As AI seemingly takes over the world, including the writing and publishing of books, serious readers—more than ever—value real human authors, editors and publishers, who put in the hard work of researching and crafting books about other creative humans. For music fans, some of the most cherished books produced today are those that tell the stories of artists who make music and those who bring that music to our ears.
In the first part of our 2025 holiday gift guide, we looked at the best of the year’s reissues, boxed sets and historical collections. You can find that here.
For this second part, we put on our reading glasses and dug into the year’s best books for fans of classic rock and related music. The first segment of our survey is devoted to memoirs and biographies (arranged alphabetically by subject), including important new books on The Beatles, The Band, Tom Petty, Elvis Presley, Bruce Springsteen, Santana and others. The second part features new books on various music-related topics, arranged by title. And then, at the end, we’ve listed other assorted new releases of 2025 that may interest you.
There are no rankings for these titles because they’re all worthy. [Note: In most cases, if you click on the book title, you’ll be taken to our original coverage of the release, complete with ordering links.] All of these are available as physical books; many are also downloadable digitally.
Watch for part three of our guide, in which we’ll focus on the best new releases of 2025 by classic rock-related artists.
Bios, Memoirs and Artist-Related (Alphabetical by Subject Name)
T
he Band Photographs: 1968-1969—by Elliott Landy—Ten years after the first edition that had long since sold out, the legendary photographer is publishing The Band Photographs: 1968-1969. From the publisher’s description: “The photos capture an innocence and excitement particular to their hermetic environment, before success started to tear them apart.”
The Beatles Anthology (25th Anniversary Edition)—by the Beatles—The 2025 reissue of the 368-page The Beatles Anthology book is part of a campaign with a restored and remastered 30th anniversary edition of the 1995 Anthology documentary. The book features over 1,300 images, most previously unpublished.
Beatles For Sale to Help!—by Bruce Spizer—The ninth book in Spizer’s acclaimed Beatles Album Series covers the Fabs’ releases from November 1964 through Summer 1965, including the British, American and Canadian perspectives. The newest book contains highly detailed chapters on the EMI recording sessions for the albums and singles, and the album covers.
Heartbreaker: A Memoir—by Mike Campbell—The New York Times best-selling memoir from the guitarist in Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers digs deep into the ups and downs of his tenure with the band. Says the publisher: “Few know of the less-than-glamorous background from which Campbell emerged, and the sacrifices required. His rise was an at-times grueling dream come true that took him from the very bottom to the absolute top.”
Blood Harmony—The Everly Brothers Story—by Barry Mazor—According to the publisher, this is “the first biography that’s focused on the dramatic, complicated relationship of these two famous and strikingly talented brothers, and explores how the evolution of their relationship played out in the much-loved music they created—through some 60 years of performing.”
Fleetwood Mac: All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track—by Olivier Roubin and Romuald Ollivier—The centerpiece of the copiously illustrated new book is a chronological discussion of Fleetwood Mac’s catalog, starting with the group’s eponymous 1968 debut and ending with 2003’s Say You Will, the band’s 17th and final studio album.
Watch Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac in action
Driftin’ on a Memory: Celebrating Seventy Years of the Isley Brothers—by Trenton Bailey—The author tells the story of this groundbreaking R&B group that began recording as a vocal trio consisting of the brothers O’Kelly Isley Jr., Rudolph Isley and Ronald Isley in the 1950s and whose hits included “Shout,” “Twist and Shout,” “This Old Heart of Mine,” “It’s Your Thing” and “That Lady.”
[Note: In most cases, if you click on the book title, you’ll be taken to our original coverage of the release, complete with ordering links.]
John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs—by Ian Leslie—Says the publisher: “Acclaimed writer Ian Leslie uses the songs [Lennon and McCartney]wrote to trace the shared journey of these two compelling men before, during and after the Beatles. Drawing on recently released footage and recordings, Leslie offers us an intimate and insightful new look at two of the greatest icons in music history, and rich insights into the nature of creativity, collaboration and human intimacy.”
If Only You Knew—by Lulu—Says the publisher’s announcement on the memoir by the “To Sir With Love” singer: “The book charts the highs and the lows of one of the longest-running shows in British rock and roll history. It is the story of one woman’s determination to stay real, relevant and happy, and one which ultimately reveals a woman who is far stronger and far braver than anyone knew.”
