The spring, music bios cross cultural lines; R & B stands out.

Legendary blues singer Billie Holiday would have been 100 years old this April, and to mark the occasion, Viking is publishing Billie Holiday: The Musician and the Myth, by jazz writer and Columbia professor John Szwed, who draws on new material.

In 1973, 17-year-old Janis Hunter met the Motown singer-songwriter Marvin Gaye; the two married in 1977 (he died in 1983). Now Janis Gaye, she recounts their story in After the Dance: My Life with Marvin Gaye. Meanwhile, veteran music biographer Mark Ribowsky chronicles the life of Otis Redding against the backdrop of the cultural history of his era in Dreams to Remember: The Legacy of Otis Redding. In L.A. Confidential, music producer L.E. Reid relates bringing R & B to the present, as he tells of making careers of such R&B and pop stars as Mariah Carey, Toni Braxton, Kanye West, Rihanna, TLC, Outkast, Pink, Justin Bieber, and Usher.

In a turn to the South—and country and folk music—Willie Nelson, writing with David Ritz, recounts what promises to be an “unvarnished, complete story of his 80-year life, in It’s a Long Story: My Life. Eddie Huffman narrates the career of an influential singer-songwriter in John Prine: In Spite of Himself.

In Girl in a Band: A Memoir, Kim Gordon, a founding member of Sonic Youth, writes about inspiration and the infidelity of her longtime husband and band member Thurston Moore. PW wrote, “The strength of Gordon’s prose lies in her evocation of places.” Guns n’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan follows up It’s So Easy: And Other Lies with How to Be a Man, in which he draws on his life experience to give advice on fatherhood and money management.

Two writers set their stories against the backdrop of the 1960s: Richard Goldstein, among the first rock critics to write for the Village Voice, tackles 1960s counterculture in Another Little Piece of My Heart: My Life of Rock and Revolution in the ’60s. For Andrew Grant Jackson, one year alone defined an era: in his book 1965: The Most Revolutionary Year, he combines personal stories with a panoramic historical narrative of epic social change and the music of Bob Dylan, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Who, James Brown, and John Coltrane, among others.

PW’s Top 10: Music

After the Dance: My Life with Marvin Gaye. Janis Gaye. Amistad, May 5

Another Little Piece of My Heart: My Life of Rock and Revolution in the ‘60s. Richard Goldstein. Bloomsbury, Apr. 14

Billie Holiday: A Musical Biography. John Szwed. Viking, Mar. 31

Dreams to Remember: The Legacy of Otis Redding. Mark Ribowsky. Norton/Liveright, May 25

Girl in a Band: A Memoir. Kim Gordon. Morrow/Dey St., Feb. 24

How to Be a Man. Duff McKagan, with Chris Kornelis. Da Capo, May 12

It’s a Long Story: My Life. Willie Nelson, with David Ritz. Little, Brown, May 5

John Prine: In Spite of Himself. Eddie Huffman. Univ. of Texas, Mar. 15

L.A. Confidential. L.A. Reid. Harper, Mar. 3

1965: The Most Revolutionary Year in Music. Andrew Grant Jackson. St. Martin’s/Dunne, Feb. 3

Music Listings

Amistad

After the Dance: My Life with Marvin Gaye by Janis Gaye (May 5, hardcover, $25.99, ISBN 978-0-06-213551-3). In this memoir of drugs, sex, and old-school R&B, Janice Hunter shares her perspective as the wife of legendary soul singer Marvin Gaye. Silent since Gaye’s death in 1984, she opens up about the distractions and burdens of fame, the chaos of dysfunctional families, and the irresistible temptations of drugs that overshadowed the love they shared.

Keep Your Head to the Sky: My Life with Earth, Wind & Fire by Maurice White and Herb Powell, foreword by Steve Harvey, afterword by David Foster (June 2, hardcover, $26.99, ISBN 978-0-06-232915-8). The Grammy-winning founder of the legendary pop/R&B/soul/funk/disco group tells his story and charts the rise of his legendary band in this memoir that captures the heart and soul of an artist whose groundbreaking sound continues to influence music today. Now in his 70s, White reflects on the great blessings music has brought to his life and the struggles he’s endured.

Atria/37 Ink

I Am Charlie Wilson by Charlie Wilson (June 30, e-book, $13.99, ISBN 978-1-4767-9009-1). The long-awaited memoir of seven-time Grammy-nominated Charlie Wilson shares a story of how love and faith carried him through not only addiction but also prostate cancer. The R&B and funk singer-songwriter-producer also recollects collaborating with fellow artists such as Stevie Wonder, the Rolling Stones, and Snoop Dog.

