Next Week in Music | October 20-26 • 22 New Books (Part 1)

Budgie and Bob. Tupac and Jack. Kevin and Cootie. Plenty of big names are dropping new tomes next week — or having them dropped from afar. Get the drop on them all right here, right now:

The Absence: Memoirs Of A Banshee Drummer
By Budgie

THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Growing up in working-class St Helens in the 1960s, Peter Clarke lost his mum as a young boy and it’s her ‘absence’ that haunts the pages of this book. Disenchanted with art school in Liverpool, Peter became Budgie and befriended the likes of Jayne Casey, Holly Johnson, Pete Burns, Bill Drummond and other luminaires of the legendary Eric’s Club, before taking off for London and the big city heat of punk. Budgie’s unique technique and musical sensitivity endeared him to the all-female group The Slits, who asked him to play on their debut album Cut. Subsequent touring with former members of The Sex Pistols and others from the post-punk aristocracy firmly established his reputation for innovation. But the beating heart of this painfully honest and frank account of a life often sabotaged by substance abuse and alcoholism is, of course, his long-term position as Siouxsie And The Banshees’ drummer and co-writer alongside ex-lover and ex-wife Siouxsie Sioux. In the Banshees and seminal side project The Creatures, their creative partnership produced some of the most seductive and celebrated pop music of the decade, from Juju, through A Kiss In The Dreamhouse to the salutary valedictory album Peepshow. Eventually, their personal relationship started to fall apart, with inevitable consequences for both bands. The Absence is brave and unflinching in its dissection of how and why this happened. Angels emerged, many of them female, to show Budgie that a mother’s lost love can be replaced. A man and musician whose creativity and singular style came to define the goth-pop 1980s as much as any other individual, Budgie‘s life is both fabulously glamorous and a tawdry cautionary tale. For the first time the story of this most exalted and mysterious of bands has been told by one who survived inside the belly of the beast.”

Bob Dylan: Things Have Changed
By Ron Rosenbaum

THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “In a dingy windowless bungalow on the Warner Brothers back lot in Hollywood in 1977, in the midst of what may have been the longest interview he ever gave (it stretched over 10 days), a chain-smoking Bob Dylan confessed to journalist Ron Rosenbaum that he was troubled by something missing from his music. Dylan — who was editing a dramatic movie based on his life, even as his life seemed to be falling apart — told Rosenbaum there was a sound he was after that he’d only come close to on one record so far. The sound, he told Rosenbaum, was of “thin, wild mercury.” This is a book that captures the elusive mercurial artist and his work in a way no other has — a vivid, compelling pursuit of Dylan, successively a hipster folkie, a Greenwich Village sparkplug of a cultural revolution, who plugged into an amplifier to drive away folkie solemnity, then became a countrified crooner, the man who, just months after Rosenbaum’s interview, became a fire-breathing, proselytizing Christian… before returning to being a non-religious Jew. What was behind it all, Rosenbaum asks, and how can we understand him through his lyrics? Tracing it from Dylan’s childhood — when his father hired a Brooklyn rabbi to come to remote Minnesota to prepare his son for his bar mitzvah — through the still touring singer’s late, often inscrutable lyrics, Rosenbaum probes Dylan’s “argument with God,” his differentiation between authenticity and sincerity, and his relentless heretical stances. Of course, complicating matters for anyone trying to trace the development of Dylan and his life’s work is Dylan’s recurrent denial of the continuity of self. (Whenever asked why he doesn’t sing the old songs the same way as on the record, Dylan typically responds with an irritated, “That’s not me.”) Rosenbaum has covered Dylan for almost the entirety of his — and Dylan’s — career, starting as a Village Voice culture reporter in 1969. In this deeply personal and literary appreciation, and as Dylan continues to tour and compose new songs, still refusing to play old songs the old way, Rosenbaum offers a moving and involving portrait of an icon who may have been more constant than it appeared after all.”

