# What's your favourite music biography/autobiography?



## Diablo (Dec 20, 2007)

While in HMV last week I stumbled upon the Sammy Hagar autobiography....priced right at $5.  and anything under $100 is an impulse buy for me.
now I'm not a huge fan or anything, but he seemed like someone who might have an interesting tale or 2. And I was right....it's a very candid story, Michael Anthony vouches for everything he has to say about VH.

but what was more interesting to me was his humble and dysfunctional childhood...most musicians and ppl who've lived thru some crap tend to be somewhat dark, reserved, brooding, even tortured....yet Sammy always has a big grin on his face and seems to love every second of life.

anyways, worth a read if you come upon it ....even if you aren't a fan.

any other recommends?


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## keto (May 23, 2006)

Hammer of the Gods I found interesting, I think it's a classic of the sort. Keef's book, meh. Clapton's, well, it does tell the story of his life but I ended up hating him because of how he freely admits to screwing over so many people. Bill Wyman's book from around 10-15 yrs ago (Stone Alone) is good, but long and a bit dry at times.


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

"Hot Wired Guitar: The Life of Jeff Beck" by Martin Power ...I enjoyed this book very much.

"Grant Green...Rediscovering the Forgotten Genius if Jazz Guitar" by Sharony A. Green...Not well written at all. Only recommended if you are very interested in Grant Green (which I was)

"Miles..The Autobiography" by Miles Davis with Quincy Troupe...A great read, IMHO. However, if you removed the word "motherfu*8er" the book would decrease from 424 pages to about 212 pages..LOL

"The Last Miles..The Music of Miles Davis 1980-1991" by George Cole.... Well written and very descriptive of all of Miles' music during that time. I would only get it if you are a big fan of Miles Davis. "Miles..The Autobiography" (above) is a much better book from a biographical perspective.

I read "Life" by Keith Richards also...entertaining to some extent, but I found the Jeff Beck biography to be better written and more interesting to read.

"Takin' Care of Business" by Randy Bachman.... Enjoyable, but a bit boring at times as he does spend a lot of time detailing the business aspects. Overall, worth reading.

Cheers

Dave


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## Guest (May 11, 2013)

the only 'music' biography I've read was aerosmith's walk this way.
christmas gift. easy read and kept me interested. what I remember
was when Joe Perry left the band (or fired, can't recall). the band
toured toronto with a replacement. Steve Tyler says (paraphrasing)
'what'cha think, he's really good'. the crowd responds with 
'we want Joe! we want Joe!.. I was at that show. was kinda cool
reading that chapter.


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## OldGuitarPlayer (Feb 25, 2013)

Keith Richards "Life" was a good read. I have also read Ronnie Woods autobiography. That guy has basically earned and lost millions of dollars due to stupid "investments" and of course his overindulgence in the rock and roll lifestyle. Another good one is the Johnny Winter bio "Raisin Caine" by Mary Lou Sullivan. Poor old Johnny has been on a methadone program for over 40 years and was totally ripped off by his management. I have also read the Andy Summers bio as well and quite enjoyed it.


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## jcayer (Mar 25, 2007)

I liked Stone alone by Bill Wyman and Life by Keith Richards. Next one that I want to read will be Pete townsend's Who I am.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

There are a variety of Neil Young bios I like. Anything about Neil is good, but his story won't ever be finished.

Peace, Mooh.


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## Tarbender (Apr 7, 2006)

"This Wheels on Fire" - A great narration by Levon Helm of his roots and rise to fame with Ronnie Hawkins and The Band. A very insightful look at the behind the scene of one of rocks great bands and a very good read. Highly recommended.


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## Spikezone (Feb 2, 2006)

Wow...I read as many of those as I can get my hands on...'Life', 'Red', 'Late, Late At Night' (Rick Springfield), 'Blood Sweat And Tears' (David Clayton Thomas, of course), 'Slash', 'Heaven And Hell' (Don Felder), 'Here For A Good Time', 'Does The Noise In My Head Bother You?', 'Inside Out' (Nick Mason). Loved them all. There are lots of others I want to read, including Buddy Guy's, Ron Wood's, even Shania Twain's. Gives me a great perspective on living the life I chickened out from trying HAHHAH!...
-Mikey


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## buzzy (May 28, 2011)

I haven't read many of biographical books recently, so some of these are a bit old. Off the top of my (old) head......

The story of Jim Morrison and the Doors, "No one here gets out alive" was interesting.

