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
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