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An anthology of hip hop art & graphics compiled by designer Cey Adams -- from street art, to snapshots of the NYC underground from the end of the 60s through the 80s, pivotal album cover art, hip hop in the worlds of advertising and film, fashion and more! Loads of classic hip hop imagery,... read more

An amazing document of the New York club scene in the 70s -- a book that traces the week by week evolution of disco from the ground up -- with details of important releases, club changes, and more -- all the stuff of history by now, but shown here in its original building blocks! The book is based... read more

A cool little book that brings together years and years of Miles Davis news, interviews, and features from Downbeat Magazine -- a collection that distills Davis appearances in the magazine from the 40s through the 90s, saving you a heck of a lot of work looking up the articles on their own! The... read more

A guide to essential Old School Rap & Hip Hop from team at the indespensible All Music Guide -- featuring more than 500 music reviews of important records by Grandmaster Flash, Run-DMC, NWA, Beastie Boys, LL Cool J, Public Enemy and so much more -- plus reviews on soul and funk LPs that were... read more

The massive All Music Guide To Rock -- The Definitive Guide To Rock, Pop And Soul (3rd Edition) -- featuring reviews of thousands and thousands albums as rated and reviewed by the exceptional All Music Guide writers! The book is an encyclopedia of pop music from the 50s to the early 00s -- and an... read more

A weird title, but a cool little book -- one that's kind of a rock/leftfield counterpart to some of the Japanese jazz discographies we've been stocking! As you might guess from the title, there's a pretty cosmic bent to the book -- and it's an attempt to list key records that inform a spacier,... read more

A book that definitely lives up to its title -- as it's essential reading if you're a fan of Neo Soul! Author Chris Campbell put together the volume as a great reference for digging into the contemporary soul underground -- a guide to the best artists working in the genre, laid out with page-by-pag... read more

A fascinating and straight up beautiful journey into the world of Sun Ra's early Chicago years with a focus on the visual -- a book full of amazing artifacts from Ra's El Saturn Records -- preliminary and finished sketches, album covers, used and unused artwork, production materials, show flyers... read more

One of the earliest ranges for any record price guide we've ever seen -- a book that starts at the beginning of the 20th Century, then stops right in the middle of the 60s! Most of the material here was issued only on 78rpm records -- although the book has some 45s and LPs too -- and the resource... read more

A photographic memoir of punk from photographer Rikki Ercoli -- who shot the most pivotal figures of first wave punk, new wave, and other icons of underground culture -- mostly performance footage and beautiful black & white! Includes shots of The Clash, Richard Hell, Siouxsie And The Banshees... read more

The story of Ray Charles and the Birth Of Soul! Author Mike Evans starts the story with Ray's difficult childhood and on through his unrivaled success blending styles indiscriminately across genre lines into his own unique soul sound. Evans spins the story from first hand interviews and quotes... read more

Jazz writer and wheeler deeler Leonard Feather's posthumously released Biographical Encyclopedia Of Jazz -- completed in the years after his death with project partner and former Down Beat editor Ira Gitler -- a nice reference and and extention of the Encyclopedia Of Jazz volumes of the previous... read more

Really unusual jazz photographs from Larry Fink -- not the kind of over-hashed, too-iconic images that usually fill up books like this -- but cool candid shots, unusual performance moments, and even some abstracted shots that certainly keep things interesting! The book begins somewhere in the late... read more

If you liked the first volume of this essential book, you'll love this revised edition -- because it's almost 3 times bigger, and stuffed with great new features! The book's a lifetime labor of love for Freddy Fresh -- an extensive discography that's got to be the most definitive book on early hip... read more

Rock & roll tales from Josh Alan Friedman -- cutting through the myths and telling true stories of storied artists and pivotal music figures in rock, blues and beyond from the past half century! Includes chapters on Jerry Lieber, Doc Pomus, Mose Allison, Dr John, Rick Sykes & The Rhythm... read more

A beautifully-done look at the cover art of Prestige Records -- quite possibly the nicest-packaged record art book we've seen to date! The hardcover volume is somewhat slim, but really puts a lot into presentation -- offering up vivid cover images of Prestige releases that start with the early... read more

A well-done look at the life of Lester Young -- written by Brit jazz journalist Dave Gelly, who's probably best known for his book on Stan Getz, but who does an equally good job here! Gelly takes most of his material from press accounts, but fills in his own background too -- and manages to bring... read more

The evolution of underground rock, on a nearly day-by-day basis -- an amazingly big book that details famous moments, concerts, records, and other events -- listing them out, in historical order, from the release of The Stooges' Funhouse in August of 1970, through Husker Du's Everything Falls Apart... read more

