Books — In Stock — Books 
A special selection of disc guides and discographies, music history, record art books, graphic novels, and some nicely-priced remainders!
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(Items 1 – 71 of 71)
Shinko Music (Japan), 2005. New Copy ... $24.99
An excellent dig through the world of rare samba records from Brazil – a Japanese book that's put together in the same style as some of the boss and jazz discographies from that scene! The mission here is simple and clear – a way of presenting key samba records and rare gems – ... read more Book
Soul Jazz (UK), 2014. New Copy ... $19.99 49.95
A stunning book of photographs to stand alongside the excellent album art books done by the Soul Jazz label – a treasure trove of hardly-seen images of some of the best underground musicians of the 60s and 70s – and a great antidote to the sorts of jazz books that are only just filled ... read more Book
Soul Jazz (UK), 2012. New Copy Book ... $19.99 49.95
Amazing images galore – some classic covers from the Jamaican scene of the 60s and 70s, and lots more obscure images too – all presented in very vivid color, with a lot more clarity than any of the beat up original copies we have in our collection! The book really does full justice to ... read more Book
Laurence King (UK), 2016. New Copy ... $9.99 29.95
Fantastic film posters from the legendary Saul Bass – a book that features each image on oversized pages – each of which is heavy cardboard, so that the whole thing's like a special folio of 20 different posters! You might know the image on the cover – Bass' famous poster for The ... read more Book
Chicago Review Press, 2012. New Copy ... $8.99 29.95
A stunning look at the great Mary Wells – one of Motown's first female acts of the 60s, and one of the decade's most important early soul figures as well! Mary's work on record is very well-known, but the story behind the music is completely different, and surprisingly dark at times – ... read more Book
Taschen, 2017. New Copy ... $24.99 39.99
The rowdy road antics of the legendary Fab Four – captured here in a wealth of candid shots during their last two years of global touring – and presented here in glorious black and white! Photographer Harry Benson had unfettered access to the group during these years – and the ... read more Book
St Martins, 2016. New Copy ... $6.99 34.99
That's quite a cover photo on the book – and the interweaving of key talents in the image really gets at the style of the narrative within! Author Steven Blush delivers a decidedly one-sided document of the New York scene from the late 60s onward – a picture of countless creative ... read more Book
(Spine has a small remainder mark.)
Harper (UK), 2014. New Copy ... $6.99 18.00
Lou Reed gave us some mighty fascinating music over his many years of recording – and the man himself also led an equally fascinating life – one that's covered here in very great detail, in a hefty biography that begins with Reed's troubled life as a child, to his early years moving ... read more Book
Fab (UK), 2015. New Copy ... $10.99 29.95
A beautiful document of the golden years of adult cinema – a book that not only features dozens of vintage posters from the 70s, but also offers up a surprising amount of information as well! The package has a great balance – plenty of history and background on feature-length erotic ... read more Book
Texas Tech University Press, 2012. New Copy ... $6.99 39.95
A massive look at the world of western swing in the 30s and 40s – a huge book that really gets past the big names, as you might guess from the "other" in the title! The first big part of the volume looks at southwestern swing bands up to the end of WWII – with individual ... read more Book
Fantagraphics, 2012. New Copy ... $8.99 29.99
Sexytime, indeed – as the book's a treasure trove of vintage porno posters – with oversize pages that offer up full color reproductions from a time when pornographic movies were actually shown in public places! Because of that, the images here are not nearly as hardcore as the films ... read more Book
Princeton University, 2014. New Copy ... $6.99 50.00
American cities were going through tremendous changes in the 60s and 70s – changes that not only had an impact on local citizens, businesses, and municipal forces – but also on the art community as well! This book showcases a tremendous response to urban upheaval by artists in New York ... read more Book
Sterling, 2010. New Copy ... $10.99 14.99
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 ... read more Book
Yale University Press, 2014. New Copy ... $12.99 65.00
A heady look at the life and work of Nam June Paik – the man who virtually invented video art at the end of the 60s, and went on to work in a range of other amazing media too! The core of the book features images from a large retrospective of Paik's career – stills from videos, ... read more Book
Sanctuary (UK), 1998. New Copy Book ... $2.99 12.95
One of the few English language looks we've ever seen at the music of Serge Gainsbourg – a well-penned biography that covers all of his classic years in a fair bit of detail! Author Alan Clayson does a good job of paying as much attention to the music as he does to Serge's celebrity – ... read more Book
Atria, 2014. New Copy ... Just Sold Out!
