100 Best Music History Books of All Time

We've ranked the best music history books using expert recommendations, sales data, and millions of reader ratings. At Shortform, we know books. Our book guides are the best in the world. Learn why.

Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk book cover1

Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk

Legs McNeil, Gillian McCain

5.0

A Time Out and Daily News Top Ten Book of the Year upon its initial release, Please Kill Me is the first oral history of the most nihilist of all pop movements. Iggy Pop, Danny Fields, Dee Dee and Joey Ramone, Malcom McLaren, Jim Carroll, and scores of other famous and infamous punk figures lend their voices to this definitive account of that outrageous, explosive era. From its origins in the twil

Santigold portraitSeth Mandel portrait Recommended by Santigold and Seth Mandel.
Santigold portrait
Santigold

Please Kill Me is one of the most fun books I’ve ever read. It’s basically a collection of oral histories, first-hand accounts from all the people who were around in New York as punk began. It’s the inside scoop on everything punk, with all kinds of details about who hooked up with who and the crazy shit they did. It’s not like reading a history book – it’s almost like being there, talking to all these people who were part of the birth of punk. [source]

The Autobiography of Malcolm X book cover2

The Autobiography of Malcolm X

MALCOLM X

4.9
Preview Summary
With its first great victory in the landmark Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, the civil rights movement gained the powerful momentum it needed to sweep forward into its crucial decade, the 1960s. As voices of protest and change rose above the din of history and false promises, one voice sounded more urgently, more passionately, than the rest. Malcolm X—once called the mo
Casey Neistat portraitRyan Holiday portraitDavid Coogan portrait Recommended by Casey Neistat, Ryan Holiday, David Coogan, and 2 others.
Casey Neistat portrait
Casey Neistat

Founder/368 Creative Space

Aside from The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Casey's favorite book is The Second World War by John Keegan. [source]

Ryan Holiday portrait
Ryan Holiday

Author

I forget who said it but I heard someone say that Catcher in the Rye was to young white boys what the Autobiography of Malcolm X was to young black boys. Personally, I prefer that latter over the former. I would much rather read about and emulate a man who is born into adversity and pain, struggles with criminality, does prison time, teaches himself to read through the dictionary, finds religion and then becomes an activist for Civil Rights before being gunned down by his former supporters when he tempers the hate and anger that had long defined parts of his message. [source]

David Coogan portrait
David Coogan

His memoir describes that process of transformation from a common narrative of street hustler and limited opportunities, struggling in a racist society, to this radicalization in part through literacy, in part through literature and religion. [source]

Just Kids book cover3

Just Kids

Patti Smith

4.8
In Just Kids, Patti Smith's first book of prose, the legendary American artist offers a never-before-seen glimpse of her remarkable relationship with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe in the epochal days of New York City and the Chelsea Hotel in the late sixties and seventies. An honest and moving story of youth and friendship, Smith brings the same unique, lyrical quality to Just Kids as she has t
Malcolm Gladwell portraitEmma Watson portraitSeth Godin portrait Recommended by Malcolm Gladwell, Emma Watson, Seth Godin, and 3 others.
Seth Godin portrait
Seth Godin

Author, Marketer, Entrepreneur

This is the single best audiobook ever recorded by Patti Smith. It is not going to change the way you do business, but it might change the way you live. It's about love and loss and art. [source]

Academic Batgirl portrait
Academic Batgirl

This book helped me to see how my life as an academic is artful and creative, and gave me renewed faith in embracing risks, innovation, and taking on art with love and strength even when it’s frustrating or “success” is not assured. Recommend! 8/end https://t.co/tkWtSVY6b9 [source]

The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century book cover4

The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century

Alex Ross

4.7
The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century is a voyage into the labyrinth of modern music, which remains an obscure world for most people. While paintings of Picasso and Jackson Pollock sell for a hundred million dollars or more, and lines from T. S. Eliot are quoted on the yearbook pages of alienated teenagers across the land, twentieth-century classical music still sends ripples of un
Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation book cover5

Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation

Jeff Chang, D.J. Kool Herc

4.6
Can't Stop Won't Stop is a powerful cultural and social history of the end of the American century, and a provocative look into the new world that the hip-hop generation created.

Forged in the fires of the Bronx and Kingston, Jamaica, hip-hop became the Esperanto of youth rebellion and a generation-defining movement. In a post-civil rights era defined by deindustrialization and globalization, hip-h
Dorian Lynskey portraitDoug Rossinow portrait Recommended by Dorian Lynskey and Doug Rossinow.
Dorian Lynskey portrait
Dorian Lynskey

This is not the biography of a single activist. It is a kind of sociopolitical history of hip-hop. It goes back a long way. Chang spends a lot of time describing the rise of gangs from the late 1960s. He tells you a lot about 1970s New York. Hip-hop really started as an artform long before most people outside the Bronx were aware of it. And I loved this social background because it shows that if people had a curiosity about the music you could show them all this other stuff. [source]

Doug Rossinow portrait
Doug Rossinow

Hip-hop culture was the authentic cultural expression of young people of color in America at a time when they saw fairly bleak prospects for themselves. [source]

Grant book cover6

Grant

Ron Chernow

4.6
Preview Summary
The #1 New York Times bestseller.

New York Times Book Review 10 Best Books of 2017

Pulitzer Prize winner Ron Chernow returns with a sweeping and dramatic portrait of one of our most compelling generals and presidents, Ulysses S. Grant.

