Bob Spitz's lengthy biography of the Beatles minutely examines their formative years, both as individuals in Liverpool and later as a band let loose in the fleshpots and dives of Hamburg. Spitz scrutinizes the complex motives of their manager, Brian Epstein, as well as outlining John, Paul, George, and Ringo's often cutthroat ambition and seemingly boundless energy, which was often enhanced by liberal quantities of amphetamines. He also impeccably renders the band's musical apprenticeship and their growing songwriting confidence, not neglecting to dissect the less savory aspects of their personalities--Lennon's cruelty, and McCartney's obsequiousness.

With an introduction that includes giving thanks for a pair of comfortable shoes, as only someone who spent the first 15 years of his life mostly barefoot could, the autobiography of the late Johnny Cash is, like his music, simple and eloquent. Discovering country music via Roy Acuff and the Louvin Brothers, among others, he became part of the immortal Sun Records stable of musicians that also included Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins; he recounts his initial meeting with legendary Sun Studios owner and producer Sam Phillips, his shaky attempts at recording his debut single (it took over 30 takes), his thrill at performing his first hit "Cry, Cry, Cry" on the LOUISIANA HAYRIDE radio show, and his first Cadillac. He's also candid about his amphetamine and alcohol addiction, admitting the constant conflict between his darker impulses and his long-standing religious convictions. Throughout, Cash leaves detached analysis and precise recounting of minute detail to music scholars; but what is lost here in objectivity is gained in a series of remarkable vignettes steeped in country music history, all told through the filter of co-author Patrick Carr's superb prose recreation of the singer's trademark laconic, baritone drawl.

Chuck Berry, the man who arguably invented rock & roll guitar playing, spills the beans on subjects as varied as racism, getting propositioned by Little Richard, and his varied romantic entanglements in this idiosyncratic and entertainingly anecdotal autobiography. Frank recollections of his youthful imprisonment for robbery, and reminiscences of his time spent in the racist confines of an Algoa, Missouri jail, form some of the book's most compelling episodes. There are hit records and numerous affairs, racism is encountered at every turn, and, later, there's more jail time; but, despite numerous, often self-inflicted reversals in fortune, Berry is eventually able to fashion a comfortable life for himself as a well-respected member of the rock aristocracy. He writes in an agreeably eccentric prose style, which gets positively libidinous on the subject of his frequent romantic dalliances, and which, like his lyrics, can produce some memorably loopy phrases ("...the casual squirming and leg-ly laughter lured my lascivious lacking to longing lust..."). Usefully, he also finds time to recall the origins of many of his greatest hits. CHUCK BERRY is a candidly written glimpse into the lurid life of one of the prime movers of rock & roll.

Years after he killed Jesse James, Robert Ford tells the story of James's life and death to a young man in jail for accidentally killing his father.

Sayer's second work, her first American publication, is both a personal memoir and an exploration of self partially drawn from her experience tap dancing. The author recounts her life on the streets of New York and New Orleans with her musician father, providing a backdrop for the story of her search for love. Ms. Sayer was named one of Australia's 10 best young novelists by the "Sydney Morning Herald".