George Clinton tells his own story – the stuff of musical legend, from his early years in doo wop, through his mega-funk stardom in the 70s at the helm of the P-Funk universe, to his later years embroiled in legal battles and other issues that kept him away from creativity! Clinton's voice ... read more Book
Polygon (UK), 2016. New Copy ... $6.99 14.99
Stuart Cosgrove has turned us on to plenty of music over the years – we first began reading his NME articles many years back – and this time around, he delivers a wonderfully detailed history about his youth as a fanatic for American soul music on the UK scene! Cosgrove was lucky ... read more Book
Penguin Books, 2015. New Copy ... $5.99 30.00
A wonderfully-written autobiography from Elvis Costello – a book that's not only completely illuminating for any fan of his music, but which stands quite strongly on his own, even if you're not a longtime fan of the man himself! The volume almost sets a new standard for musician ... read more Book
(The spine has a small remainder mark.)
Harper Perennial, 2013. New Copy ... $4.99 16.99
The story of Charlie Parker is often draped in hyperbole and exaggeration – which is why it's extra great that this biography is handled by Stanley Crouch – one of the few writers we could trust to get past the hype and really find a way to link Parker's life and music! As you might ... read more Book
(Spine has a remainder mark.)
Back Beat, 2013. New Copy ... $4.99 24.99
One of the greatest soul music TV shows ever (and one that originated in Chicago, too!) – presented here in deep detail with loads of interesting stories and anecdotes too! The book's almost a more personal history of the show than a technical one – but that's OK with us, because it ... read more Book
Fraenkel Gallery, 2018. New Copy Book ... $57.99 75.00
A hefty book that explores the wonderful collision of art and music in the form of records – those important moments when a visual artist helped illustrated a musical text – often with results that have become legendary over the years! The volume is way more than just a record cover ... read more Book
Disc Guide —
Stax Records Guide Book – Blues & Soul Edition ... Book Space Shower (Japan), 2018. New Copy ... $32.99
A really cool guide to the music of Stax Records – done by a Japanese publisher, but with lots of full color images of classic records, along with song listings and other details in English! The style is similar to Japanese jazz and Brazilian discographies – as there's also short ... read more Book
Boo Hooray, 2014. New Copy ... $6.99 39.98
A sweet little tour book commemorating DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist's Renegades Of Rhythm tour – and one that features a wealth of rare images from the early days of hip hop – of old gig flyers, records, drawings, acetates, and more! The most incredible fact about the tour itself, is that ... read more Book
(Limited to 2500 copies!)
Bloomsbury, 2015. New Copy ... $5.99 29.95
For most of the early years of cinema, soundtracks were dominated by orchestrations that were composed for the movies – or by publisher catalog tunes that were packaged for the films. But as the rock years approached, film scoring took on a whole different aspect – as performers were ... read more Book
V&A (UK), 2008. New Copy ... $4.99 19.95
A mostly visual story of The Supremes – one that has just a bit of text, and lots and lots of vintage images – from rare photos to album covers, to lots of cool shots from performances and TV appearances! The book is beautiful – as vivid as the music of the famous Motown trio ... read more Book
Sterling, 2017. New Copy ... $18.99 24.95
Ever think about what makes a great record so great? It's partly the music, partly the production – but it's also often the overall presentation too – the way the whole thing comes together and feels in your hands, or the way it looks when it's next to the turntable – or stands ... read more Book
Hal Leonard, 2011. New Copy ... $8.99 24.99
A heavy-duty look at one of our favorite instruments of all time – the mighty Hammond Organ, a keyboard that forever changed the sound of jazz, soul, and even rock and roll on the US scene of the 50s, 60s, and 70s! The book is huge – a fully-illustrated history of the electric organ in ... read more Book
Indiana University Press, 2014. New Copy ... $6.99 50.00
There's no jukebox in the book – but instead, the hefty volume is overflowing with portraits of music legends from the past few decades – all shot in glorious black and white by photographer Christopher Felver, who seems to have a strong sense of sympathy for musicians in just about ... read more Book
Temple, 2006. New Copy ... $6.99 30.95
A very detailed look at Arsenio Rodriguez – the Cuban legend who was a key part of the development of Latin music in both Havana and New York! The volume is quite well-researched, and looks at Arsenio with a lot more information than we've ever seen – in chapters that almost feel like ... read more Book
William Morrow, 2014. New Copy ... $4.99 27.99
The story of Soul Train, brought to us by an author we trust more than most when it comes to music writing! Nelson George has already given us great books on Motown, hip hop, James Brown, and the decline of rhythm and blues – and he does an equally great job here with his examination of Soul ... read more Book
(Spine has a small remainder mark.)
