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Sometimes knowing every word and beat of the most iconic albums just isn’t enough. For audiophiles, there’s no shortage of required reading when it comes to the legends who created the anthems, three-chord progressions, and scratches that define today’s music landscape.
You are reading: Music coffee table books
In fact, some of the best music coffee table books showcase the industry’s most influential figures through the lens of photographers, musicologists, and other experts. the result: intimate behind-the-scenes portraits and rare stories that shed light on the larger-than-life personalities who shaped our contemporary music and culture in every way.
We’ve rounded up a handful of the best music coffee table books worth reading (and proudly displaying); see our picks below.
1. 1000 album covers
As with books, records shouldn’t be judged by their covers. But in this case, DJ and music archivist Michael Ochs has compiled the most influential album covers spanning the 1960s through the 1990s that audiophiles and art lovers alike will appreciate.
1000 michael ochs album covers, $20, available at taschen.com
2. the rise of david bowie, 1972-1973
David Bowie’s out-of-this-world androgynous alter ego, Ziggy Stardust, was born in 1972, and legendary photographer Mick Rock was with him when the man formerly known as David Robert Jones rose to fame. Spanning 300 pages of never-before-seen photographs and some of rock’s best-known portraits of the musician, this book is a must-have for any Bowie superfan’s coffee table.
the rise of david bowie, 1972-1973 by mick rock, $70, available at taschen.com
3. rihanna
See Also: Jane Green – Book Series In Order
This 500+ page tome documents the multi-hyphenate superstar’s life from growing up in Barbados to selling out stadiums around the world. Rihanna superfans will pore over 1,050 full-color images—including never-before-seen behind-the-scenes photos with family and friends—of the pop and fashion icon turned entrepreneur, plus nine bound booklets and a removable double poster on the sides.
rihanna, $150, available at nordstrom.com
4. contact high: a visual history of hip-hop
Whether you’re a photography enthusiast or a devoted hip-hop fan, you’ll want this 288-page book in your library. chronicles nearly 40 years of the genre’s history through interviews, essays, and contact sheets from over 100 photo shoots, including portraits and tour footage of run-dmc, queen latifah, salt-n-peppa, biggie smalls, tupac shakur and other rap heavyweights.
contact high, a visual history of hip-hop by vikki tobak, $26.46, available on amazon.com
5. rocker woman
Award-winning journalist, photographer, and DJ Meredith Ochs highlights the fierce women who powered the last century of music in this 200-plus-page hardcover. Spanning from blues legends to riot grrrls and beyond, look forward to reliving the career journeys of sister rosetta tharpe, grace slick, stevie nicks, patti smith, joan jett, karen o, grace potter and many other industry revolutionaries, just for name a few.
meredith ochs rock and roll woman, $20, available at amazon.com
6. jazzlife
No book collection by a music history devotee is complete without this definitive chronicle of jazz. Readers will embark on a visual journey across America in the 1960s, when photographer William Claxton and music journalist Joachim-Ernst Berendt followed the genre through street performers, as well as the likes of John Coltrane, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Charles Mingus, Thelonius the Monk, Murky Waters, and countless other legends.
jazzlife by william claxton, $80, available at taschen.com
7. aretha: queen of soul
See Also: Debra Burroughs – Book Series In Order
Before she was the queen of soul, aretha franklin was ree ree from detroit. This 144-page book traces the life of the Grammy-winning diva and activist from her childhood in Motor City, to the beginning of her music career in the 1950s, and until her death in 2018.
aretha: queen of soul by meredith ochs, $21.85, available at amazon.com
8. jim marshall: show me the picture
Expect close to 300 images from the archives of the renowned rock & film photographer jim marshall, whose leica lenses documented not only music greats (bob dylan, jimi hendrix, and janis joplin, to name just a few), but also subjects ranging from coal miners to movement figures by civil rights and more.
jim marshall: show me amelia davis photo, $33.99, available on amazon.com
9. cbgb & omfug: thirty years from the home of underground rock
New York City’s iconic music venue may be gone, but this 200-page book pays homage to its punk rock legacy. Features an introduction by CBGB club owner Hilly Kristal and an afterword by The Talking Heads’ David Byrne, plus commentary and raw black-and-white footage from Blondie, The Ramones, Sonic Youth, Pearl Jam, The Smashing Pumpkins , holes and many more. , many others that stretch along the bowery landmark’s 30+ race.
cbgb & hilly kristal omfug, $18.79, available at amazon.com
10. country music: an illustrated history
Those who want to brush up on their honky tonk history will want to pick up this 500-page hardcover. It is based on the eight-part country music documentary series by Ken Burns and features the stories of everyone from Hank Williams and Merle Haggard to Dolly Parton and Rosanne Cash.
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