Bloomsbury

Another Little Piece of My Heart: My Life of Rock and Revolution in the ’60s by Richard Goldstein (Apr. 14, hardcover, $26, ISBN 978-1-62040-887-2). As the first rock critic for the Village Voice in 1966, Goldstein offers a star-studded account of the rise and fall of 1960s counterculture.

Carlton

(dist. by Sterling)

Led Zeppelin: Experience the Biggest Band of the ’70s by Chris Welch (May 5, hardcover, $19.95, ISBN 978-1-78097-648-8). A music journalist who witnessed many of Led Zeppelin’s most legendary performances recounts the history of the band as they played their way to musical glory. Featuring images from contemporary photographers, the book captures an era when the group conquered the world with their heavy riffs and pioneering songs.

Chicago Review

Bowie on Bowie: Interviews and Encounters with David Bowie, edited by Sean Egan (May 1, hardcover, $27.95, ISBN 978-1-56976-977-5). Some of the best interviews Bowie has granted in his near five-decade career, each one traces a new step in his unique journey, successively freezing him in time in all of his various incarnations, from a young novelty hit-maker and Ziggy Stardust to plastic soul player, 1980s sellout, and the artistically reborn elder statesman of challenging popular music.

In the All-Night Café: A Memoir of Belle and Sebastian’s Formative Year by Stuart David (Apr. 16, paper, $15.95, ISBN 978-1-61373-078-2). Founding member David shares a charming and evocative memoir of Belle and Sebastian’s first year, in 1996, an as-yet-undocumented period of the band’s history. David’s eminently readable and understated style tells of the adventures recording the band’s popular and highly praised debut album, Tigermilk.

Whiskey Bottles and Brand-New Cars: The Fast Life and Sudden Death of Lynyrd Skynyrd by Mark Ribowsky (Apr. 1, hardcover, $27.95, ISBN 978-1-56976-146-5). This intimate story tells how a band of lost souls and self-destructive misfits with uncertain artistic objectives clawed their way to the top of the rock and roll world, while creating not only a new country rock idiom but a new Confederacy in conflict with old Southern totems and prejudices; based on interviews with surviving band members.

Da Capo

How to Be a Man by Duff McKagan and Chris Kornelis (May 12, hardcover, $25.99, ISBN 978-0-306-82387-9). McKagan shares the wisdom he gained on the path to superstardom from his time with Guns N’ Roses and Velvet Revolver to getting sober after a life of hard living, expanding on his popular weekly columns in Seattle Weekly, Playboy.com, and ESPN.com.

So Many Roads: The Life and Times of the Grateful Dead by David Browne (Apr. 28, hardcover, $30, ISBN 978-0-306-82170-7). For their 50th anniversary, this biography of rock’s greatest cult band includes new interviews with surviving band members and never-before-told tales. Browne sheds new light on the band’s beginnings, music, dynamics, and struggles that created a culture that paved the way for social networking, free music swapping, and the uncompromising anticorporate attitude of indie rock.

Duke Univ.

Lion Songs: Thomas Mapfumo and the Music That Made Zimbabwe by Banning Eyre (May 22, hardcover, $34.95, ISBN 978-0-8223-5908-1) tells the story of Zimbabwean singer, composer and bandleader Thomas Mapfumo, who, like Fela Kuti and Bob Marley, represents his country’s anticolonial struggle and cultural identity. Eyre narrates Mapfumo’s life in the context of Zimbabwe’s pre- and post-revolutionary history.

Elliott & Thompson

(dist. by IPG)

Ballet by Tim Lihoreau (Apr. 1, hardcover, $16.95, ISBN 978-1-78396-044-6). An engaging survey of the wealth of music composed for ballet as the gateway to some of the greatest music in the classical canon. Ballet music is every bit as rich and involving as a fully staged production, and this short, clear book tells the whole story.

G2 Entertainment

(dist. by Quayside)

Ginger Baker: A Drummer’s Tale by Ginger Baker (Mar. 1, paper, $19.95, ISBN 978-1-78281-189-3) presents artwork by the drummer with the band Cream, who found work that had been hidden away for several decades, which brings back many memories of the band.

Hal Leonard/Amadeus

Rimsky-Korsakov: Letters to His Family and Friends by Tatiana Rimsky-Korsakov (June 2, hardcover, $34.99, ISBN 978-1-57467-454-5). This rare biography of a highly influential Russian composer rich with correspondence and other material available in English for the first time is by his granddaughter Tatiana; it features a wealth of correspondence and photographs from family archives.