Ulysses S. Grant's life has typically been misunderstood. All too often he is caricatured as a chronic loser and an inept businessman, or as the triumphant but brutal
Bill Clinton portraitJeremy Boudinet portrait Recommended by Bill Clinton and Jeremy Boudinet.
Bill Clinton portrait
Bill Clinton

Former USA President

This is a good time for Ron Chernow’s fine biography of Ulysses S. Grant to appear… As history, it is remarkable, full of fascinating details sure to make it interesting both to those with the most cursory knowledge of Grant’s life and to those who have read his memoirs or any of several previous biographies… For all its scholarly and literary strengths, this book’s greatest service is to remind us of Grant’s significant achievements at the end of the war and after, which have too long been overlooked and are too important today to be left in the dark… As Americans continue the struggle to defend justice and equality in our tumultuous and divisive era, we need to know what Grant did when our country’s very existence hung in the balance. If we still believe in forming a more perfect union, his steady and courageous example is more valuable than ever. [source]

Jeremy Boudinet portrait
Jeremy Boudinet

I read Ron Chernow's biography of Ulysses S. Grant at a crucial point in my life, when I was struggling with a few personal and professional career ups-and-downs. Grant is a fascinating character in U.S. history. His life was a dramatic roller coaster of major personal and professional triumphs that were inevitably followed by periods of massive failure and disappointment. Of course, all of this led up to his historic date with destiny as the winning General the U.S. desperately needed during the Civil War. An important takeaway from Grant's story is his primary character virtue - a stoic determination that ultimately carried him through periods of disenchantment and brought the Union victory in the Civil War. There's a lesson in there for all of us fighting in the trenches of business - we'll inevitably face some of the same ups-and-downs that Grant did. And we should aim to carry ourselves like he did. [source]

How Music Works book cover7

How Music Works

David Byrne

4.5
*Updated with a new chapter on digital curation*

How Music Works is David Byrne's incisive and enthusiastic look at the musical art form, from its very inceptions to the influences that shape it, whether acoustical, economic, social or technological. Utilizing his incomparable career and inspired collaborations with Talking Heads, Brian Eno, and many others, Byrne taps deeply into his lifetime of
Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981-1991 book cover8

Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981-1991

Michael Azerrad

4.5
This is the never-before-told story of the musical revolution that happened right under the nose of the Reagan Eighties--when a small but sprawling network of bands, labels, fanzines, radio stations, and other subversives reenergized American rock with punk rock's do-it-yourself credo and created music that was deeply personal, often brilliant, always challenging, and immensely influential. This s
Chronicles: Volume One book cover9

Chronicles: Volume One

Bob Dylan

4.5
"I'd come from a long ways off and had started a long ways down. But now destiny was about to manifest itself. I felt like it was looking right at me and nobody else." So writes Bob Dylan in Chronicles: Volume One, his remarkable book exploring critical junctures in his life and career.

Through Dylan's eyes and open mind, we see Greenwich Village, circa 1961, when he first arrives in Manhattan. Dy
Bill Gurley portraitGreil Marcus portrait Recommended by Bill Gurley and Greil Marcus.
Life book cover10

Life

Keith Richards

4.5
The long-awaited autobiography of the guitarist, songwriter, singer, and founding member of the Rolling Stones. Ladies and gentlemen: Keith Richards.

With The Rolling Stones, Keith Richards created the songs that roused the world, and he lived the original rock and roll life.

Now, at last, the man himself tells his story of life in the crossfire hurricane. Listening obsessively to Chuck Berry and Mu
Harry Khachatrian portrait Recommended by Harry Khachatrian.
The History of Jazz book cover11

The History of Jazz

Ted Gioia

4.4
Jazz is the most colorful and varied art form in the world, and it was born in one of the most colorful and varied cities, New Orleans. From the seed first planted by slave dances held in Congo Square and nurtured by early ensembles led by Buddy Bolden and Joe "King" Oliver, jazz began its long, winding odyssey across America and around the world, giving flower to a thousand different forms - swin
Tune In (The Beatles: All These Years, #1) book cover12

Tune In (The Beatles: All These Years, #1)

Mark Lewisohn

4.4
Tune In is the first volume of All These Years—a highly-anticipated, groundbreaking biographical trilogy by the world's leading Beatles historian. Mark Lewisohn uses his unprecedented archival access and hundreds of new interviews to construct the full story of the lives and work of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr.

Ten years in the making, Tune In takes the Beatles fr
Hamilton: The Revolution book cover13

Hamilton: The Revolution

Lin-Manuel Miranda, Jeremy McCarter

4.4
Lin-Manuel Miranda's groundbreaking musical Hamilton is as revolutionary as its subject, the poor kid from the Caribbean who fought the British, defended the Constitution, and helped to found the United States. Fusing hip-hop, pop, R&B, and the best traditions of theater, this once-in-a-generation show broadens the sound of Broadway, reveals the storytelling power of rap, and claims our country's
André Rupp portrait Recommended by André Rupp.
14

Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl

Carrie Brownstein

4.4
From a leader of feminist punk music at the dawn of the riot-grrrl era, a candid and deeply personal look at life in rock and roll.

Before Carrie Brownstein codeveloped and starred in the wildly popular TV comedy Portlandia, she was already an icon to young women for her role as a musician in the feminist punk band Sleater-Kinney. The band was a key part of the early riot- grrrl and indie rock sce
Emma Watson portrait Recommended by Emma Watson.
The Beatles Anthology book cover15

The Beatles Anthology

The Beatles

4.4
This extraordinary project has been made possible because Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr have agreed to tell their combined story especially for this book. Together with Yoko Ono Lennon, they have also made available the full transcripts (including all the outtakes) of the television and video series The Beatles Anthology. Through painstaking compilation of sources worldwide, John
Meet Me in the Bathroom: Rebirth and Rock and Roll in New York City 2001-2011 book cover16

Meet Me in the Bathroom: Rebirth and Rock and Roll in New York City 2001-2011

Lizzy Goodman

4.4
Joining the ranks of the classics Please Kill Me, Our Band Could Be Your Life, and Can’t Stop Won’t Stop, an intriguing oral history of the post-9/11 decline of the old-guard music industry and rebirth of the New York rock scene, led by a group of iconoclastic rock bands.

