Review
In its chapter on Nick Drake — the ethereal British folk singer who died at age 26 in 1974 without his three albums making any commercial impact whatsoever — Nigel Williamson's "The Best Music You've Never Heard" pinpoints why there's such a growing market for knowledge about the overlooked "hidden gems" in recorded music's history.

Advocates for someone anyone who has ever recorded to little avail now have an instant global soapbox to champion a perceived injustice. "In the age of the Internet, long-forgotten classics are being rediscovered, reappraised and reissued on an almost weekly basis," writes Williamson, the primary author (with contributors) to this music book from Rough Guides. "But it was Drake, who unknowingly created the template."

In 1986, Drake's work was posthumously released as a four-CD box, prompting a renewed interest that has now made him one of the most respected British singer-songwriters ever. "Nick Drake is in a sense the patron saint of this book," Williamson writes. "The first of rock music's Van Gogh figures, his talent was almost totally ignored in his lifetime and his greatness only recognized long after his death."

This book makes a case for other musicians who history has forgotten, overlooked or chronically undervalued. There is a moderate British orientation Williamson was a former news editor for The Times of London as well as an experienced music writer but there is plenty of room for Americans like the Brecht-Weill-influenced singer-songwriter David Ackles and psychedelic folkies Holy Modal Rounders.

The back stories can be fascinating, revealing just how interconnected this global village of a world can be. The book touts the "Ethiopiques" series of hip, rockin' contemporary Ethiopian music that a French devotee named Francis Falceto has been assembling and releasing. --Denver Post

Product Description
The Rough Guide to the Best Music You’ve Never Heard is a winning collection of amazing stories of tragic mavericks and unlucky contenders, with hundreds of lost classics and hidden gems. The guide traces the musicians that fell by the wayside from the bands that could have been The Beatles to the acts that were better than the acts that made it. Find out why David Ackles is the Elton John that never was (and why Elton John agrees). Frank and opinionated, the guide is packed with playlists, includes stylish archive photos as well as contributions from music industry insiders including Bat for Lashes. Clue-up on the infamous lost albums from some of rock’s biggest stars and discover the tales of the famous-name side-projects that got away, not forgetting the cult albums reviled at the time… that are actually really good. If you’re looking for great new music, this book will show it to you.

About The Author
Author Nigel Williamson is a regular contributor to the magazines Uncut and Songlines, and is the author of The Rough Guide To Bob Dylan.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1848360037/?tag=imwan-20

Hmmm...this sounds like a pick up for me.

Unless there's an entire chapter on The Spongetones, I'll pass.

(Not really. But there should be an entire chapter on The Spongetones.)

looks good for the average fan, but will they bother to pick up a book, more serious fans will probably see nothing new

I looked at the table of contents on the Amazon page, several interesting (and what appear to be short) articles,
such as "The La's: they could have been the next Oasis?"
and "Vanilla Fudge: they could have been the next Led Zeppelin?"...