18 September 2021
Former Nirvana drummer and Foo Fighters‘ frontman DAVE GROHL will have his
first book out on 5th October, titled THE STORYTELLER – Tales Of Life And Music.
Grohl: “My life flashes before my eyes every single day. And in
writing this book, I’ve tried to capture those moments as best
I can.”
Here’s the trailer for the book…
Order info here
17 July 2021
Book: From Manchester with Love: The Life and Opinions of Tony Wilson
Author: Paul Morley
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Hardcover – 688 pages
Out: 21 October 2021
About: Critically-acclaimed and bestselling author Paul Morley’s long-awaited
biography of journalist, news-anchor, Factory Records co-founder and Manchester
icon Tony Wilson. At the helm of Factory Records and the Hacienda, Wilson unleashed landmark acts such as Joy Division and New Order into the world as he pursued myriad other creative endeavours, appointing himself a custodian of Manchester’s legacy of innovation and change. To Paul Morley he was this and much more: bullshitting hustler, flashy showman, aesthetic adventurer, mean factory boss, self-deprecating chancer, intellectual celebrity, loyal friend, shrewd mentor, insatiable publicity seeker. It was
Morley to whom Wilson left a daunting final request: to write this book.
Tony Wilson: “When forced to pick between truth and legend, print the legend.”
Here’s Wilson introducing Joy Division on Manchester’s Granada Television in 1978…
TONY WILSON: NME Feature
7 July 2021
Book: THE COLLECTED WORKS OF JIM MORRISON:
Poetry, Journals, Transcripts, and Lyrics
About: The definitive anthology of Jim Morrison’s writings
with rare photographs and numerous handwritten excerpts
of unpublished and published poetry and lyrics from his 28
privately held notebooks.
Released: 8 June 2021
Hardcover – A New York Times bestseller
Available: via Barnes & Noble, Harpers & Collins,
Amazon and all other renowned online books/music shops.
Info: Created in collaboration with Jim Morrison’s estate and inspired
by a posthumously discovered list entitled “Plan for Book,” The Collected
Works of Jim Morrison is an almost 600-page anthology of the writings of
the late poet and iconic Doors’ frontman. This landmark publication is the
definitive opus of Morrison’s creative output—and the book he intended to
publish. Throughout, a compelling mix of 160 visual components accompanies
the text: excerpts from his 28 privately held notebooks—all written in his own
hand and published here for the first time—as well as an array of personal
images and commentary on the work by Morrison himself.
Full content:
Foreword by Tom Robbins; introduction and notes by editor Frank Lisciandro that provide insight to the work; prologue by Anne Morrison Chewning
Published and unpublished work and a vast selection of notebook writings
The transcript, the only photographs in existence, and production notes of Morrison’s last poetry recording on his twenty-seventh birthday
The Paris notebook, possibly Morrison’s final journal, reproduced at full reading size
Excerpts from notebooks kept during his 1970 Miami trial
The shooting script and gorgeous color stills from the never-released film HWY
Complete published and unpublished song lyrics accompanied by numerous drafts in Morrison’s hand
Epilogue: “As I Look Back”: a compelling autobiography in poem form
Family photographs as well as images of Morrison during his years as a performer
Hear Jim Morrison’s final poetry recording, now available for the first time, on CD or digital audio book, at the Village Recorder in West Los Angeles on his twenty-seventh birthday, December 8, 1970. The digital audio book also includes performances by Patti Smith, Oliver Ray, Liz Phair, Tom Robbins, and others reading Morrison’s work.
JIM MORRISON: Website
5 July 2021
Book: Last Chance Texaco: Chronicles Of An American Troubadour
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Released: 13 April 2021 – 384 pages
Order info: here
Content: Last Chance Texaco is the first-ever no-holds-barred account of the life of two-time Grammy Award-winner Rickie Lee Jones in her own words. It is a tale of desperate chances and impossible triumphs, an adventure story of a girl who beat the odds and grew up to become one of the most legendary artists of her time, turning adversity and hopelessness into timeless music.
With candor and lyricism, the “Duchess of Coolsville” (Time) takes us on a singular
journey through her nomadic childhood, to her years as a teenage runaway, through her legendary love affair with Tom Waits, and ultimately her longevity as the hardest working woman in rock and roll.
In this electrifying and intimate memoir by one of the most remarkable, trailblazing, and tenacious women in music are never-before-told stories of the girl in the raspberry beret, a singer-songwriter whose music defied categorization and inspired American pop culture for decades.
An audio excerpt read by Rickie Lee Jones herself…
.
RICKIE LEE JONES: Website
27 June 2021
Book: FROM THE FLOORBOARDS UP
About: Photos from live Paul Weller events in the UK and overseas, taken from
1990 to 2019. Containing many unseen shots all taken by the fans! It’s a very unique
book, with narrative by Pat Gilbert (MOJO), interviews with fans and reflections from some bands lucky enough to have supported Paul on tour during those 30 years.”
Publication : November 2021 – 400 pages – full colour
Order-info: here
(photo by Turn Up The Volume – Brugge, Belgium, 2015)
Compiled and designed by life-long fan Jon Abnett, From the Floorboards Up! will be published in two editions: a standard hardback version, priced at £39.99; and a special edition box – limited to just 500 copies, each featuring an individually hand-numbered certificate – priced at £75.00. This edition is likely to sell out quickly, so be quick!
