Bassist autobiographies you recommend

[fretter]

I just read this. It's well written with great pictures and a discography.

My favorite besides My Life With Deth, is:

 

[roller]

Guy Pratt's book was published a decade ago.

Pratt's book is a fantastic read!

I had to buy my copy on eBay from a foreign seller... it was tough to find an American vendor.

 

[markjazzbassist]

Miles Davis
Ray Charles
Gregg allman
John densmore
Donald fagen
Herbie Hancock
Questlove
George benson
Dennis Coffey
Philip Bailey
James brown

All are great music autobiographies. I love musician autobiographies, the above are all recommended with miles and Ray being the best (they are brutally honest and don't give a flying f¥Ck what people think). Fagens is awesome if like steely dan.

 

[Johnny Crab]

Geez I'm glad I got an autographed copy when he first printed these!??!!
No Easy Road: My Life and Times with Wishbone Ash and Beyond: Martin Turner, Gary Carter: 9780957247802: Amazon.com: Books
At his store also: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[BAG]

Guy Pratt's book was published a decade ago.

I recently read Pratt's book and enjoyed it.



This was a good read too

 

[bassstrangler]

Peter Hook has written three books, one each for Joy Division, New Order and the Hacienda. Very witty.

 

[jerry]

Oh, I almost forgot about Rudy Sarzo's "Off the Rails":

it ends after he leaves Ozzy's band, which was kind of a bummer
details about Randy's crash, even though he didn't witness it

Yeah, I was disappointed in that book because it left the last 35 years of his career after Randy's death out. Rudy is a true journeyman bassist and thought there could have been so many other things covered about having that long of a career in a very hard buisiness.

 

[Pauly 4001]

Bit Of A Blur by Alex James of Blur is a fun read. He hung out with Damien Hurst, had a rider in his contract for a good bottle of champagne every day and tells a good story, one of which involved the weekend he spent in New York before flying home to record the bass part to Beetlebum shoeless and sleepless.
He wrote a second book as a reformed former pop star cheesemaker dad.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[oranje]

Here is an odd, albeit rare one. Alvin Gibbs wrote this about playing Bass with Iggy Pop in the 80's. I saw this line up a few times so it is interesting to read about the good, the bad and the ugly. Iggy is the bomb. A decent read by the thunderbird slinging Gibbs.

 

[Border]

I loved Phil Lesh's Search for the Sound. I also enjoyed Jerry Scheff's autobiography. His time working with Elvis and Dylan, as well as other artists was most interesting.

 

[Backdrop]

Just started this by Steve Hanley

 

[oranje]

Not the biggest Sting fan but Broken Music is actually an interesting, introspective read.

 

[JimmyM]

Ian

Don't do that. Reminds me of pro wrestling fans who use wrestlers' real names to show how inside and cool they are

 

[7dollarbologna]

 

[interp]

I've only read two--Charles Mingus and Jack Bruce. I can recommend both.

 

[Creeper2]

Cliff burton to live is to die is a great biography of the late metallica bassist

 

[7dollarbologna]

I wouldn't limit yourself to just bass player bios -

 

[design]

Victor Wooten wrote "The Music Lesson" which is a strange fictional tale of a bass playing guru (who seems like Jaco Pastorius to me) who imparts wisdom to a young musician. I quite enjoyed it!

Also not a bio, but Ian McDonald's "Revolution in the head" is the best Beatles book I have ever read, and there is a bass player in that band.

 

[baileyboy]

As the title says: have you read any good autobiographies by bass players? There are threads on autobiographies but most are about bands or guitarists. I want to know specifically about bassists. It doesn't matter what the genre is as long as it's a good read and not just about the Mud Shark type shenanigans but offers some insight to the instrument, demands of a pro musician and dynamics of a band etc.

"The Dirt: Confessions Of The World's Most Notorious Rock Band" by Motley Crue. The book is broken down into chapters authored by each member, so Nikki Sixx discusses how he got into playing bass. It's an easy read with lots of typical Crue shenanigans.

 

[Odinbass]

Peter Hook's "Substance: Inside New Order" was extremely good.

To a lesser extent his Joy Division book, "Unknown Pleasures," was okay.