Rock Biographies

[Thirty Bills Unpaid]

Was reading the RHCP thread and 'Scar Tissue' (the book) came up. I loved that book. I have read a ton of rock biographies- some great... some not so great.

I just picked up 'This is a Call' (Dave Grohl). Haven't read it, but looking forward to it.

Curious to know which books some of the fan base has read and which ones they liked or disliked?

I'll mention one that I think reigns supreme: Heavier Than Heaven (Kurt Cobain).

[he.who.forgets]

I havent read many, but Clapton's is good

[Horos]

I've read a bunch on the classic bands(The Beatles, The Who, Jimi Hendrix, Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin) can't remember titles but enjoyed them all. As long as you are interested in the subject you can't go too wrong with biographies. Recently read 'Everybody Loves Our Town' and that was a good read.

[AlbertaGirl70_]

Love love rock bios! Recents have been 3 GNR books 2 Mötley Crüe (what can I say I'm an 80's girl) and PJ 20 cover to cover word for word.....twice

[youngster]

Read Slash's book a couple years ago which was pretty good. Kinda get why he hates Axl....cause Axl was a douchebag. Take that back, IS a douchebag.

[curlygirly9]

a million Bowie biographies, a Courtney Love biography, No one here gets out alive, about Jim Morrisson, PJ of course, and Kurt Cobain. I'm sure there's more. You're probably right, Heavier Than Heaven was pretty good.

[Thirty Bills Unpaid]

Hammer of the Gods (Zeppelin) was pretty darn good. Read Stairway to Heaven as well, but Hammer was the better choice for the Zeppelin story.

[Newch91]

I havent read many, but Clapton's is good

Love that one. One of my favorite biographies. I'm still wondering how he's still alive.

"John Lennon: The Life" by Philip Norman is a pretty good (long) read. Along the Seattle route, "Grunge is Dead" by Greg Prato is a good read.

[perfectlefts14]

Kieth Richards Life is a great book, gives real insight into the Stones history. As said above, No One Gets Out Alive is a great book about Jim Morrison. Life On Planet Rock is also a good read, and of course Pearl Jam Twenty and 5 against 1.

[goldrush]

Some that I've enjoyed recently:

Dave Grohl 'This is a Call'
Keith Richards 'Life'
Neil Young 'Shakey'
R.E.M. 'Fiction'

[Loulou]

I guess some don't count as 'biographies' but oh well:

Not Dead and Not For Sale- Scott Weiland's biography was good, love to find out more about the lyrics behind his songs.
Poppy Z. Brite's book on Courtney Love
Marilyn Manson's biography was actually quite interesting even though I'm not a huge fan or anything.
Five Against One
None too Fragile
High on Arrival- Mack Phillips I know not technically a rock biography but she does talk a lot of the rock groups she grew up, shocking but interesting

[your move now]

I havent read many, but Clapton's is good

Love that one. One of my favorite biographies. I'm still wondering how he's still alive.

"John Lennon: The Life" by Philip Norman is a pretty good (long) read. Along the Seattle route, "Grunge is Dead" by Greg Prato is a good read.

before reading keith richards I wondered how he was still alive - afterwards am convinced the guy is either secretly dead or immortal

[SatansFuton]

Best rock biography I ever read was "Touching From A Distance: Ian Curtis And Joy Division" by Ian's widow Deborah. It's much better than the film based on it ("Control") as the book is much more honest, and the film was made by a friend/fan who was more interested in perpetuating the myth of Ian Curtis than portraying him as a human being. I find the truth about him, flaws and all, much more interesting than the fiction.

[Indifference71]

I havent read many, but Clapton's is good

Love that one. One of my favorite biographies. I'm still wondering how he's still alive.

That was an awesome biogrpahy....I couldn't put that book down. I read it in like 3 days. Like you said, how Clapton is still alive is a complete mystery to me. The abuse his body took back in the day is insane.

[Who Princess]

Lots of good Who books. I'd probably start with Richard Barnes Maximum R&B. Barnes has been a friend of the band from the earliest days and has lots of good stuff on their beginnings. Also Anyway Anyhow Anywhere: The Complete Chronicle of The Who 1958-1978 by Andy Neill and Matt Kent, which takes you up to Keith Moon's death. Neill and Kent have said they're working on a new book that will cover 1978 to the present.

I don't usually like memoirs but I'll be reading this one:



Pete's been at this a long time and used to post excerpts on his blog. Originally it was only going to go up to the 60s but I don't know if that's still true.