Richard Manuel: His Life and Music, From the Hawks and Bob Dylan to The Band—by Stephen T. Lewis—This biography focuses on one of the core members of The Band, whose career is analyzed with expert commentary. Said the publisher: “Manuel was a fearless original. Sweetly soulful as a vocalist and endearingly creative as a songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, he was a vital part of some of rock ’n’ roll’s pivotal moments.”
Watch Richard Manuel sing Bob Dylan’s “I Shall Be Released”
Willie Nelson: All the Albums—by Geoffrey Himes—In which the veteran music author sorts out every one of Nelson’s 152 (and counting) albums. Our reviewer called it “a handsome hardcover book…stocked with factual details on every one of those albums, along with Himes’ analyses of the music within. Even a Nelson neophyte could benefit from the author’s astute evaluations.”
Yoko: A Biography—by David Sheff—Says the publisher: “The Lennon/Beatles saga is one of the greatest stories ever told, but Yoko’s part has been missing—hidden in the Beatles’ formidable shadow, further obscured by flagrant misogyny and racism. This definitive biography of Yoko Ono’s life will change that. In this book, Yoko Ono takes centerstage.”
The Colonel and the King: Tom Parker, Elvis Presley, and the Partnership that Rocked the World—by Peter Guralnick—According to the publisher, the biography is “a groundbreaking dual portrait of the relationship between the iconic artist and his legendary manager, Colonel Tom Parker, [that] draws on a wealth of Parker’s never-before-seen correspondence to reveal that this oft-reviled figure was in fact a confidant, friend, and architect of his client’s success.”
[Note: In most cases, if you click on the book title, you’ll be taken to our original coverage of the release, complete with ordering links.]
Tom Petty: His Life & Music—by Gillian G. Gaar—In Tom Petty: The Life & Music, veteran rock journalist Gaar reveals this classic rock icon through 75 career releases, performances and accolades. Gaar covers Petty’s childhood in Florida and early band, Mudcrutch; his 16 studio albums, including those with the Heartbreakers and as a solo artist; a selection of his greatest singles; his relationships with notable rock figures like Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Johnny Cash, and Stevie Nicks, and more.
Insomnia—by Robbie Robertson—The late guitarist and chief songwriter of The Band “tells the story of his wild ride with [director Martin] Scorsese—as friends, adventure-seekers and boundary-pushing collaborators.” Added the publisher: “Insomnia is an intimate portrait of a remarkable creative friendship between two titans of American arts, one that would explore the outer limits of excess and experience before returning to tell the tale.”
Carlos Santana: Love, Devotion, Surrender—The Illustrated Story of His Music Journey—by Jeff Tamarkin—The story of one of the world’s most beloved and honored musicians is told in vivid detail for the first time in this copiously illustrated, oversized volume, written by Best Classic Bands’ editor with input from Santana himself as well as his management, former and current band members and many others.
Tonight in Jungleland: The Making of Born to Run—by Peter Ames Carlin—For this book, Carlin conducted fresh interviews with the artist and all of the surviving members of the E Street Band, manager and co-producer Jon Landau, original manager and co-producer Mike Appel, session musicians and others. Carlin also spoke with saxophonist Clarence Clemons a little before he died in 2011. The result is described as “a revealing look at the period preceding Born to Run’s creation, the state of Springsteen’s career at the time, and the recording of each track on the album.”
Cat on the Road to Findout—by Yusuf Cat Stevens—The memoir is described by the publisher as “an extraordinary soul-baring journey through the triumphs, trials, and transcendental quest of one of music’s most enigmatic figures of our time.” It’s illustrated with dozens of drawings in Yusuf’s own hand.
SMiLE: The Rise, Fall, and Resurrection of Brian Wilson—by David Leaf—SMiLE is an oral history chronicling the creation, near-death and rebirth of the album that the late Beach Boy began creating as a followup to Pet Sounds but eventually shelved. It looks closely at the events of 1966-1967 and 2003-2004, as well as including an anthology of brand-new essays about SMiLE.
Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run—by Paul McCartney—“I’m so very happy to be transported back to the time that was Wings and relive some of our madcap adventures through this book,” said McCartney of the book, which includes a foreword written by McCartney and is compiled from over 42 hours of brand-new interviews, plus historical interviews and newly discovered, previously unheard interviews from his personal archive.
Waiting on the Moon: Artists, Poets, Drifters, Grifters, and Goddesses—by Peter Wolf—We’ll leave it to no less than Bob Dylan to describe the memoir of the former J. Geils Band frontman: “His book reads like a fast train and you’ll get a glimpse of everyone passing by through the windows…characters that have crossed Pete’s path who he’s known up close and personal. A diverse crowd, one you wouldn’t think belong in the same book.”