In the second half of the twentieth-century New York was the source of new sounds, including the Greenwich Village folk scene, p
Austin Kleon portrait Recommended by Austin Kleon.
This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession book cover17

This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession

Daniel J. Levitin

4.3
Whether you load your iPod with Bach or Bono, music has a significant role in your life—even if you never realized it. Why does music evoke such powerful moods? The answers are at last be- coming clear, thanks to revolutionary neuroscience and the emerging field of evolutionary psychology. Both a cutting-edge study and a tribute to the beauty of music itself, This Is Your Brain on Music unravels a
Vinod Khosla portraitJustin Boreta portrait Recommended by Vinod Khosla and Justin Boreta.
Justin Boreta portrait
Justin Boreta

Goes into the evolutionary thinking behind why music does what it does. [source]

18

Bach: Music in the Castle of Heaven

John Eliot Gardiner

4.3
Johann Sebastian Bach is one of the most unfathomable composers in the history of music. How can such sublime work have been produced by a man who (when we can discern his personality at all) seems so ordinary, so opaque—and occasionally so intemperate?

John Eliot Gardiner grew up passing one of the only two authentic portraits of Bach every morning and evening on the stairs of his parents’ house,
Then Sings My Soul: 150 of the World's Greatest Hymn Stories book cover19

Then Sings My Soul: 150 of the World's Greatest Hymn Stories

Robert Morgan

4.3
Rob Morgan's inimitable style will help people reacquaint themselves with the hymns of the faithful. His goal is to keep these traditional hymns vital and meaningful to all generations.

Don't look for a dry recounting of boring stories. These devotional-style stories show the emotion and drama behind the hymns of faith that have changed many lives throughout history -- the people whose faith led th
C S Lewis Quotes Et Al portrait Recommended by C S Lewis Quotes Et Al.
20

A History of Western Music

J. Peter Burkholder, Donald Jay Grout, Claude V. Palisca

4.3
Maintaining the authority and breadth of coverage that have always defined this classic text, J. Peter Burkholder has meticulously revised and restructured the text to make it more accessible for today's students. This revision places a stronger emphasis on social and historical context and adds substantially expanded pedagogy and striking four-color design.
Miles: The Autobiography book cover21

Miles: The Autobiography

Miles Davis, Quincy Troupe

4.3
For more than forty years Miles Davis has been in the front rank of American music. Universally acclaimed as a musical genius, Miles is one of the most important and influential musicians in the world. The subject of several biographies, now Miles speaks out himself about his extraordinary life.

Miles: The Autobiography, like Miles himself, holds nothing back. For the first time Miles talks about h

Andi Dumitrescu portrait Recommended by Andi Dumitrescu.
Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley book cover22

Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley

Peter Guralnick

4.3
From the moment that he first shook up the world in the mid 1950s, Elvis Presley has been one of the most vivid and enduring myths of American culture.

Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley is the first biography to go past that myth and present an Elvis beyond the legend. Based on hundreds of interviews and nearly a decade of research, it traces the evolution not just of the man but of
The Rap Year Book: The Most Important Rap Song From Every Year Since 1979, Discussed, Debated, and Deconstructed book cover23

The Rap Year Book: The Most Important Rap Song From Every Year Since 1979, Discussed, Debated, and Deconstructed

Shea Serrano

4.3
The Rap Year Book takes readers on a journey that begins in 1979, widely regarded as the moment rap became recognized as part of the cultural and musical landscape, and comes right up to the present. Shea Serrano deftly pays homage to the most important song of each year. Serrano also examines the most important moments that surround the history and culture of rap music—from artists’ backgrounds t
Balaji S. Srinivasan portrait Recommended by Balaji S. Srinivasan.
24

Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain

Oliver Sacks

4.3
With the same trademark compassion and erudition he brought to The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, Oliver Sacks explores the place music occupies in the brain and how it affects the human condition. In Musicophilia, he shows us a variety of what he calls “musical misalignments.” Among them: a man struck by lightning who suddenly desires to become a pianist at the age of forty-two; an entire gr
Aniela Gregorek portraitJustin Boreta portrait Recommended by Aniela Gregorek and Justin Boreta.
Aniela Gregorek portrait
Aniela Gregorek

I gained a deeper understanding of how music affects our moods and our brains. [source]

Justin Boreta portrait
Justin Boreta

Justin Boreta said this is one of his most-recommended books. [source]

25

They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us

Hanif Abdurraqib, Dr. Eve L. Ewing

4.3
In an age of confusion, fear, and loss, Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib's is a voice that matters. Whether he's attending a Bruce Springsteen concert the day after visiting Michael Brown's grave, or discussing public displays of affection at a Carly Rae Jepsen show, he writes with a poignancy and magnetism that resonates profoundly.

In the wake of the nightclub attacks in Paris, he recalls how he sought re
Saadia Muzaffar portrait Recommended by Saadia Muzaffar.
How Music Got Free: The End of an Industry, the Turn of the Century, and the Patient Zero of Piracy book cover26

How Music Got Free: The End of an Industry, the Turn of the Century, and the Patient Zero of Piracy

Stephen Witt

4.2

What happens when an entire generation commits the same crime?

How Music Got Free is a riveting story of obsession, music, crime, and money, featuring visionaries and criminals, moguls and tech-savvy teenagers. It’s about the greatest pirate in history, the most powerful executive in the music business, a revolutionary invention and an illegal website four times the size of the iTunes Music Store.
Paolo Gregoletto portrait Recommended by Paolo Gregoletto.
27

Inside Out: A Personal History of Pink Floyd

Nick Mason

4.2
Here, for the first time, is the story of Pink Floydfrom the inside out. With 116 million albums sold worldwide and 25 years on the pop charts to their credit, Pink Floyd is one of the most successful rock groups in history, yet their storyuntil nowis one of the least known. The only continuous member of the band through its entire 40-year history, Nick Mason has witnessed every twist, turn, and s
The Rose That Grew From Concrete book cover28

The Rose That Grew From Concrete

Tupac Shakur

4.2
Tupac Shakur's most intimate and honest thoughts were uncovered only after his death with the instant classic The Rose That Grew from Concrete.

His talent was unbounded -- a raw force that commanded attention and respect.
His death was tragic -- a violent homage to the power of his voice.
His legacy is indomitable -- as vibrant and alive today as it has ever been.

For the first time in paperback, t
29

Music

DK Publishing

4.2
Music: The Definitive Visual History is a comprehensive guide to the history of music, from opera to electronica, and is now available in paperback.

