BOOK OF THE WEEK - The Baroness by Hannah Rothschild (Virago)

This is one of the strangest, most poignant and often amusing tales from the jazz world - one that has become fairly well-known in recent years via books, magazine articles, a film documentary and at least one radio programme that I know of. Basically it's the story of how a Rothschild baroness, Pannonica, a rebel and eccentric in the making, was so besotted on first hearing Thelonious Monk's Round Midnight that she sought him out and became his adviser, protector, close friend and benefactor. They were both married at the time and while Nica, as she was widely know, managed to co-exist with Monk and his wife Nellie, her husband, children and most of the Rothschild clan all but disowned her. Hannah Rothschild, her great-niece is in the advantageous position of having access to the surviving Rothschilds who knew Nica, and, one suspects, the luxury of being able to spend nearly twenty years piecing this story together. The first part of the book goes into the Rothschild's history and Nica's background in some depth in an effort to try and explain what could have shaped Nica's personality and compelled her to make such a life-changing decision to go off and live a bohemian existence in New York with a then-struggling black jazz musician who appeared to be totally dependent on the help of other people to live day-to-day. The book then introduces us to Monk, his background, and the New York jazz scene in the 50s and 60s. The story has a tragic inevitability about it but Hannah Rothschild does a very convincing job of reconciling the apparent incompatibility of their backgrounds and providing compelling reasons for why the story unfolds in the way it does. Highly recommended.

Andrew Loog Oldham

The new, music-themed issue of An Antidote To Indifference, the occasional but essential fanzine from Caught By The River (a proper fanzine printed on paper with wonky headings) features a brilliant two-page extract from the third volume of Andrew Loog Oldham's memoirs. His first two books, Stoned and 2Stoned, are required reading for anyone wanting to try and understand what went on in the 60s music business, and this new one, titled Stone Free and out soon on Escargot apparently, would appear to be just as indispensable. The Antidote extract deals with the birth of the legendary Immediate label. As soon as I have more details I will pass them on.

Ed Sanders - Fug You

Here's a book I definitely want to read, brought to my attention by Nigel Cross, a man of great taste and erudition. It's called Fug You and is Ed Sanders of The Fugs' informal history of the Peace Eye Bookstore, the Fuck You Press, The Fugs, and Counterculture in the Lower East Side. This is what Ben Ratliff had to say about it in The New York Times Book Review.

From the back of the shelf......

In the late 60s/early 70s just about the only place in London to find any sort of selection of music books that were mostly published in the U.S. was Compendium Books in Camden Town.  Nick Kimberley was the friendly, learned fellow there who knew everything there was to know about music writing and the underground press at the time and he was a huge help to me in two invaluable ways. He took copies of my fanzine Fat Angel to sell in Compendium and he introduced me to the very best in music writing from the U.S. Of course I still have all the books he persuaded me to buy and I treasure them even though some haven't stood the test of time very well. This one I think though just about has : ROCK AND ROLL WILL STAND - edited by Greil Marcus (Beacon Press, Boston, 182pp, pbk, 1969). It cost me £1.45 (there's currently a used copy available via Amazon for £49.99) and is a collection of topical, music-related essays by Bay Area writers who were probably all friends of Marcus and therefore operating on an intellectual level that at worst can be both intimidating and humbling and at best stimulate and enlighten. Rock music began to be taken seriously in 1967 and by 1969 a number of writers, inspired by Paul Williams and his groundbreaking Crawdaddy magazine, were trying to write important stuff about rock. Of course pretentiousness was rife and some hilarious prose resulted, but the best of these writers connected with an audience that wanted rock music to mean something. Marcus himself is of course the doyen of rock analysts and a master at explaining the meaning of it all and he has four essays here. Writers I probably should remember like Sandy Darlington, Steve Strauss and Stewart Kessler also contribute but sadly there is only one piece by Langdon Winner - one of the great writers from the era of Rolling Stone when its review section was the rock fan's bible. I've always thought that some of the best music writing I've ever read has been about talented writers coming up against the previously unknown and unfamiliar and trying to make sense of it. Even though its quality is patchy, this book is a good example of that. Don't pay £49.99 for it but perhaps it might be ripe for re-issue?

