Books -- Recently Added  

A great little book on the art and innovative work that has gone into to some of very best CD designs -- not so much a look back to when the with the medium when in its sales prime (boy, remember those distant, good ol' days. . .snark, snark) -- but some of cooler graphics of more recent years! ...

A catalog of the collection of the Experience Music Project -- way, way more than just Hendrix nostalgia -- a nice little look back and very well designed book that covers a fair bit of history of rock & roll, with a northwest slant, naturally. Hardcover, 178 pages. It's sectioned to cover ...

A colorful cornucopia of classic Broadway art -- really beautiful artwork from decades past and rare archival pieces, to boot -- put together by Broadway historian Steven Suskin! There's artwork for well remembered treasures and weird, oddball productions -- indicative of their eras from the early ...

The Complete Graphic Album of Factory Records -- a treasure trove of so many important records from the pioneering indie label -- from the postpunk legends Joy Division to the Manchester dance sounds of Happy Mondays and everything in between. The book is large format, as it should be, so you can ...

A comprehensive portrait of the musical cultural climate of South Africa -- from journalist and author Gwen Ansell. Soweto Blues discusses how politics and culture of apartheid affected the people of South Africa, and the musicians in particular -- and the relationship between jazz and other ...

An in-depth look at a label that should be familiar to all Dusty Groove customers -- given the decades-old reputation Ace Records has for reissuing classic funk and soul! The imprint really gets its day in the sun here -- in a lavish oversized book that's filled with color images -- not just of ...

The autobiography of Brit blues sax great Dick Heckstall-Smith -- co-written by friend & manager Pete Grant -- plus a CD of rarities and unreleased material! Heckstall-Smith has been called the king of the British blues saxophone -- a heavy title to say the least -- and he's played with John ...

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 ...

Iceberg Slim, eat your heart out! Andre Williams finally has a book of his own -- a set of late life writings that are surprisingly great! The work came out of a post-rehab effort to get his thoughts down on paper, but without putting them in song -- and the material is surprisingly compelling, a ...

A wonderful memoir from the glory days of the Italian soundtrack scene -- penned by Franco De Gemini (aka "The Man With The Harmonica"), and filled with loads of color photos and images of albums! Franco's memoirs are often quite personal -- at a level that sheds tremendous new light ...

A detailed look at the soul side of the music business -- put together by Dr Syleecia Thompson, a daughter of Syl Johnson! The book has a slightly unusual format, but one that makes it pretty compelling -- as most of the contents feature Thompson interviewing a variety of different figures in the ...

The stories behind a triple dozen of the most legendary albums of hip hop's golden age -- told to Brian Coleman by the MCs, producers and DJs themselves -- a perfectly realized follow up to his superb Rakim Told Me that's bigger and better in nearly every way! Coleman, a longtime columnist and ...

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 ...

A collection of articles from Original Chicago Blues Annual -- the legendary blues publication -- which ran from 1989-1995! Includes pieces from all 7 issues of the annual, with articles by Lincoln Beauchamp, Davis Whiteis, Eugene Redmond, Kalamu Ya Salaam and other important authors, with pieces ...

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 - ...

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 ...

A biography of Nina Simone -- one of the greatest women of jazz, and a cultural beacon -- written by life long Nina fan and friend Sylvia Hampton, a writer for Blues & Soul Magazine, and her brother, producer/historian David Nathan. Hampton and Nathan bring an uncommon ability to weave the ...

Could they're be a better title of a Russ Meyer biography than Big Bosoms & Square Jaws? We're thinking the answer is an emphatic NO! One of the great auteurs of drive-in outrageousness of the 60s & 70s, the King Of The Nudies, but also a hell of a talented maker of outrageous, audacious, ...

An amazing volume -- featuring the complete Mad Magazine work of one of the nuttiest illustrators around! If you ever picked up an issue of Mad back in the day, you're sure to know the work of Don Martin -- as Don's cartoons were always highlights in the publication -- weird little narratives that ...

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 ...

The compelling story of Richard Stamz -- a legendary figure in Chicago soul radio of the postwar years -- told by Richard himself! The book starts out in Memphis, then follows to Stamz's important years on Chicago radio -- and it features lots of little side-stories that are almost the best part ...

A complete run of 1950s Playboy Magazine -- presented on a set of DVDs you download to your computer! Besides giving you one hell of a porn stash, the package is an amazing look at American culture during the postwar years -- articles, cartoons, and other features that beautifully display the ...

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 ...

