Music News Net

Gregg Allman to Publish His Memoir

MUSIC NEWS - Gregg Allman, solo artist and frontman for the legendary Allman Brothers Band, has signed with William Morrow with plans to publish his untitled memoir in the spring of  2012.  The news arrives just two days after Pete Townshend of The Who signed with HarperCollins (which owns William Morrow) for his memoir, and as bestsellers by Steven Tyler, Sammy Hagar and Keith Richards remain active in bookstores and libraries.

William Morrow describes the work as an "unflinching" look at his life. In a statement announcing the deal, Allman said, "When I got out of high school, I thought, I'll take a year or two off and play the clubs, get this out of my system and then go to med school. More than 40 years later, I figure it's finally time to write about this crazy journey that's taken me around the world and back."

BILLY JOEL Tells All in His "Book of Joel"

MUSIC NEWS- The Piano Man has released news that his book THE BOOK OF JOEL UNABRIDGED- A Memoir will be published on June 14 by Harper-Collins.  It's said to be unprecedented glimpse into the heart and soul of one of the world’s best entertainers, Billy Joel. Joel opens up about his highly-publicized battle with alcohol, just weeks after Elton John went public with concerns for his pal's heavy drinking problems in a candid magazine interview.

The NY performer / songwriter will offer a serious and reflective memoir of his life from early hard times to top-of-the-world successes, including the ups and downs of romance (and his marriage to Christie Brinkley, for whom he wrote “Uptown Girl”), his personal insights on fatherhood, and reflections on both the joys and the burdens of superstardom.  This book will captivate you as one of the music world’s greatest storytellers reveals all.

STEVEN TYLER Book Due Out by Father's Day

MUSIC NEWS - Aerosmith frontman and new "American Idol" judge, STEVEN TYLER, has reportedly wrapped out his memoir with plans to have it out May 11, 2011, publisher Ecco announced.  The memoir, "Does the Noise in My Head Bother You?" written by Tyler in collaboration with David Dalton has been in the works for two years, reports The Boston Globe .

Ecco, an imprint of HarperCollins, reported paid the Boston rocker, Tyler, $2M for the work.  Dalton has previously written books on Andy Warhol, Janis Joplin and James Dean.

BOB DYLAN Signs Six Book Deal with Simon & Schuster

MUSIC NEWS - Folk / rock legend, BOB DYLAN has signed a new six-book publishing deal with Simon & Schuster.  The songwriting legend's new deal will find him releasing two sequels to his 2004 book Chronicles: Volume One and two books based on his XM radio show, Theme Time Radio Hour, reports Crain's New York Business.

No other details about the remaining two books part of the deal have not been released.   Chronicles: Volume One was the first installment of Mr Dylan's memoirs, but didn't feature much material based on his mid-1960s life, when his fame was at its peak.

UPDATE 1/21/11 - The LA Times' Pop & Hiss reports that a Dylan source says there is "nothing to announce. [There is] a grain of truth in the Internet rumors, in that a variety of book projects are always being discussed, but no deal like that has been made."

 

Special KEITH RICHARDS Interview to Air on WFUV

MUSIC NEWS - Early this autumn, a few fortunate New Yorkers got the chance to see legendary Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards in conversation with music writer Anthony DeCurtis at the New York Public Library.  Tickets for this unique event sold out in an amazing 42 seconds, leaving thousands of fans shut outt and reminding them that you can't always get what you want. 

To help out, NYC's public radio station WFUV is making sure you get what you need, by airing the interview to all New Yorkers and Stones fans accross the globe in a special broadcast on Thursday, December 16, 2010 at 9:00 PM EST, two days before Richards' 67^th birthday. 

TOM WAITS, Published Poet ?

MUSIC NEWS- Iconic singer/songwriter, TOM WAITS will publish a book of poetry in March of 2011, via the University of Texas Press reports TwentyFourBit.com.  The tome, called HARD GROUND will be a collaboration with photographer Michael O'Brien and will feature his photographs of the homeless accompanied by Waits' poems.

Despite releasing over 20 albums and appeared in several, Waits has not yet to published any literature and has spoken in the past of his dislike of being labelled as a poet rather than a musician. The book is said to be modelled on Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, a 1941 book by Walker Evans and James Agee.   Like Waits and O'Brien's offering, it's a collection of photographs accompanied by poetry, featuring the downtrodden farmers during the Depression-era.

KEITH RICHARDS Suggests New Rolling Stones Album and Tour in 2011

MUSIC NEWS - Keith Richards has recently said he believes that the Stones will tour in 2011 and confirmed that the band has plans to begin recording new material after this Holiday season.   "There are gems in the vaults, but more interesting for me is that everybody's ready to go out there again," he recently told the BBC in the UK. while promoting his new autobiography, Life.  When he was asked if he was talking about a concert tour he added: "Yeah, I think next year."  

Talking about a new album from the Rolling Stones, Richards, 66, said: "Yes, there will be that too."  He explained that the band has "a lot of unfinished stuff to work on", but added that some newer material is also a possibility. "Knowing Mick as I do, he's a very prolific writer. I have ideas [too] and we'll put them together in December or January," he said. The new set would mark their first since 2005's  A Bigger Bang.

The Rolling Stones last performed live together back in August 2007 at London's 02 venue, with a three-night stand.


More @ BBC 6 Music

KEITH RICHARDS & MICK JAGGER - "marriage with no divorce"

MUSIC NEWS - Today's the day, back in 1961, when Keith Richards and Mick Jagger had a chance meeting on a train near the Dartford rail station in the UK.  Keith was impressed with the imported LPs that Mick had with him, and as they talked about their shared interest in music, especially American R&B, they rekindled their friendship. We all need to thank Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters and blues rock & roll don't we?