Produced in association with the Smithsonian and including images from The National Music Museum in South Dakota, Music: The Definitive Visual History takes readers through the progression of music since its prehistoric beginnings, discussing not just
30

Rip it Up and Start Again

Simon Reynolds

4.2
Punk's raw power rejuvenated rock, but by the summer of 1977 the movement had become a parody of itself. RIP IT UP AND START AGAIN is a celebration of what happened next.

Post-punk bands like PiL, Joy Division, Talking Heads, The Fall and The Human League dedicated themselves to fulfilling punk's unfinished musical revolution. The post-punk groups were fervent modernists; whether experimenting with
Last Night a DJ Saved My Life: The History of the Disc Jockey book cover31

Last Night a DJ Saved My Life: The History of the Disc Jockey

Bill Brewster, Frank Broughton

4.2
From the first time a record was played over the airwaves in 1906, to a modern club economy that totals $3 billion annually in New York City alone, the DJ has been at the center of popular music. Starting as little more than a talking jukebox, the DJ is now a premier entertainer, producer, businessman, and musician in his own right. Superstar DJs, from Junior Vasquez to Sasha and Digweed, command
32

Unknown Pleasures: Inside Joy Division

Peter Hook

4.2
Joy Division changed the face of music. Godfathers of alternative rock, they reinvented music in the post-punk era, creating a new sound—dark, hypnotic, and intense—that would influence U2, Morrissey, R.E.M., Radiohead, and numerous others. The story is now legendary: in 1980, on the heels of their groundbreaking debut, Unknown Pleasures, and on the eve of their first U.S. tour, the band was rent
33

The Classical Style: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven

Charles Rosen

4.2
This outstanding book treating the three most beloved composers of the Vienna School is basic to any study of Classical-era music. Drawing on his rich experience and intimate familiarity with the works of these giants, Charles Rosen presents his keen insights in clear and persuasive language. For this expanded edition, now available in paperback for the first time, Rosen has provided a new, 64-pag
Johnny Cash: The Life book cover34

Johnny Cash: The Life

Robert Hilburn

4.2
The national bestseller celebrated as "the ultimate Johnny Cash biography . . . Rock writer great Robert Hilburn goes deep." -- Rolling Stone

In this, the definitive biography of an American legend, Robert Hilburn conveys the unvarnished truth about a musical superstar. Johnny Cash's extraordinary career stretched from his days at Sun Records with Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis to the remarkabl
The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band book cover35

The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band

Tommy Lee

4.2
Whiskey and porn stars, hot reds and car crashes, black leather and high heels, overdoses and death. This is the life of Mötley Crüe, the heaviest drinking, hardest fighting, most oversexed and arrogant band in the world. Their unbelievable exploits are the stuff of rock 'n' roll legend. They nailed the hottest chicks, started the bloodiest fights, partied with the biggest drug dealers, and got to
36

The Lives of the Great Composers

Harold C. Schonberg

4.1
In this new edition, Harold Schonberg offers music lovers a series of fascinating biographical chapters. Music, the author contends, is a continually evolving art, and all geniuses, unique as they are, were influenced by their predecessors. Schonberg discusses the lives and works of the foremost figures in classical music, among them Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, the Schumanns, Copland, and Stravinsky,
37

Sam Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock 'n' Roll

Peter Guralnick

4.1
From the author of the critically acclaimed Elvis Presley biography: Last Train to Memphis brings us the life of Sam Phillips, the visionary genius who singlehandedly steered the revolutionary path of Sun Records.

The music that he shaped in his tiny Memphis studio with artists as diverse as Elvis Presley, Ike Turner, Howlin' Wolf, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Johnny Cash, introduced a sound that had nev
The Vintage Guide to Classical Music book cover38

The Vintage Guide to Classical Music

Jan Swafford

4.1
The most readable and comprehensive guide to enjoying over five hundred years of classical music -- from Gregorian chants, Johann Sebastian Bach, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to Johannes Brahms, Igor Stravinsky, John Cage, and beyond.

The Vintage Guide to Classical Music is a lively -- and opinionated -- musical history and an insider's key to the personalities, epochs, and genres of the Western cla
Jazz: A History of America's Music book cover39

Jazz: A History of America's Music

Geoffrey C. Ward, Ken Burns

4.1
The companion volume to the ten-part PBS TV series by the team responsible for
The Civil War and Baseball.

Continuing in the tradition of their critically acclaimed works, Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns vividly bring to life the story of the quintessential American music—jazz. Born in the black community of turn-of-the-century New Orleans but played from the beginning by musicians of every color, ja
40

Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad

M.T. Anderson

4.1
A 2016 YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Finalist

National Book Award winner M. T. Anderson delivers a brilliant and riveting account of the Siege of Leningrad and the role played by Russian composer Shostakovich and his Leningrad Symphony.

In September 1941, Adolf Hitler’s Wehrmacht surrounded Leningrad in what was to become one of the longest and most destructive sieges in
Marc Favreau portrait Recommended by Marc Favreau.
Born to Run book cover41

Born to Run

Bruce Springsteen

4.1
“Writing about yourself is a funny business…But in a project like this, the writer has made one promise, to show the reader his mind. In these pages, I’ve tried to do this.” —Bruce Springsteen, from the pages of Born to Run

In 2009, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band performed at the Super Bowl’s halftime show. The experience was so exhilarating that Bruce decided to write about it. That’s how
Andi Dumitrescu portrait Recommended by Andi Dumitrescu.
Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original book cover42

Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original

Robin Kelley

4.1
THELONIOUS MONK is the critically acclaimed, gripping saga of an artist’s struggle to “make it” without compromising his musical vision. It is a story that, like its subject, reflects the tidal ebbs and flows of American history in the twentieth century. To his fans, he was the ultimate hipster; to his detractors, he was temperamental, eccentric, taciturn, or childlike. His angular melodies and di
Dylan Goes Electric!: Newport, Seeger, Dylan, and the Night That Split the Sixties book cover43

Dylan Goes Electric!: Newport, Seeger, Dylan, and the Night That Split the Sixties

Elijah Wald

4.1
One of the music world’s pre-eminent critics takes a fresh and much-needed look at the day Dylan “went electric” at the Newport Folk Festival, timed to coincide with the event’s fiftieth anniversary.

