Dear Listener,

Working at Lemuria makes me feel behind.  With so many great books coming out, not being able to read everything gives me physical pain.   Finding time to step back and read old Walker Percy or old William Faulkner just seems out of the question.  Although I want to, I feel that the relevance of classics doesn’t carry the same hype that a newly released gems do.  

With that said, since I started working at Lemuria, I have read almost exclusively fiction.  In the past, I’ve always been good at mixing everything up.  After reading a dense Cormac McCarthy, I would switch to a non-fiction book about music writing in the 80s.  After finishing a few Hemingways in a row, I would pick up a culture book to give my emotions some rest.  This system was successful, until I stopped using it.  Lately I have read nothing but fiction, and it needs to stop.  

I have always been a fan of music writing.  Anyone who knows me knows that my favorite book isn’t by Hemingway or McCarthy, but Michael Azerrad.  In 2001 he released Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes From the American Indie Underground 1981-1991 which profiled thirteen indie bands from 1981-1991.  His writing on the Replacements and Husker Du and Minutemen broke ground for my eventual taste for their music.  In the period that Azerrad wrote about, there wasn’t Myspace or boutique record labels.  There were smart men and women who booked their own tours and played music that hadn’t been played before.  If this sounds interesting, we have a copy.  

Reading Our Band Could Be Your Life gave me a strong interest music culture and writing.  Around that same time period I discovered the 33 1/3 series.   Each book in the series profiles one record that was influential to the history of music.  Out of the eighty-five that are currently in publication, the names range from My Bloody Valentine to ABBA to A Tribe Called Quest to Ween and everything in between.  I can personally attest to the validity of several, but I’d like to make that number.  I have made a decision that every fiction book I read will be followed by a book from the 33 1/3 series.  (You can find a list of the series here.)

If you have any interest in this series, come see me.  Although we only have three of the eighty-five in stock, I will gladly order any one that you want.  Below is a song by The Magnetic Fields called Papa Was A Rodeo from their prolific 1999 triple album 69 Love Songs, which is the sixty-ninth book in the 33 1/3 series.  Here the song is covered by Bright Eyes.

33 1/3 Electric Ladyland by John Perry

33 1/3 Highway 61 Revisited by Mark Polizzotti

33 1/3 Live at the Apollo by Douglas Wolk

33 1/3 Trout Mask Replica by Captain Beefheart

by Simon

Dear Listener,

I have never understood the quite spoken rivalry between The Beatles and the Rolling Stones.  I remember being a ten year old who loved the White Album.  I was frequently chastised by stupid petty adults for being anti-Rolling Stones.  Why would liking The Beatles make me anti-Rolling Stones?  Why would anyone have to choose a side? I’ve always considered them rigidly different bands.  My favorite Rolling Stones album is Some Girls.  I consider Some Girls to be the most folky jangly country Americana album any non American has ever released.  Trying to compare that to Revolver, my favorite Beatles album, would be like comparing light bulbs to blankets.  No one would like light bulbs more than blankets or vice versa.  No one would ever consider the two synonymous enough to pick a favorite.

With that said, George is my favorite Beatle.  He always has been.  His persona (at least how I imagine it) was always quiet, talented, emotional, and empathetic.  While in The Beatles, he was often overpowered by John and Paul, and had only a handful of his songs make it to the album.  It wasn’t because he didn’t write songs.  Far less than a year after The Beatles called it quits, George released his triple album All Things Must Pass.  A TRIPLE album.  Considering, I empathize with George.  He will always be my favorite.

I am writing this on November 29, 2011.  Ten years ago today George Harrison died of cancer at the age of 58.  