Damn right it's a hardbop academy -- as Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers was the initial springboard to fame for dozens of great jazz musicians of the past 40 years -- a good number of whom are featured in this book! We all remember well-known Messengers, like Lee Morgan, Wayne Shorter, or Bobby... read more

A great book that tracks the cooler side of club music over the past 20 years -- club jazz, drum n bass, house, hip hop, acid jazz, and more -- the kinds of grooves that we've always loved, and which are a lot better than what you'd find on a mainstream dancefloor! The book is like other Japanese... read more

A treasure trove for fans of all things funky -- and one of the coolest books of rare records we've ever seen! The Japanese book is a dictionary of rare groove classics from the 60s and 70s -- listing hundreds of rare albums in alphabetical order, and featuring full color cover art, label and date... read more

A cool little guide to all things club jazz -- put together by Shuya Okino of Kyoto Jazz Massive, and featuring both record listings and writings! The record listing section is a fair bit smaller than other Japanese books like this that we stock -- about 40 pages that show how you might build a... read more

An essential resource for fans of rare jazz albums -- an ultra-cool discography that's done in the same style as other Japanese books on American music -- but which focuses on rare bits from Japan! Like other volumes of this type, this one specially selects the coolest of the cool -- really... read more

A much-needed look at a rare side of the music industry -- promo pressings of popular records, some of which have a host of unusual features! The book does a great job of covering almost 40 years of promos -- LPs, singles, and even CDs -- with full year details, catalog numbers, and projected... read more

The complete Bob Dylan Discography put together by Brian Hinton -- an excellent resource for Dylan superfans and as a reference for the rest of us -- with commentary on each track, each individual player on the sessions, release dates and timing, collaborative efforts, and more! We're stunned by... read more

Japanese girls have gotten plenty of coverage in the Hotwax books and CDs -- but this time around, the guys take center stage in a groovy look at outlaw films of the 60s and 70s! The book's a filmography -- with full listings for many films, but with all the text in Japanese -- so if you can read... read more

A wonderful counterpart to the series of Japanese soundtrack CDs we've been stocking -- and a book that's filled with incredible images and a bonus CD of music! Although the book does have some details in English -- profiles of a few actresses and films in the Japanese "bad girl" genre... read more

A key guide to all things hip and jazzy for the dancefloor -- the kind of a book that will unlock a huge amount of new music for you -- and which has even our eyes popping at the rare delights contained within! The format is similar to some of the recent Japanese discographies we've been stocking -... read more

An amazing guide to some of the hippest jazz ever released -- a wealth of great albums from the 50s and 60s -- not just from the US, but from England, Italy, Germany, and many other global locales! As with other volumes in this series, the discography focuses on rare bits that have a strong... read more

An essential guide to the hippest in jazz from the 60s, 70s, and 80s -- a wonderful book that specializes in underground spiritual jazz recordings! The volume is similar to other Japanese discographies we've carried -- with images of record covers, session dates, titles, and player information --... read more

The groundbreaking hip hop culture magazine may be long gone, but the endearingly cynical, satirical, bitter yet undeniably realistic voice of Sacha Jenkins and Ego Trip contributers and collaborators is alive and well in their Big Book Of Racism! Chapters include "Disgracism", "Get... read more

The heady life and even hipper music of Sly Stone -- told here by an author who managed to get Stone's participation on the project! The book focuses most strongly on Sly's rise to fame and key late 60s/early 70s years -- a time when his records not only changed the face of soul music, but also... read more

The early days of hip hop -- captured in it's bedrock Bronx glory -- a beautiful visual history edited by Johan Kugelberg with contributions from photographer Joe Conzo, pivotal force Afrika Bambaataa, hip hop historian Jeff Chang and others! Born In The Bronx is really all about the visual detail... read more

Partly a biography of some of our greatest jazz players, and also a meditation on the impact of racism on jazz music by Gene Lee -- a music and drama critic who got to know jazz greats Dizzy Gillespie, Clark Terry, Milt Hinton & Nat King Cole over the years -- and actually built lifelong... read more

A tribute to the great Jack Lemmon from his son, Chris Lemmon -- sharing family stories, personal reminiscences, and anecdotes from and about Jack Lemmon. Includes first person tributes from Black Edwards, Julie Andrews, Tony Curtis, Neil Simon, Shirley MacLaine and others. Forward by Kevin... read more

