The Song Machine: Inside the Hit Factory

Scar Tissue

Anthony Kiedis · 465 pages

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 Peppers, against all odds, have become one of the most successful bands in the world. Though

The Walrus Was Paul: The Great Beatle Death Clues

R. Gary Patterson · 176 pages

A guide to the hoax that Paul McCartney was killed in an automobile accident in 1966 and replaced by a look-a-like.

The Rolling Stone Interviews

Joe Levy, Jann S. Wenner · 481 pages

The greatest interviews with the greatest rock stars, movie stars, and cultural icons--uncensored and unfiltered--are published together in one remarkable volume in celebration of "Rolling Stones" 40th anniversary.

Life

Keith Richards · 592 pages

Autobiography of the guitarist, songwriter, singer, and founding member of the Rolling Stones, Keith Richards. With the Rolling Stones, Keith Richards lived the original rock and roll life. He tells his story of life in the crossfire hurricane; his listening obsessively to Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters records, learning guitar and forming a band with Mick Jagger and Brian Jones, the Rolling Stones'

Mo' Meta Blues: The World According to Questlove

Ahmir Questlove Thompson, Ben Greenman · 288 pages

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.

Everybody's Fly: A Life of Art, Music, and Changing the Culture

Fab 5 Freddy · 336 pages

The Beatles Anthology

The Beatles, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, John Lennon, George Harrison · 368 pages

"Here, for the first time in print, is the history of the Beatles--by the Beatles. The 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

I Would Die 4 U: Why Prince Became an Icon

Toure · 163 pages

Drawing on new research and enlivened by author Touré's unique pop-cultural fluency, I would die 4 u relies on interviews with Prince's band members, former girlfriends, musicologists, and even Bible scholars to deconstruct the artist's life and work.--Publisher's description.

The Illustrated Collector's Guide to Alice Cooper

Dale Sherman · 399 pages

Fargo Rock City: A Heavy Metal Odyssey in Rural North Dakota

Chuck Klosterman · 277 pages

Retromania: Pop Culture's Addiction to Its Own Past

Simon Reynolds · 477 pages

We live in a pop age gone loco for retro and crazy for commemoration. Band re-formations and reunion tours, expanded reissues of classic albums and outtake-crammed box sets, remakes and sequels, tribute albums and mash-ups . . . But what happens when we run out of past? Are we heading toward a sort of culturalecological catastrophe where the archival stream of pop history has been exhausted? Si

Britpop!: Cool Britannia And The Spectacular Demise Of English Rock

John Harris · 468 pages

Can't Buy Me Love: The Beatles, Britain, and America

Jonathan Gould · 661 pages

A cultural and musical history of the 1960s in Britain and America captures the pulse of the era through the music of the Beatles, critically analyzing why the group became a trans-Atlantic phenomenon while discussing the evolution of the group's music.

U2 at the End of the World

Bill Flanagan · 508 pages

U2 at the End of the World takes you across four continents over four years with the biggest rock band of the last decade. In that time U2 shares adventures and ideas with a host of cultural big shots, including Bill Clinton and Mick Jagger, Salman Rushdie and Pearl Jam, Wim Wenders and R.E.M. From Dublin to Mexico, Tokyo to Hollywood, U2 at the End of the World takes you to the strange intersecti

Shout! The Beatles in Their Generation

Philip Norman · 450 pages

I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution

Craig Marks, Rob Tannenbaum · 608 pages

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

Lizzy Goodman · 622 pages

How Music Works

David Byrne · 352 pages

The Rock-and-Roll Hall of Fame inductee and co-founder of Talking Heads presents a celebration of music that offers insight into the roles of time, place, and recording technology, discussing how evolutionary patterns of adaptations and responses to cultural and physical contexts have influenced music expression throughout history and culminated in the 20th century's transformative practices.

Many Years from Now

Paul McCartney, Barry Miles · 671 pages

Dreaming the Beatles: The Love Story of One Band and the Whole World

Rob Sheffield · 368 pages

"John, Paul, George, and Ringo remain the world's favorite thing. Yet every theory ever devised to explain why has failed. It wasn't their timing. It wasn't drugs. It wasn't that they were the voice of a generation. The vast majority of Beatles fans today weren't born when the records came out-- yet the allure of the music keeps on growing, nearly fifty years after the band split. The world keeps

Lennon Remembers: The Full Rolling Stone Interviews from 1970

Jann S. Wenner, John Lennon · 182 pages

"Here, available for the first time in full, are the extraordinary interviews with John Lennon conducted by Rolling Stone editor Jann Wenner in 1970." "With characteristic honesty and deadpan wit, Lennon discusses the breakup of the Beatles, his favorite tracks with the group and how they were made, fellow musicians including the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan, his attitude toward revolution and dru

The Wu-Tang Manual

The RZA, Chris Norris · 243 pages

Uses a manual format which uses a special code to understand RZA hip-hop and philosophy. Also provides information about each member of the group. Demonstrates its history and mythology, and releases the mysteries behind its earliest "dynasty."

Nothing Feels Good: Punk Rock, Teenagers, and EMO

Andy Greenwald · 320 pages

Nothing Feels Good: Punk Rock, Teenagers, and Emo tells the story of a cultural moment that's happening right now-the nexus point where teen culture, music, and the web converge to create something new. While shallow celebrities dominate the headlines, pundits bemoan the death of the music industry, and the government decries teenagers for their morals (or lack thereof) earnest, heartfelt bands

This Is a Call: The Life and Times of Dave Grohl

Paul Brannigan · 400 pages

The epic story of a singular career that includes Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Queens of the Stone Age, and Them Crooked Vultures. Based on ten years of original, exclusive interviews with the man himself and conversations with a legion of musical associates like Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme, DC punk legend Ian MacKaye, and Nevermind producer Butch Vig, this is Grohl₂s story. He speaks ca