Books — Recently Added

A beautiful book-length prose poem from David Grubbs – an artist that some know as a musician, some as a singer, and some as a writer for his previous essential volume on improvised music! The book is very narrative – and tells this dream-like story of a musician faced with the need to ... Book

A beautiful book on the Chicago jazz scene, and the things that make it really special – not the Windy City world of years back – when Ramsey Lewis and other big names were dominating things – but Chicago in more recent years, when the city has been a non-stop hotbed of continuous ... Book

An incredible look at the format of vinyl – put together by a guy who's got one of the hippest record collections we've ever seen! John Corbett's been writing about music, art, and other formats for decades – but his real labor of love is vinyl records – a format he continued to ... Book

John Cohen was a member of the famous folk group The New Lost City Ramblers, and also gained great fame as a photographer too – most notably for his High & Lonesome Sound book of images on Roscoe Holcomb and his community – but also here for a whole host of shots that document the ... Book

An incredibly dense book on the psychedelic scene of the 60s – a huge volume that not only looks at an impressive array of music, but also the wider trippy culture, too – but all with a level of text that goes far beyond most of the thinner volumes on the period! Many of the chapter ... Book

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 – ... Book

An amazing collection of 40s and 50s jazz drawings by Gene Deitch – the complete anthology of his work for legendary jazz magazine Record Changer! Gene was an amazing artist and cartoonist, whose work helped solidify the legacies of some of the most famous cartoon characters in the American ... Book

Chris Bell is one of the great mysterious figures in 70s underground rock – a key part of Big Star during that group's short run, a solo artist who produced some amazing music that was years ahead of its time, and a tragic figure who was taken from our planet all too soon! Like Gram Parsons, ... Book

Bob Bert is a lot more than just a drummer and this a lot more than a mere memoir, with tons of Bert's photographs from the early 80s NYC downtown scene, interviews and photos from his great 90s DIY zine BB Gun and lots more! Bert played in early era Sonic Youth, Pussy Galore, Chrome Cranks and ... Book

A beautiful expansion of a famous moment in creative journalism – the famous 1968 issue of Esquire magazine that featured William S Burroughs, Terry Southern, Allen Ginsberg, Jean Genet, and Abbie Hoffman at the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago! The results of that tumultuous event have ... Book

One of the coolest discographies you'll ever see in your life – a special book devoted to ultra-rare records created by artists as well as musicians – first published in 1989, and filled with a wealth of obscure records from the 50s through the 80s! Musical styles run from avant jazz ... Book

The story of Mark Murphy – one of our favorite jazz singers of all time – written by Peter Jones, also a jazz singer himself! Jones is London-based, and as such, does a really great job of capturing the ongoing enthusiasm and excitement about Murphy's career that was always a big part ... Book

One of the coolest record books we've ever seen – a smaller take on the album art format, but one that focuses exclusively on flexi discs – those thin little records which were usually given away free, and which are usually pretty hard-pressed to survive the passage of time! Yet author ... Book

A book that's very much what it's promised – the homoerotic journal of dance music and soundtrack composer Patrick Cowley – a key figure on the San Francisco scene before he left this planet in the early 80s! The book is pure sex, and nothing but – save, perhaps, for some essays ... Book

A really amazing look at the secret art and language of gang culture in Chicago – the most detailed book we've ever seen to examine the words on the street during the 60s, 70s, and 80s! Chicago had a very special sort of language to communicate gang activity and culture during the heyday of ... Book

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 ... Book

Stunning work from one of the greatest artists to ever hit the comic book page – the mighty Bernard Krigstein, an artist who was decades ahead of his time – and had a huge influence on other artists for decades to come! The book was published in conjunction with the huge Fantagraphics ... Book

Billy Vera's had a hell of a career in the music business – early years as both a performer and songwriter, then work behind the scenes as a producer and historian, a return to performing in the limelight – and lots of other surprising stops along the way! The book is told from Vera's ... Book

One of the greatest writers on singers presents his essential collection of albums from the 20th century – all served up with the kind of loving detail that's always made the prose of Will Friedwald so great! Will's written the book on Frank Sinatra – literally – and on Tony ... Book

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 ... Book