Hal Leonard/Backbeat

The History of Canadian Rock ’n’ Roll by Bob Mersereau (May 19, paper, $24.99, ISBN 978-1-4803-6711-1) presents a streamlined trip through Canada’s rich history and depth of rock talent, from the 1950s to today, including Toronto’s club scene, the folk rock and psychedelic rock of the 1960s, Canadian artists who hit major stardom in the United States, and the challenges and reform of the Canadian broadcasting system.

Ringo: With a Little Help by Michael Starr (July 7, hardcover, $29.99, ISBN 978-1-61713-120-2). This in-depth biography traces Ringo’s remarkable life and career, from his sickly childhood to his life as the world’s most famous drummer, including his triumphs, addictions, and emotional battles following the breakup of the Beatles as he comes to terms with his legacy.

HMH/Eamon Dolan

Allen Klein: The Man Who Bailed Out the Beatles, Made the Stones, and Transformed Rock & Roll by Fred Goodman (June 23, hardcover, $27, ISBN 978-0-547-89686-1) recounts the heyday of rock and roll through the lens of Allen Klein, the business manager, producer, and gadfly who “broke up the Beatles” and showed the Rolling Stones how to become the pre-eminent dynasty in popular music.

Harper

L.A. Confidential by L.A. Reid (Mar. 3, hardcover, $29.99, ISBN 978-0-06-227475-5). Legendary music producer L. A. Reid—the man behind such artists as Mariah Carey, Toni Braxton, Kanye West, Rihanna, TLC, Outkast, Pink, Justin Bieber, and Usher—chronicles his struggles, his success, and the artists that made him a legend.

Insight

Austin City Limits: Forty Years of Legendary Music by Tracey Laird and Brandon Laird, photos by Scott Newton (Mar. 3, hardcover, $45, ISBN 978-1-60887-496-5). Honored as a historic rock ’n’ roll landmark, Austin City Limits is the longest-running popular music series in American television history. This book spans ACL’s first 40 years, with special emphasis on legendary artists, like Johnny Cash, Ray Charles, Leonard Cohen, and Willie Nelson, and the most compelling contemporary performers and bands from the past two decades, including Coldplay, John Mayer, Elvis Costello, Pearl Jam, and Norah Jones.

House of Cash: The Legacies of My Father, Johnny Cash by John Carter Cash (Apr. 14, paper, $14.99, ISBN 978-1-60887-479-8). In this insightful biography, Cash paints a very personal portrait of his father’s rich inner life, exploring Johnny Cash’s creative spirit, his fundamentally loving nature, and his inspiring persistence; a record of a deep and ongoing conversation between father and son.

Little, Brown

It’s a Long Story: My Life by Willie Nelson, with David Ritz (May 5, hardcover, $30, ISBN 978-0-316-40355-9) is the unvarnished story of Nelson’s life. Having recently turned 80, he is ready to shine a light on all aspects of his life, including his drive to write music, the women in his life, his collaborations, and his biggest lows and highs-from his bankruptcy to the founding of Farm Aid.

Morrow/Dey Street

Born to Drum: The Truth About the World’s Greatest Drummers—from John Bonham and Keith Moon to Sheila E. and Dave Grohl by Tony Barrell (Mar. 17, hardcover, $25.99, ISBN 978-0-06-230785-9) offers a look into the history, artists, instruments, and culture of drumming, investigating the stories of such late, great drummers as Keith Moon and John Bonham, analyzing many of the greatest drum tracks ever recorded, and introducing us to the world’s fastest drummer and the world’s loudest drummer.

Dylan Goes Electric!: Newport, Seeger, Dylan, and the Night That Split the Sixties by Elijah Wald (July 14, hardcover, $26.99, ISBN 978-0-06-236668-9) takes a fresh look at the day Dylan “went electric” at the Newport Folk Festival—coinciding with the event’s 50th anniversary. Wald delves into the folk revival, the rise of rock, and the tensions between traditional and groundbreaking music to provide new insights into Dylan’s artistic evolution, his special affinity to blues, and his complex relationship to the folk establishment.

18 and Life on Skid Row by Sebastian Bach (June 9, hardcover, $27.99, ISBN 978-0-06-226539-5). In this uncensored, unfiltered memoir, the musician and former front man for Skid Row tells how a choir boy became a mega-successful hair metal god, rode the wave of fame in heavy metal’s heyday, and came out alive on the other side when glam rock went the way of the cassette tape and the Walkman.