Up on the CAUGHT BY THE RIVER web-site today - my new Music Book Reader Bulletin -
http://www.caughtbytheriver.net/2012/05/the-music-book-reader-bulletin-5/#more-19356 

The Music Book Reader Bulletin at Caught By The River

As monthly as possible I post a column called The Music Book Reader Bulletin on the indispensable web-site Caught By The River. In the column I review a new and notable music book and mention other titles I think are worth attention plus news of forthcoming titles. A few months after I started writing it, it became apparent to me that there were more worthy books being published each month than I could give coverage to in the column and more scope for developing the idea of a resource and forum for people interested in music books than I had space for. Hence this blog which I hope will, in future, include contributions from kinded spirits. I'm particularly interested in featuring classic music book titles that are now out of print and deserving of re-issue. Let me know if you have any ideas! In the meantime my Caught By The River columns can be found at http://caughtbytheriver.net/?s=the+music+book+reader+bulletin. The column will hopefully be up on the site in the next few days featuring reviews of This Land Is Your Land : Woody Guthrie of an American Folk Song by Robert Santelli and A Perfect Haze : The Illustrated History of the Monterey International Pop Festival by Harvey and Kenneth Kubernik.

Woody Guthrie

Just finished reading Robert Santelli's excellent book This Land Is Your Land : Woody Guthrie and the Journey of an American Folk Song (Running Press, 256pp, hdbk). Guthrie's life has been well-documented, notably in Joe Klein's definitive biography Woody Guthrie : A Life, Guthrie's own Bound For Glory and the well-received film of the same name starring David Carradine. Santelli's book though has the evolution of Guthrie's most iconic song as the central thread in the story of his life and he firmly establishes it as the most important torch song for protest movements of all kinds through the ages. The book is beautifully produced and illustrated as well. Recommended.

Patti Smith

The Patti Smith memoir Woolgathering is the latest in a series of literary and photographic works illuminating her life and work. In case you missed it here is Luc Sante's assessment of this recent output in The New York Review of Books.

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2012/feb/09/mother-courage-rock/?pagination=false

Astute and discerning publishers Canongate can always be relied on to deliver quality music titles. Last month they re-published Stanley Booth's definitive account of The Rolling Stones on tour - The True Adventures of The Rolling Stones - http://www.canongate.tv/the-true-adventures-of-the-rolling-stones.html - with an introduction by Greil Marcus .
Two other titles forthcoming from Canongate to look our for :
My Song : A Memoir of Art, Race & Defiance by Harry Belafonte (June 2012)
How Music Works by David Byrne (Oct 2012)
And in August they are re-issuing the great Richard Brautigan's Sombrero Fallout with an introduction by Jarvis Cocker.

Notable new books for May

Of the scores of new music books that are published every month about ten are worth serious investigation and of those perhaps one or two will be reviewed outside of the pages of The Wire or Record Collector. Here are six books, out this month, that we will hopefully return to in more detail :

Woolgathering by Patti Smith (Bloomsbury Publishing 96pp hdbk £10)
Patti Smith : A Biography by Nick Johnstone (Omnibus Press 320pp pbk £9.95)
Dick Clark and the History of Rock'n'Roll by the Editors of Life Magazine (Life 80pp hdbk £11.24)
No Regrets : Writings On Scott Walker : Collected Pieces by Rob Young (Orion 288pp hdbk £20)
Brit Wits : A History of British Rock Humor by Iain Ellis (Intellect 208pp pbk £16)
Bert : The Life & Times of A.L Lloyd by Dave Arthur (Pluto Press 456pp hdbk £24.99)

Two New Books From The U.S

The Singing Book Shelf, when it's fully-stacked, will be an extension of, and elaboration on, my monthly column - The Music Book Reader Bulletin – at Caught By The River.

One of the aims of these random notes will be to highlight notable reviews of music books that appear in the mainstream press. This week the TLS published Stephen Brown's review of The Ellington Century (336pp. University of California Press. £24.95) in which he makes the valid point that “music books are much more fun to read in the age of the internet. The author mentions a piece – you plug it into Google – up come performances on YouTube”. Here's a link to the full review.

Music book event of the week is U.S.author Pat Thomas' visit to these shores to publicize his new book Listen, Whitey! : The Sights and Sounds of Black Power 1965-1975 (224pp. Fantagraphics. £28.99). Pat will be reading from his book and playing music from the accompanying CD at :

The Wire Salon, Cafe Oto, Dalston, London on Thurs May 10 from 8pm.

Rough Trade East on Fri May 11 from 6.30pm

Upstairs at The Ritzy, Brixton on Sat May 12 between 5pm and 6.30pm.