Bring It On Home: Peter Grant, Led Zeppelin, and Beyond—The Story of Rock’s Greatest Manger (Da Capo), by Mark Blake
The photo on the cover suggests that Peter Grant wasn’t a man to be trifled with. British rock writer Mark Blake describes Led Zeppelin’s manager as a “fearsome giant” and in those days when rock stars were larger than life, he allowed a mythology to accumulate around his reputation. Grant drifted out of music halls and toward Britain’s burgeoning ‘60s rock scene, bringing with him a bouncer’s rough sensibility along with a fierce determination not to be stiffed. As was usually true in those days, Grant actually liked the music by the bands he represented and allowed no one to stand in the way of their art (or their business). Bring It On Home is an entertaining look at a supporting figure from rock’s glory years.
Debussy: A Painter in Sound (Knopf), by Stephen Walsh
Although some may quibble over defining Claude Debussy as an Impressionist, the label serves as a good shorthand description of “Claire de lun” and “Prelude a l’apres-midi d’un faune.” The title of Stephen Walsh’s biography acknowledges as much. A Painter in Sound’s running theme is Debussy’s disdain for the copybook norms of the Conservatory and the critical fury he hurled at most of his contemporaries. He was onto something new and like the painterly Impressionists, he was among the roots of modernism in the arts. Writing with elegant clarity, Walsh describes how Debussy’s compositions continue to lead listeners on “a fascinating, unthreatening journey through a semi-familiar landscape.”
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The Miles Davis Reader: Interviews and Features From Downbeat Magazine Updated Edition (Backbeat Books), edited by Frank Alkyer
Probably no magazine paid closer attention to Miles Davis than Downbeat. The new edition of The Miles Davis Reader includes a few pieces published since the trumpeter’s death, including a look at the film biography Miles Ahead, but the bulk of the book forms a chronicle of his life as written by Downbeat’s critics. It includes everything from short news blurbs (Davis signs with BMI) to blindfold tests conducted by Leonard Feather (proving he had a good ear for recognizing the playing of other musicians) and even an open letter from Charles Mingus (gently taking Davis to task). Davis gets a byline too—for a 1958 “self-portrait” in the magazine. Also included are many reviews of Davis’ recording sessions, giving an idea of the evolution of jazz criticism from the 1940s through the ‘90s.
Stone Free, Jimi Hendrix in London: September 1966-June 1967 (University of North Carolina Press), by Jas Obrecht
Jimi Hendrix honed his skills for years in other people’s bands before his 1967 debut as a bandleader. But despite being a veteran sideman, in pop culture he appeared like a thunderclap from a bright blue sky. Jas Obrecht zeroes in on the nine months separating Hendrix’s New York nightclub gigs from his triumphal appearance at the Monterey Pop Festival. The crucial stop in between was London, where he was energized by the swinging psychedelic scene and knocked out all contenders, including Eric Clapton and Pete Townsend, by breaking all previous boundaries on electric guitar. The time and place were just right, with hundreds of clubs, an acute sense of rapid cultural change and a racial tolerance rare in ‘60s America (and in provincial Britain). Wisely, Obrecht dug into the archives and relies more on what was said about Hendrix at the time than on what was remembered years later.
