In my last post I mentioned the serious love-thing I have going on with music. Continuing on with that theme I thought I would share with you some of my favorite Autobiographies written by musicians. You will notice that most of these are country artists but I wanted to share with you books I've actually read by artists I honestly love. And truth is: I love country music.
Neon Angel: A Memoir of a Runaway Cherie Currie with Tony O'Neil
A 15 year old girl who dresses like David Bowie drops out of school and joins an all-girl rock band? Cherie Currie was everything I wanted to be in high school. This is one of my favourite books because her memoir is even more fascinating and disturbing than you would expect a teenage rock star's to be. It's very, very honest and a touch graphic so I would recommend this one just for the grown ups but it's a must for music fans.
Movie: There is a movie based on this book called The Runaways with Dakota Fanning playing Cherie and Kristen Stewart playing Joan Jett. The move is worth watching but skips over the really gritty parts of the book (it's still R16).
Johnny Cash Man In Black* Cash
If you enjoy a good 'I was so high that I ________' story then this one's for you! Unfortunately Johnny Cash, musical genius that he was, didn't always make the best decisions but this does make for an interesting read! The movie of Johnny Cash's life is called Walk the Line. Johnny cash is played by Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon won an Oscar for her role as June Carter.
*Unfortunately the last copy of Man in Black has been lost and it is currently out of print. If you somehow can get a hold of a second hand copy I highly recommend it.
Carole King A Natural Woman
The woman responsible for one of the greatest albums of all time (Tapestry) has finally bought out a memoir! Hooray! In her book she shares details of not only her successful song writing career but also her private life with her four children and four ex-husbands. It's quite a long one but she goes into detail about the music industry so anyone can pick up the book and read it.
In the audio book version (which unfortunately we don't have yet but the book only came out a few months ago so keep an ear out) Carole narrates the book herself while singing and playing the piano.
Coal Miner’s Daughter by Loretta Lynn, George Vecsey and Still Woman Enough by Loretta Lynn, Patsi Bale Cox
All bow down as the queen of country music tells her life story! Loretta shares with the reader all of the details of her life. From getting married at 13 and having 4 children by the time she turned 20 to Getting to play at the Grand Ol' Opry. Loretta fills you in on it all. The only down side to this book is that it's very simply written and It can get a little annoying but seeing as Loretta barely got a primary school education it's easily forgivable. You can't say this book isn't honest. Movie: Coal Miner's Daughter was made into a movie in 1980, with Sissy Spacek receiving the best actress Oscar for her role as Loretta. On May 10th 2012 it was announced that Zooey Deschanel would play Loretta Lynn in the Broadway musical adaptation of the movie.
Other books: Loretta has released 'Honky Tonk Girl: My Life In Lyrics' which is a book containing the lyrics of her songs as well as the song’s back story. She has also written a cookbook called 'You’re Cooking it Country' (A play on the title of her song 'You're Looking at Country').
From This Moment On - Shania Twain
Neon Angel: A Memoir of a Runaway Cherie Currie with Tony O'NeilA 15 year old girl who dresses like David Bowie drops out of school and joins an all-girl rock band? Cherie Currie was everything I wanted to be in high school. This is one of my favourite books because her memoir is even more fascinating and disturbing than you would expect a teenage rock star's to be. It's very, very honest and a touch graphic so I would recommend this one just for the grown ups but it's a must for music fans.
Movie: There is a movie based on this book called The Runaways with Dakota Fanning playing Cherie and Kristen Stewart playing Joan Jett. The move is worth watching but skips over the really gritty parts of the book (it's still R16).
Johnny Cash Man In Black* CashIf you enjoy a good 'I was so high that I ________' story then this one's for you! Unfortunately Johnny Cash, musical genius that he was, didn't always make the best decisions but this does make for an interesting read! The movie of Johnny Cash's life is called Walk the Line. Johnny cash is played by Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon won an Oscar for her role as June Carter.
*Unfortunately the last copy of Man in Black has been lost and it is currently out of print. If you somehow can get a hold of a second hand copy I highly recommend it.
Carole King A Natural WomanThe woman responsible for one of the greatest albums of all time (Tapestry) has finally bought out a memoir! Hooray! In her book she shares details of not only her successful song writing career but also her private life with her four children and four ex-husbands. It's quite a long one but she goes into detail about the music industry so anyone can pick up the book and read it.
In the audio book version (which unfortunately we don't have yet but the book only came out a few months ago so keep an ear out) Carole narrates the book herself while singing and playing the piano.
Coal Miner’s Daughter by Loretta Lynn, George Vecsey and Still Woman Enough by Loretta Lynn, Patsi Bale CoxAll bow down as the queen of country music tells her life story! Loretta shares with the reader all of the details of her life. From getting married at 13 and having 4 children by the time she turned 20 to Getting to play at the Grand Ol' Opry. Loretta fills you in on it all. The only down side to this book is that it's very simply written and It can get a little annoying but seeing as Loretta barely got a primary school education it's easily forgivable. You can't say this book isn't honest. Movie: Coal Miner's Daughter was made into a movie in 1980, with Sissy Spacek receiving the best actress Oscar for her role as Loretta. On May 10th 2012 it was announced that Zooey Deschanel would play Loretta Lynn in the Broadway musical adaptation of the movie.
Other books: Loretta has released 'Honky Tonk Girl: My Life In Lyrics' which is a book containing the lyrics of her songs as well as the song’s back story. She has also written a cookbook called 'You’re Cooking it Country' (A play on the title of her song 'You're Looking at Country').
From This Moment On - Shania Twain
I owe a lot to Shania Twain, without her 'Come on Over' album I probably wouldn't listen to country music all that much. So I was pretty excited when her autobiography 'From This Moment On' came out last year. I really liked this one. She's very honest about growing up poor in Canada and her husband's affair that ended her marriage and generally what it's like being Shania/Eileen Twain. There isn't a movie out about her yet, but I watch the crap out of that!
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