The special edition is limited to 500 copies
only and are individually numbered and comes
complete with bonus items:
2 replica concert tickets
VIP lanyard pass
2 Paul Weller setlists
Paul Weller poster
4 exclusive postcard photos
PWM Ltd edition enamel key fob
A numbered certificate of authenticity
(photo by Turn Up The Volume – Brugge, Belgium, 2015)
Read all about it…
26 June 2021
Book: Rainbow in the Dark: The Autobiography
The life of the late hard rock icon Ronnie James Dio.
Still very much loved: more than 2 million followers
on his FB-page.
Publisher: Premier Collectibles
Out: 27 July 2021
Pre-order: here
Ronnie James Dio was a heavy metal icon and frontman of
three of the best-selling, most influential and famous rock bands
in history: Rainbow, Black Sabbath and his own multi-million
selling band, Dio.
Rainbow in the Dark “is a rollercoaster ride through the extraordinary
highs and lows of Dio’s life, and takes us from his early days as a street
gang leader and Doo-wop singer in ’60s Vegas through to his breakout
success with Rainbow and Black Sabbath in the ’70s and the stadiums of
US metal in the ’80s – ending in Dio’s dressing room at Madison Square
Garden, in June 1986, at the peak of his worldwide fame with Dio.
Tragically Dio passed away from cancer in 2010, but had already begun
writing a memoir before his death. Edited by the world-renowned music
biographer Mick Wall, with the involvement of Dio’s wife of over 35 years
and personal manager Wendy Dio, Rainbow in the Dark will honour and
feature Dio’s never-before-seen original manuscript, while drawing on the
extraordinary collection of print and audio interviews with the man himself
to produce a vivid, raw and faithful portrait of one of the world’s greatest
ever rock legends.”
With Black Sabbath…
With his own band DIO…
RONNIE JAMES DIO: Facebook
11 June 2021
Book: IGGY POP & THE STOOGES On Stage – 1967 To 1974
Author: Per Nilsen
A leading authority on Iggy and the Stooges. He’s a behavioural
economist from Stockholm School of Economics. Music has been
a life-long passion since he discovered the Beatles at the age of 5.
Content: The book explores, in depth, all the concerts the Stooges
played between 1967-74, bringing the live experience to life through
eyewitness accounts, press reports and other source materials, to
present an unprecedented account of the Stooges’ performances
during this period.
Publisher: Burning Shed – you can buy a copy via their
website or Amazon and other well known online shops.
Out: 25th June 2021
Louder Than War says: “Fans of Iggy and the Stooges will be smitten with
the material contained within these pages. They’ll also love the way Nilsen
invites the reader to imagine the venues and cities left undescribed. For
example, on Tuesday, 22 July 1969, The Stooges played at Detroit’s Grand
Ballroom, but Nilsen’s gig description is nearly blank: “No details are known.”
While the breadth of information that accompanies so many of the other on
stage appearances is enthralling, these occasional lacunae are also intriguing.
I wonder what went on at that gig.” Long full review here.
21 May 2021
Book: HOW TO BE A ROCK STAR
About: 24-party animal expert SHAUN RYDER
Out: 7 October 2021 via Allen & Unwin
Order info: info here.
Press info: “A true rock n roll legend with a past saturated in debauchery and excess,
the former frontman of Happy Mondays and Black Grape shares jaw-dropping stories of outrageous demands, narcotic overload, and brushes with organised crime in this wickedly entertaining guide to living the hedonistic rock star life. As lead singer of Happy Mondays and Black Grape, Shaun Ryder was the Keith Richards and Mick Jagger of his generation.
A true rebel, who formed and led not one but two seminal bands, he’s had number
one albums, headlined Glastonbury, toured the world numerous times, taken every drug under the sun, been through rehab – and come out the other side as a national treasure.”
The man himself…
As a Happy Monday…
As a Black Grape…
With Gorillaz…
SHAUN RYDER: Facebook
Wanna become an E rock star? Shaun will you tell all about it…
if he still can remember it himself.
18 May 2021
Book: EXCAVATE! The Wonderful and Frightening World of The Fall
About: A book about Mark E. Smith and The Fall – or more precisely, their
ever-influential world. The Fall were so many things, so many worlds, if you
got it (and not everyone did), they represented everything.
Publisher: Faber
Available via Amazon and other renowned online shops.
Bob Stanley (co-editor) in an interview with We Are Cult: “The Fall are an education.
You can take from them what you want. They enrich your life. The book explains that without saying it out loud. We had to leave things out. We didn’t want to cram everything in and we definitely wanted to give it space to breathe so it didn’t look like a scrapbook. Not all squashed down… We didn’t really want to write a book about how many band members there’d been or what fags Mark E Smith smoked or whatever because there’s plenty of books on that already. Talking about M. R. James or H. P. Lovecraft [who were a big influence] though… that’s kind
of what we wanted.”
Louder Than War says: “It’s a book that requires a constant return—coming back to
its fragments over and over again in acts of readerly repetition—to gain new knowledge
with each bit-by-bit encounter. Excavate! feels like a Mark E. Smith version of the Arcades
Project—never finished, and always producing new meaning.”
THE FALL: Facebook
14 May 2021
Book: THE CLASH: EVERY ALBUM, EVERY TRACK
Author: Nick Assirati
Info: This book provides a concise narrative of the rise and fall of
The Clash, putting each song of their prolific musical output into context,
including a selection of bootlegs and rarities. There is also advice about
how to buy The Clash‘s music without falling into the record company trap
of repeatedly buying the same material through different compilations,
making this the most essential guide to the music of this iconic band
yet written.
Louder Than War says: “This is Nick Assirati’s first book.
He’s neither a trained writer nor a music critic HOWEVER
what he produced is probably the most essential guide to
the music of The Clash ever written.” Read full review here.
You can buy the book on Amazon and
via many other renowned online shops.