On the evening of July 25, 1965, Bob Dylan took the stage at Newport Folk Festival, backed by an electric band, and roared into his new rock hit, Like a Rolling Stone. The audience of committed folk pu
The Beatles: The Biography book cover44

The Beatles: The Biography

Bob Spitz

4.1
Even before the Beatles hit the big time, a myth was created. This version of the Beatles legend smoothed the rough edges and filled in the fault lines, and for more than forty years this manicured version of the Beatles story has sustained as truth - until now.

The product of almost a decade of research, hundreds of unprecedented interviews, and the discovery of scores of never-before-revealed doc
Scar Tissue book cover45

Scar Tissue

Anthony Kiedis

4.1
Now in paperback, the New York Times bestseller by one of rock's most provocative figures Scar Tissue is Anthony Kiedis's searingly honest memoir of a life spent in the fast lane.

In 1983, four self-described "knuckleheads" burst out of the mosh-pitted mosaic of the neo-punk rock scene in L.A. with their own unique brand of cosmic hardcore mayhem funk. Over twenty years later, the Red Hot Chili Pe
Ella Botting portrait Recommended by Ella Botting.
46

What to Listen for in Music

Aaron Copland, Alan Rich

4.1
In this fascinating analysis of how to listen to music intelligently, Aaron Copland raises two basic questions: Are you hearing everything that is going on? Are you really being sensitive to it? If you cannot answer yes to both questions, you owe it to yourself to read this book. Whether you listen to Mozart or Duke Ellington, Aaron Copland's provocative suggestions for listening to music from his
Mozart book cover47

Mozart

Maynard Solomon

4.1
On the occasion of Mozart's two hundred and fiftieth birthday, read Maynard Solomon's Mozart: A Life, universally hailed as the Mozart biography of our time.
48

The Decade That Rocked: The Music and Mayhem of '80s Rock and Metal

Mark Weiss

4.1
Featuring the iconic and never-before-published photography of Mark Weiss, The Decade That Rocked covers the biggest names from the ’80s hard rock scene—including Jon Bon Jovi, Ozzy Osbourne, Mötley Crüe, Van Halen, and more—in an illustrated homage to the music and mayhem of rock’s most colorful decade.

This world-class photography book documents the superstars of ’80s rock, showcasing era-definin
49

The Riot Grrrl Collection

Lisa Darms, Kathleen Hanna, et al.

4.1
For the past two decades, young women (and men) have found their way to feminism through Riot Grrrl. Against the backdrop of the culture wars and before the rise of the Internet or desktop publishing, the zine and music culture of the Riot Grrrl movement empowered young women across the country to speak out against sexism and oppression, creating a powerful new force of liberation and unity within
Hammer of the Gods book cover50

Hammer of the Gods

Stephen Davis

4.1
Led Zeppelin was the hottest, hardest, horniest, most hedonistic group in rock history. Their parties defined 60s and 70s excess, their concerts were long, loud and thrilling. Based on interviews and behind-the-scenes stories, here is the truth behind the genius of Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones, and the late John Bonham.
51

The Wrecking Crew: The Inside Story of Rock and Roll's Best-Kept Secret

Kent Hartman

4.1
Winner of the Oregon Book Award for General Nonfiction and Los Angeles Times bestseller

"It makes good music sound better."-Janet Maslin in The New York Times

"A fascinating look into the West Coast recording studio scene of the '60s and the inside story of the music you heard on the radio. If you always assumed the musicians you listened to were the same people you saw onstage, you are in
The Way I Am book cover52

The Way I Am

Eminem

4.1
Chart topping-and headline-making-rap artist Eminem shares his private reflections, drawings, handwritten lyrics, and photographs in his New York Times bestseller The Way I Am

Fiercely intelligent, relentlessly provocative, and prodigiously gifted, Eminem is known as much for his enigmatic persona as for being the fastest-selling rap artist and the first rapper to ever win an Oscar. Everyone want
53

Everybody Loves Our Town: An Oral History of Grunge

Mark Yarm

4.1
Twenty years after the release of Nirvana’s landmark album Nevermind comes Everybody Loves Our Town: An Oral History of Grunge, the definitive word on the grunge era, straight from the mouths of those at the center of it all.

In 1986, fledgling Seattle label C/Z Records released Deep Six, a compilation featuring a half-dozen local bands: Soundgarden, Green River, Melvins, Malfunkshun, the U-Men and
54

Tranny: Confessions of Punk Rock's Most Infamous Anarchist Sellout

Laura Jane Grace, Dan Ozzi

4.1
ONE OF BILLBOARD'S "100 GREATEST MUSIC BOOKS OF ALL TIME"

The provocative transgender advocate and lead singer of the punk rock band Against Me! provides a searing account of her search for identity and her true self. It began in a bedroom in Naples, Florida, when a misbehaving punk teenager named Tom Gabel, armed with nothing but an acoustic guitar and a headful of anarchist politics, landed on a
55

Under the Big Black Sun: A Personal History of L.A. Punk

John Doe, Tom DeSavia

4.1
Under the Big Black Sun explores the nascent Los Angeles punk rock movement and its evolution to hardcore punk as it’s never been told before. Authors John Doe and Tom DeSavia have woven together an enthralling story of the legendary west coast scene from 1977-1982 by enlisting the voices of people who were there. The book shares chapter-length tales from the authors along with personal essays fro
M Train book cover56

M Train

Patti Smith

4.1
M Train begins in the tiny Greenwich Village café where Smith goes every morning for black coffee, ruminates on the world as it is and the world as it was, and writes in her notebook. Through prose that shifts fluidly between dreams and reality, past and present, we travel to Frida Kahlo's Casa Azul in Mexico; to the fertile moon terrain of Iceland; to a ramshackle seaside bungalow in New York's F
57

Journals

Kurt Cobain

4.1
The lyrics notebook and personal journals of Kurt Cobain, iconic singer of the band Nirvana.

Kurt Cobain filled dozens of notebooks with lyrics, drawings, and writings about his plans for Nirvana and his thoughts about fame, the state of music, and the people who bought and sold him and his music. His journals reveal an artist who loved music, who knew the history of rock, and who was determined to
58

Escaping the Delta: Robert Johnson and the Invention of the Blues

Elijah Wald

4.1
The life of blues legend Robert Johnson becomes the centerpiece for this innovative look at what many consider to be America's deepest and most influential music genre. Pivotal are the questions surrounding why Johnson was ignored by the core black audience of his time yet now celebrated as the greatest figure in blues history.

