Arts & Music Books > Popular Music Arts & Music Books > B

Advantages: Interesting read, informative
Disadvantages: Not a complete history of 60's music

...born in 1942 from a white very middle class background; he first discovered a love of music from listening to his parent's old scratchy blues and jazz recordings. Boyd did more than simply become a fan he sought out those artist he loved many of which were living in relative poverty and helped to bring them to the attention of a wider white audience. When we think of sixties bands we might think of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Jimi ...
...shunned by American audiences both white and black whilst being worshipped by newfound British fans. It took a British blues explosion with bands like The Yardbirds, Cream, The Stones, Fleetwood Mac to take this music back to its home in the US and get homegrown audiences interested. I'm not claiming and neither is Boyd that he single-handed gave rise to this musical revolution but he was certainly a part of it and he was certainly there to witness ... Read review

Advantages: a funny trip down memory lane
Disadvantages: some of the songs you would rather forget

...never truly forgotten (even if we try hard to erase them from our memory) as some of the songs are too famous (or more likely to be infamous) for that fate. I enjoyed Tom Bromley's trawl through the strange world of the one hit wonder. It reminded me of a literary version of the nostalgia and list shows (I love the 100 best type of shows) that were fashionable a few years ago. It's even better than them because you do not have to listen to some ...
...is very subjective and personal. We all have our guilty pleasure. I quite like Brian and Michael's Matchstick Men and Matchstick Cat's and Dogs". I'm not sure how the author can put Deep Blue Something' Breakfast at Tiffanys is one of the worst one hit wonders ever. I love the song as it reminds me of being at uni and just find it quite catchy. I would really recommend this book if you want to chortle down memory lane to the rubbish music (and the ... Read review

Advantages: The "facts" behind the band
Disadvantages: the godamn writing style of the author

I have recently finished this book which I bought some time ago - with my renewed interest in the band documented here I thought I would give it another go. All I will say is that if you just have a passing interest in this band give it a miss. If you want the facts behind the formation of the band and the recording of the songs it is quite good. The book details the upbringing and backgrounds of all four members of Talking Heads - David Byrne,Tina ...
...form one of the most influential bands of the last 25 years. In this respect the book is good - it offers insight into the band dynamics and the otherwise unknown love/hate relationship between Weymouth & Byrne. I knew there was animosity there but this book suggests, through interviews and observations from those close to the band, that Tina was in love with David and vice versa even though Tina had always been with Chris Frantz and indeed married ... Read review

Advantages: hugely informative, overwhelming amounts of knowledge
Disadvantages: can be confusing at first, book is written in fragmented format

...the subject can change (by performing the change on you). Tricks Of The Mind is an incredibly enjoyable and informative education read and I recommend it to anyone who is interested in the world of the human mind, beliefs and expectation, hypnosis and NLP, body language and psychic abilities. ... Read review

Advantages: Everything you could ever want to know
Disadvantages: Slightly upsetting in places

This is quite a significant book to me. I grew up listening to Thin Lizzy and being Irish, my whole family was totally in love with their music. Phil Lynott was such a complex character I felt I owed it to him to read this book, just to prove that there was more to him than just the drugs. I learnt so much about him and the band that at points I felt I knew them. It was strange to think that if only Phil had stopped the drugs, he'd still be here. ...
...gives us all the gory details of his life, it tells tales of Phils hilariously flirtatious character, his obsession with music and showed us what a loving father he was and how much he loved being a father. Last year I had the privelige of meeting his son and I felt like I knew everything about his father and he knew so little (he had only just found otu Phil was his father due to Phil giving him away because of his religion). It was amazing, it ... Read review