Martin Scorsese recently directed a documentary for HBO on George Harrison called George Harrison: Living in the Material World.  There is a book by the same name that was written by George’s widow Olivia Harrison.  In the forward, Martin Scorsese writes

Something beautiful happened whenever George played the guitar – I’m thinking of that lyrical break on “You’re Gonna Lose That Girl’, among so many other magical moments with The Beatles – and here he was reveling in a newfound freedom, making music that was all his own.  There was real joy in the sheer act of creativity.  I remember feeling that it had the grandeur of liturgical music, of the bells used in Tibetan Buddhist ceremonies.  The wonder I felt the first time I heard that music has never left me.

To see original pictures, drawings, and lyrical sheets from George Harrison that encompass this book, come check our music section.  You know we have a copy.

by Simon

Dear Listener,

With Christmas season nearly upon us, I have been hard at work making our music section something quite shoppable and convenient.  Being well aware that most people have at least one music lover as a family member or friend, I thought I could take this post to outline some of the best books we have in stock.

With a preface from Keith Richards, an introduction by Mick Jagger, and an afterward by James Taylor, it is no surprise that All Access: The Rock ‘N’ Roll Photography of Ken Regan is getting a great deal of attention among music, book, and photography lovers.  Not just a photographer, but a fan and friend to musicians, Ken Regan captured decades of music from the folk scene of the 6os  to the British Invasion to Madonna to KISS and everything in between.  Keith Richards writes of Regan “to sense it, to feel it….Maybe like hearing a song before it has been written.  Whatever this intuitive sense, is what my longtime friend has.”  Below are several examples of the brilliance you can find hidden in this book.

The only introduction this next book needs is the quote on the front cover.  Dolly Parton writes “God bless America and God bless The Oxford American Book of Great Music Writing.”  Beginning in 1996, the Oxford American has been producing an annual Southern Music Issue that explores music from all genres and time periods with one idea in mind: The South. With contributions from Steve Martin, John Jeremiah Sullivan, Tom Piazza, Roy Blount, Jr., R. Crumb, and many others, this book is a must have among not just music fans, but faithful supporters of the Oxford American.

Everybody Loves Our Town: An Oral History of Grunge edited by Mark Yarm (of no relation to Mudhoney’s Mark Arm) has quickly become one of my personal favorites.  Yarm takes from interviews from the more obvious bands such as Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Alice in Chains, but also takes the time to recreate the scene not so clearly remembered.  There are interviews with Babes in Toyland, L7, and U-MEN, not to mention the interviews with DJ’s, roadies, record store employees, and people who happened to be around the scene.  This technique of inclusion stitches together what you may not remember from the time.  Stories are told from so many points of view, Yarm is creating legends that hadn’t yet been created.  The book loosely revolves around Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love’s fledgling relationship, with fact and myth being blurred as much as anyone should expect.  If your memories of this period are a little hazy, or you weren’t born yet (AHEM), this book will give you the feeling that the grunge scene is still in its heyday.

 John Szwed has written biographies on both Miles Davis and Sun Ra.  In his most recent book, Alan Lomax: The Man Who Recorded the World, Szwed tackles the great figure who was Alan Lomax.  I could never say enough about Lomax, so here is the first paragraph of the synopsis:

Musicologist, archivist, anthropologist, political activist, singer, author, DJ, photographer, talent scout, filmmaker, concert and recording producer, television host – Alan Lomax was one of the most remarkable figures of the twentieth century, a man whose striking achievements in so many different areas of culture merited a front-page obituary in The New York Times upon his death in 2002.  No part of this staggering body of work, however, has proven to be as influential or as long-lasting as his introduction of folk music to a mass audience, changing not only how everyone in the country heard that music but how they viewed America itself.

Hopefully, these few ideas will get you started.  We have a great music selection with books about all different genres, as well as music culture books that will leave you gasping for air.  Come by and take a look for yourself.

We are now also very proud to offer music from Jackson’s own Esperanza Plantation Records.  You can pick up vinyl copies of Gutter Gaunt Gangster, the latest record from The Weeks, for just $10 and El Obo’s Oxford Basement Collection for $15.