Trying to separate myth from reality, biographer Elijah Wald studies th
Blues People: Negro Music in White America book cover59

Blues People: Negro Music in White America

Amiri Baraka

4.1
"The path the slave took to 'citizenship' is what I want to look at. And I make my analogy through the slave citizen's music -- through the music that is most closely associated with him: blues and a later, but parallel development, jazz... [If] the Negro represents, or is symbolic of, something in and about the nature of American culture, this certainly should be revealed by his characteristic mu
60

Downbeat: The Great Jazz Interviews: A 75th Anniversary Anthology

Frank Alkyer

4.1
(Book). Culled from the DownBeat archives includes in-depth interviews with literally every great jazz artist and personality that ever lived! Features classic photos and magazine covers from DownBeat 's vast archives. In honor of its 75th anniversary, DownBeat 's editors have brought together in this one volume the best interviews, insights, and photographs from the illustrious history of the wor
61

Deep Blues: A Musical and Cultural History of the Mississippi Delta

Robert Palmer

4.1
Music category type book. Paperback. Robert Palmer, Author. Lightly age toned pages. A Penquin Book. 1982 reprinted in 1988. Printed in USA. Total 310 pages. Approximate size, 5 x 7.75. Brown covers with pictorials of Blues singers, band on the front cover - one guy wearing a blue suit. Pages clean with no markings or tears. Spine is tight and straight. A nice book that is quite educational about
62

No One Here Gets Out Alive

Jerry Hopkins, Danny Sugerman

4.1
Here is Jim Morrison in all his complexity-singer, philosopher, poet, delinquent-the brilliant, charismatic, and obsessed seeker who rejected authority in any form, the explorer who probed "the bounds of reality to see what would happen..." Seven years in the writing, this definitive biography is the work of two men whose empathy and experience with Jim Morrison uniquely prepared them to recount t
James Murphy portrait Recommended by James Murphy.
63

Songs of America: Songs of America: Patriotism, Protest, and the Music That Made a Nation

Jon Meacham, Tim McGraw

4.1
A celebration of America and the music that inspired people and illuminated eras, from the Revolutionary War to the present, by Pulitzer Prize winner Jon Meacham and Grammy winner Tim McGraw.

From "The Star Spangled Banner" to "Born in the U.S.A.," Jon Meacham and Tim McGraw take us on a journey through the eras and the music that helped to shape a nation. Meacham writes a celebration of the histor
Bryan Moore portrait Recommended by Bryan Moore.
Brothers book cover64

Brothers

Alex van Halen and HarperAudio

4.1
65

Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll

Editors Rolling Stone

4.1
Completely updated with new entries and extensive revisions of the previous 1,800, The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia Of Rock & Roll is the authoritative volume on the world's music makers—from the one-hit wonders to the megastars.

In 1983, Rolling Stone Press introduced its first Rock & Roll Encyclopedia. Almost two decades later, it has become the premier guide to the history of rock & roll, and has
66

Bound for Glory

Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger

4.1
67

Sweet Soul Music: Rhythm and Blues and the Southern Dream of Freedom

Peter Guralnick

4.1
A gripping narrative that captures the tumult and liberating energy of a nation in transition, Sweet Soul Music is an intimate portrait of the legendary performers--Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, James Brown, Solomon Burke, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, and Al Green among them--who merged gospel and rhythm and blues to create Southern soul music. Through rare interviews and with unique insight, Peter Gu
68

Louder Than Hell: The Definitive Oral History of Metal

Jon Wiederhorn and Katherine Turman

4.1
The definitive oral history of heavy metal, Louder Than Hell by renowned music journalists Jon Wiederhorn and Katherine Turman includes hundreds of interviews with the giants of the movement, conducted over the past 25 years.

Unlike many forms of popular music, metalheads tend to embrace their favorite bands and follow them over decades. Metal is not only a pastime for the true aficionados; it’s a
The Classical Music Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained book cover69

The Classical Music Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained

DK

4.1
70

Love Saves the Day: A History of American Dance Music Culture, 1970-1979

Tim Lawrence

4.0
Opening with David Mancuso's seminal “Love Saves the Day” Valentine's party, Tim Lawrence tells the definitive story of American dance music culture in the 1970s—from its subterranean roots in NoHo and Hell’s Kitchen to its gaudy blossoming in midtown Manhattan to its wildfire transmission through America’s suburbs and urban hotspots such as Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Newark, and
71

Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! The Story of Pop Music from Bill Haley to Beyoncé

Bob Stanley

4.0
As much fun to argue with as to quote, Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! is a monumental work of musical history, tracing the story of pop music through individual songs, bands, musical scenes, and styles from Bill Haley and the Comets’ “Rock around the Clock” (1954) to Beyoncé’s first megahit, “Crazy in Love” (2003). It covers the birth of rock, soul, R&B, punk, hip hop, indie, house, techno, and more, and it wi
72

We Got the Neutron Bomb: The Untold Story of L.A. Punk

Marc Spitz, Brendan Mullen

4.0
Taking us back to late ’70s and early ’80s Hollywood—pre-crack, pre-AIDS, pre-Reagan—We Got the Neutron Bomb re-creates word for word the rage, intensity, and anarchic glory of the Los Angeles punk scene, straight from the mouths of the scenesters, zinesters, groupies, filmmakers, and musicians who were there.