The relationship continued and in 1962 we got the birth of the longest running rock and roll act in history, the Rolling Stones. 

 

Weezer's RIVERS CUOMO Pens New "Pinkerton Diaries" Book

MUSIC NEWS - WEEZER's Rivers Cuomo will release a book this November about the band's 1996 album 'Pinkerton'.  Called, The Pinkerton Diaries it'll be published around Thanksgiving, with Cuomo noting book will give "an inside look as to exactly what I was thinking".

"[It's] a collection of all my journals, emails, letters, photos, school papers, everything from those years '94-'97," he recently told Spin. "So you get an inside look as to exactly what I was thinking." The Weezer frontman also told that the group's upcoming MEMORIES tour, which has the group performing their 'Blue' and 'Pinkerton' albums in full, will be different from "night to night".  

INNERVIEWS: Music Without Borders Published

MUSIC NEWS - The new book, Innerviews: Music Without Borders, from music journalist Anil Prasad, is now out in paperback, from AbstractLogix.com. The book features a wide range of 24 pop, jazz and rock legends telling stories they've never told before about their music and careers.

Artists included are Jon Anderson (YES), Bjork, Bill Bruford, Martin Carthy, Stanley Clarke, Chuck D, Ani DiFranco, Bela Fleck, Michael Hedges, Jonas Hellborg, Zakir Hussain, Leo Kottke, Bill Laswell, John McLaughlin, Noa, David Sylvian, Tangerine Dream, David Torn, Ralph Towner, McCoy Tyner, Eberhard Weber, Chris Whitley, Victor Wooten, and Joe Zawinul.

BILLY IDOL To Pen Memoir

MUSIC NEWS- Having recently wrapped up his North American tour, he's getting back to work writing.  This time though it's not new songs, as Billy Idol is writing a memoir, by himself. The  punk rocker is promising a story of sex and drugs and 24-hour madness. He's calling his book "Dancing with Myself," in honor of his 1980s smash hit single.  Idol, 54, announced in a statement he's "going out on a limb here - so watch my back."   Touchstone, a division of Simon & Schuster announced on Thursday that Idol's memoir will come out in late 2011 or early 2012.

Idol originally found fame in the UK with Generation X, a punk rock group.  He later became an international solo performer in the early days of MTV with hits that include "Rebel Yell" and "Flesh for Fantasy" and of course, "Dancing With Myself".

SCOTT WEILAND Announces Memoir Release

MUSIC NEWS - Simon & Schuster has announced a March 8, 2011 release for Not Dead and Not For Sale: A Memoir,  SCOTT WEILAND's (STONE TEMPLE PILOTS, VELVET REVOLVER) autobiography.  The memoir was co-written with David Ritz and will be released in a 224-page hardcover edition, as well as a digital eBook.

While you wait to read about Weiland's life, check him and Stone Temple Pilots out on tour.  They're out supporting their new album, May's Stone Temple Pilots release, their first in nearly a decade. Produced by the band and mixed by Chris Lord-Alge (GREEN DAY, DAVE MATTHEWS BAND, MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE), STP is back stronger than ever.

BEN FOLDS and NICK HORNBY Travel the "Lonely Avenue"

MUSIC NEWS - Word this week of the release of Lonely Avenue, a collaboration between two eminent artists, the American singer-songwriter Ben Folds and English novelist Nick Hornby will be released September 28 on Nonesuch Records. The album features music and vocals by Folds and lyrics by Hornby, with string arrangements by one of the most influential pop string arrangers of all time, Paul Buckmaster (David Bowie, Elton John, Leonard Cohen).

The record, which Folds intentionally made to be listened to on vinyl, was recorded on 2-inch tape and will be available on audiophile-grade vinyl, cut with the Direct Metal Master process at Abbey Road Studios and pressed at Pallas Manufacturing in Diepholz, Germany. 

OZZY OSBOURNE Scream Cover Art and Tracklist

MUSIC NEWS - Ozzy's at it again!  With his book, I Am Ozzy, riding high, we have new information on the June 15 release of his new album, SCREAM (out via Epic Records).  It marks his  first  album  in  three years and 10th studio album overall and now we have the cover artwork (at right) and full track listing (below).

  Ozzy Osbourne SCREAM Tracklisting-
   “Let It Die”
   “Let Me Hear You Scream”
   “Soul Sucker”
   “Life Won't Wait”

NEIL YOUNG -- Long May You Run: The Illustrated History to be Published

MUSIC NEWS - Voyageur Press has announced plans to publish the new work by rock journalists Daniel Durchholz (Rolling Stone) and Gary Graff (NYTimes); NEIL YOUNG -- Long May You Run: The Illustrated
History. This carfeully assembled book,  the first complete illustrated history published about this legendary Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee, will be in stores on May 15, 2010 and coincides with Young's Summer 2010 tour.  The book celebrates five decades of genre-spanning work by Young, perfectly mixing expertly researched text and many never-before-seen photos. A heavy duty 224-page volume, it follows Young's long-and-winding career, from the early days of Buffalo Springfield, on through CSNY, and of course, his unpredictably exhilarating solo career.

Born and raised in Canada, Neil Young is equally best known for acoustic/folk hits (Heart of Gold, Old Man) and raunchy garage rock (Cinnamon Girl,“Hey Hey, My My), and his time with the harmony-driven CSNY and the psychedelic pop of Buffalo Springfield.  This enticing book will appeal to fans of all
eras of Young's music.”In addition to many photographs from the 1960s all the way to the present, also included are concert posters and memorabilia from around the world, complemented by commentary from notable musicians, as well as an extensive discography.