Rock Rants: Rock Music Memoirs, Insider Narratives and Groupie Tell-alls from Rock's Most Legendary Icons

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Cobain Unseen / by Charles R. Cross
More a collage of Cobain’s personal letters, photos, notes and memorabilia with little interference from chronological details, Cross’s book is essentially a shrine published in memoriam of the deceased Nirvana front man. If any doubt remains that Cobain was (and will likely continue to be rendered as) the most iconic figure in Generation X pop culture, books like this one tend to reconfirm and proliferate—with venerating affectations only a melodrama like Cobain’s could provoke—his never-ending legacy.

Neil Young Nation / as Lived and Narrated by Kevin Chong
In a time when Rock n’ Roll was dominated by performers from Britain and America, Neil Young was a Canadian guitarist who rose to the pinnacle of the industry and is still going strong today. A musician of extraordinary talent, moxy and creative ingenuity, Young’s career has spanned nearly five decades and has earned countless fans the world over. Kevin Chong, a music journalist and lifelong Young-devotee, takes an eclectic look at this iconoclastic figure, recounting how his own personal obsession with the performer has meshed with his real life interaction alongside him.

Queen: As It Began / by Jacky Gunn and Jim Jenkins; with an Introduction by Brian May
Probably the one Rock band which has had the most airtime of any one musical act owing to their anthem-like ballads which have filled sporting arenas worldwide, Queen is second-to-none when it comes to mainstream appeal and popularity. A book which was published within months of frontman Freddie Mercury’s death (a disclaimer at the end says that the other bandmembers were ignorant of his illness—he died of AIDS), ‘As it Began’ tells the definitive story of one of music’s most visionary acts, commenting on everything from their collaborative song writing to their flamboyantly innovative concerts.

Wonderful Tonight: George Harrison, Eric Clapton and Me / by Pattie Boyd w/ Penny Junior
From schoolgirl model-turned-supermodel posing alongside Twiggy to acting with the Beatles and finally on to superstardom as a 60’s and 70’s sex symbol, Pattie Boyd was the definitive Rock mistress as wife and muse to both George Harrison and Eric Clapton (Boyd's generally noted as being the inspiration for Harrison’s “Something” as well as Clapton’s “Wonderful Tonight”, “Layla” and “Bell Bottom Blues”) and a famous face of the glamorous Rock n’ Roll lifestyle. Here she details the good, the bad and the downright wild times reflecting on her two (failed) marriages to Clapton and Harrison and also delving into her current passion of photography and activism.

I’m With the Band: Confessions of a Groupie / by Pamela Des Barres
Perhaps the most famous American Rock groupie of all time and a thoroughly “experienced” veteran of the glamorous Rock n’ Roll golden age, Pamela Des Barres—in her newest explicitly rendered memoir—dishes on her times spent among Rock royalty. Almost no name is unfamiliar as the likes of Mick Jagger, Frank Zappa, Don Johnson, Pete Townshend, Alice Cooper, Robert Plant, etc. grace the pages of Des Barres’ extremely intimate autobiography.
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Watch You Bleed: The Saga of Guns n’ Roses / by Stephen Davis
The late eighties saw one band rise above the post-punk/hair-metal/thrash/glam scene to become the era's one hard rock group singularly recognized by its raw sound and fury. From lead singer Axl Rose’s screeched out lyrics of rage, misogyny, greed and apathy to guitarists Slash and Izzy Stradlin’s versatile guitar riffs, Guns n’ Roses was one band you could count on not only to never sell out, but to push the envelope of ferocity, havoc and reckless behavior in the Rock arena. Not only were they not very nice, 'Guns' truly carried an 'appetite for destruction' everywhere--Axl’s propensity for inciting concert riots, violent altercations between band members and a slew of rape, assault and drug charges ultimately resulting in their partial disintegration. Veteran Rock music biographer Davis’ reveals the many ins and outs of one of music’s nastiest power groups, wisely characterizing the band and its individuals from an unbiased viewpoint leaving their legacy to be determined by the reader.