You've heard the music, now get the book! A beautiful, beautiful book by Beth Lesser, accompanying the excellent Dancehall compilations issued on Soul Jazz, a weighty tome loaded down with mountains of amazing large format photos, bios of artists, and a history of dance culture in Jamaica that... read more

East Bay Dragons Motorcycle Club founder Tobie Gene Levingston shines a lot a the African American biker movement -- an underdocumented culture, in the maintstream, anyway -- through his personal experiences and life in the movement! Levingston is the son of a southern sharecropper, who grew to be... read more

The story of Preston Love -- a vastly under-rated saxophonist, but one with a rich career that included stints with Count Basie, Johnny Otis, and Motown! Preston tells his own story here, in a format that we really love -- personal and anecdotal one minute, but also intellectual enough to include... read more

A retrospective of the influential designs of Kevin Lyons -- kind of a portfolio in book form -- and a beautiful, creative one at that! A book of t-shirt designs probably sounds crass and indulgent on impulse, but it's really an artistic endeavor, and you kind of need to thumb through the thing to... read more

A biography of one of the great artists of the 20th Century -- the hugely important jazz improvisation pioneer Dizzy Gillespie -- by jazz biographer Donald L Maggins. Maggins is as genuine a lover and promoter of classic jazz, having also written a bio of Stan Getz and working as jazz concert... read more

A very thorough look at the life and music of Celia Cruz -- way more than just a quickie pop bio, and instead a well-researched book that covers the full span of her many years on this planet! The book starts with lots of details from Celia's early life in Cuba, then moves through her fame on the... read more

Probably the deepest work ever devoted in print to the vaunted Basement Tapes -- with the great Greil Marcus comparing, contrasting and relating the many songs made in the Big Pink house in Woodstock, by Dylan and his group that would eventually be known as The Band , to the heritage of the... read more

Greil Marcus goes long and deep with Dylan once again, here crafting, essentially, the biography of one song -- the ultra iconic "Like A Rolling Stone" -- a song that was revolutionary unto itself, but was served as a chronicle of the revolution of the world around it, and its writer! ... read more

A nice little effort in the 33 1/3'd series of excellent profiles on classic, or underappreciated, should-be classic albums -- this one the on the great Notorious Byrd Brothers album by The Byrds! The author is an inspired choice -- Ric Menck, drummer for the wholly underrated 90s psyche pop... read more

A great look at the life and music of one of the most influential saxophonists of the past 50 years -- the mighty Wayne Shorter, profiled here in quite a bit of depth! The book looks past Shorter's famous records into the life that allowed them to exist -- chronicling Wayne's roots and family,... read more

An incredible book -- filled with amazing photos from the New York underground of the late 70s -- and a wealth of interviews conducted by Thurston Moore and Byron Coley! The book's expensive, but it's well worth the price -- a museum-like volume that features a special cover, beautiful black and... read more

Rock music in the 1970s -- pulled apart, and laid out in chapters that trace its changes and evolution on a year by year basis! Frank Moriarty's approach is surprisingly detailed -- making the volume much more than the simple "yearbook" that you might expect from the title -- and he's... read more

A cool take on the record album art book genre -- one that focus more on the vinyl than it does on the covers! The volume is a really amazing one -- put together by European groove maestros Giorgio Moroder and Alessandro Benedetti, with a focus on weirdly-pressed vinyl releases from the past few... read more

The title's a bit cheesy, but the book really looks great -- a wealth of vintage photos, both color and black & white -- laid out with lots of historical detail too! The book's not the end-all for rockabilly -- and really just sticks to bigger stars who are more rock, than "billy" --... read more

We're huge country music fans here at Dusty Groove -- but are probably less up to snuff on releases than we are more familiar styles like jazz, funk, and soul -- which makes a book like this totally essential to our own record collecting! As with other Goldmine books, the prices should be taken... read more

A pretty hefty price guide -- one that features listings for 45s of all types -- from rock to pop to vintage soul -- with increased coverage of rare soul material for this 5th edition! There's pricing for each listing in a few different grades -- although we're always a bit reticent to endorse... read more

Kind of a general price guide from the folks at Goldmine -- with listings for albums and singles from the 50s through the 80s -- presented with full details on label, catalog number, and year of release -- not to mention some pricing! The prices interest us less than the discographical details --... read more

A heck of a discographical resource -- especially for rare 78s and obscure blues albums! The book really takes its rhythm & blues range pretty widely -- and runs from late 40s singles up to 12" releases from House Of Pain -- but for our money, the best bits here are the more classic... read more

