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Don't forget Led Zeppelin!
Stairway to Heaven by Richard Cole (The band's tour manager for about 10 years)
Hammer of the Gods by Stephen Davis
Actually, I did forget! Hammer of the Gods was one of the first ones I read. I also forgot to mention I've got "The One" about Jimi Hendrix. I haven't read much if it yet. Too many other priorities at the moment.
I also enjoyed another book, usually described as a graphic novel but with more history content than most historical novels: Stagger Lee - the story of a real-life murder and the songs and folklore that grew up around it and almost obscured it completely.
A long time ago, I read "The Education of Henry Adams", and since then I've never found an autobiography that could touch it. A wonderful "must read".
There is a spectacular autobiography ("My Struggle") of Norwegian author Karl Ove Knausgaard. The first 1300 pages or so has so far been translated into English. One of the more candid autobiographies
Thanks for the suggestions. The central character in my novel will be a rock musician, so these would probably be of interest to me. So far, for musicians, I've read biographies about Janis Joplin [Pearl], Bob Dylan, Madonna [by Andrew Morton], Jim Morrison [No One Get Out Alive, by Hopkins & Sugerman], and Sam Cutler [You Can't Always Get What You Want] (tour manager for Rolling Stones, Grateful Dead, etc.).
In addition to the Hammer of the Gods (about Led Zeppelin) and the bios listed above, I've also read:
Neon Angels - Cherrie Currie (lead singer for The Runaways) A Reporter's Life - Walter Cronkite The One: The Life and Music of James Brown(I've only read about 1/4 so far) Neil Young: Waging Heavy Peace(read about 1/2 so far)
I also have (but have not yet read) Between You and Me - Mike Wallace
Some of these are fairly random because I just pick them off the bargain shelves or find them at rummage sales.
So far they have all be reasonably interesting and informative, but nothing wildly outstanding. I thought Sam Cutler's book had some pretty interesting insights, and Cherrie Currie's story was intense, but the writing was not all that great. I'm not going to try to review all of the one's I've read, but if anyone has a special interest in any of them, I could say a bit more about it.
I wish there was a bio about Joan Jett, but there doesn't seem to be any.
I'm also waiting for Rainbow in the Dark - the bio about Ronnie James Dio (heavy metal singer). It was supposed to be out a year ago, but it's not so far as I can see.
Huey Long by T Harry Williams. Fascinating book and character from Louisiana. Always enjoy reading about how corrupt this country was at one time, more corrupt than Mexico!
Mellon by David Cannadine. Ah! These turn of the century corporate dynamo's! They were so lucky back then, no EPA or unions to battle with! In Pittsburgh, at one time, the air was so polluted you wouldn't dare open the windows of you houses! Lots of interesting history in this book, as well!
Titan, Life of John D Rockefeller by Ron Chernow. Another of these corporate dynamo's of that period! The story of his Father is one of the more interesting parts of the book, a full-blown scamster/criminal! He made lots of money posing as a Dr., and he was a quack Dr.!
J Edgar Hoover by Curt Gentry. I strongly advise anyone not, not, not to read this book unless you've got some powerful anti-depressants handy as you'll need them! And it's likely, even halfway thru the book, you'll cash in on all your assets, leave the country and never look back! Reading this book, it was like an AK-47 shooting bullets at me, continually! This book will give me a lifelong hangover! But, it was an eventuality, with the invention of that blasted device called the telephone! Yup! Just a decade in its invention/usage, they were dreaming/drooling over the idea of tapping telephones, and the technology finally arrived in the 1920's, and it's only accelerated from there! What Mr. Snowden had to say, was old, old news!
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