Book Recommendations?

[around the bend]

Hey Tom,

I love the Best show.  It's the best show.

A week or two ago you told a story about Miles Davis punking some red-neck or something about how out front he was.  What, to you, is the definitive Miles Davis book?  I've also heard a story about Miles Davis in an elevator, holding a gun on some poor bystander, telling him to "get the fuck out of my ferrari" or something to that effect.  These are stories I need to read about!

What about the Beatles?  What about the Stones?  Are there any other music books you'd recommend?  It's not a branch of the library I'm very well versed in, but I'm ready to give it a shot.  Should I read Keith Richards' recent auto-biography?  Did you?

Any advice is wholly appreciated.  Pass along your favorites?

Your humble fan,
John

[ChipSuey]

I can tell you without reservation that the definitive Miles Davis book is "Miles", the autobiography.
It's mostly myth with a dash of truth, but it's an amazing read. 
If only for the Charlie Parker fried chicken story.
And to read Miles talk about how he would look at himself in the mirror (in the 80's, mind you) and say to himself "Miles, you a handsome motherfucker."

Also, if you like jazz bios, check out Mingus' "Beneath the Underdog".  That is another insane book, and more like a lucid dream than an autobiography.

[cavorting with nudists]

I heard the chili recipe Miles brags about is balls, though.

[around the bend]

cool!  Thanks I'll check it out

[Christina]

Pretty much everyone Miles refers to in his auto bio is a motherfucker.

[Mr. Spacely]

Funny you started this thread. I just bought "The Bad Guys Won" (a story about the 86 Mets) on Tom's recommendation from a show back in '09 with Patton as a guest ("Get Metsmerized!".

I'd actually love to hear his basketball book recommendations, too.

[JBillington]

Miles: The Autobiography is a great read. It's one of those clearly transcribed autobiographies that are assembled from interviews. As such, it is all the more entertaining if you read it in Miles' own voice. See also - Sam Fuller's 'A Third Face' and Bob Evans's 'The Kid Stays in The Picture'.

The Sam Fuller biog is great, as it includes phrases spoken by an elderly Sam that NOBODY would ever write down as their own words, such as 'I always wanted to be like Van Gogh, except I didn't want to go crazy and cut my ear off'. Or 'All I wanted to do is see those great sculptures by Rodin - boy, what a sculptor!'

It's a long time since I read it, but Ian Carr's Miles Davis book makes an interesting yet unsensational claim for Miles being bisexual, which is a concept I haven't seen anywhere else.

[Shaggy 2 Grote]

I haven't read it yet, but the author of Big Hair and Plastic Grass was on EFD's show and it convinced me to buy the book. I was only into baseball from 1977-83 anyway, but I genuinely think that was its most awesome era.

[masterofsparks]

I haven't read it yet, but the author of Big Hair and Plastic Grass was on EFD's show and it convinced me to buy the book. I was only into baseball from 1977-83 anyway, but I genuinely think that was its most awesome era.

The book is terrific and lots of fun.

[Mr. Spacely]

Ah, I haven't heard of Big Hair... I'll order it when it comes out in paperback.

Bad Guys Won was quite fun, but the writer, Jeff Pearlman, is not very good. He writes with many bad analogies, similies, metaphors, etc. A lot of "Keith Hernandez was a bigger fan of coke than those CG polar bears!" Not good. Not good at all.

Also, he didn't get interviews with Gooden and Strawberry and a couple other key figures. On the bright side, Kevin Mitchell made himself quite available.

All in all, I recommend it if you like baseball and/or The Mets.  Also, if you enjoyed Tom & Patton's riffing on Get Metsmerized.  There's actually a good five pages devoted to that abortion.

[jbissell]

I just started reading Mick Brown's Tearing Down the Wall of Sound: The Rise & Fall of Phil Spector, which I believe Tom has mentioned on a past show. I haven't even gotten to all the juicy bits yet but it's a fascinating read.