Books — All Formats  

A heavy-duty, lavishly-illustrated ode to the art of Louis Armstrong! It's not a biography – but a beautiful, 250+ page collection of photographs, movie stills, Satchmo's own hand-written letters, collage art and more! It's been put together by Steven Brower, with a forward by Hilton Als – and it's a wonderful tribute to Armstrong – and a very unique, personal look at his life and career. It's been compiled from tape-box collages, scrapbooks, photographs, manuscripts, and other archived materials from the Louis Armstrong House Museum, at Queens College – and what a treasure trove this is!

A range of essays on the music, influence, and cultural significance of the late John Coltrane – easily one of the key forces to have shaped our taste here at Dusty Groove! The book offers a number of differing perspectives, some with an academic tone, some a bit more political – and overall, the writings definitely live up to the spirit promised in the title! Articles include "A Look At Late John Coltrane" by Salim Washington, "When Bar Walkers Preach" by Tommy Lott, "Freedom Is A Constant Struggle" by Tammy Kernodle, "John Coltrane As The Personification Of Spirituality In Black Music" by Anthony Brown, "In His Own Words – Coltrane's Responses To Critics" by Leonard L Brown, "John Coltrane & The Practice Of Freedom" by Herman Gray, and a few interviews with Billy Taylor, Yusef Lateef, and Olly Wilson – and a special coda, "George Russell on John Coltrane". 235 pages, paperback.

Author Mick Brown chronicles the fascinating, tragic world of the Phil Spector – the most fascinating figure in American pop music history – thanks to both his unrivaled genius and artistry, his fabled reclusiveness and ultimately, real life crime noir tragedy. From his epic work with the Ronettes, the Righteous Brothers, The Beatles, The Ramones and the many less iconic artists, to the recluse years and the bizarre shooting in his home, this is richly researched, very well done bio by Brown. Engrossing and briskly readable, even as a fairly hefty girth, Hardcover, more than 500 pages.

Tough, dirty and stylish late 50s short stories by the great Harlan Ellison – who would go on to be hailed as one of great science fiction and suspense writers in print, film and television – but working here as a very young man, under pseudonyms, on seedy crime and pulp stories! It's gritty, yet charmingly trashy stuff – with story titles that let you know what you're in for here – including Dead Wives Don't Cheat, God Bless The Ugly Virgin, Gang Girl, Portrait Of The Artist As A Zilch Writer, An Episode Of Sunbathers and more. A treasure trove, rescued from pulp obscurity by Kick Books! Paperback, 174 pages.

A much-needed second volume of Vinyl Lives – especially since they left Dusty Groove out of the first book! This time, they correct their mistake with a nice long look at our store – plus other chapters in equally important record retailers – including Jerry's in Pittsburgh, Criminal in Atlanta, Electric Fetus in Minneapolis, and Leopold's in Berkeley! We're mighty happy to be in such illustrious company – and the book also features a few other stores, plus interviews with key collectors – really nice words from folks who really take their vinyl seriously. Book is 252 pages, softcover.

A cinematic effort from Gilbert Hernandez – a standalone graphic novel that expands on the story of one of the characters from his Palomar epic – but with a gritty sort of vibe that really matches the cover! The shift is a nice one – as Hernandez works in an even more visually-focused style here – without dialogue in a number of scenes, and often hitting the pacing of a b-movie thriller! 120 pages, black and white, and with a nice sort of oversized crime novel feel.

A beautifully-drawn sci-fi strip from the great Jerry Robinson – material that's even more vibrant than Jerry's famous 40s work on comic books – thanks in part to the lavish style of this volume! Jet Scott was a short-lived continuity strip – one that mixed rocket stories with earthbound action – but the quality is very top-shelf – with adult scripting from Sheldon Stark, and superb draftsmanship by Jerry Robinson – ink and pen that almost rivals Milton Caniff for its characterization and use of space. The book presents all Sunday strips in full color, and dailies in black and white, oversize too – and also features some additional text pieces to frame the material, and rare sketches as well. 253 pages, and an oversize hardcover.

Yeah, THIS is the Nick Tosches we want! Tosches has a way of chronicling the diseased, mobbed up underbelly of the 20th Century music rackets that's simply unrivaled – it's gut level brilliant and street smart writing like no one does anymore. Save The Last Dance For Satan is a more fleshed out and newly spun continuation of material published more than a decade ago as Hipsters And Hoodlums in Vanity Fair (boy, mainstream magazine content sure has changed a bunch since 2000) – chronicling the sleaze and criminality at the core of the 50s & 60s music biz. It's great! His best stuff has often read with the sweaty, intoxicating allure of seedy pulp storytelling, so it's with the utmost pleasure to see his work put out by Kicks Books - which literally puts Tosches' work in just that kind of old school hip pocket paperback! He joins Andre Williams (whose "Jailbait" single is mentioned early in this book as the badass antidote to mid 50s candy-coated rock & roll that it most certainly was) and Sun Ra at Kicks. A couple of Tosches' more recent books have been a tough slog – more about his own near obsessive search for impossibly hidden subjects than anything else – but this slim 120 page tome is the opposite – it has us slobbering for more!

A treasure trove of vintage work by one of the greatest talents in comic books – captured here during some of his most fruitful years! The package brings together rare material from the early 50s – pre-code gems by Alex Toth, one of the most mature, most thoughtful comics artists of his time – working here with a sophistication and sense of space that few of his contemporaries could hope to match! And although most of the subject matter is pulled from the depths of the pulps – sci-fi, crime, romance, and western tales – Toth's handling of the material is superb, and completely transcends their roots. The book is the first time most of these works have been reprinted – and it's a whopping 428 pages, with full color images – plus some good notes by editor Greg Sadowski.

An amazing little book – quite possibly one of the first-ever graphic novels, and an amazing hybrid of pulp crime and postwar comics! This unique volume was originally designed as a comic-style paperback – no full text at all, just black and white images from the amazing Matt Baker – well-known for his lusty images of the late 40s and early 50s – and words by Arnold Drake, who later went onto fame in a range of superhero settings. There's a wonderful edge to the whole thing – very much like the best pre-code comics – and this replica volume brings the whole thing back to life on even better paper stock than the original. 136 pages, black and white, with an afterward by Drake.