We also have compact discs of the latest albums from Johnny Bertram & the Golden Bicycles, Wooden Finger, and Tommy Bryan Ledford for $10 apiece.

Below is the official video for El Obo’s Vrgn Evl animated by our friend Justin Schultz.

by Simon

Dear Listener,

Recently I was listening to the NPR show On Point hosted by Tom Ashbrook.  The second hour of the show heard indie/pop songstress Ingrid Michaelson discussing her music and career.  Alexandra Patsavas was also briefly featured on the show.  She is a music supervisor for Chop Shop Music Supervision who helps television shows and movies decide what music to place in certain scenes.  You can hear that hour of On Point here.

One of the points that Alexandra Patsavas discussed was the amount of shame that musicians endured when they sold their music to television, movies, and advertisement.  Today’s market has shifted.  With the decline of album sales, musicians are finding new ways to make money, and the general populous has come to accept that.  Album sales weren’t always so atrocious, though.  There was a time, long, long ago in which people gave actual US Dollars for compact discs and records.  During these mythical times, it was actually more difficult to record and produce a record than it is today (ironic, huh?).  The vast majority of bands either signed to a major label, or (more commonly) ceased to exist.  By the late 70’s there were some people that were beginning to tire of the way the music industry was working.

Our Band Could Be Your Life by Michael Azerrad profiles thirteen independent bands from 1981-1991.  All thirteen of these bands shared a common trait that was so common during those early years:  Doing It Yourself (hence the term independent).

Eric Weisbard said this in the New York Times Book Review:

“In the decade Azerrad covers, indie America proved that world-class rock could be created outside corporate structures….Our Band Could Be Your Life passionately resurrects thirteen indie groups…Azerrad is adept at drawing out musicians’ war stories — and this bare-bones movement was full of them.”

Please enjoy this song from one of the profiled bands Mission of Burma from their 1982 album Vs.

Even if you aren’t a fan of the Replacements, or Sonic Youth, or Black Flag, or Mudhoney, or Minutemen, this book is worth reading.  It is worth the knowledge that in the eighties there were people who worked as hard as they could to eek out a living making music.

The Guardian included it in the 50 best music books ever written.  Paste Magazine named it one of the 12 best music books of the decade. The Los Angeles Times listed it as one of the “46 Essential Rock Reads.”

Please read this book.  If you can’t afford it, find me; I’ll buy it for you.

by Simon

From the projects hustlin’ crack to the top of hip-hop to board room executive, Jay-Z has been around. For me, as a white boy who was raised in what felt like the heartbeat of the suburbs, I didn’t exactly grow up feeling like hip-hop was the voice of my experience in the world; but neither is Baroque polyphony and I can get down on Johann’s fugues all day long. Overtime I have nurtured a strong respect for the hip-hop phenomenon and the artists who define it.

In this fresh looking book Jay-Z tells his story and outlines a host of his songs with footnotes for clarification. One might say he: decodes them…But in all seriousness, so far, what I have read of the book it is very fascinating. Jay-Z has had the insight to be able communicate his experience with a person like me and know that there is power in that.

“Hip-hop had described poverty in the ghetto and painted pictures of  violence and thug life, but I was interested in something a little different: the interior space of a young kid’s head, his psychology. Thirteen-year-old kids don’t wake up one day and say, ‘Okay, I just wanna sell drugs on my mother’s stoop, hustle on my block till I’m so hot niggas want to come look for me and start shooting out my mom’s living room windows.’ Trust me, no one wakes up in the morning and wants to do that. To tell the story of  the kid with the gun without telling the story of why he has it is to tell a kind of lie.”

-John P.

“The night I met Billy Joe Shaver, my hair caught on fire. I kid you not. The year was 1971. The place was Nashville, Tennessee.”