“California was wide-open sex—no condoms, no birth control, no morality, no guilt.” —Kim
Sing Backwards and Weep: A Memoir book cover73

Sing Backwards and Weep: A Memoir

Mark Lanegan

4.0
"Mark Lanegan-primitive, brutal, and apocalyptic. What's not to love?"-Nick Cave, author of The Sick Bag Song and The Death of Bunny Munro When Mark Lanegan first arrived in Seattle in the mid-1980s, he was just "an arrogant, self-loathing redneck waster seeking transformation through rock 'n' roll." Little did he know that within less than a decade, he would rise to fame as the front man of the S
Quadrivium: The Four Classical Liberal Arts of Number, Geometry, Music, & Cosmology book cover74

Quadrivium: The Four Classical Liberal Arts of Number, Geometry, Music, & Cosmology

Miranda Lundy

4.0
The quadrivium-the classical curriculum-comprises the four liberal arts of number, geometry, music, and cosmology. It was studied from antiquity to the Renaissance as a way of glimpsing the nature of reality. Geometry is number in space; music is number in time; and comology expresses number in space and time. Number, music, and geometry are metaphysical truths: life across the universe investigat
75

Johannes Brahms: A Biography

Jan Swafford

4.0
A New York Times Notable Book

"This brilliant and magisterial book is a very good bet to...become the definitive study of Johannes Brahms."--The Plain Dealer

Judicious, compassionate, and full of insight into Brahms's human complexity as well as his music, Johannes Brahms is an indispensable biography.

Proclaimed the new messiah of Romanticism by Robert Schumann when he was only twenty, Johannes Brah
Ted Templeman: A Platinum Producer's Life in Music book cover76

Ted Templeman: A Platinum Producer's Life in Music

Gregg Renoff and Ted Templeman

4.0
Crafting smash hits with Van Halen, The Doobie Brothers, Nicolette Larson, and Van Morrison, legendary music producer Ted Templeman changed the course of rock history

This autobiography (as told to Greg Renoff) recounts Templeman's remarkable life from child jazz phenom in Santa Cruz, California, in the 1950s to Grammy-winning music executive during the '70s and '80s. Along the way, Ted details his
Brian Koppelman portrait Recommended by Brian Koppelman.
77

The Great Pianists

Harold C. Schonberg

4.0
From Mozart’s fabulous legato that “flowed like oil” to Beethoven’s oceanlike surge, from Clara Schumann’s touch “sharp as a pencil sketch” to Rubinstein’s volcanic and sensual playing, The Great Pianists brings to life the brilliant, stylish, and sometimes eccentric personalities, methods, and technical peculiarities of history’s greatest pianists.

Pulitzer Prize–winning critic and author Harold
Emo Revival: Community, DIY, and Rebirth in Post-Hardcore and Emo (2008-2018) book cover78

Emo Revival: Community, DIY, and Rebirth in Post-Hardcore and Emo (2008-2018)

Andrew Sacher

4.0

The story of the reinvention of punk rock’s most misunderstood subgenre, featuring Algernon Cadwallader, Title Fight, Modern Baseball, and the dozens of other bands who saved emo from implosion.Emo didn’t start with the rise of bands like Fall Out Boy and My Chemical Romance and it didn’t end with their turn-of-the-2010s drop-offs either. When emo faded from the mainstream, major players in the mu

Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run book cover79

Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run

Paul McCartney and Ted Widmer

4.0
80

When I Left Home: My Story

Buddy Guy, David Ritz

4.0
According to Eric Clapton, John Mayer, and the late Stevie Ray Vaughn, Buddy Guy is the greatest blues guitarist of all time. An enormous influence on these musicians as well as Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, and Jeff Beck, he is the living embodiment of Chicago blues. Guy's epic story stands at the absolute nexus of modern blues. He came to Chicago from rural Louisiana in the fifties—the very moment w
81

Please Be with Me: A Song for My Father, Duane Allman

Galadrielle Allman

4.0
A deeply personal, revealing, and lyrical portrait of Duane Allman, founder of the legendary Allman Brothers Band, written by his daughter

Galadrielle Allman went to her first concert as an infant in diapers, held in her teenage mother’s arms. Playing was her father—Duane Allman, who would become one of the most influential and sought-after musicians of his time. Just a few short years into his r
Beethoven: Anguish and Triumph book cover82

Beethoven: Anguish and Triumph

Jan Swafford

4.0
Jan Swafford’s biographies of Charles Ives and Johannes Brahms have established him as a revered music historian, capable of bringing his subjects vibrantly to life. His magnificent new biography of Ludwig van Beethoven peels away layers of legend to get to the living, breathing human being who composed some of the world’s most iconic music. Swafford mines sources never before used in English-lang
Jessica Duchen portrait Recommended by Jessica Duchen.
Do Not Sell at Any Price: The Wild, Obsessive Hunt for the World's Rarest 78rpm Records book cover83

Do Not Sell at Any Price: The Wild, Obsessive Hunt for the World's Rarest 78rpm Records

Amanda Petrusich

4.0
The untold story of a quirky and important subculture: The world of 78rpm records and the insular community that celebrates them—by acclaimed music critic and author Amanda Petrusich, who contributes regularly to Pitchfork, The Oxford American, and The New York Times.

Before MP3s, CDs, and cassette tapes, even before LPs or 45s, the world listened to music on 78rpm records—those fragile, 10-inch sh
84

Grunge Is Dead: The Oral History of Seattle Rock Music

Greg Prato

4.0
Weaving together the definitive story of the Seattle music scene through a series of interviews with the people who were there, this book contains more than 130 interviews, along with essential background information. Digging deeper than other accounts, this history begins in the early 1960s, tracing the chain of events that spawned some of the greatest rock acts of all time in the 1990s, includin
The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire book cover85

The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire

Ted Gioia

4.0
The Jazz Standards, a comprehensive guide to the most important jazz compositions, is a unique resource, a browser's companion, and an invaluable introduction to the art form. This essential book for music lovers tells the story of more than 250 key jazz songs, and includes a listening guide to more than 2,000 recordings.

