Rock and Roll Book Club: 'Where the Devil Don't Stay: Traveling the South with the Drive-By Truckers' October 21, 2021 2021 marks the 25th anniversary of Drive-By Truckers, and author Stephen Deusner takes a novel but apt approach to telling their story: he considers the band's history and discography through the lens of geography.
Rock and Roll Book Club: 'Who Got the Camera? A History of Rap and Reality' October 14, 2021 In his history of what its practitioners often said should be called 'reality rap' (rather than 'gangsta rap'), Eric Harvey draws connections to the simultaneously burgeoning field of reality TV.
Rock and Roll Book Club: Dave Grohl's 'The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music' October 7, 2021 In his new memoir 'The Storyteller,' Dave Grohl proves a predictably, yet still delightfully, affable and witty presence.
Rock and Roll Book Club: 'Tori Amos Bootleg Webring' celebrates the early days of music fandom on the internet September 30, 2021 In 'Tori Amos Bootleg Webring,' Megan Milks looks back on the days of online music fandom before Google, before Napster, and before YouTube.
Rock and Roll Book Club: 'Bessie Smith: A Poet's Biography of a Blues Legend' September 23, 2021 Jackie Kay's classic biography of Bessie Smith has received a welcome reissue. As the author notes in a new introduction, 'Bessie Smith is the perfect antidote to these times.'
Rock and Roll Book Club: Joshua Clover's 'Roadrunner' takes a journey with Jonathan Richman September 16, 2021 In the first of a new book series devoted to specific songs, poet and cultural theorist Joshua Clover goes into a tailspin over Jonathan Richman's minimalist nugget 'Roadrunner.'
Rock and Roll Book Club: 'Ska Boom! An American Ska & Reggae Oral History' September 9, 2021 Marc Wasserman's new oral history chronicles a pivotal, largely unsung moment in the history of ska: the genre's blooming in the United States at the outset of what became known as ska's Third Wave.
Rock and Roll Book Club: 'White Line Fever' captures Lemmy Kilmister as he lived, larger than life September 2, 2021 In 'White Line Fever,' his newly reissued memoir, the late Lemmy Kilmister plays the role of his lifetime - himself - to the hilt.
Rock and Roll Book Club: Touré and Duane Tudahl make important contributions to the Prince library August 26, 2021 Toure's 'Nothing Compares 2 U: An Oral History of Prince' and Duane Tudahl's 'Prince and the Parade and Sign O' The Times Era Studio Sessions: 1985 and 1986' both shed revealing light on a fascinating period in the late icon's career.
Rock and Roll Book Club: 'It Ain't Retro: Daptone Records & the 21st-Century Soul Revolution' August 19, 2021 In her new history of Daptone Records, Jessica Lipsky explains how the label she describes as 'punk soul' became the center of a movement that brought vintage sounds to newfound prominence across the musical landscape.