Backbeat Books

Einstein, Michael Jackson & Me
- Print Reviews
- April 20, 2020
Rock publicist Howard Bloom dishes the dirt on the all the big names in entertainment with an insider’s eye for the absurd.
My Years with Townes Van Zandt
- Print Reviews
- November 29, 2018
Harold Eggers account of his life with Townes Van Zandt is equal parts hilarious…and haunting.
Guitar Player presents Clapton, Beck, Page
- Print Reviews
- February 15, 2011
Vintage interviews with the triumvirate of guitar gods.
Stevie Ray Vaughan: Day by Day, Night by Night
- Print Reviews
- January 4, 2011
A coffee table book, detailing SRV’s early career with pictures, reminiscences, posters and original lyrics sheets overwhelms Carl F Gauze but is probably perfect for the obsessive fan.
Relix: The Book
- Print Reviews
- January 12, 2010
Relive the decade no one claims to remember through this retrospective of Relix, a magazine that revolved around the Grateful Dead.

By The Time We Got To Woodstock
- Print Reviews
- November 6, 2009
Veteran Rock and Roll Journalist Bruce Pollack rehashes all the significant songs and stories that led to the 1969 Woodstock Festival. Carl F Gauze is not impressed.
Woodstock Vision
- Print Reviews
- September 30, 2009
This expanded edition of Elliot Landy’s rock photography collection Woodstock Vision has Matthew Moyer thinking of heading up north to chop firewood with Garth Hudson.
Sonic Boom
- Print Reviews
- September 14, 2009
In author Pete Blecha’s new examination of the gnarled roots of Seattle rock music, he posits that it all started with the slurred words “Louie Louie.” Scott Adams obviously approves.
Jimmy Page: Magus, Musician, Man
- Print Reviews
- September 4, 2009
Shelton Hull suspects Jimmy Page is pleased with this unabashedly unauthorized biography.
The Daily Adventures of Mixerman
- Print Reviews
- July 30, 2009
Nowhere does the line between Fantasy, Reality and Comedy blur more than in the music industry. Carl Gauze reports on the pseudonymous Mixerman’s journal of one album gone quite wrong. Or quite right, for the reader at home.

I Hate New Music
- Print Reviews
- April 17, 2009
Did rock ‘n’ roll begin and end with classic rock? Has there been a single landmark rock album since 1978? Eric J. Iannelli went looking for answers in I Hate New Music, Dave Thompson’s blustery “classic rock manifesto,” but all he found was a man with questionable beliefs shouting at him.
Children of the Blues
- Print Reviews
- June 26, 2002
The blues had a baby, and Art Tipaldi wrote a book about it. James Mann looks at the Children of the Blues.
Make Music Now!
- Print Reviews
- May 8, 2002
Ever wondered where MP3’s come from, or how to get your music online? Mitch Gallagher reveals all in Make Music Now! James Mann plugs in.

Whitney Ann Jenkins
- Music Reviews
- October 20, 2020
Intricacies (Wanderlustik Productions). Review by Stacey Zering.
Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah
- Music Reviews
- October 19, 2020
Axiom (Ropeadope/ Stretch Music). Review by Bob Pomeroy.
The Empty Space
- Archikulture Digest
- October 18, 2020
A spacey exploration of love , pain and reality as it might exist in cyberspace.
Ugly Lies the Bone
- Archikulture Digest
- October 18, 2020
A young woman returns from the war and struggles to overcome pain and loneliness.
Holmes and Watson: The Games Afoot
- Archikulture Digest
- October 18, 2020
Four Holmes and Watson tales enacted by a constantly changing cast.
Ohio State Murders
- Archikulture Digest
- October 17, 2020
Zoom back to 1949 as a black woman attempts to find acceptance in a midwestern academic setting.
Mixtape 136 :: No Glory in the West
- The Lacking Organization
- October 16, 2020
The mysterious Orville Peck is a modern cowboy marvel, a rare and legendary masked man with a dusty guitar and a lonesome coyote howl.
Bobby Bare
- Music Reviews
- October 16, 2020
Bobby Bare sings Shel Silverstein (Bear Family Productions). Review by James Mann.
Liar, Flower
- Music Reviews
- October 15, 2020
Geiger Counter (One Little Indian). Review by Bob Pomeroy.
Ray Ray
- Interviews
- October 14, 2020
Ray Ray speaks about a life behind the drum set.