Top 5 books about musicians, chosen by the late Mark Lanegan

The late Mark Lanegan, frontman of The Screaming Trees, picked his five favourite books about musicians for the Big Issue. Here they are.

1. Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung by Lester Bangs

A series of genius essays by the trailblazing ’70s rock journalist. 

2. Straight Life: The Story of Art Pepper by Art and Laurie Pepper

A brutal and honest account of the saxophonist’s addiction, prison and deviancy with a little jazz thrown in.
One of the best books ever of any kind. Exceptional. 

3. Papa John by John Phillips

Extremely dark account of The Mamas & The Papas songwriter’s life. Not for the faint of heart.

4. Tenement Kid by Bobby Gillespie 

An open and often funny account of Gillespie’s childhood and upbringing in ’70s working-class Glasgow. Brilliantly captures the spirit and the times that took him from there to the worldwide stage.

5. Ten Thousand Apologies: Fat White Family And the Miracle of Failure by Adelle Stripe and Lias Saoudi

I can’t say enough good things about this book. A hilarious and heartbreaking story of Fat White Family and the heavy price rock ’n’ roll sometimes demands of its most sensitive disciples. 

You can buy Devil in a Coma from The Big Issue shop on Bookshop.org, which helps to support The Big Issue and independent bookshops.

This article is taken from The Big Issue magazine. If you cannot reach local your vendor, you can still click HERE to subscribe to The Big Issue today or give a gift subscription to a friend or family member. You can also purchase one-off issues from The Big Issue Shop or The Big Issue app, available now from the App Store or Google Play.