Books — Recently Added  

A great compendium of album and 45 cover art for always fun to look at, often horrible to listen to records released by actors, athletes and other celebrities! Feast upon the cover art for records by Don Johnson, Morton Downey Jr, The Chicago Bears, John Schneider, Alyssa Milano, Eddie Murphy, ...

A beautifully illustrated little book devoted to the coolest musical toys of the past half century – from the collection of Eric Schneider – and featuring a forward by DJ Spooky! It's all about the images in this book, photographs of these incredible, colorful musical kitsch relics of ...

The story of the vocoder – presented in the coolest way possible! The book is way more than just a study of the famous voice-transforming technology – as it's put together with lots and lots of vintage photos, color images, and other illuminating features – all of which make the ...

Wax Poetics take a sharp left turn for Cover Story Vol 2 – veering into the strange and bizarre realms of album cover art – featuring hundreds of odd, mysterious or otherwise bugged out soul, funk, jazz, hip hop and rock album covers in this excellent tome to vinyl LP archaeology! The ...

One of most highest reaching hip hop tomes ever written – and done so by KRS One – the Gospel Of Hip Hop from one its most pivotal figures! Here KRS One has penned a personal, philosophical tome on the history, legacy and the craft of hip hop – intended as a spiritual manual for ...

A fantastic book chronicling the photographs and tapes of W Eugene Smith's Jazz Loft Project – put together by author Sam Stephenson from Smith's archives – featuring a selection of photographs and transcriptions of the actual tapes! It's an wonderful document, long legendary and seen ...

Somebody's finally gone out and written a book about one subject we can really get behind – the Record Store – and not only that, they've done a beautiful job with the entire package too! The book takes a look at the importance of the record store – not just historically, but ...

The story of Miles Davis, told by his son Gregory Davis – and as such, a bit more personal than some of the other Davis biographies on the market! There's possibly a bit less here in the way of specific detail, or cross-examination of the music – but Gregory more than makes up for that ...

Author Philip Freeman's rumination on The Electric Music Of Miles Davis – Running The Voodoo Down – digging deep into Davis's pivotal electric period! Specifically, Freeman is covering the second half of Miles Davis's career, from 1967 through his death in 1991 – the heart of ...

The story of Folkway Records, and Moses Asch, the visionary who ran it – a label that was perhaps the most important vessel in getting some of the deepest and best American folk music of the 20th Century into the hands, ears, and souls of the public! Moe Asch is one of the very rare icons of ...

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 ...

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 ...

It's no secret that the Japanese like baseball as much as we do – and with a groovy book like this, you finally get some tangible proof – an amazing look at Japan's baseball cards of the 20th century – amazing little objects that are possibly even groovier than the American format ...

Strange sounds and offbeat instruments in pop – including the theremin and electrotherimen, drum machines, zithers, dulcimers, autoharps, marxophones and more! Includes a CD featuring 59 tracks worth of examples of the strange, spooky, offbeat and otherwise evocative sounds! Paperback, 192 ...

Classic album covers from a few different decades, and a fair bit of different genres – a book that moves past easy categorization, in an effort to draw together some stylistic links in the way that music is represented! The full-color volume is beautifully put together – with over 390 ...

An ode to the Giants Of Jazz Piano from author Robert L Doerschuk – 88 of them, one for every key! Doerschuk, himself a jazz pianist draws on his own expertise to carry some analytical weight, and covers the pioneer of it all, Jelly Roll Morton, masters like Fats Waller, singers & ...

A chronic al of improvised music by David Borgo – a study of improvisation from the perspective of solo improvisers like Evan Parker, to group improvisation with groups like the Sam Rivers Trio, to the dynamics that band improvising artists together. Comes with a CD with Evan Parker, Sam ...

A photographic essay of the southside of Chicago – with lots of beautiful black & white shots of the side of the city than many don't see if they don't live there – really beautiful! From multicultural weddings and church services, political meetings, industrial facilities, rickety ...

An account of the creation of Roxy Music – focusing on origins – from author Michael Bracewell and the active participation of Bryan Ferry, Brian Eno, Andy Mackay and Phil Manzanera! Re-Make/Re-Model tells how Pop Art, the 60s London Underground, and more influenced one of the greatest ...

A look at some of the great, visionary, and in a few cases, unstable producers behind some of the greatest music of our time – running the gamut from the early pioneers of the recording booth to modern tech wizards! The book takes a look at Phil Spector's Wall Of Sound, Brian Wilson's ...

A document of an amazing transitional period in world cinematic history – when doors busted wide open from the end of the 50s through the 60s – when films such as Jules & Jim, 8 1/2, Breathless broke boundaries of all kinds! Author Peter Cowie discusses the themes and trends of the ...

Interviews, tales of the road, histories and critical accounts of classic and new American music that can and does fall into the Americana canon – as well as visiting the points on the map that songs, legends and deals were made. Wandering the range of American roots music from blues, folk, ...

An incredible document of the legendary Mingering Mike – the self-styled 70s soul superstar who never recorded any music, but created a huge body of work on hand-drawn record sleeves and 45s! Mike's story has been told briefly before in Wax Poetics, but this book really gets to the full ...

