Dec 2024 Book Report (Progressive Rock Book Reviews)

by Geoff Bailie

Someone once said that by buying books, in many cases you’re trying to buy the time to actually read them – I can relate to that!  However I’m glad to say that there have been some great prog related books this year that are definitely worth your time!

Yes 90125: Rock Classics
By Stephen Lambe
Published by Sonicbond Publishing

Order here: https://www.sonicbondpublishing.co.uk/books/rock-classics/

My bookshelves testify I’m a big fan of Sonicbond books in particular the Every Album Every Track Artist guides. The Rock Classics series takes a look at a single album in more depth than the Artist guides cover and this album has a great story to tell. Yes fans will know the broad outline but it’s very much a “rags to riches” take – I mean, 90125 didn’t even begin as a Yes album, but was a project to form a new band from the ashes of the post-Drama era! Stephen’s book takes you on the journey of how the original members of what for a while was called Cinema came together, with (non-band member) eye witness accounts and photos of the rehearsals, through to the additions of Trevor Horn and Jon Anderson, and the eventual commercial success of what is still Yes’s biggest selling album! Lambe talks to almost all of the main participants and, in doing so, draws out some unheard stories and perspectives you’ll not read in other Yes books – and he also looks at the legacy that 90125 left in the band’s history.

The shortest book in terms of size / word count I’m looking at here, but for a book focused on one album, it’s just the right length and is really worth reading whether you (think you) know the story, or you don’t!

Everything Under The Sun: The Complete Guide To Pink Floyd
By Mike Cormack
Published by The History Press

Order here: https://thehistorypress.co.uk/publication/everything-under-the-sun/

In the pantheon of music writing, there’s no doubt that Ian MacDonald’s Revolution In The Head broke significant ground on its publication in 1994 by tracing the history of The Beatles’ music in the format of taking each song in the order it was recorded, and providing commentary musical and sociological commentary, as well as providing all the “facts”.

So Mike Cormack’s book on Pink Floyd takes a similar approach to the band’s studio catalogue, to the extent that’s possible without some the access Beatle writers have had. Going chronologically based on release dates, the book gathers a wealth of information about every released track, an approach which provides in depth insights, in encyclopaedia format, so you can delve in while listening to the music, or read just for information

I’m sure I’ve said this before but my measure of a good music book is one that, after reading, you hear or understand the music differently – and this is certainly the case with this one. I got so much from this book, and am still only scratching the surface. For example, it takes a detailed look at the poetry of Granchester Meadows, Water’s solo piece buried in the mess or UmmaGumma which is an interesting angle. I also enjoyed the section on Atom Heart Mother – a great exploration of the track and its themes and sub-sections. It also contains a wonderful quote which says “… if listening to it sometimes feels a chore, recording it was worse” – leading into an illustrative quote from Mason! (Check out our Wheel of Prog Pink Floyd episode for more discussion).

Mike Cormack must be commended for the massive amount of work that went into this reference guide style book, that also covers a bootleg guide and supplementary interviews including Guy Pratt and a great James Guthrie interview focusing on the making of The Wall.

A Mirror of Dreams: The Progressive Rock Revival 1981 to 1983
By Andrew Wild
Published by Kingmaker Publishing

Order here: https://kingmakerpublishing.com/books/

In the post-The Wall years, new musical styles have, in many cases, killed the dinosaurs of prog, or at least forced some of them (such as Yes) to take a different approach – but the beast is hard to kill. The world was a much larger and more isolated place in 1981, with very different communications and a record industry that bears little resemblance to today’s, for good and for bad! But musical creativity and inspiration never die, and this, combined with the first era where with a small budget you could make decent home recordings and access a gigging network, in different parts of the UK, there sprang a small movement that had a big impact – and that is what this book is about!

Drawing on first hand accounts and a wealth of photos and memorabilia, Andrew Wild’s book tells the story of the early days of primarily 6 bands: Marillion, IQ, Pallas, Pendragon, Solstice and Twelfth Night. Perhaps like me there are one or two of those names you’re more familiar with than others – and that’s actually part of what makes this a fascinating read, because their beginning and journeys have so many similarities, yet the outcomes are rarely the same! All the classic tropes are there – band member issues / changes, success and disappointment and all the elements of band life. In an era where you can make a prog album on GarageBand on your mobile phone, and upload / sell / stream it within minutes, stories of band members sticking / pasting sleeves of albums seems archaic – but it’s a fascinating story… and part one of two!

Andrew Wild interview many participants and does a fantastic job of weaving together the chronologies of the bands and their music into a narrative that unfolds and, as I’ve said above, prompted me to go and explore some of the music from this era that I had missed! I expect this will be unfamiliar territory for many non UK readers of this website – but if you’d like to expand your horizons, and read an extremely enjoyable book, then this is worth checking out.

Who’s The Boy With The Lovely Hair: The Unlikely Memoir of Jakko M Jakszyk
By Jakko M Jakszyk
Published by Kingmaker Publishing

Order here: https://kingmakerpublishing.com/books/

And now for something completely different .. or rather, let me explain. I’m a big fan of rock biographies of all sorts and I’m the sort of person who often skips the first few chapters because I’m not that interested in where the musician’s grandfather worked, or where they went on summer holidays when they were a kid – I’d rather get to the music bits! My expectation or perhaps concern about this book – before I’d read it – was that it would dwell a bit too much on Jakko’s personal history (which I didn’t know much about) at the expense of endless anecdotes about what Robert Fripp is like!

What I didn’t realise or expect was that I’d be drawn into an incredibly compelling, emotional and fascinating story, of which, if anything Crimson-things are but a thread through the narrative. At the risk of giving you spoilers, Jakko’s personal history is fascinating and amazing in how it unwinds (and if you don’t know much about that… neither did Jakko – and that’s a key part of the story). His endeavours cover not just music but also acting and comedy, across a range of, at times, artistically strong but commercially ignored ventures. All the while, he is doing all he can to uncover his own personal history in a story that brings parties from multiple continents into, and at times out of, his life. Fascinating anecdotes are in abundance with memorable tales of working with The Monkees Davey Jones, Jakko’s almost life long friendship with Porcupine Tree / The Pineapple Thief / King Crimson’s Gavin Harrison, and his years working with Level 42.

I’m saving the best to last here and, for me, the story and style of this book make it my Book of the Year for 2024 – it’s book with an appeal to much more than fans of prog rock, and I was really drawn into burning some midnight oil by wanting to find out what happened next!

Conclusion : Four very different books, all extremely enjoyable in themselves and in their variety – I’d highly recommend each one!