# Good Rock Biographies

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-rock-biographies/447348>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [April 29, 2008, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-rock-biographies/447348 "2008-04-29T13:59:56Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\
**Post date:** [April 30, 2008, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-rock-biographies/447348/21 "2008-04-30T03:08:36Z")

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Backstage Passes and Backstabbing Bastards: Memoirs of a Rock ‘N’ Roll Survivor by Al Kooper

Diary of a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star by Ian Hunter

All The Rage by Ian McLagan

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**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\
**Post date:** [April 30, 2008, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-rock-biographies/447348/22 "2008-04-30T12:44:25Z")

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[QUOTE=Lisa-go-Blind]  
I found Ronnie Spector’s biography, **Be My Baby** , to be interesting, if a little obviously ghostwritten. Even if you’re not interested in girl groups, she interacted with a lot of major figures of the '60s and '70s. Of course, her marriage to Phil Spector was also soap opera-crazy.

I’ll second Michael Azerrad’s **Our Band Could Be Your Life**. Simon Reynolds has written some terrific stuff as well: **Rip It Up and Start Again** (post-punk) and **Energy Flash** (rave and dance culture). I’m about to start George Harrison’s **I Me Mine** , so I’ll let you know how that goes.  
[/QUOTE]

**L-g-B** , I am interested in the Spector one, and thanks for the second on Azerrad. However, I really disagree with Rip it Up. I love the topic and found the bands themselves fascinating, but I found the book itself to be awful. To me it felt like a dry recitation - I kinda would’ve preferred it to be more like a reference book, since it kinda felt like one. I enjoyed getting a deeper perspective on Gang of Four and Green Gartside (sp? of Scritti Politti - jeez what an arc he followed…), but it wasn’t half as readable as Azerrad, IMHO.

And \*\*Quixotic \*\* I agree about the SRV book - I found it to be a very enjoyable read. It puts Stevie in the context of Texas blues, from T-Bone Walker and Albert King to Freddie King - and you learn about the burgeoning Austin music scene. And learning that Stevie was in a band with [Steve Tobolowsky](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0864997/) (imdb link - you know this guy from countless character roles in movies) is pretty funny…

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