I'm not looking for a glamorized, sex-drugs-and-rock-n-roll fantasy. I want the raw, gritty, and unglamorous truth, the burnout, the isolation, the pressure, the empty hotel rooms. Fiction or non-fiction, what's the best book you've read that truly captures the dark side of life on tour and in the spotlight?
by nb10001
13 Comments
Daisy Jones and the six is the only one I’ve come across
I’d recommend Anvil: The Story of Anvil. It’s the story of two more or less life-long friends who were/are in a band that was relatively successful in the 1980s but weren’t exactly successful when the book (and movie!) was made. It goes into the unglamorous side of being a musician. Read the book and then watch the movie.
I think Anvil: The Story of Anvil got pitched as being a real life “This Is Spinal Tap” but the actual story is a lot more than that.
# Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys: A Memoir – Viv Albertine
The Heroin Diaries, by Nikki Sixx.
this isn’t quite what you’re asking but you may enjoy the book deep cuts by holly brickley
Anthony keidis’ biography. Dark
Motley Crue’s The Dirt has the glamour and the horror.
Please Kill Me by Gillian McCain and Legs McNeil
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Fiction: The Art of Falling Apart by Mark Dawson. A band of generally unpleasant characters go on their first US tour.
Non fiction: Diary of a Rock and Roll Star by Ian McDermott of Mott the Hoople. I don’t know about bleak but it’s certainly honest. Also, in similar fashion, Backstage Passes and Backstabbing Bastards by Al Kooper
If you want a VERY real take, A Visit from the Goon Squad is the way to go.
Anthony Kiedis’ book Scar Tissue goes very deep into his addictions and how bad he really was for so long.
Wonderland Avenue: Tales of Glamour and Excess – by Danny Sugarman. A memoir detailing his time with The Doors, his struggles with addiction, and his experiences in the rock and roll world.
Please Kill Me: The uncensored oral history of Punk by Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain
Heavier Than Heaven by Charles R. Cross
—-goes deep into the life of Kurt Cobain and his struggles.
Meet Me in the Bathroom by Lizzy Goodman
—tells the about the resurgence of the New York scene in the early 00s.
I Am With the Band: Confessions of a Groupie by Pamela Des Barres
To Anyone Who Ever Asks: The Life, Music, and Mystery of Connie Converse by Howard Fishman
—early folk music singer/songwriter who appeared in the scene before Bob Dylan, and then mysteriously disappeared.