Girl in a Band: A Memoir by Kim Gordon (Feb. 24, hardcover, $27.99, ISBN 978-0-06-229589-7). A founding member of Sonic Youth, fashion icon, and role model for a generation of women tells of life as an artist; of music, marriage, motherhood, independence; and as one of the first women of rock ’n’ roll.

Living Like a Runaway: A Memoir by Lita Ford (Apr. 14, hardcover, $26.99, ISBN 978-0-06-227064-1). The legendary former lead guitarist of the Runaways—”heavy metal’s leading female rocker” (Rolling Stone)—opens up about the ’70s and ’80s music scene and her extraordinary life and career in this emotionally powerful memoir.

Northeastern Univ.

Malevolent Muse: The Life of Alma Mahler by Oliver Hilmes, trans. by Donald Arthur (May 5, hardcover, $40, ISBN 978-1-55553-789-0). Alma Mahler was mistress to a succession of brilliant men and wife of three of the best known:

composer Gustav Mahler, architect Walter Gropius, and writer Franz Werfel. Hilmes’s first biography is based on a treasure-trove of unpublished material, much of it in Alma’s own words.

Norton/Liveright

Dreams to Remember: The Legacy of Otis Redding by Mark Ribowsky (June 1, hardcover, $27.95, ISBN 978-0-87140-873-0) offers a nuanced account of Otis Redding’s life as well as a solid cultural history.

Oxford Univ.

Anything Goes: A History of American Musical Theater by Ethan Mordden (June 1, paper, $19.95, ISBN 978-0-19-022793-7) stages a grand revue of the musical from the 1920s through the 1970s, revealing neglected elements like the progression of dance, the structure of musical comedy and operetta, and the evolution of the role of the star, all narrated in Mordden’s witty, scholarly, and conversational style.

Folk City: New York and the American Folk Music Revival by Stephen Petrus and Ronald D. Cohen (June 1, hardcover, $39.95, ISBN 978-0-19-023102-6) explores New York’s central role in fueling the nationwide craze for folk music in postwar America, portraying Village coffee houses not simply as lively venues but as incubators of a burgeoning counterculture, where artists from diverse backgrounds honed their performance techniques and challenged social conventions.

Rizzoli

New Order by Kevin Cummins, with contributions by Bernard Sumner and Peter Hook, intro. by Douglas Coupland (Mar. 31, hardcover, $50, ISBN 978-0-8478-4360-2). In more than a hundred photographs, photographer Cummins captures the band New Order in every light, from its underground beginnings as the flagship group of Factory Records in Manchester, England, to grandstand tours around Europe and America, from the intimacy of the studio to the frenetic energy of live performance.

Running Press

The Mammoth Book of Madonna by Michelle Morgan (May 26, paper, $22, ISBN 978-0-7624-5621-5) offers a look at the Queen of Pop’s phenomenally successful career, just in time for the 30th anniversary of her first major tour, the Virgin Tour; includes reviews, interviews, commentary, and Madonna’s own reflections that highlight her incredible success.

St. Martin’s

Black Sabbath: Symptom of the Universe by Mick Wall (Apr. 14, hardcover, $27.99, ISBN 978-1-250-05134-9) is the story of how the members of Black Sabbath made the dream of leaving the Birmingham slums come true—and how it then turned into a nightmare, including being badly ripped off by managers and Ozzy leaving the band.

Deal: My Three Decades of Drumming, Dreams, and Drugs with the Grateful Dead by Bill Kreutzmann, with Benjy Eisen (May 5, hardcover, $27.99, ISBN 978-1-250-03379-6). One of the Grateful Dead’s founding members and drummer for every one of their more than 2,300 concerts has written an unflinching, wild account of his personal journey of sonic discovery and thrilling experiences.

St. Martin’s/Dunne

The Living Years: The First Genesis Memoir by Mike Rutherford (Feb. 10, hardcover, $25.99, ISBN 978-1-250-06068-6). In the band Genesis, Rutherford pioneered the pomp and theatricality of 1970s progressive rock before the band became a household name in the 1980s, but in the background—and sometimes in the audience—was Mike’s father, Captain Rutherford, a naval officer whose life at first seemed nothing like his son’s. It was only after Mike discovered his father’s unpublished memoir did he discover how similar their lives had been.