Many books recommend jazz CDs or discuss musicians and styles, but this is th
It's a Long Story: My Life book cover86

It's a Long Story: My Life

Willie Nelson

4.0
The definitive autobiography of Willie Nelson.

"Unvarnished. Funny. Leaving no stone unturned." . . . So say the publishers about this book I've written. What I say is that this is the story of my life, told as clear as a Texas sky and in the same rhythm that I lived it.

It's a story of restlessness and the purity of the moment and living right. Of my childhood in Abbott, Texas, to the Pacific No
87

All You Need to Know about the Music Business

Donald S. Passman

4.0
For fifteen years, "All You Need to Know About the Music Business" has been universally regarded as the definitive, essential guide to the music industry. Now in its sixth edition, it has been completely revised and updated with crucial, up-to-the-minute information on the industry's major changes in response to today's rapid technological advances and uncertain economy. Veteran music lawyer Donal
Booze & Vinyl: A Spirited Guide to Great Music and Mixed Drinks book cover88

Booze & Vinyl: A Spirited Guide to Great Music and Mixed Drinks

André Darlington

4.0
The ultimate listening party guide, Booze and Vinyl shows you how to set the mood for 70 great records from the 1950s through the 2000s.

From modern craft cocktails to old standbys, prepare to shake, stir, and just plain pour your way through some of the best wax ever pressed. Wickedly designed and featuring photography throughout, Booze & Vinyl is organized by mood, from Rock to Chill, Dance, and
The Big Payback: The History of the Business of Hip-Hop book cover89

The Big Payback: The History of the Business of Hip-Hop

Dan Charnas

4.0
The Big Payback takes readers from the first $15 made by a "rapping DJ" in 1970s New York to the multi-million-dollar sales of the Phat Farm and Roc-a-Wear clothing companies in 2004 and 2007. On this four-decade-long journey from the studios where the first rap records were made to the boardrooms where the big deals were inked, The Big Payback tallies the list of who lost and who won. Read the se
Perfecting Sound Forever: An Aural History of Recorded Music book cover90

Perfecting Sound Forever: An Aural History of Recorded Music

Greg Milner

4.0
In 1915, Thomas Edison proclaimed that he could record a live performance and reproduce it perfectly, shocking audiences who found themselves unable to tell whether what they were hearing was an Edison Diamond Disc or a flesh-and-blood musician. Today, the equation is reversed. Whereas Edison proposed that a real performance could be rebuilt with absolute perfection, Pro Tools and digital samplers
91

Bach and the High Baroque

professor robert greenberg

4.0
Bach and the High Baroque (32 lectures, 45 minutes/lecture) Course No. 720 Taught by Robert Greenberg San Francisco Performances Ph.D., University of California at Berkeley 32 Audio Cds with Course Outline Booklet
92

Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician

Christoph Wolff

4.0
Although we have heard the music of J. S. Bach in countless performances and recordings, the composer himself still comes across only as an enigmatic figure in a single familiar portrait. As we mark the 250th anniversary of Bach's death, author Christoph Wolff presents a new picture that brings to life this towering figure of the Baroque era. This engaging new biography portrays Bach as the living
93

Mo' Meta Blues: The World According to Questlove

Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, Ben Greenman

4.0
MO' META BLUES
The World According to Questlove

Mo' Meta Blues is a punch-drunk memoir in which Everyone's Favorite Questlove tells his own story while tackling some of the lates, the greats, the fakes, the philosophers, the heavyweights, and the true originals of the music world. He digs deep into the album cuts of his life and unearths some pivotal moments in black art, hip hop, and pop culture.

Ah
94

England's Dreaming: Anarchy, Sex Pistols, Punk Rock, and Beyond

Jon Savage

4.0
England's Dreaming is the ultimate book on punk, its progenitors, the Sex Pistols, and the moment they defined for music fans in England and the United States. Savage brings to life the sensational story of the meteoric rise and rapid implosion of the Pistols through layers of rich detail, exclusive interviews, and rare photographs. This fully revised and updated edition of the book covers the leg
Country Music: An Illustrated History book cover95

Country Music: An Illustrated History

Dayton Duncan

4.0
The rich and colorful story of America's most popular music and the singers and songwriters who captivated, entertained, and consoled listeners throughout the twentieth century--based on the upcoming eight-part film series to air on PBS in September 2019

This gorgeously illustrated and hugely entertaining history begins where country music itself emerged: the American South, where people sang to th
The Cello Suites book cover96

The Cello Suites

Eric Siblin

4.0
One autumn evening, shortly after ending a ten-year stint as a pop-music columnist for the Montreal Gazette, Eric Siblin attended a concert at Toronto's Royal Conservatory of Music. There, something unlikely happened: he fell in love with a piece of classical music -- Bach's cello suites. Part biography, part music history, and part literary mystery, The Cello Suites weaves together three dramatic
The Road Beneath My Feet book cover97

The Road Beneath My Feet

1, 190

4.0
98

Catch a Wave: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson

Peter Ames Carlin

4.0
Now the subject of the movie Love & Mercy, starring John Cusack! Brian Wilson was the visionary behind America's most successful and influential rock band. And as the leader of the Beach Boys, he sold 100 million records, produced Pet Sounds, and built a catalog of songs that continues to define the sound and feel of American popular music. He also became one of the culture's most mysterious and
99

In the Country of Country: A Journey to the Roots of American Music

Nicholas Dawidoff

4.0
In a series of indelible portraits of country music stars, Dawidoff reveals, among others, Jimmie Rodgers, the “father of Country”; Johnny Cash, the “Man in Black”; and Patsy Cline, a lonely figure striding out bravely in a man’s world. In the Country of Country is a passionate and expansive account of a quintessentially American art form and the performers that made country music what it is today
100

Scream With Me: The Enduring Legacy of the Misfits

Tom Bejgrowicz

4.0
The ultimate visual history paying tribute to one of punk’s most iconic bands

Formed in 1977, the Misfits deeply influenced the genres of punk rock and metal alike by blending their music with horror film themes and imagery. This is their visual story as told through the original ephemera that helped define their legacy. Scream With Me spotlights the band’s iconic and influential album and single