Elliott Smith - Autumn de Wilde, who directed the video for Smith’s “Son Of Sam” and created the packaging for his album Figure 8 writes what is not the first, and probably won’t be the last book about the tortured singer/songwriter. And it is not a traditional book but all accounts, in that it is loads of photography and interviews with people Smith knew well. This one is certainly worth checking out for all Elliott Smith fans.
The Replacements: All Over But the Shouting: An Oral History - This book pays tribute to a great rock band that has always been a WOXY favorite. Author Jim Walsh is a longtime Replacements conspirator (his band, Laughing Stock played with them in their early `80s days and he delivered a eulogy at guitarist Bob Stinson’s funeral in 1995), and he nakedly approaches his subjects with the thesis that they were the greatest band of their generation. Still, he makes no apologies for the often cruddy way they treated their fans, their friends, and each other.
33 1/3 Best Of Volumes 1 & 2 - If you are not familiar with the 33 1/3 books it is a series of books written about important and/or seminal music albums. Written by one author per album, the series covers in depth some of the greatest albums of all time. The “Best Of” volumes kind of act like a compilation album to the books, with excerpts from the first 20 being covered in the Best Of Volume 1, and the next 20 in Volume 2. To see a full listing of the books 33 1/3 has covered already, go here.
CREEM: America’s Only Rock ‘N’ Roll Magazine - CREEM magazine stood at the forefront of youth counterculture from 1969 to 1988 as “America’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll Magazine.” This book gives fans of the magazine a nice collection of its back issues, and includes some of the best of the magazine’s vast archives of photos, illustrations, and articles. Looks like a perfect gift for the punk nostalgic or a gift for yourself this holiday season.
U2 by U2 - This one was released earlier this year and I still have not read it! I’m sure I will get around to it and it looks like you should as well. The story is “written” by the band, with quotes culled from over 150 hours of interviews done for Neil McCormick. Every phase of the band’s career, from it’s earliest days straight through to How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb is told solely through quotes from each band member. This makes it more than just another U2 book and worth picking up for yourself or that U2 nerd you love (cough, me, cough) :)
Dead Children Playing: A Picture Book (Radiohead) - For the super duper Radiohead nerd, this book compiles tons of the bands album artwork over the years. It has almost all the paintings Stanley Donwood and Dr Tchock have produced in the last decade, plus this book also contains a loads of never-before-seen artwork. The band have always had odd but intriguing artwork, this would be a super cool coffee table book, as would this next item.
Rolling Stone 1,000 Covers: A History of the Most Influential Magazine in Pop Culture - If you want to have one of the coolest coffee table books around, I think this one would place you into that class. It is what it says, 1,000 covers of Rolling Stone magazine, all packed together into this book. It spans from the beginning of the magazine in 1967 all the way till May 2006.
Got some other great book suggestions? Leave em in the comments….
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