1965: The Most Revolutionary Year in Music by Andrew Grant Jackson (Feb. 3, hardcover, $27.99, ISBN 978-1-250-05962-8) combines fascinating and often surprising personal stories with a panoramic historical narrative of the music and epic social change of 1965, a defining year for Bob Dylan, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Who, James Brown, and John Coltrane.

Snakes! Guillotines! Electric Chairs!: My Adventures in The Alice Cooper Group by Dennis Dunaway and Chris Hodenfield (June 9, hardcover, $26.99, ISBN 978-1-250-04808-0). Dunaway, the bassist and co-songwriter for the Alice Cooper group, tells a story just as over-the-top crazy as the group’s (in)famous shows in a backstage memoir of the band’s creation in the ’60s, strange glory in the ’70s, and the legendary characters they met along the way.

Univ. of Chicago

Say No to the Devil: The Life and Musical Genius of Rev. Gary Davis by Ian Zack (Apr. 6, hardcover, $30, ISBN 978-0-226-23410-6) relates the life of bluesman Gary Davis, whose unclassifiable music was a major inspiration for key figures in the early 1960s New York folk scene, including Dave Van Ronk and Bob Dylan. Zack chronicles Davis’s difficult beginning as the blind son of sharecroppers in the Jim Crow South to his time as a Baptist minister and on to music that influenced a generation.

A City Called Heaven: Chicago and the Birth of Gospel Music by Robert Marovich (Mar. 15, paper, $29.95, ISBN 978-0-252-08069-2). Music historian Marovich tells the story of how gospel music found a public voice and broke into the mainstream, following gospel music from early hymns and camp meetings through the Great Migration that brought it to Chicago.

Univ. of Kentucky

Mellencamp: American Troubadour by David Masciotra (Apr. 6, hardcover, $35, ISBN 978-0-8131-4733-8) explores the life and career of one of America’s most important and underrated songwriters, detailing Mellencamp’s road to fame, his struggles with the music industry and his persistent dedication to his midwestern roots.

Univ. of North Carolina

Country Soul: Making Music and Making Race in the American South by Charles L. Hughes (Mar. 10, hardcover, $29.95, ISBN 978-1-4696-2243-9) offers a provocative reinterpretation of American popular music in the turbulent years of civil rights protests, Black Power, and white backlash, and challenges the conventional wisdom about the racial politics of Southern studios, drawing on interviews and rarely used archives.

Univ. of Texas

John Prine: In Spite of Himself by Eddie Huffman (Mar. 15, hardcover, $24.95, ISBN 978-0-292-74822-4) traces the long arc of Prine’s musical career, beginning with his early, seemingly effortless successes, which led not to stardom but to a rich and varied career writing songs that other people have made famous. |Here are the stories behind Prine’s best-known songs and all of Prine’s albums.

Viking

Billie Holiday: A Musical Biography by John Szwed (Mar. 31, hardcover, $28.95, ISBN 978-0-670-01472-9). Published in celebration of Holiday’s centenary, the first biography to focus on the singer’s extraordinary musical talent stays close to the music, to her performance style, and to the self she created and put into print, on record and on stage, based on a vast amount of new material that has surfaced in the last decade.

Your Band Sucks: What I Saw at Indie Rock’s Failed Revolution (but Can No Longer Hear) by Jon Fine (May 19, hardcover, $27.95, ISBN 978-0-670-02659-3). A memoir charting 30 years of American indie rock by a musician at its center, this is an insider’s look at the fascinating, outrageous culture of indie rock’s pre-Internet glory days. Fine discusses how the scene emerged and evolved, how it grappled with the mainstream and vice versa, and its odd rebirth in recent years.

Voyageur

Dylan: Disc by Disc by Jon Bream (July 1, hardcover, $30, ISBN 978-0-7603-4659-4) provides thoughtful analyses of all 35 Bob Dylan studio releases, presented in chronological order and illustrated with LP art, period photography, seven-inch picture sleeves from around the world, as well as sidebars exploring as film and soundtrack appearances, session players, notable tours, pop culture references, live releases, and more.

Yale Univ.

Béla Bartók by David Cooper (May 26, hardcover, $40, ISBN 978-0-300-14877-0). Cooper’s deeply researched biography of Béla Bartók (1881–1945) provides a comprehensive view of the innovative Hungarian musician, tracing Bartók’s international career as an ardent ethnomusicologist and composer, teacher, and pianist, while providing a detailed discussion of most of his works. The author explores how Europe’s political and cultural tumult affected Bartók’s work, travel, and reluctant emigration to the safety of America in his final years.