So begins the reading with Marshall Chapman for her new book They Came to Nashville. And after a song, another funny story of her initial unwillingness to accept Willie Nelson’s agreement to interview. In her new book, Marshall interviews the big names and small names who humbly came to Nashville to follow their dreams. She asks them what exactly brought them to Nashville and what enabled them to persevere.

Singer/Songwriter Marshall Chapman first came to Lemuria years ago for the Sonny Brewer event for the Blue Moon anthology. She closed the night with music but also had her own essay in the anthology. Ever since then, she hasn’t missed an opportunity to visit us at Lemuria as well as other bookstores in Mississippi.

The great thing about about coming to Lemuria events is that sometimes it’s impossible to know what to expect. After so many good laughs, and beautiful, tender songs, Marshall’s visit was a welcome treat at the end of a hectic day.

This South Carolina native is also the author of the best-selling memoir Goodbye, Little Rock and Roller and has also a dozen of her own albums in addition to her extensive list of song writing credits.

And now, I am going to quit trying to write about Marshall. She is just a someone you have to experience in person. If you weren’t able to make it last night, the video below will give some idea about what a funny charming delight she is.

Her latest CD “Big Lonesome” is also for sale at Lemuria. If you would like to learn more about Marshall, check out her website: www.tallgirl.com

I have heard it said that writing about music is a perpetual challenge, mostly because there is really no way to describe music unless you can hear it for yourself. Think about it. Can you imagine telling someone what the opening sequence of Kashimir sounds like? Can you really describe the sounds of seeing a band live for the first time after years of devotion?

Steve Almond does his best to capture music with words in this book of memoir-esque devotion, Rock and Roll Will Save Your Life. He has dubbed himself (and others like him) a “drooling fanatic,” and he uses this term throughout his book to manifest the levels of devotion that he feels towards rock music.

When I met Steve Almond in March of 2010, I was struck by the self-deprecating manner in which he addressed our Creative Writing group. He claims  he is a mediocre writer who never makes any money and pretty much advised our class never to become writers because we’d all experience a very wretched existence. But Almond lectured our class in a way that negated his warning: he was hilarious, over-the-top and completely crude, but his sentimentality and love for his work radiated in his commentary despite his best efforts to maintain the “I don’t give a crap” tough-guy front.

While visiting our class, Almond read to us a section of this book, and I was captivated by his writing style. You have to be ready for Steve Almond, because he is always going to say exactly what he thinks. His book is an apt reflection of his personality, a mix of jarring descriptions of things like being stoned at Graceland (and being a loser pothead in general) with tender reflections on being a father, husband and true lover of all things rock music.

The book  is laid out in the format of a mixed CD and features a link to an accompanying online play list (way to blend form and content, Steve!). The first chapter, “Bruce Springsteen is a Rock Star, You Are Not” features a hilariously accurate list entitled “Bands Shamelessly Overexposed by the ‘Alternative’ Press,” something that had me laughing for the rest of the book. Each chapter name-drops a sprinkling of songs and artists, some of whom Steve has met and others who he dreams of becoming, and many “side notes” in the book feature Steve’s personal lists such as “top songs to listen to when depressed,” and “Rock’s top 10 religious freaks.”

The downside to this book is how young I felt reading it. Despite being a fan of rock and roll, I realized while reading this book that Mr. Almond is most attune to the music culture of his heyday: mixtapes and record albums aren’t a big part of my instantly-downloaded music life.  At other times, I found myself wondering why the book wasn’t called “Rock and Roll Could Save Your Life;” then I realized that Mr. Almond’s message (and use of the word “will”) is quite serious.

And that’s the good thing about Steve Almond. While he acknowledges that all of our “drooling fanatic” experiences are different, there are universal truths available to everyone who loves music (even “bad” music). It is these truths that Almond seeks to expose in this strangely captivating book.

Finally: If you want a taste of Steve before you buy this book, check out this video.

Nell

Scott Barretta has a great review of Barry Mazor’s new book on Jimmie Rodgers. Barry will be here Thursday night.