I am generally appalled by the ubiquitous amount of music bio books I see on the shelf in the book stores. Just about every recording artist has one or two for sale and I think it is kind of weird.
But
Here are some I have read and recommend:
Bios
"No One Here Get's Out Alive" (Story of the Doors) By Danny Sugarman
"Jim Morrison - The Life, The Death, The Legend" by Steven Davis
"The Jim Morrison Scrapbook"
by James Henke
This thing is amazing, if you're a fan, get it today.
"Inside Out"-A Personal History Of Pink Floyd" by Nick Mason
"Hammer Of The Gods" by Steven Davis
"Frank Zappa" by Steven Davis
Books By Musicians
"The Real Frank Zappa Book"
by Frank Zappa (and some other guy)
"The Consumer" by M. Gira
I started Nick Cave's book "And The Angel Saw The Ass" but didn't finish it.
"The Horse's Neck" by Pete Townshend
And my favorite book by a musician is:
"In His Own Write" by John Lennon
read it , learn it, recite it!
A Drink With Shane MacGowan
is my favourite. awesome book.
also, "everything" by Simon Price about MSP is pretty great.
and the classic is "lipstick traces: a secret history of the 20th century" by Greil Marcus, which is nominally about the Sex Pistols but really about Situationism and Dadaism, and is fantastic.
You've missed "The Dirt" by Motley Crue and Neil Strauss.
Also, "Psychotic Reactors and Carburetor Dung", the first collection of Lester Bang's writing, is pretty essential too.
'Touching at a Distance'
written by Ian Curtis' wife is definitely the best music book I've ever read because it is so removed from the music industry - it places him in a human and social context and manages to deflate some of the myth around him while making him an even more interesting character. It's superb.
*from a distance
oops
Touching from a distance
Superb book.
Motley Crue's The Dirt belongs on any list
of good music biogs.
Get In The Van by Henry Rollins is a must as well.
Not read many myself...
but definitely agree with Nick Mason's Inside Out, it's a superb book!
Also recommend Mark Everett (E)'s Things The Grandchildren Should Know