Driftin’ On A Memory: Celebrating Seventy Years Of The Isley Brothers
By Trenton Bailey

THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “In Driftin’ On A Memory: Celebrating Seventy Years Of The Isley Brothers, Trenton Bailey tells the story of this groundbreaking musical act. The Isley Brothers began recording as a vocal trio consisting of the brothers O’Kelly Isley Jr., Rudolph Isley and Ronald Isley in the 1950s. They have covered a wide range of genres, including gospel, doo-wop, rock ’n’ roll, R&B, the Motown sound, funk, and disco, and their music has been sampled by numerous hip-hop artists. The Isley Brothers achieved their first hit Shout in 1959 and have reached the Billboard Hot 100 Songs chart with new music in six different decades, from the 1950s to the 2000s. The brothers experienced their golden age from 1973 to 1983 with the addition of three younger brothers. With three instrumentalists, including composer and arranger Chris Jasper, the Isleys became a self-contained band and released a string of platinum albums. Over the years, The Isley Brothers have adapted the group, adding and losing members over time, but have always included a brother. Today, Ernie and Ronald Isley are still performing, keeping The Isley Brothers a household name and remaining a serious force in pop culture. The remarkable longevity of The Isley Brothers has solidified their status as one of America’s most influential musical groups.”

Only God Can Judge Me: The Many Lives Of Tupac Shakur
By Jeff Pearlman

THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Scrutinized in life, mythologized in death, Tupac Shakur remains a subject of immense cultural significance and speculation nearly thirty years after his murder. Despite a multitude of books, documentaries, and even a feature film, much about Tupac’s story remains shrouded and misunderstood. Like many icons who died tragically young, Tupac the man has long been obscured — his edges sanded down, his complexity numbed — by the competing agendas that surround his legacy. In Only God Can Judge Me, accomplished biographer and New York Times bestselling author Jeff Pearlman tackles his most nuanced subject, telling the definitive story of Shakur in unprecedented depth. In this authoritative look at Tupac’s life, Pearlman skillfully recreates West Coast hip-hop in all its glory, going inside Death Row Records and on the sets of movies like Juice and Poetic Justice to offer the most clear-eyed rendering to date of the man who still casts a shadow over modern hip hop. But more than just a biography of a complicated figure, Only God Can Judge Me also captures the time and place in which Tupac rose, a singular moment in music history when West Coast hip-hop became a phenomenon and transformed popular music. Featuring nearly 700 interviews and never-before-published details from every corner of Tupac’s life, the result offers a truly singular portrait of one of modern pop culture’s most towering figures. Guided by the voices of those who knew and lived life alongside him, Only God Can Judge Me captures the layers of a man who, even 30 years after his death, remains as elusive as ever.”

Jack White Complete Lyrics and Selected Writing
By Jack White

THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Jack White Complete Lyrics and Selected Writings collects the artist’s lyrics for Dead Weather, Raconteurs, his solo recordings and collaborations. The book also features never-before-seen poems and selected writing by White, plus exclusive and rare photos and ephemera. Pulitzer Prize finalist poet Adrian Matejka, award-winning filmmaker and writer dream hampton, and Third Man Records co-founder Ben Blackwell also contribute essays.”

Desert Dreams: The Music, Style, And Allure Of Coachella
By Katie Bain

THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Coachella is considered one of the most profitable and widely attended music festivals, with an annual attendance of 250,000 people. Not only is it located in the middle of the desert, but to be there is to witness some of the best performances artists will ever put on. For them, playing at Coachella is a huge checkmark on the bucket list of their career. No matter how small their name appears on the billboards listing the year’s lineups, the festival is known to be the starting point of artists on the way to superstardom. Discover the magic of one of the biggest festivals in the world, from the windy roads and mountain views on the way there, the hotspots on the polo field, and the art installations that create an epic landscape and dozens of photo ops that you see online. Desert Dreams will walk you through the biggest names that have performed on the mainstage, including those that started in a smaller tent. With 150+ iconic photographs and insights from music industry veterans, Katie Bain brings you a comprehensive guide to this groundbreaking festival phenomenon. Learn about the extravagance (and not-so-extravagant moments) alongside a real account of what it takes to arrive on the site, all the key locations, and the most hyped about parties. By page one, you’ll feel like you’re on your way to the biggest event of your life — and for some, you’ll get the chance to relive it. A must-have volume for music lovers, pop culture enthusiasts, and fashionistas, Desert Dreams is the ultimate celebration of the iconic festival. Make sure you have your water ready.”

Iain Matthews: A People’s History
By Richard Houghton

THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Iain Matthews: A People’s History is an oral history of one of Britain’s leading singer-songwriters. One of the founding members of folk-rock pioneers Fairport Convention, Iain left the band in 1969 to further a career in music that now spans almost 60 years. He created the chart-topping act Matthews Southern Comfort in 1970, who had a No. 1 single with a cover of Joni Mitchell’s Woodstock, and in the 50-plus years since is widely acknowledged as one of the torchbearers responsible for bringing American folk and country music to British audiences.”

