Musicians autobiography recommendations?

TheBigDipper

The Bill Bruford autobiography is very well written and pretty interesting. 

If it's OK to expand slightly from pure autobiographies, the the Can book “All Gates Are Open” is a great read about a unique band from another country in a galaxy far, far away... I listened to the music as I read it.

Snap

I Am Ozzy is brilliant. Slash's is good too. Waging Heavy Peace (Neil Young) is good, as is the biography Shakey.

the Peter Hook books on JD, NO and the Hacienda are all brilliant too. Funny as well.

Philly_Q

Snap said:

Waging Heavy Peace (Neil Young) is good, as is the biography Shakey.

Shakin' Stevens?

boogieman

Another vote for Deke Leonard’s books (although it helps if you like Man/Iceberg). He’s got a brilliant turn of phrase and is really funny. 

Pete Townshend’s autobio is interesting but if you want a decent Who book, Dear Boy (about Keith Moon) is better. Haven’t read the Daltrey one yet but it gets good reviews. 

The Electric Gypsy bio about Hendrix is great. 

Grumpyrocker

StefB said:

Dave Mustaine's is excellent, but a passing interest in Megadeth makes it a more satisfying read.

Yep this was a good one. Shame though more of the geekier music stuff he wrote was cut out because the publisher wanted more of the first.

Keef's book was great fun.

I enjoyed Tony Iommi's book, though it was a bit dry at describing what were otherwise extraordinary events.

Roland

boogieman said:

Another vote for Deke Leonard’s books (although it helps if you like Man/Iceberg). He’s got a brilliant turn of phrase and is really funny. 

Pete Townshend’s autobio is interesting but if you want a decent Who book, Dear Boy (about Keith Moon) is better. Haven’t read the Daltrey one yet but it gets good reviews. 

The Electric Gypsy bio about Hendrix is great. 

Daltrey’s book is worth reading.

sev112

Graham Nash - Wild Tales, very enjoyable read.

stimpsonslostson

What does this button do- Bruce Dickinson is good, though strangely impersonal- there's NOTHING about his "personal life"- it never once mentioned his marriages or children. That said his music, fencing, flying and cancer make for a good read. 

thumpingrug

Bruce Springsteen's is very good and is Pete Townsend's

boogieman

Grumpyrocker said:

I enjoyed Tony Iommi's book, though it was a bit dry at describing what were otherwise extraordinary events.

Iron Man? I thought it was bloody terrible. Just TI’s reminiscences written down more or less verbatim. It could’ve been brilliant: if ever a book deserved a much better writer then this is it. 

axisus

The Dirt is compulsory reading. I also really enjoyed Vince Neal, Tommy Lee and Nikki Sixx's books but I have been a bit obsessed with the band in the past (not the music though!).

Moominpapa

My recommendations would be:

The Real Frank Zappa Book

Bill Bruford: The Autobiography

Learning To Listen: The Jazz Journey of Gary Burton

(I don't think the Gary Burton book has been mentioned yet - I thought it was really interesting)

Caffeine_Vampire

‘Killer’ by the Killer himself is worthy. 

Philly_Q

boogieman said:

Grumpyrocker said:

I enjoyed Tony Iommi's book, though it was a bit dry at describing what were otherwise extraordinary events.

Iron Man? I thought it was bloody terrible. Just TI’s reminiscences written down more or less verbatim. It could’ve been brilliant: if ever a book deserved a much better writer then this is it. 

Agreed.  It's like all those crappy football biographies which come out at Christmas, just a load of facts and no insights into the subject's personality at all.

"We did an album.  Then I got married and bought a big house in the country.  Went on tour.  Did a lot of coke.  Set Bill on fire.  Came home and got divorced.  Did another album... "

Strat_a_tat_tat

Philly_Q said:

"We did an album.  Then I got married and bought a big house in the country.  Went on tour.  Did a lot of coke.  Set Bill on fire.  Came home and got divorced.  Did another album... "

Hmmmm... sounds like it is lacking a bit in terms of passion and emotion!  :-)

Danny1969

The Dirt - don't matter if you hate Motley Crue ... it's the true story of LA's most rock and roll band. 

Inside Out - Nick Mason .... brief but likeable and humour filled account of Pink Floyd from the start to the end (more or less) 

My all time fave is All these years - Volume 1  -- the first instalment of 3  ..... An impecable history of The Beatles . Volume 1 deals with them from kids through to  Hamburg being signed and to the release of Love me Do. The detail and research in this book is just breathtaking and also why part 2 has taken 5 years so far. 

It's so easy - Duff McKagan's account of GnR  .... not a bad read and Duff's more astute than most would think. 

Bruce Dickinson .. What Does This Button Do ? Not a bad read at all even for non Maiden fans. A good story of how a long haired waster become a Global rockstar, fencing champion and commercial jumbo jet pilot. 

When giants walked the earth : Led Zepplin biography .... a good read 

Scar Tissue : Anthony Kiedis : RHCP front man tales the tale of growing up with the worse of influences to becoming a rockstar and desperate drug addict.  

boogieman

Philly_Q said:

boogieman said:

Grumpyrocker said:

I enjoyed Tony Iommi's book, though it was a bit dry at describing what were otherwise extraordinary events.

Iron Man? I thought it was bloody terrible. Just TI’s reminiscences written down more or less verbatim. It could’ve been brilliant: if ever a book deserved a much better writer then this is it. 

Agreed.  It's like all those crappy football biographies which come out at Christmas, just a load of facts and no insights into the subject's personality at all.

"We did an album.  Then I got married and bought a big house in the country.  Went on tour.  Did a lot of coke.  Set Bill on fire.  Came home and got divorced.  Did another album... "

Yup, it’s not like he doesn’t have an interesting story to tell. I wonder how the writer was chosen, I got the feeling he’s an uber fan rather than a professional writer.  Ozzy’s book isn’t exactly brilliant but it’s 10 times better (and the bit with him shooting the chickens is bloody hilarious). 

IvisonGuitars

Ian Hunter - Diary of a Rock n Roll Star is a classic.

Iamnobody

This is pretty much the only type of book some not mentioned yet that I’d recommend:

Shakey - Neil Young
Man of The World - Peter Green
Dear Boy - Keith Moon

Funkfingers

Caffeine_Vampire said:

‘Killer’ by the Killer himself is worthy. 

It may need explaining to younger readers that The Killer = Jerry Lee Lewis.

Philly_Q said:
Neil Peart's Ghost Rider.

The Neil Peart travel books provide only limited insight into his musical career.



Frank Zappa: The Negative Dialectics Of Poodle Play by Ben Watson makes a handy reference companion to The Real Frank Zappa Book - even if Watson is a bit of a fanboi and, because he is not a musician, he misses out on some of the humo(u)r in the music.