The Midnight Special

 The Midnight Special: The Secret Prison History of American Music by Colin Asher, 336 pages, © 2026

This was a great book, just nominated as a finalist for a National Book award. At first glance it seems like this might be a book about great albums inspired by prison but it's actually more of a mediation on policing and incarceration in America and how those systems influence and gatekeep artistic expression. Asher narrows the focus down to five artists, each from a different time period and genre, diving into each person's background and how they came to be ensnared in the carceral system--with the exception of Johnny Cash. Cash's story is the middle of the book as an intentional counterpoint to the other stories as it may surprise readers to learn that he spent less then a week in jail his entire life. Unlike artists like Tupac and Leadbelly, who were forced to rely on their criminal public personas to book performances and sell records, Cash was not beholden to his outlaw persona, despite having similar personal problems as the others in this book--he could always pivot to something else, like supporting Native American rights or singing gospel music--black artists often did not have that luxury. Elmo Hope was an incredible jazz pianist who fell into drugs and, because of New York City's insane Cabaret Card law (which was a legal way of criminalizing black jazz musicians), spent time in Riker's Island, where he recorded an album with the prison band. Perhaps the most unknown artist in the book is Ike White, the only one actually guilty of committing a violent crime. His natural talents as a musician were enough to attract the attention of larger celebrities who were invested in the prison reform movement of the 60s and 70s. He used that interest to help him  record an album in prison, which is now considered a lost soul record. Highly recommended. 

The Birth of Rock n' Roll

The Birth of Rock n' Roll: The Illustrated Story of Sun Records and the 70 Recordings that Changed the World by Peter Guralnick and Colin Escott, 255 pgs. 

Coffee table books get a bad rap. Most of the time people don't want to carry them around due to their large size, but organized well, they can be works of art unto themselves. This collection focusing on the story of Sun Records in Memphis Tennessee is both alluring for music enthusiasts and historians alike. The authors dive into the very beginnings of the historic studio, with Sam Philips sussing out interesting talent in his hometown, eschewing traditional white sounds for more African-American and rhythm and blues fare. Filled with great, full-page color photos of artists, labels, and insider information, this collection is a great way to flip through and find new (albeit, old) tunes you may not have heard before. A fascinating story offered here is one of what is considered far and wide to be the first rock n' roll song titled Rocket 88 by Jackie Brenston (backed by an up and coming guitarist named Ike Turner). When the group arrived at Sun to record the song, Turner realized the speaker cone in his amplifier had a hole in it, resulting in a distorted, fuzzy, broken-up sound. Turner panicked, thinking they needed to find another amp, but Phillips actually liked the sound the broken speaker cone created. It was different than any other sound he had heard before, so they went ahead and recorded it as is. That distorted sound became a benchmark for every rock n' roll song that would come after. It's a testament to Sam Phillips and his remarkable ear for modernity and the book highlights the studios many offerings to rock n' roll.