You Thought You Knew
By Kevin Federline

THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Kevin Federline: Dancer, father, accidental pop culture icon. His star rose electrifying stages alongside Pink, Destiny’s Child, Aaliyah and more. But it was his turbulent marriage to pop superstar Britney Spears that made him a household name and triggered a relentless media storm, reducing him to a caricature in a world that barely knew him. Behind the tabloid headlines was a devoted father fighting for his children and his sanity, navigating the fallout of fame and a fractured family, as everything around him spun out of control. From the heights of global stardom to the pain of public ridicule, this memoir peels back the layers of celebrity, fatherhood, and survival to reveal the man behind the mythology. A man shaped not by spectacle or spotlight, but by love, resilience, and the steadfast resolve to give his kids a normal life. What you thought you knew was only half the story.”

Concerto For Cootie: The Life And Times Of Cootie Williams
By Steven C. Bowie

THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Jazz legend Cootie Williams left home to start his career as a musician at age 15. In 1940, after 11 years as one of the major soloists with the Duke Ellington orchestra, Williams was lured away to the band of Benny Goodman, one of the most popular bands in the country. At the time, it was a controversial move — it was still taboo for African Americans to share the bandstand with white people. Current references reduce it to a song written by Raymond Scott, When Cootie Left The Duke. In reality, it was a seismic event. The Black press predicted Black bands would collapse from raids on their ranks. White musicians were afraid they would be put out of work. And the white press stirred up visions of Black musicians mixing with white women in the new landscape of integrated orchestras. The 20 years trumpeter Williams spent as a band leader (1942-1962) have been covered in only the barest of details. His involvement in politics and the civil rights movement have not been detailed before. An astute talent scout, Williams and his band launched the careers of Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson, Earl “Bud” Powell, Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis and Pearl Bailey. He also was the first to record the music of a young Thelonious Monk, using two of Monk’s compositions (Epistrophy and ‘Round Midnight) as theme songs for his band. Steven C. Bowie respectfully tells Williams’s story, from his Alabama ancestry onward, including many new details rediscovered from the historical archives of the African American press and those gleaned from the author’s interviews with his friends and colleagues.”

The Photography Of Herman Leonard
By David Houston

THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “With a camera as his backstage pass, Herman Leonard photographed the giants of jazz in their golden age, movie stars on set and on their travels to exotic places, the fashion world of Paris in the 1960s, and the inner sanctums of his beloved New Orleans. This sumptuous book is the only full treatment of Leonard’s extraordinary life and distinctive body of work, published in a new edition with a beautiful updated cover, giving his photographs the artistic recognition that they deserve. The greater part of the book consists of his legendary shots of musicians, but uniquely among volumes on Leonard the text presents the whole range of his work, including travel, war, celebrity, fashion, and nude photography, while there are also chapters on the images of his early and late periods. Also included are rare portraits of the cultural icons of his day, such as Marilyn Monroe and Albert Einstein. Above all, Leonard is best known for his jazz images. In a fascinating essay, David Houston reveals how Leonard’s friendships with jazz greats such as Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie and Duke Ellington allowed him to capture the magical moments of the Harlem and Paris jazz clubs in the 1940s and ’50s, using his unique command of cinematic lighting to capture their essence as performers.”

Subject: Punk (Second Edition)
By Maggie St Thomas

THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Subject: Punk (Second Edition) is my all-access pass into the heart of punk,” says Maggie St Thomas. “It’s three decades solid of my life with a camera in hand — sneaking into shows with a fake ID, being a published journalist as a young teenager, photographing legends, and interviewing and documenting the people and nights that shaped a culture. I started out as a kid with a film camera and a dream: To photograph The Ramones. In 1993, I was at the Hong Kong Café, and shortly after The Showcase Theatre, already a published photographer and writer. By 1995, my dream came true. I was standing in front of my heroes, photographing and interviewing the band that first made me fall in love with music. This book pulls together those early days and everything that came after — the sweat-soaked clubs, the chaos, the friendships, the losses, and the music that kept going. You’ll see never-before-published photos of X, The Ramones, Dee Dee Ramone, The Dickies, The Lunachicks, Fear, NOFX, Fishbone, Sick Of It All and so much more. Subject: Punk (Second Edition) isn’t just a collection of photos — it’s my story, it’s blood, sweat and so many tears I’ve shed to make this book a reality, and it’s punk’s story too. This book is for anyone who has a dream and is determined to make that dream a reality. Anything is possible. Even with a broken camera, as was the case in some of my most iconic work featured in museums and books today.”