Robert Crumb, better known as R. Crumb, is an American cartoonist, well-known for being outspoken, critical and subversive, for his highly recognizable illustrative style, and for his friendship and collaborations with Charles Bukowski. But many people don’t realize that Crumb is also a musician.
As well as singing, Crumb plays the banjo, the mandolin and more. He is an avid fan of blues, country, jazz, bluegrass and similar styles of music. As a project, Crumb created several sets of trading cards dedicated to the pioneers of his musical passion. Each card was an illustration by Crumb, with a brief bio of the musician in question on the back. In 2006, these cards were reproduced and published together. This book comes with a bonus CD of music selected by R. Crumb.
If you love music and discovering new music, if you agree that music can bring up memories and nostalgia more powerfully than anything else, and if you believe that life should have a soundtrack, Love is a Mix Tape by Rob Sheffield is the book for you.
Jarvis Cocker, frontman of Pulp and the man who invaded the stage while Michael Jackson performed because Jackson was attempting to be some “kind of Christ-like figure with the power of healing”, is the latest celebrity to move into publishing. He is following Pete Townsend, Henry Rollins and Anthony Bourdain. The Guardian interviews him and you will soon understand why he’s moving into publishing.
It’s 20 years since the release of Nevermind by Nirvana and the mainstream media have been all over this anniversary. Last week I listened to NPR interviewing the album’s producer at length and today the Daily Telegraph reviews a book called Everybody Loves Our Town: A History of Grunge by Mark Yarm.
This entertaining book…. does not set out to answer why Seattle, previously a backwater of the American music scene, suddenly produced a clutch of bands, including Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden, that would change the sound of rock music and capture the attention of the world. Instead Yarm charts the phenomenon in the words of the lumber-jack-shirted protagonists themselves, gathering hundreds of interview transcripts and piecing them together into a rip-roaring melodrama fuelled by musical passions, youthful insolence, oscillating fraternal and romantic allegiances, alcohol, tall stories and, increasingly towards its demise, drugs.
Peter Gent, a one-time football player for the Dallas Cowboys who wrote North Dallas Forty, died on Friday at the age of 69. The NY Times had an obituary. I love the film and the novel. Nick Nolte’s opening scene of the movie where he can barely move following a game but hauls his beaten-up body into the bathroom in order to take some more painkillers is wonderful. And to think people said Gent’s portrayal of professional football as ruthless, heartless and filled with painkilling drugs and alcohol abuse was a lie. In reality, Gent had only scratched the surface.
Is New York’s Chelsea Hotel doomed? NPR asks this question as the famous haunt of writers, artists and musicians has been bought a property developer who doesn’t say much.
The Chelsea Hotel has a literary past like no other. Arthur C. Clarke wrote 2001 while staying there, Jack Kerouac wrote parts of On the Road while there and Dylan Thomas – well, let’s not go into that one.
Once filled with art by residents, the walls and stairwells are mostly bare now. Only the long-term residents remain. The staff — some of whom had been there for decades — have been let go. When the staff left, says Nicola L., “the bellman, the people at the desk — it was like we didn’t have family anymore and we were in an empty boat. “
My colleague Julie loves the White Stripes, and Jack and Meg and all that. I only know one song by them but then again the Beatles were still together when I was born.
This photo-book documents the White Stripes’ Under Great White Northern Lights tour across Canada. Photographer Autumn de Wilde travelled with the band and was able to capture the country, the band and backstage life. There are nearly 300 photos in The White Stripes: Under Great White Northern Lights. It’s a must-have for fans of the band.
Technology marches on. Ebooks are going to have soundtracks. The days of a quiet read are over. Last week, the first so-called “enhanced ebook” was released in the UK – it was The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Speckled Band and it came complete with driving rain, thunderclaps and blood-curdling screams. It sounds like a lame night at the amateur dramatics. The Daily Telegraph has the story.
Some people will love this. Classical music can be a wonderful companion to a good book. Myself, I nearly always read in complete silence at the end of the day. I have one exception. Back around 2000, I read Stalingrad by Anthony Beevor and put Massive Attack’s Mezzanine album on a continuous loop while I was reading.
Mezzanine (which I also recommend) is dark and threatening electronica, and perfectly accompanies Stalingrad where Beevor describes one of the most brutal of all World War II battles. Beevor’s account of the conditions endured by the city’s residents should be read by everyone. I finished the book and thought ‘How did this happen?’
Just think, if you are reading Jaws by Peter Benchley on your ereader you can have John Williams’ legendary movie soundtrack playing as the Great White takes a chunk out of a swimmer.
Thousands of students across North America are preparing to return to college in the coming weeks and as usual AbeBooks is also gearing up to supply cheap textbooks to people who are counting every dollar. But don’t just take my word for it. My colleague, Jordan, in the AbeBooks marketing department has written and performed a country and western-themed song entitled ‘AbeBooks Sends Me Textbooks on the Cheap’ and it tells you everything you need to now. We’re cheap, fast and easy (but also musical).
The Observer wrote at the weekend about the demand for rock memoirs and autobiographies. Keith Richards, Patti Smith, Steve Tyler and Sammy Hagar have all enjoyed success in recent times.
To be honest, I enjoyed the Bob Dylan Chronicles book a few years ago and have also read Anthony Kiedis’ Scar Tissue, about life in the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Generally, I don’t browse rock star books very much. How many stories of drink and drugs does one need? Also these people live in the public spotlight so we know plenty about what they get up to.
If you do like rock star memoirs, then here’s a list of books signed by musicians. Lots of famous names, but who would buy a book signed by Donny Osmond?
It’s always fascinating to trawl through the signed books that are available on AbeBooks. We found a wide selection of books signed by famous pop stars, rock stars, and country singers too. Our list ranges from Neil Young to three members of the Rolling Stones to Eric Clapton, Sting (his autobiography, Broken Music, is pictured right) Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash. I love the title of Davey Jones’ autobiography – They Made a Monkee Out of Me.
I’ve read Chronicles by Bob Dylan and it’s not a bad book at all. Not sure I’d go for the Donny Osmond book myself…See the list.
It’s usually pretty rude to ask a girl what she has in her handbag, but if she’s dead then I guess it’s OK for us to take a peek.
The Hairpin blog delves into the archives and Janis Joplin’s handbag, and finds an empty bottle of Southern Comfort and some smokes (of course), plus two books – Nancy Milford’s biography of Zelda Fitzgerald and Thomas Wolfe’s Look Homeward, Angel.
The idea of Joplin carrying around a book about Zelda almost makes you want to cry.
Author David Mitchell’s hero(ine) is Kate Bush. How post-modern! (Do people still talk about post-modernism?) I thought she was great too. There are various books about the singer songwriter but none by her. Surely someone as bonkers and creative as Bush would have a good story to tell?
It’s always fascinating to trawl through the signed books that are available on AbeBooks. We found a wide selection of books signed by famous pop stars, rock stars, and country singers too. Our list ranges from Neil Young to three members of the Rolling Stones to Eric Clapton, Sting (his autobiography, Broken Music, is pictured right) Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash. I love the title of Davey Jones’ autobiography – They Made a Monkee Out of Me.
It’s usually pretty rude to ask a girl what she has in her handbag, but if she’s dead then I guess it’s OK for us to take a peek.