I have a book on Genesis that's excellent. I don't have it handy, but after doing a bit of web research, it's "I know what I like" by Armando Gallo (1980). It's printed on glossy paper with tons of photos in addition to a very detailed bio with interviews and so on. (I was obsessed with Gabriel-era Genesis as a teenager. There was a whole year where I listened to at least one LP side of "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" every single day.)

There was an authorized Peter Gabriel biography that came out back in the 80's or early 90's that was quite good.


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## puckhead (Sep 8, 2008)

Mooh said:


> There are a variety of Neil Young bios I like. Anything about Neil is good, but his story won't ever be finished.
> 
> Peace, Mooh.


I recently read the 800+ page bio of Neil - I think it was called 'Shakey'
it was interesting, and painted him warts and all.
the first few chapters about his ancestors was a bit dry

Rod Stewart's autobiography was a good read as well. 'Rod'
It made me want to sit down for a pint with him, which surprised me.

I'm currently reading Mick Jagger's biography, by Phillip Norman.
It's quite a good read too.


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## ronmac (Sep 22, 2006)

"Across The Great Divide: The Band and America" is a good read.


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

Mooh said:


> There are a variety of Neil Young bios I like. Anything about Neil is good, but his story won't ever be finished.
> 
> Peace, Mooh.



I've read and browsed a number of the Neil Young bios and have to agree. They are all interesting and many are quite similar. The newer ones, IMO, tend to be more frank than ones published awhile ago.



greco said:


> "Takin' Care of Business" by Randy Bachman.... Enjoyable, but a bit boring at times as he does spend a lot of time detailing the business aspects. Overall, worth reading.
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Dave




I liked this one as well; mostly for the history of BTO and The Guess Who. 

My favourite is Roy Clark as he has always been a favourite guitar player of mine. He is very honest about himself and the music industry.

A surprising one if you like country music and have been on the planet for awhile is Merle Haggard. I learned a number of things that I had not heard before. I was very impressed how he managed to turn his life around from his terrible upbringing and then again when he got hooked on drugs. Both Merle and Roy mentioned their practice regimen was five (5) hours per day on the guitar. I guess that's what it takes if you want to be really, really good.


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## 4345567 (Jun 26, 2008)

__________


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## bzrkrage (Mar 20, 2011)

Life by Keith is narrated by Johnny Depp.
maybe the Hunter S Thompson drug fueled haze is what Keith needed.


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## OldGuitarPlayer (Feb 25, 2013)




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## bagpipe (Sep 19, 2006)

OldGuitarPlayer said:


>


Does he mention his Thailand episodes in that one?


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## Tarbender (Apr 7, 2006)

++1 Surprisingly well wrritten and candid. 



nkjanssen said:


> Bob Dylan - "Chronicles, vol. 1"
> 
> Brilliantly written. He talks about all the stuff I want to hear about (songwriting, recording, making it in the business) and none of the stuff I don't (ex-wives, drug binges, etc.). Though I also really liked "Life" by Keith Richards and that was essentually a manual on how to be a functional junkie.


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

I've read a lot of music bios, but I'd say, so far, my favorites are 
_Grace like a River_: An Autobiography by Christopher Parkening, with Kathy Tyers--it follows some parallels of his classical guitar career and his love of fly fishing.
_Clapton_: The Autobiography-Eric Clapton obviously.
And a couple of Les Paul ones-
The Early Years of the Les Paul Legacy 1915-1963 by Robb Lawrence
Les Paul: An American Original by Mary Alice Shaughnessy

Each one of these shows a real person and deals with their progression in life.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Any of Dave Bidini's (Rheostatics) books makes for an enjoyable read. Not quite autobiographies, they still contain a lot of biographical and autobiographical content. See:

"Around the World in 57 1/2 Gigs", and

"On a Cold Road: Tales of Adventure in Canadian Rock"


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

zontar said:


> I've read a lot of music bios, but I'd say, so far, my favorites are
> _Grace like a River_: An Autobiography by Christopher Parkening, with Kathy Tyers--it follows some parallels of his classical guitar career and his love of fly fishing.
> _Clapton_: The Autobiography-Eric Clapton obviously.
> And a couple of Les Paul ones-
> ...


Thanks Zontar. These look like interesting reads, especially _"Grace Like a River"_. Unfortunately, the only one I found in our library system was _"Les Paul: An American Original". _I found a used copy of _"Grace Like a River"_​ on Amazon.com. I like guitars and fishing so I think I'll order it.


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