Rock 'n' write: Pete Townshend to take trip down musical memory lane

The publisher HarperCollins recently announced that it had snapped up the rights to the memoirs of The Who guitarist Pete Townshend. Here are five other musical memoir-writers:

Take Five… Keith Richards

The Rolling Stone’s 2010 Life has enough tales to keep fans happy while non-rock types will appreciate Richards’s warm take on what it is to be one of rock’s biggest icons.

Take Four… Eric Clapton

The Autobiography (2008) traces the bluesman’s career from the Yardbirds and Cream to his success as a solo artist. Clapton also waxes lyrical on hunting and fishing and the quiet country life.

Take Three… Bob Dylan

In 2005’s Chronicles: Volume One, the folk hero who made his name confounding expectations springs one of his biggest surprises. While Dylan spends more time tracing his personal development rather than his music, it is done with such literary style that you can’t help but tag along.

Take Two… Anthony Kiedis

As well as discussing the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ rise to fame, in Scar Tissue (2004) Kiedis lets us in on curiosities such as how he narrowly escaped being named Clark Gable Kiedis.

Take One… Mötley Crüe

The Dirt: Confessions of the World’s Most Notorious Rock Band (2001) revels too much in the group’s excesses, but there are moments of unexpected pathos, such as the lead guitarist Mick Mars discussing his chronic arthritis.

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