An incredible collection of revolutionary jazz album cover art from the 60s & 70s -- bold, vivid and unforgettable art for bold, vivid and unforgettable jazz -- compiled and edited by Gilles Peterson and Stuart Baker! It's a snapshot of an era in jazz music when cultural and stylistic... read more

A very unique take on the musical memoir concept -- one that presents the story of bandoneon legend Astor Piazzolla's life and music in collaboration with journalist Natalio Gorin -- sometimes in straight recollections by Astor, sometimes in conversation with Gorin -- shifting back and forth in... read more

The rich history of hip hop culture and folklore keeps growing in print thanks to a number of essential books of photographs -- and here's one from the legendary Ricky Powell! Rick takes a far different approach than books like Martha Cooper's Hip Hop Files, but it's very interesting in it's own... read more

Odd cartoons from artist/musician/improviser Hal Rammel -- a selection of cartoons drawn over the past 30 years, put together in a limited edition art book! Rammel's images here are pretty wild -- comics that definitely owe something to Krazy Kat, but which also have a trippier feel too -- thanks... read more

Cool vintage photographs from William "Popsie" Randolph -- a photographer who's captured some great shots of jazz musicians, singers, soul groups, and other artists from the 40s through the 70s! The book jumps right into the photos right away -- and reproduces them in brilliant black and... read more

The roots, fruits, and later evolution of Chicano rock and roll on the LA scene -- from the early days of R&B, to the East LA scene of the 60s, to the massive mainstream success of the 70s and beyond -- all brought to life with a good deal of vintage photos as well! The scene is one that's... read more

The classic Phil Spector biography by Mark Ribowsky -- one of pop music's most gifted and influential producers, and also one of its most eccentric figures! From trailblazing engineer of the girl group sound and the fabled "Wall Of Sound", to holding the Ramones at gunpoint, this is an... read more

A deep look at the music of Peggy Lee -- and the fragile persona of Norma Deloris Egstrom, the name with which she first came into the world! Author Peter Richmond clearly has a deep respect for the musical contributions made by Peggy in the latter half of the 20th Century -- and he's also got a... read more

The originals of 20th Century country music -- not Willie, Cash and Haggard, earlier -- wayback, including noted progenitors like Jimmie Rodgers, the Carter Family, Ernest Tubb, and Gene Autry, but going back even earlier to the ones who brought barn dance and back porch hillbilly tunes into big... read more

A deep look at a pretty cool little label -- Trumpet Records of Jackson, Mississippi -- a company born in the back of a hardware store! Trumpet only flourished for a few short years, but put out some wonderful stuff -- work by Elmore James, Little Milton, Sonny Boy Williamson, and others --... read more

A great counterpart to the Sampling Dictionary -- one that offers up most of the same material, but in reverse! Like that volume, this one offers up a huge list of tracks that have been sampled by hip hop songs -- over 17,000 listings of different samples from the past few decades, presented in... read more

Here's the book that's going to help you win plenty of arguments when it comes to The Monkees -- the volume that will get past the easy, obvious answers that everyone else uses to talk about their music! The book's exactly what it promises -- a day-by-day look at the group's famous late 60s years -... read more

A wonderful book for fans of deep soul -- a Japanese discography that features essential listening both on original 45s and on CD! The first half of the book is an amazing overview of deep soul 45s -- one that features listings for hundreds of rare singles -- with artist, titles, label, dates, and... read more

The story of New Orleans drummer Earl Palmer -- a fascinating figure who started out as a child tap dancer, and brought that sense of timing and rhythm into an incredible adult career in jazz! Well respected for his work as a drummer in New Orleans and later in LA, Palmer played on some legendary... read more

One of the deepest explorations of the disco era we've come across from author Peter Shapiro -- not at all a nostalgic look back, really more of a cultural study that looks into the music and the world around it. Shapiro does a great job of putting it all into perspective, from the social factors... read more

The ambitious, yet user friendly effort to document the history of electronic music -- the book part of the multimedia Modulations project -- which also (separately) spawned a film and CDs. Editor Peter Shapiro assembles pieces penned by by connoisseurs and musicians and does a pretty decent job... read more

All the articles from the out of print Volume early issues of Shindig! Magazine -- with additional photos and redesigned for this deluxe book treatment -- hardcover bound, and beautifully so! Features those excellent articles on class psychedelic, garage and other 60s & 70s titans -- including... read more

The cream of the crop of excellent articles from the out of print early issues of Shindig! Magazine -- with some of which are newly expanded -- and include additional photos and other redesigned touches for this deluxe book treatment -- hardcover bound, and beautifully so! Features on benchmark... read more