Doubleday, 2015. New Copy ... $4.99 26.95
The legendary Iceberg Slim has given us plenty of his own story over the years – but this book is the first to look at the man behind the man – writer Robert Beck, who started as a pimp and became a surprisingly successful author – as well as an underground figure who inspired a ... read more Book
(Spine has a small remainder mark.)
Yale University Press, 2016. New Copy ... $6.99 30.00
Ralph J Gleason might just be one of the coolest cats to ever write about music – a key part of the San Francisco scene during the postwar years – where his talents helped illuminate both the worlds of art and music during the beat generation – then really helped shine a spotlight ... read more Book
Anja Bound, 2017. New Copy ... $25.99 29.98
The music of Goblin has wowed American audiences for years – from their first few soundtracks for classic Italian giallo films, to their recent revival and concert performances! Yet the full story of the group's never been told in English – until the arrival of this huge and well-resear ... read more Book
Chicago Review Press, 2000/2009. New Copy Book ... $4.99 14.95
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 ... read more Book
(2009 Chicago Review Press reprint.)
Rittor (Japan), 2011. New Copy ... $34.99
A totally great book for 7" collectors – especially if you dig unusual picture sleeves! The book was put together by DJ Muro – an artist we've come to love for his work on mixes and compilations, but who's also well-known for his massive record collection, too – one that's ... read more Book
UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center, 2012. New Copy ... $6.99 19.95
A fascinating look at the world of Mexican music in the 20th Century – put together in collaboration with Arhoolie Records, the label that's done plenty to reissue the music over the years! The book begins with the huge archive of recordings by the label's founder, Chris Strachwitz – ... read more Book
Farrar, Strauss & Giroux, 2016. New Copy ... $6.99 27.00
Author David Hajdu has given us some great books on Bob Dylan and Billy Strayhorn – and written some excellent work on comics, too – and here, he takes on the development of pop music in the 20th Century, with a nicely wide-ranging ear that follows changes from early blues, through the ... read more Book
(Spine has a small remainder mark.)
Rittor (Japan), 2017. New Copy ... $32.99
A beautiful book on the decades of recorded output from one of our favorite composers ever – the legendary Michel Legrand – an artist known to most folks for his famous soundtracks of the 60s and 70s – but also a jazz musician, singer, and even a very groovy instrumental arranger! ... read more Book
Flatiron Books, 2015. New Copy ... $6.99 19.99
Way more than just a simple book of record cover images – and instead a love letter to the sound and style of the disco generation – put together from classic album artwork, and augmented by thoughtful musings by the author! The book features full color reproductions of over 250 album ... read more Book
(The spine has a small remainder mark.)
Algonquin Books Of Chapel Hill, 2013. New Copy ... $8.99 25.95
A surprisingly insightful Richard Pryor biography from interesting pair of biographers – brothrers David and Joe Henry! David Henry is a screenwriter, his brother Joe Henry is from the music world – known for his own artful singer-songwriter work, and especially his production work, ... read more Book
(Small remainder mark on spine.)
