SO LYRICAL TRISH COOK FULL

Nico’s later years may have been shrouded in darkness, but she never descended to the hell Jimi Hendrix biographer Harry Shapiro describes in Graham Bond: The Mighty Shadow. Elsewhere, his portrayal of subsistence-level touring in the former Eastern Bloc is truly hair-raising, and there are (sometimes unintentionally) hilarious cameos from post-punk Mancunian cult heroes such as Eric Random and John Cooper Clarke. Some of the drug-related minutiae is not for the faint-hearted, but the author’s affection for his subject always shines through. But while Suze Rotolo later seemingly lost her youthful beau to Joan Baez, there’s little bitterness in her dignified yet vibrant memoir, which vividly recalls her heady, bohemian existence with Bob Dylan in the early 60s before the pressures of fame tore them apart.Īlso an iconic figure during the 60s, fashion model and Andy Warhol superstar Nico appeared on the massively influential The Velvet Underground & Nico LP, but Songs They Never Play On The Radio (written by her latter-day pianist James Young) focuses on her final years existing in semi-obscurity in 80s Manchester. The author of A Freewheelin’ Time: A Memoir Of Greenwich Village is usually recalled as the wistful-looking girl resting on the shoulder of the idealistic young boyfriend on the cover of 1963’s The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan.

So, while we’ve recently revisited a number of the most enduring biographies written in the name of a myriad of musical genres at uDiscover Music, we’re also keen to reappraise some of the most criminally unsung, yet riveting reads known to rock, in our list of the best music books you’ve never read.

SO LYRICAL TRISH COOK FULL

While many books richly deserve the adulation they attract, shelves full of underappreciated publications gather dust before they’ve even had the chance to register in the wider public consciousness. Dubiously attributed to sources ranging from Machiavelli to Winston Churchill, the phrase “history is written by the victors” is generally used in relation to military offensives, but it could just as easily relate to successful literary campaigns.

So lyrical trish cook