The Best Music You've Never Heard: Musical Adventures Off the Beaten Track (Rough Guides), by Nigel Williamson

Anyone who has searched for music beyond the top of the charts has discovered wonderful worlds of talent, including many artists who should have been contenders for greater popularity. The fun in The Best Music is comparing your list of should-have-beens with the author's. Nigel Williamson and collaborators are catholic in taste, searching obscure corners of folk and prog, blues and metal, Americana and psychedelia for forgotten nuggets-at least forgotten by younger generations. Some of the bands scored hits (Laura Nyro, Rotary Connection) and some developed cult followings in their day (Pretty Things, Can); some were respected outside the boundaries of rock (John Fahey, Albert Ayler). The essays are smart and convincing, making you wish you had followed the careers of David Ackles, Dory Previn and a dozen others. (David Luhrssen)