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Do What You Fear Most: The History of the Velvet Underground
My upcoming book Do What You Fear Most: The History of the Velvet Underground (available in May 2026 on Omnibus Press) is by far the most comprehensive book on the Velvet Underground. The 800-page narrative biography covers the group's history with both thorough detail and critical insight. Drawing on more than 100 interviews and exhaustive research through documents and recordings rarely or never accessed, it unearths stories that have seldom been told, and eyewitness accounts that have seldom seen print, from figures ranging from band members to managers, producers, record executives, journalists, concert promoters, and fans. It incorporates recent first-hand research conducted at the Lou Reed Archive and Andy Warhol Archive
Won't Get Fooled Again: The Who from Lifehouse to Quadrophenia
Won't Get Fooled Again: The Who from Lifehouse to Quadrophenia details the Who's amazing and peculiar journey in the years during which they struggled to follow up Tommy with a yet bigger and better rock opera. One of those projects, Lifehouse, was never completed, though many of its songs formed the bulk of their 1971 album Who's Next. The other, Quadrophenia, was as down-to-earth as the multimedia Lifehouse was futuristic; issued as a double album in 1973, it eventually became esteemed as one of the Who's finest achievements, despite unavoidable initial unfavorable comparisons to Tommy. Drawing on material from several dozen interviews and mountains of rare archival coverage and recordings, it's the definitive account of this fascinating period in the Who's career, which saw both some of their greatest triumphs and, in Lifehouse, rock's most spectacular failure. Click here for excerpts from the book.
The Unreleased Beatles: Music and
Film
A mammoth 400-page, 300,000-word guide to the incredible
wealth of music the Beatles recorded that they did not release, as well
as musical footage of the group that hasn't been made commercially
available. Just published by Backbeat Books, the 8 1/2" X 11"-sized,
illustrated volume examines all unreleased studio outtakes, BBC radio
recordings from 1962-65, live concert performances, home demos, private
tapes, fan club Christmas recordings, and other informal recordings
done outside of EMI studios that have escaped into circulation.
Chronologically sequenced entries for all the Beatles' unreleased
recordings of note from 1957 to 1970 are here, as well as all the
unreleased Beatles musical video footage of note from 1961 to 1970.
Also included are overviews of songs composed by the Beatles that were
never recorded by the group, but given away to other artists;
recordings known or rumored to have been made by the group that haven't
yet circulated; Beatles compositions never recorded by anyone; coverage
of music the group didn't release while active, but later put out on
albums such as The Beatles at the
Hollywood Bowl, Live! At the
Star-Club, Live at the BBC,
Let It Be...Naked, and
the Anthology
volumes; and a history of Beatles bootlegs.
The Unreleased Beatles: Music
and Film is written with lively critical,
descriptive analysis emphasizing the music and its most human, artistic
qualities—and not just where and when the recordings were made. Click here for excerpts from the book, a
table of contents, and various Beatle-rarity-related lists of items
covered in the volume.
Eight Miles High: Folk-Rock's Flight from Haight-Ashbury to Woodstock
The second half of the two-volume history of 1960s folk-rock, which saw the movement branch off into folk-rock-psychedelia, singer-songwriters, country-rock, a distinctively British form of folk-rock, and more. While the Byrds, Bob Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel, and other folk-rock originals continued to blaze innovative paths, space also opened for new talents like Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, and the folk-rock supergroup Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Equally fine music was also made by underrated greats (Phil Ochs, Tim Buckley), artists who took decades to find cult followings (Nick Drake, Skip Spence), and others who remain virtually unknown (Blackburn & Snow). Published by Backbeat Books in 2003, this (like its predecessor, Turn! Turn! Turn! ) includes material from first-hand interviews with more than 100 of folk-rock's key players, from stars like Roger McGuinn of the Byrds, Donovan, John Sebastian of the Lovin' Spoonful, and Judy Collins to behind-the-scenes producers and cult artists. Click here for excerpts from the book; transcripts of interviews with folk-rockers; links to web pages devoted to folk-rock musicians and folk-rock in general; lists and descriptions of the author's favorite folk-rock recordings, both famous and obscure; and a user-friendly guide to folk-rock's most pivotal performers, songs, and innovations.
Turn! Turn! Turn!: The 1960s Folk-Rock Revolution
The first half of a two-volume history of the thrilling musical movement that blended folk and rock in the mid-1960s, injecting social consciousness into popular music and creating some truly unequaled sounds by the likes of both stars (the Byrds, Buffalo Springfield), underrated greats (Richard & Mimi Fariña, Fred Neil), and the wholly unknown (the Blue Things). Published by Backbeat Books in 2002, it includes material from first-hand interviews with more than 100 of folk-rock's key players, from stars like Roger McGuinn of the Byrds, Donovan, John Sebastian of the Lovin' Spoonful, and Judy Collins to behind-the-scenes producers and cult artists. The second half of the story (Eight Miles High), picking up where Turn! Turn! Turn! leaves off in mid-1966 and following folk-rock all the way to the end of the 1960s, was published by Backbeat in 2003. Click here for excerpts from the book; transcripts of interviews with folk-rockers; links to web pages devoted to folk-rock musicians and folk-rock in general; lists and descriptions of the author's favorite folk-rock recordings, both famous and obscure; and a user-friendly guide to folk-rock's most pivotal performers, songs, and innovations.
Unknown Legends of Rock'n'Roll
Published in 1998 by Miller Freeman Books, Unknown Legends of Rock'n'Roll profiles 60 underappreciated cult rock artists of all styles and eras, drawing extensively upon first-hand interviews. Click here for a list of the artists covered; excerpts from the book; links to web pages devoted to the musicians, mini-genres of cult rock, and other sites with a bounty of info on obscure and unusual rock; reviews of new reissues of various unknown legends; and a rotating selection of author favorites.
Urban Spacemen & Wayfaring Strangers: Overlooked Innovators and Eccentric Visionaries of '60s Rock
The sequel to Unknown Legends of Rock'n'Roll,documenting twenty cult rockers from the 1960s. No repeats from Unknown Legends of Rock'n'Roll, and just as long, with each chapter running about three times as long as the average chapter in Unknown Legends,allowing for extremely detailed investigation of the careers of greats like the Pretty Things, Arthur Brown, Richard & Mimi Fariña, and Tim Buckley. Click here for a list of the artists covered; excerpts from the book; links to web pages devoted to the musicians, mini-genres of '60s cult rock, and other sites with a bounty of info on obscure and unusual '60s rock; reviews of new '60s reissues of various unknown legends; and various odds and ends illuminating hidden corners of rock's greatest decade.
A guide to the regional popular music of the United States, published by Penguin as part of the Rough Guides' music reference series in 1999. Chapters on twenty cities and areas of the country, from New York and Louisiana to San Francisco and Hawaii, provide an overview of the evolution of all forms of twentieth-century American music, including rock, jazz, blues, country, folk, Cajun, Tex-Mex, soul, Native American, rap, zydeco, and more. Includes capsule reviews of several hundred of the most crucial recordings, and guides to the best venues and radio stations in each region, as well as to the best books and videos for further investigation. Click here for excerpts from the book; transcripts of interviews of various musicians, incorporated into feature sidebars in the book; and lists of recommended listening for various American musical genres.
Want to Buy a Book?
All of my books are widely available at both independent
booksellers
and chain bookstores throughout North America, as well as many such
outlets
overseas. To order on-line via amazon.com, click on the appropriate
book
cover below.
