Disgraceland

Musicians Getting Away with Murder and Behaving Very Badly

By: Jake Brennan

Narrated by: Jake Brennan

From the creator of the popular rock 'n' roll true crime podcast Disgraceland comes an off-kilter, hysterical, at times macabre book of stories from the highly entertaining underbelly of music history.

You may know Jerry Lee Lewis married his 13-year-old cousin, but did you know he shot his bass player in the chest with a shotgun or that a couple of his wives died under extremely mysterious circumstances? Or that Sam Cooke was shot dead in a seedy motel after barging into the manager's office naked to attack her? Maybe not. Would it change your view of him if you knew that, or would your love for his music triumph?

Real rock stars do truly insane thing and invite truly insane things to happen to them: murder, drug trafficking, rape, cannibalism and the occult. We allow this behavior. We are complicit because a rock star behaving badly is what's expected. It's baked into the cake. Deep down, way down, past all of our self-righteous notions of justice and right and wrong, when it comes down to it, we want our rock stars to be bad. We know the music industry is full of demons, ones that drove Elvis Presley, Phil Spector, and Sid Vicious and that consumed the Norwegian black metal scene. We want to believe in the myths because they're so damn entertaining.

Disgraceland is a collection of the best of these stories about some of the music world's most beloved stars and their crimes. It will mix all-new, untold stories with expanded stories from the first two seasons of the Disgraceland podcast. Using figures we already recognize, Disgraceland shines a light into the dark corners of their fame, revealing the fine line that separates heroes and villains as well as the danger Americans seek out in their news cycles, tabloids, reality shows, and soap operas. At the center of this collection of stories is the ever-fascinating music industry - a glittery stage populated by gangsters, drug dealers, pimps, and groupies, with violence, scandal, and pure unadulterated rock 'n' roll entertainment.

©2019 Jake Brennan (P)2019 Hachette Audio

Disgraceland

I absolutely loved this book. Jake is a master storyteller and delivered as well. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Jake Brennan is the killer!

He killed it. The stories and the reading delivery. The stories grip your attention hard and his voice is perfect in delivering the material. He brings these musicians stories to life in a way I’ve never heard done before and wouldn’t have if it wasn’t for his research and creativity. This audiobook is so good, so do yourself a favor and get to listening!

Musicians Behaving Badly Indeed

This was an introspective account of several leading figures in rock, particularly focusing on events that changed careers and lives. The approach here is getting inside their heads and offering an account of pivotal events. I read this book using immersion reading while listening to the audio book, which was read by the author. He has a lovely, expressive voice. This book pulls no punches, it contains language and descriptive drug use, so it's not for the kiddies, especially the chapter on the morbid death metal bands. That one can be disturbing for many. Just a heads up. It is an excellent book.

spectacular

I loved it. the stories were sometimes intense but they were a great blend of melodic words and phrases mixed with unbelievable details. give it a listen :)

Not Anything I couldn’t Find on the internet

I thought this would be a more in-depth telling of these artist but it’s just a retelling of what a basic internet search come up with. The only parts that are extra was what he added for dramatic affect.

good not great

I love the book. but 90 percent of the stores are already in the podcast. It felt like a mashup of the podcast without the sound effects and ads

A dissapointment.

I was expecting a book about rock bands throwing TV's out of hotel windows, during wild sex parties. Unfortunately, this wasn't as interesting. It mainly involves murders in a drawn out format. I only made it through half of the book before quitting.

Interesting and well written

These stories were very well written and new to me. The narration was well done and matched the reality of the stories being told. I was impressed with the entire listen. I hope this author writes/narrates more.

Great narrative about musicians behaving badly!

Loved this book! Jake Brennan does a wonderful job of weaving the stories of the different musicians together and then circling back to the musician featured in the first chapter to tie it altogether!

Enlightening for music lovers

Good book, I bought after getting hooked on the podcast by the same name! Buy it to be enlightened about musicians lives & deaths you've never heard before