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, ...

A pretty cool collection for Ray Bradbury aficionados and newbs alike – culled from more than a decade interviews with the legendary author of Fahrenheit 451, The Illustrated Man, Martian Chronicles and so much more by Bradbury scholar and biographer Sam Weller! Bradbury's influence on pop ...

A very cool look at album cover artist/designer Jack Lonshein – the talent behind the great Mainstream Records covers of the 60s – plus a range of excellent work for other labels too! Back in the day, Jack ran a jazz record store, and also promoted concerts – and this book tells ...

A mammoth tome to the UK indie record label world – an exaustive overview of the history of some of the most important labels anywhere on the globe, actually – Beggars Banquet, 4AD, Stiff, Factory, Mute and many more! Author Alex Ogg concentrates on those mega vital companies as well ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

It’s metal! It's a cheeky & dead-on tribute to dollar store style activity books for children! It's from Aye Jay, our longtime pal and creator of the classic Gangsta Rap Coloring Book! You can color Rob Halford, Gwar & Metallica here, plus connect the moles on Lemmy and Dimebag's ...

Man, is this thing a heehawing great time – a hilarious ode to both country music and dollar store kiddie activity books from our friend Aye Jay, in the mode of his classic Gangsta Rap Coloring Book – connect-the-dots, Madlibs style word games, mazes and more! It's all in black & ...

The rich story of Suely Mesquita – a compelling figure in contemporary MPB – presented here entirely in English, which offers us a rare chance to get an up-close look at a Brazilian artist of this nature! The book features Suely's story – both personal and musical – ...

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 ...

A thick, photo heavy book dedicated to the greats of Latin rock – from the creative firestorm that burst from the 60s San Franisco Haight scene, up to Santana's surprise commercial juggernaut Supernatural in the late 90s. The book goes far deeper Santana, though, with reminiscences from a ...

A pricey book, but a great one too – an essential guide to all things trippy and far-out – and a volume that covers countless great records from the 60s and 70s! As you'd guess from the title, there's a fair bit of listings for prog, psyche, and other wild rock genres – but there' ...

The full story of Sister Rosetta Tharpe – a key figure in the postwar music scene in the US, and one whose talents undeniably shaped the sound of soul, gospel, folk, and R&B! Tharpe was a pretty big name back in the day, but her story is usually just left to scattered liner notes on ...

A tome to 80s keyboards, synths and the artists and innovators that popularized the myriad possibilities of it – and they sure picked the right decade, didn't they? Edited by Ernie Rideout, Stephen Foster and Michael Gallant, the book has chapters on Devo, Art Of Noise, Vince Clarke, Chick ...

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 ...

A year in the lives of Neville & Gary Watson in the rave scene – Raving '89! The acid house takeover began in '88, but 1989 was the year it all changed took hold – bringing British dance culture to the underground masses. Gavin Watson's photos capture it all as honestly and ...

An incredible book for collectors of all things dancefloor – a Japanese-only discography of rare tracks from the late 70s onwards – filled with listings for hard to find records from around the globe! Despite the "House Music" in the title, the collection actually features a ...

A really great punk rock discography – even if most of it is in Japanese! The style here is similar to the jazz discographies we stock from Japan – reviews of each title in Japanese, but also cover images, artist, title, date, label, and catalog number all in English – more than ...

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 ...

A biography of one of the great jazz singers, the legendary Carmen McCrae – who came up during the swing era, and grew to become one of the most important artists of her time! Author Leslie Gourse chronicles long hard road to fame, which began to take off when she began performing with Tony ...

Aye Jay's back with the Punk Rock Fun Time Activity Book – a new classic from the pop culture skewering, kiddie activity book loving creator of the Gangsta Rap Coloring Book! Connect the dots to form the lightning bolt from the cover of the Bad Brains album! Match Johnny Rotten quotes to ...

Holy, wow – an incredible tome to ECM – the longtime label home to many a mindblowing avant garde jazz and otherwise forward looking and boundary busting creative music – a massive 400+ page hardcover survey edited by Steve Lake & Paul Griffiths, bound in a hard slip case and ...

A biography of Supremes singer Florence Ballard from author and journalist Peter Benjaminson – who interviewed Florence extensively in 1975, months before she passed away! A founding, and eventually discarded member of the most classic of Motown groups – and the most personal account ...

The story of one of greatest soul singers of all time, and also one who is living a fascinating journey, to say the very least – the great Al Green! The Arkansas born, Memphis soul legend tells his story to music writer Davin Seay, from his years reinventing southern soul music through his ...

An amazing little book – at a new low price – and an essential guide to all things funky and groovy! For nearly a decade, Peter Wermelinger's been compiling information about rare 60s and 70s records on his well-trafficked website – cover art, session details, catalog numbers, ...

The story of one of greatest soul singers of all time, and also one who is living a fascinating journey, to say the very least – the great Al Green! The Arkansas born, Memphis soul legend tells his story to music writer Davin Seay, from his years reinventing southern soul music through his ...