10 Books on Music that Hit Just the Right Notes

 Fête de la Musique, it’s World Music Day, folks! Whether you’re a fan of Bob Dylan, Lata Mangeshkar or just want to revisit the amazing band that One Direction previously was before everyone decided to go their own ways—we have a book for you.

 

1. The Man, The Music by Anirudha Bhattacharjee and Balaji Vittal

 To a nation fed on classical music, the advent of Rahul Dev Burman with his repertoire of Western beats was a godsend. RD revolutionized Hindi film music in the 1970s, and with his emphasis on rhythm and beats, this Pied Piper of Hindi film music had young India swinging to his tunes. Read more about this legendary music composer who dealt with his fair share of controversies and fame!

Get your copy here: http://amzn.to/2tJmXL5

 

2. Grown-Up Anger by Daniel Wolff

 

In this magnificent cultural study, Wolff braids three disparate strands—Calumet, Guthrie, and Dylan—together to create a devastating revisionist history of twentieth-century America. Grown-Up Anger chronicles the struggles between the haves and have-nots, the impact changing labor relations had on industrial America, and the way two musicians used their fury to illuminate economic injustice and inspire change.

Get your copy here: http://amzn.to/2smiLTE

 

3. Gaata Rahe Mera Dil 50 Classic Hindi Film Songs by Balaji Vittal, Anirudha Bhattacharjee

 

Read the title and hummed along? That really is the charm of these 50 cult hits of Indian cinema, you cannot stop singing them even after all these years. From ‘Babul mora, naihar chhooto jaye’ (Street Singer, 1938) to ‘Dil hai chhota sa’ (Roja, 1992); from the classical strains of ‘Ketaki gulab’ (Basant Bahar, 1956) featuring Bhimsen Joshi to the disco beats of Nazia Hassan’s ‘Aap jaisa koi’ (Qurbani, 1981); from the pathos of ‘Waqt ne kiya’ (Kaagaz Ke Phool, 1959) to the exuberance of the back-to-back numbers in Hum Kisise Kum Naheen (1977), here is an extraordinary compilation, peppered with trivia, anecdotes and, of course, the sheer joy of music.

 Get your copy here: http://amzn.to/2rMZf4a

 

4. A Southern Music by T.M. Krishna

T.M. Krishna, one of the foremost Karnatik vocalists today, begins his panoramic exploration of that tradition with a fundamental question: what is music? Taking nothing for granted and addressing diverse readers from Karnatik music’s rich spectrum and beyond it, Krishna provides a path-breaking overview of south Indian classical music.

Get your copy here: http://amzn.to/2sLX7J4

 

5. Who we are by One Direction

Zayn was the first one to go, then Harry came out with his own album. One Direction, the band everyone came to love and which saw some massive successes, may finally be reuniting for a charity event after the Grenfell Tower fire in London. But what was this band’s phenomenal journey? What is the story of their lives? This autobiographical book is probably the only means to find out.

Get your copy here: http://amzn.to/2toZi34

 

6. On the Wings of Music by Shantanu Moitra, Aruna Chakravarti

From a childhood spent strumming away at a guitar in Delhi to professional success as a music composer in Mumbai, Shantanu Moitra has come a long way. Here, he gives us a glimpse into his world and the moments that have made him who he is. From his early days as a client servicing drone in an advertising agency to his collaborations with prominent musicians and film-makers, to the making of Parineeta, his greatest hit and from his all-consuming love for astronomy to near-death escapades in the Himalayas, he shares the most intimate parts of himself through his phenomenal adventures in this compelling memoir.

Get your copy here: http://amzn.to/2rMpub7

 

7. Dylan Goes Electric! By Elijah Wald

On the evening of July 25, 1965, Bob Dylan took the stage at Newport Folk Festival, backed by an electric band, and roared into his new rock hit, Like a Rolling Stone. The audience of committed folk purists and political activists who had hailed him as their acoustic prophet reacted with a mix of shock, booing, and scattered cheers. In Dylan Goes Electric!, Elijah Wald explores the cultural, political and historical context of this seminal event that embodies the transformative decade that was the sixties.

Get your copy here: http://amzn.to/2rRuGoX

 

8. On Stage with Lata by Mohan Deora, Rachana Shah, N.M. Kabir

 Lata Mangeshkar’s life and career are widely known and yet there is an aspect that remains largely unrecorded: her life on the international stage. Beyond the confines of a recording booth, or as the voice of generations of actresses, she was an accomplished and magnetic performer on stage. She attracted vast audiences of Indian origin who have made their home in many countries, including the US and Canada. Do read this book if you want to know how Lata Tai transformed the way the world perceived Indian live performances.

Get your copy here: http://amzn.to/2rMVGeo

 

9. Tarantula by Bob Dylan

There’s a reason why Bob Dylan won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2016. The man can write. Written in 1966, ‘Tarantula’ is a collection of poems and prose that evokes the turbulence of the times in which it was written and gives a unique insight into Dylan’s creative evolution.

Get your copy here: http://amzn.to/2sPvkZg

 

10. Remember the Time by Bill Whitfield and Javon Beard

Michael Jackson’s former bodyguards reveal the amazing truths of the late superstar’s last years — his life with his children, his financial crises, and the weeks leading up to his shocking death. An indispensable piece of pop-culture history, Remember the Time is the story of a man struggling to live a normal life under extraordinary circumstances. It is the book that dismantles the tabloid myths once and for all to give Michael Jackson back his humanity.

Get your copy here: http://amzn.to/2rRoRI4