But the story of EHX is far more than the story of a company and its products. It’s a testament to what can happen when someone trusts the people around them to do their best work. Made On Earth For Rising Stars: The Electro-Harmonix Story is the definitive history — a historic collaboration between EHX, JHS Pedals, Third Man Books and archivist Daniel Danger. This massive book explores everything from Matthews himself to the workers on the floor, from circuit designers to those seeking to cure death, from flying machines to mass ESP experiments. Experience never-before-seen relics, prototypes, documents, photos, and stories. Featuring exclusive interviews with Jack White, J Mascis, John Mayer, Wes Borland, Billy Corgan, Bill Frisell, Nels Cline, Adrien Belew, Vernon Reid and more.”
Bob Dylan | Song By Song Volume 1: 1962-1969
By Jack Walters
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “This first volume explores Bob Dylan’s studio albums between 1963 and 1969, starting with The Freewheelin’ to Nashville Skyline, plus other originals. Dylan, through his many guises, has changed the course of popular music. Moving to New York City in 1961, he immersed himself in the folk milieu of Greenwich Village and was signed to Columbia Records within a year. As a folksinger, Dylan captured the political zeitgeist of the first half of the 1960s and wrote introspective tracks before going electric. In 15 months, Dylan released three revolutionary albums: Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde On Blonde. These albums saw Dylan expanding the parameters of popular song with a new poetic language and sound. On July 29, 1966, Dylan had a motorcycle accident, leaving him convalescing in Woodstock. There he broke more ground with the music he created with The Hawks (later known as The Band) in the basement of a house known as Big Pink. This first volume explores Dylan’s studio albums between 1963 and 1969 in detail, starting with The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan to Nashville Skyline, in addition to other original compositions.”
Black Sabbath | The Dio Years: Every Album, Every Song
By Chris Sutton
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “When Black Sabbath parted ways with Ozzy Osbourne in 1979, it could have all gone badly wrong for them. Instead, with Ronnie James Dio, fresh from Rainbow, they came back rejuvenised with a brace of albums which helped redefine rock and metal in the ’80s. Two futher studio albums followed later, including one under their new moniker Heaven & Hell. The Dio Years looks at the three different Dio eras with every album and track put under the microscope, including all of the live albums and bonus tracks. The narrative of the band is often murky, especially in the year which led to the release of their debut Heaven And Hell. For the first time, this period is examined carefully to establish the sequence of events. Contributing to the book are three men who were involved in the production and engineering of the records — Joe Foglia, Mike Exeter and Wyn Davis. Each offers new insight into the working processes. Greg Hildebrandt also contributes the chilling story behind his painting Mob Dream, which became the cover for Mob Rules.”
The Doobie Brothers: Every Album, Every Song
By Andrew Wild
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The Doobie Brothers: Every Album, Every Song tells the story of a band that helped define one of the most transformative decades in popular music. Formed in California in 1970, The Doobie Brothers blended blues, folk and R&B with tight harmonies and road-tested musicianship. Their early hits — Listen To The Music, Long Train Runnin’, China Grove and Black Water — captured the easygoing optimism of the West Coast while reflecting a country in transition after the upheavals of the 1960s. As the decade unfolded, the band evolved alongside the changing sound of rock. Guitarist Jeff “Skunk” Baxter brought a jazz sensibility from his time with Steely Dan, while singer and keyboardist Michael McDonald introduced smooth, soulful textures that reshaped the group’s identity. With Takin’ It To The Streets and the Grammy-winning Minute By Minute, The Doobie Brothers became one of the few bands able to bridge bar-band grit and radio polish without losing credibility. This book places their journey within the broader story of 1970s American music — a period of genre-blending, studio innovation and shifting cultural moods. Drawing connections to contemporaries like Little Feat and Steely Dan, it explores how The Doobies balanced experimentation with accessibility and why their songs continue to resonate today. More than a band biography, it’s a portrait of resilience and reinvention — how a group rooted in California’s club scene learned to adapt, thrive and keep audiences listening for over 50 years.”
Focus 1969 to 1985: Every Album, Every Song
By Stephen Lambe
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “For a few short years in the 1970s, the unique music of Focus entertained the world. Built around the prodigious instrumental talents of Dutch masters Jan Akkerman (guitar) and Thijs van Leer (keyboards and flute), the band produced three classic hit albums in quick succession between 1971 and 1974, at the same time scoring two worldwide hits with Sylvia and Hocus Pocus. The latter is as ubiquitous as tunes from the ’70s get, distinctive for Akkerman’s famous riff and van Leer’s bizarre yodeling. Musical and personal tensions between the two led to a split in early 1976, but the band limped on without Akkerman until 1978. An unlikely revival in 1985 was a false dawn, and except for a few public appearances, the duo have not played together since. Stephen Lambe’s book guides the reader through the band’s early history, dealing with all seven Focus albums from the era song by song, plus the eponymous 1985 comeback. It is an important potted history of the band and an insight into the tensions which led to such a creative — if short-lived — peak. But the book also acts as an essential guide to the astonishing music the two men made together — and sometimes apart — while at the apex of their powers.”
Love: Every Album, Every Song
By Emma Stott
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “As Love’s most revered album is titled Forever Changes, it’s little wonder that their superior back catalogue encompasses a multitude of genres: Folk rock, garage, jazz rock, baroque, psychedelia, soul, funk, and reggae — or certainly Arthur Lee’s does. But who can separate Love from their beleaguered yet brilliant front man? Love: Every Album, Every Song explores the many embodiments of his group, with his solo work closely examined at the same time. Love were the first rock signing to folk label Elektra and something of this contradiction inhabits their work. From the raw beat of their eponymous debut, to sweetly ruminative songs on Da Capo, to the ultimate comment on the counter-culture in Forever Changes, on to Four Sail’s auguring the hard rocking 1970s, these albums represent Love’s best known work. But the book knows the Love story doesn’t end there. It also includes the epic double album Out Here, collaborations with Jimi Hendrix, vegetarian protest songs, and a gorgeously romantic revival in Five String Serenade. There are also stops along the way to recall the solo work of Bryan MacLean et al, a new interview with Berton Averre, who played with Lee in the 1990s, and a detailed look at live recordings — the book is a real labour of Love.”
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source tinnitist.com ’
