Rock and Roll Book Club

At The Current, we love music — and we love reading books about music. That’s why we created The Current’s Rock and Roll Book Club. Every week, we pick a book about music and share a review online; you can also hear Jay Gabler talk about each week's book with Oake & Riley in the Morning on The Current at 8:30 a.m. every Wednesday. We’d love it if you read along with us — and let us know what you think, using the hashtag #RockandRollBookClub.

Rock and Roll Book Club: 'First Avenue: Minnesota's Mainroom'

October 18, 2017

Chris Riemenschneider's new book is an informative, fair-minded history of one of America's musical landmarks.

Rock and Roll Book Club: 'Got To Be Something Here: The Rise of the Minneapolis Sound'

October 11, 2017

Andrea Swensson's new book is a crucial addition to Minnesota music history, sharing the stories of generations of R&B musicians who are rarely mentioned - despite the fact that their influence was responsible for the pop music of an entire decade.

Rock and Roll Book Club: 'Led Zeppelin: All the Albums, All the Songs'

October 4, 2017

Martin Popoff's 'Led Zeppelin: All the Albums, All the Songs.'

Martin Popoff isn't the first writer to dice the Led Zeppelin catalog song-by-song, but his new book is a handy guide to one of the rock era's most important bodies of work.

Rock and Roll Book Club: 'Otis Redding: An Unfinished Life'

September 27, 2017

Jonathan Gould's 'Otis Redding: An Unfinished Life.'

Jonathan Gould has written what the book jacket advertises as 'the definitive biography of the King of Soul.'

Rock and Roll Book Club: 'What is Punk?' and 'What is Hip-Hop?'

September 20, 2017

After the success of their 2015 picture book 'What is Punk?', writer Eric Morse and illustrator Anny Yi are back with 'What is Hip-Hop?'

Rock and Roll Book Club: 'Beyoncegraphica'

September 13, 2017

'Beyoncegraphica' is a new 'graphic biography' of Beyonce - meaning, a book with Beyonce infographics. Author Chris Roberts also fills the book with lyric references like, 'Were the public ready for this jelly? Undoubtedly.'

Rock and Roll Book Club: 'Shake It Up' collects a half-century of music writing

September 6, 2017

'Shake It Up: Great American Writing on Rock and Pop.'

The Library of America dips its weighty toe into rock and pop criticism with 'Shake It Up,' a new anthology spanning a half-century of writing about artists 'from Elvis to JAY-Z.'

Rock and Roll Book Club: 'Murder Ballads,' featuring Robert Finley and Dan Auerbach

August 30, 2017

'Murder Ballads,' by Gabe Soria with Paul Reinwand and Chris Hunt.

'Murder Ballads' is a graphic novel featuring an original soundtrack created by bluesman Robert Finley and rocker Dan Auerbach.

Rock and Roll Book Club: 'The Man Who Carried Cash'

August 23, 2017

Julie Chadwick's 'The Man Who Carried Cash.'

If there's any job that really stretches the contractual phrase 'other duties as required,' it's the job of a rock star's manager. That much becomes very clear in 'The Man Who Carried Cash,' a new book about Johnny Cash's longtime manager Saul Holiff.

Rock and Roll Book Club: 'Foo Fighters: Learning to Fly'

August 16, 2017

Mick Wall's 'Foo Fighters: Learning to Fly'

A new book about the Foo Fighters capably chronicles the band whose leader has lived an unlikely rise from 'the Grunge Ringo' to singer-songwriter superstardom.