The definitive biography of the legendary Big Star by Rob Jovanovic -- progenitors of power pop and influential as they are gratifying in their own right! The group was only in official existence for a few years, but their impact was huge -- and the book is drawn from interviews with band members, ...

An incredible archive -- the complete contents of Rolling Stone magazine from 1967 to 2007 -- laid out on a set of DVD-roms you can download to your computer! With the software inside, you'll have access to the complete Rolling Stone for a 40 year stretch -- a completely searchable archive, filled ...

A pretty nice overview of the art we call record collecting -- not as comprehensive as you might guess from the title, but still pretty great overall! Thompson provides a good overview of different formats -- then also looks at promos and imports too -- and gets into specialty items and rarities, ...

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 enough to make ...

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, ...

A pretty wonderful book on film scores from our favorite generations -- put together by the guy behind the excellent website Scorebaby.com! We're pretty pleased to say that Kristopher Spencer shares our own Dusty Groove tastes in soundtracks -- and he really gets past the bigger Hollywood modes to ...

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 ...

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 wide range ...

The All Music Guide Required Listening collection of essential classic rock -- featuring 1000 album reviews from the excellent All Music Guide reviewers -- from the uber-legendary likes of Dylan, Springsteen, The Beatles, Hendrix and the like -- to just as important and less mainstream celebrated ...

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 ...

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, and all the key ...

Magnificent Montague in his own words -- the incredible life story of the man James Brown calls The Don Of Radio -- the voice 50s & 60s soul music from Chicago, to New York to LA! Montague weaves the tale of his career in radio, from segregation era voice on the airwaves, to station owner, to ...

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 ...

Maestro is right -- as Burt's one of the finest composers, arrangers, and leaders of the past 100 years! The man's been one of our greatest musical inspirations -- and has contributed more to American music than most other folks we can think of -- but although we know his recordings well, we know ...

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 Scott ...

Close readings of a range of defining rock & roll -- going far beyond rock criticism and examining it through a lens akin to anthropology, and finding greater significance -- from the roles of addiction and female sexuality from Courtney Love to Madonna, the underlying politics beneath the funk ...

A compelling work of fiction from John Litweiler -- a writer we know best as a jazz critic, for his famous book The Freedom Principle, which was our primer to avant jazz back in the day! This time around, John's working in the world of fantasy -- imagining an America in which whites are the ...

A history of the blues in Russia from from authors Michael Urban and Andrei Evdokimov -- analyzing the subculture of the blues there, traced from the 60s onward. A fascinating story of music on post communist society. Paperback, 179 pages. ...

The Ray Charles story from Ray himself -- as told to and co-written by author David Ritz! Brother Ray endeavors to chronicle Ray's life and times in Ray's own voice, giving this version of Ray's oft-told life story a candid personal depth. From the early days at home, to the harrowing experience ...

A pretty sweet little book about the growth of music recording in Nashville during the middle of the 20th Century -- one that tells a narrative that's nicely focused on the studios and the folks who worked in them -- rather than just acting like the whole thing came out of nowhere! We're really ...

The Story Of King Records -- the ultra important Cincinnati based label, best remembered by most for the amazing, icon making, world shaking music James Brown recorded in his time at the label -- but the King Records roster was remarkably diverse with pivotal artists and recordings from the 40s ...

A unique account of the oft-told history of Chess Records by author Rich Cohen -- focusing on the business acumen the the Chess Brothers, and the brazen approach that brought the music of juke joints to the mainstream. Cohen doesn't pull any punches when it comes to the exploitational side of the ...

Robert Pruter's incredible overview of the Chicago Doo Wop scene of the 1950s -- one of the most incredible scenes for teenagers and young adults making popular music of any kind, at any point in the last century -- and some of the best and most influential ever! Pruter dug deep into era fanzines, ...

The story of gypsy music & jazz from the US to Europe by author Michael Dregni -- as told through exhaustive historical research, personal insights, and conversation with musicians. Dregni previously wrote a biography of Django Reinhardt, so his authority on the subject is excellent. He ...

The first 5 issues of the legendary Wax Poetics -- the one-and-only genius publication dedicated to the art of crate-digging, aka funky soul & hip hop vinyl archeology -- collected in this massive hardcover tome! Anthology Vol 1 tackles the essential chore of bringing those earliest Wax ...

A great look at an under-exposed chapter of Sun Ra's life and talents -- his theoretical and political writings, presented here in a series of broadsheets and leaflets! Although Ra could sometimes be a bit mysterious and obtuse in his poetry and songs, these writings are far more direct -- often ...

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 ...