Watch Peter Wolf with the J. Geils Band
Non-Artist-Related (Alphabetical by Title)
Buzz Me In: Inside the Record Plant Studios—by Martin Porter and David Goggin—Based on the memoirs and archives of studio cofounder Chris Stone, and interviews with over 100 studio employees, music producers and recording artists, Buzz Me In, says the book’s promo material, narrates this previously untold story of classic rock ’n’ roll as the authors received it from industry insiders.
Gliders Over Hollywood: Airships, Airplay and The Art of Rock Promotion—by Paul Rappaport—The memoir is the music executive’s first-hand account of guiding Columbia Records’ promotional efforts to album-rock stations for releases by Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Pink Floyd, the Rolling Stones, Elvis Costello, Billy Joel, Judas Priest and scores more.
[Note: In most cases, if you click on the book title, you’ll be taken to our original coverage of the release, complete with ordering links.]
Land of a Thousand Sessions: The Complete Muscle Shoals Story 1951-1985—by Rob Bowman—“Known as the ‘Hit Recording Capital of the World,’ the saga of Muscle Shoals [Alabama] is a story that deserves an in-depth treatment that tells the story of the musicians, producers and engineers that created some of the most important records in American music history,” says the publisher.
The Last Great Dream: How Bohemians Became Hippies and Created the Sixties—by Dennis McNally—The longtime publicist for the Grateful Dead explores the social history of everything that led up to the 1960s counterculture, touching down on specific, crucial events and the people who made it happen, from Beat-era poets and writers like Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac to all of the great rock bands of the era.
Positively Fourth and Mercer: The Inside Story of New York’s Iconic Music Club, The Bottom Line—by Allan Pepper and Billy Altman—The story behind the legendary New York nightclub started by Pepper and Stanley Snadowsky in an industrial area of Greenwich Village that was all but deserted after 6 p.m. The Bottom Line hosted everyone from Bruce Springsteen to Dolly Parton to Miles Davis.
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: The Outrageous, Definitive & Untold History—by Craig Inciardi—Author Inciardi, who helped launch the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum, “pulls back the curtain on the Hall’s chaotic birth: the cutthroat induction debates, the backstage meltdowns and the legendary all-star jams with Jagger, Dylan, Springsteen and more,” says the publisher.
The Uncool: A Memoir—by Cameron Crowe—The author provides a self-deprecating, improbable and fully enjoyable story about how he began as a teenager with a few random record reviews in a free San Diego newspaper and became not only a star writer for Rolling Stone but then an Academy Award-winning writer and film director.
Watch a deleted scene from the Cameron Crowe-written and -directed Almost Famous
Unplugged: Adventures From MTV to TImbuktu—by Tom Freston—A memoir from the media honcho taking us around the world, from running a clothing export company out of India and Afghanistan, to cofounding MTV, to becoming CEO of MTV Networks, then CEO of Viacom, and later returning to work in Africa and Afghanistan.
And Don’t Forget These (Alphabetical by Author)… (Click the book’s title for our earlier coverage, including ordering links.)
Loud and Clear: The Grateful Dead’s Wall of Sound and the Quest for Audio Perfection—by Brian Anderson
Eternal Flame: The Authorized Biography of The Bangles—by Jennifer Otter Bickerdike
The Complete Johnny Cash: Lyrics from a Lifetime of Songwriting—by Johnny Cash and Mark Stielper
The Rock ’n’ Roll Philosopher—by Dion DiMucci and Adam Jablin
Decade of Dissent: How 1960s Bob Dylan Changed the World—by Sean Egan
Burning Down the House: Talking Heads and the New York Scene That Transformed Rock—by Jonathan Gould
The Cars: Let the Stories Be Told—by Bill Janovitz
Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live—by Susan Morrison
Last Rites—by Ozzy Osbourne
Living in the Present with John Prine—by Tom Piazza
Giant Steps: My Improbable Journey From Stage Lights to Executive Heights—by Derek Shulman
Bread of Angels: A Memoir—by Patti Smith
The Yardbirds: The Most Blueswailing Futuristic Way-Out Heavy Beat Sound—by Peter Stanfield
Their Generation: The Who in America 1967-69—by Tom Wright
Watch the Yardbirds perform “Stroll On” in the 1966 film Blow Up
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