Museum Of Contemporary Art Detroit, 2018. New Copy ... $22.99 29.00
One of the coolest books we've ever seen to deal with the Detroit music scene – and one of the few that really gets at the complexity that's made the city one of the most important contributors to American music over the past 50 years! The book was done in conjunction with a gallery show ... read more Book
Penguin Books, 2003. New Copy ... $4.99 14.99
A love letter to modern music – written by the same author who gave us High Fidelity – certainly one of the greatest texts ever about the record store! Hornby's prose is always wonderful – and here, he really gets to the heart of his love of music – by serving up essays on ... read more Book
Back Beat, 2008. New Copy ... $5.99 16.99
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, ... read more Book
Curbside Splendor, 2015. New Copy ... $16.99 24.95
A very cool book that compiles a long-running feature that's delighted Chicago music fans for years – the Secret History Of Chicago Music column from the Chicago Reader – a force that's possibly done more for the history of music in our city than most other larger institutions put ... read more Book
WW Norton, 2015. New Copy ... $4.99 26.95
A very well-written account of one of the most important musical streets in America – and one that get way past all the tourist hype and trappings of contemporary Beale Street in Memphis today! Instead, the author really goes back – to some of the much earlier years of the city, and ... read more Book
Harper, 2015. New Copy ... $3.99 25.99
Some of the earliest work ever written by Elmore Leonard – a range of short stories from the 50s, some of which were even created while Leonard was working in the advertising business! The later Leonard style is definitely in effect here, but the stories are also shorter, more focused, and ... read more Book
(Spine has a small remainder mark.)
Soul Jazz (UK), 2008. New Copy ... $33.99 34.98
A beautiful book on the dancehall scene in Jamaica – one that's done in a different style than some of the other Soul Jazz books – which are often focused more on album cover art! This book's got a very different approach – and is more an art book with photos of the dancehall ... read more Book
Duke University Press, 2013. New Copy ... $6.99 26.95
The title's a great way of looking at the music – because although cumbia first started in Colombia, it quickly spread across Latin America and up to the US – where it's been a mighty popular style in recent decades! The book features essays by a number of different authors, each ... read more Book
MIT Press, 1999. New Copy ... $6.99 37.00
It's no surprise that the growing use of the automobile helped transform the space of the city in the 20th Century – and probably the biggest city to experience a change was the young Los Angeles – an urban center whose first big wave growth coincided with a rapid increase in car sales ... read more Book
It Books, 2012. New Copy ... $4.99 22.99
Louvin Brother Charlie tells the tale of his famous duo with brother Ira – a match that was almost a Cain and Abel of country music – given that Charlie and Ira Louvin sometimes sat at opposite moral poles on the spectrum! The story's as tragic as any of the best early songs by the ... read more Book
Aurum (UK), 2014. New Copy ... $8.99 28.00
A really cool look at albums that never happened – planned projects that were almost produced, but which fell apart at some point in the creative process – leading to a surprisingly large legacy of lost albums by some of rock music's biggest stars! Sure, everyone knows a few of these ... read more Book
Reel Art, 2017. New Copy ... $58.99 75.00
A stunning selection of rare jazz photographs, most of which have never been seen before – all shot at the Newport and Monterey Jazz Festivals during the 1960s, with a span across the decade that really shows a shift in sound and style! The book has way more than just shots of big name ... read more Book
Backbeat Books, 2011. New Copy ... $6.99 24.99
Pat Martino tells his story – a wonderfully long run of jazz experience that starts in the heady days of the 60s soul jazz scene, moves into key psychedelic modes, suffers a bit of tragedy in later years, then springs wonderfully back more recently! Pat's got help from a co-writer on the ... read more Book
Princeton Architectural Press, 2007. New Copy ... $7.99 24.95
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 ... read more Book
MTV, 2008. New Copy ... $5.99 29.95
The history of American hardcore – served up in a huge batch of black and white photos, record covers, flyers, and more – spun out in a really beautiful book! The images are all nice and stark – concert shots, band performances, and more – all photos that really get at the ... read more Book
P-Vine (Japan), 2014. New Copy ... $29.99
The roots of house music and beyond – a mighty cool discography that does a special job of locating the music many years before it first exploded in Chicago and Detroit, then following it for many years after that, through a host of global scenes and styles! The publication is a discography, ... read more Book