Another one of those nice little Japanese discography books, this time taking a swing at Jamaican Ska records. As with other titles, it's all in Japanese, but features lots of great color reproductions of covers, as well as some label and catalog number information. The text is pretty inclusive,... read more

One of the harder-hitting books we've ever seen on James Brown -- an account of his famous Boston performance on April 5, 1968 -- the night after Martin Luther King was assassinated -- but one that also looks at Brown's lasting impact on race in America as well! We appreciate author James Sullivan'... read more

Rare photographs of NYC graffiti writers -- authentically tagged in this book put together by Peter Sutherland & Revs! A never-before-seen document of the people and the artwork in NYC's graff scene. Features 323, AREA, ARTZ, CINIK, CLAW, COPE 2, JAKEE, LADY PINK, REHAB, REVS and more.... read more

A wonderful Japanese book on the music of Lee Scratch Perry -- one that features plenty of full-color covers and discographical notes in English! The format's similar to some of the Japanese jazz discogs -- most text in Japanese, but plenty of images and English details throughout -- so that while... read more

Genius work from one of the true literary treasures of our Chicago hometown -- the mighty Studs Terkel, who spent many years on radio in the Windy City as well! The book brings together both sides of Terkel's passions -- as it features conversations with musicians featured on his radio show,... read more

Our hats are off to Dave for being so honest -- and we'll bet there's a lot of you out there who can appreciate his proud, personal take on the music! The book's as polemical as its title, and Thompson really lays out his ideas in the chapter headings -- which include "Is That A Bustle In... read more

One of the best record cover art books we've seen -- a thick, large and eye popping collection of the work of Hipgnosis -- the design firm of choice for some of the biggest groups of the 60s & 70s! If we're not always the biggest fans of the most canonized rock album behemoths, the art work... read more

A cool collection of album cover art by the French H5 design team -- lots of fresh art made for underground figures and more mainstream notable artists in the French electronic music scene of the 90s and beyond! The art is unique in its devotion typography as opposed to photography in a lot of... read more

It's no secret to crate diggers that Japanese record buyers really take their job seriously -- and now here's a book to finally prove it! Record Buyer's Diary was put together by two Japanese record buyers as they travel the globe in search of the music they love -- and it features photos,... read more

Punk rock trivia galore -- a book that's somewhere in between the Ego Trip volumes from the hip hop world, and the original Book Of Lists from the 70s! Given that Dick Manitoba, of The Dictators, is on board to put the thing together, you can bet that the book's pretty fun -- and if that's not... read more

The second in the anthology project of the mighty Wax Poetics magazine -- Issues 6-10 of the deep funk, jazz, soul and hip hop journal of record -- an excellent run with pieces on 45 King, Eugene McDaniels, Sun Ra, Roy Ayers, Pete Rock, DJ Premier, Wilson Simonal, Eddie Bo, Oliver Sain, Willie... read more

One of the hippest books of album covers you could ever hope to find -- a great antidote to the snoozier mainstream takes on the genre they try to pass off at big stores every Christmas! This one features super-rare album covers hand-picked by an array of staff and writers for Wax Poetics -- some... read more

The story of composer and songwriter Alec Wilder -- a fascinating book that finds Wilder detailing his life and self in a series of letters -- and while the addressees were unidentified upon the original publication, this annotated edition with an introduction and supplementental material by jazz... read more

Words and photos from Tom Wright -- a pretty great photographer who chronicled the inside lives of some legendary rockers back in the 60s and 70s -- most famously The Who, but a host of others as well! The book features Wright's great photos from back in the day, plus lots of inside reflections on... read more

A second great look at Italy's legendary Baia Degli Angeli disco -- presented in a package that's possibly even better than the first! As with that volume, this one's delivered in a book-style format -- hardcover, and filled with color pages that contain images of the club in the 70s, a recent... read more

A celebration of The Man In Black from the editors of Rolling Stone -- with a forward by Roseanne Cash, and pieces from over the years by JR himself, David Fricke, Ralph Gleason, Greg Kot, Mark Binelli, Robert Hilbern, Steve Pond and Jancee Dunn. Includes articles that originally ran in Rolling... read more

A really crazy little book -- one that's filled with sexy images from Italian comedies of the 60s and 70s -- and packaged with a special CD to match! The book itself is practically softcore porn (so be aware of that, you sensitive viewers!) -- 326 full color pages with images from the films, most... read more

A soul stirring set of photographs, essays, notes on songs and sermons put together by the deep field recordings and all around rural America cultural archivists at Dust To Digital! Take Me To The Water gets to the heart and soul with the photographs, showing immersion baptisms from the early 20th... read more