Blurb/Etc, 2018. New Copy ... $25.99
A beautiful little DIY black & white photography book by Ramon Norwood, aka Radius Etc, the multi-talented Chicago abstract hip hop producer, beatmaker and artist! We don't fancy ourselves art critics here at Dusty Groove, but we know Radius's sound, and for us it's pretty nice to see how his ... read more Book
Ele-King (Japan), 2015. New Copy Book ... $29.99
A comprehensive guide to the club jazz sound of the past 25 years or so – that sweet blend of jazzy roots and contemporary rhythms that first sprung to life in London at the end of the 80s – then grew through dancefloors on the German, Italian, and Japanese scenes of the next decade ... read more Book
Steidl (Germany), 2016. New Copy ... $34.99 45.00
A beautiful book that brings together two different collaborations between these two key figures in postwar African-American culture – writings by Ralph Ellison, with supporting photographs from Gordon Parks – the award-winning journalist who also went onto a much larger role in film ... read more Book
Soul Jazz (UK), 2009. New Copy ... $26.99 34.95
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 ... read more Book
Du Books (Japan), 2013. New Copy Book ... $26.99
A beautiful book on the legendary Prestige Records label – some of the hippest hardbop of the 50s, the coolest soul jazz of the 60s, and the funkiest grooves of the 70s! The book is similar to some of the Blue Note discographies we've stocked from Japan over the years – in that it ... read more Book
University Of Illinois, 2007. New Copy ... $6.99 37.00
A massive hardcover tome to the enduring music of Bill Monroe – the Father Of Bluegrass! Of course, bluegrass roots and traditions go a couple hundred years deep, but there's no overstating the mandolin player and Blue Grass Boys leader – and this book is really all about the music. ... read more Book
Damiani, 2018. New Copy ... $38.99 50.00
Fantastic images of New York City from Jamel Shabazz – the photographer you may know from his classic hip hop shots in the book Back In The Days – working here in very similar territory, but with a more wide-ranging approach! Shabazz is still very close to the streets here – and ... read more Book
Gotham, 2012. New Copy Book ... $4.99 27.50
Maybe the deepest book we've ever read on the life and music of James Brown – and certainly one to really get past the monolithic moments, and really serve up the full details of The Godfather at work! There's a surprising amount of research that went into the project – way more than ... read more Book
Taschen, 2017. New Copy ... $46.99 59.99
The glory days of Marvel Comics – presented here in a stunning set of full color images from the vault! The book follows the Taschen treatment of DC Comics – and features page after page of legendary covers, pages, and panels – plus lots of other unusual images too – ... read more Book
Da Capo, 2016. New Copy ... $6.99 25.99
An insanely detailed book on the role of drugs in American music – written by a guy who's already written a fair bit about drugs and culture! This time around, Martin Torgoff turns his eye towards the postwar years – looking at the interwoven landscapes of jazz, underground culture, ... read more Book
Reaktion (UK), 2013. New Copy ... $6.99 25.00
That's Brazilian jive, instead of Brazilian music – as the author here shows just how much the larger Brazilian culture helps shape the sound of it's songs – a wonderful interplay between urban and rural, modern and ancient, popular and intellectual – forces that have come ... read more Book
Du Books (Japan), 2014. New Copy ... $28.99
A very cool book on Brazilian music – one that serves up a well-chosen array of very hip records, all laid out in decade-by-decade chapters – along with color images of the album cover art, label, date, and style information in regular text – and a review of the record in Japanese! ... read more Book
Galerie Daniel Templon, 2015. New Copy ... $30.99 40.00
A beautiful set of images from artist Kehinde Wiley – a project that explores the global legacy of French colonialism in the years 1980 through 1960 – but through a series of portraits that provide a more abstract approach! Most of these images are quite colorful – paintings of ... read more Book
Anthology Editions, 2016. New Copy ... $28.99 40.00
A fantastic book on books about UFOs – one that's put together with all the verve and vibrant imagery you'd expect from the cover! Jack Womack has been collecting materials on UFOs for decades – and this lavish, full-color book provides an amazing overview of publications from the ... read more Book
Rittor (Japan), 2015. New Copy ... Just Sold Out!
One of the most essential discographies we've ever seen – mostly because we own almost none of the records in the book, which makes it an essential volume to use for digging in the crates! This time around, the folks at Rittor – who've given us other great record books over the years ... read more Book
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