2017

@PenderynPrize

2017 Prize Winner

'The Mercury Prize of Books' - NME

The Penderyn Music Book Prize is the only UK-based book prize specifically for music titles including history, theory, biography, autobiography. It is now in its 3rd year.

The 2017 award ceremony took place at the Laugharne Weekend, on Sunday 9th April.
The winner was Daniel Rachel for 'Walls Come Tumbling Down' (Picador)
(Follow Daniel on facebook here, and Twitter here.)

'This is a triumphant oral history.'
John Harris, The Guardian

'A colossal and brilliant book.'
Shaun Keaveny, BBC 6 Music

‘I am so thrilled to receive the Penderyn Music Book Prize. The last time I won a prize was the tombola at St Christopher’s Children Home when I was 8. It was the same day, I was inadvertently driven into a National Front march in the middle of Birmingham city centre. That moment was the genesis for Walls Come tumbling Down, via much skanking to 2 Tone Records and a healthy shot of anti-Thatcherite songs from the Red Wedgers to shake up my hard-core Tory upbringing. This award is a tribute to the 100 or more contributors to the book whose actions and songs changed our country’s cultural landscape and a reminder to tomorrow’s heroes that pop music can change the world. ‘
Daniel Rachel

'A big book of real gravitas.'
Richard Thomas, Prize Organiser

'It's a wonderful book. We are delighted that Daniel has won this year's prize.'
Stephen Davies, Pendeyrn

For more information, or to contact Daniel Rachel or Richard Thomas, please contact Hannah Corbett 07711 797 792
For information on Penderyn Distillery please contact Jon Tregenna 07702 088 298

Previous Winners

2016
Jon Savage - '1966: The Year The Decade Exploded' (Faber)

2015
Mark Lewisohn - ‘The Beatles - All These Years: Volume One: Tune In' (Little, Brown)

Pics by Emyr Young
[email protected]

Prize Ceremony (15:46)

Extract - Daniel Rachel's Speech (3:33)

Winner in the Guardian
(click pic for link)

Winner in The Bookseller
(click pic for link)

Picador Blog
(click pic for link)

Guardian Prize Winning Book Review
(click pic for link)

2017 Shortlist in The Guardian

“This seems to be a vanguard time for serious music journalism as printed word. It’s as if the most engaging music is being made by writers.”

Thurston Moore (2017 Prize Judge)

2017 Judges

2017 Shortlist

The winner is announced at the Laugharne Weekend Festival on Sunday 9th April 2017.

The Rise, The Fall, and The Rise
by Brix Smith Start (Faber)

Into The Maelstrom: Music, Improvisation and the Dream of Freedom
by David Toop (Bloomsbury Academic)

I'm Not With The Band: A Writer's Life Lost in Music
by Sylvia Patterson (Sphere)

Walls Come Tumbling Down
by Daniel Rachel (Picador)

Young Soul Rebels: A Personal History of Northern Soul
by Stuart Cosgrove (Polygon)

1971 - Never a Dull Moment: Rock's Golden Year
by David Hepworth (Bantam)

Testimony
by Robbie Robertson (William Heinemann)

This Is Grime
by Hattie Collins & Olivia Rose (Hodder & Stoughton)

The Judges
Stewart Lee
Charlotte Church
Geoff Travis
Tracey Thorn
Eliza Carthy
Thurston Moore
Jane Beese

2017 Longlist Press Release

LONGLIST ANNOUNCED FOR THE 2017 PENDERYN MUSIC BOOK PRIZE

Long-awaited memoirs from musicians Bruce Springsteen, Johnny Marr and Robbie Robertson have all made the longlist for the 2017 Penderyn Music Book Prize. Now in its third year, the prize is organised by Richard Thomas, founder of the Laugharne Weekend Festival, and is the only UK-based book prize specifically for music titles (history, theory, biography, autobiography).

'The Mercury Prize of books' NME

The shortlist will be announced in early March and the winner is announced at the Laugharne Weekend Festival on 9th April 2017.

The 2017 Penderyn Music Book Prize longlist:

The Rise, The Fall, and The Rise
by Brix Smith Start (Faber)

Small Town Talk: Bob Dylan, The Band, Van Morrison, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix & Friends in the Wild Years of Woodstock
by Barney Hoskyns (Faber)

Anarchy in The Year Zero: The Sex Pistols, the Clash and the Class of '76
by Clinton Heylin (Route Publishing)

Into The Maelstrom: Music, Improvisation and the Dream of Freedom
by David Toop (Bloomsbury Academic)

I'm Not With The Band: A Writer's Life Lost in Music
by Sylvia Patterson (Sphere)

The Age of David Bowie
by Paul Morley (Simon & Schuster)

Walls Come Tumbling Down
by Daniel Rachel (Picador)

Young Soul Rebels: A Personal History of Northern Soul
by Stuart Cosgrove (Polygon)

The Last Great Event: with Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison - When the World Came to the Isle of Wight, Volume II, 1970
by Ray Foulk and Caroline Foulk (Medina Publishing)

1971 - Never a Dull Moment: Rock's Golden Year
by David Hepworth (Bantam)

Testimony
by Robbie Robertson (William Heinemann)

This Is Grime
by Hattie Collins & Olivia Rose (Hodder & Stoughton)

Shock and Awe: Glam Rock and Its Legacy, from the Seventies to the Twenty-First Century
by Simon Reynolds (Faber)

Set The Boy Free
by Johnny Marr (Century)

Born To Run
by Bruce Springsteen (Simon & Schuster)

Let’s Make Lots of Money: Secrets of a Rich, Fat, Gay, Lucky Bastard
by Tom Watkins (Virgin)

The Judges
Stewart Lee
Charlotte Church
Geoff Travis
Tracey Thorn
Eliza Carthy
Thurston Moore
Jane Beese

The Sponsors:

The Prize is sponsored by Welsh whisky company Penderyn, which has its distillery in the village of
Penderyn nestled in the foothills of the Brecon Beacons.

“Penderyn Distillery are delighted to sponsor this prize. On a personal level, I'm a big music fan,
and it's very exciting to see so many great books on the long list.”
Stephen Davies, Penderyn Distillery Chief Exec

Quotes from this year’s judges:

“I was thrilled to be asked to be part of the judging panel for the Penderyn Music Book Prize this year - I had read most of the books from last year as a matter of course. The range of books on the longlist for 2017 is so broad in terms of what they are setting out that it's going to be a difficult decision for us to make but I'm looking forward to Richard locking us away until we do.”
Jane Beese, Head of Music at the Roundhouse

“I’m looking forward to judging this prize, which shines a light on great music writing - a genre that often gets overlooked. It’s a strong and varied long list, with a good range of different voices and different perspectives.”
Tracey Thorn, singer and writer

“Never had this much reading homework before. Thank goodness so many of these books seem to be on my favourite subject… Music!”
Geoff Travis, Joint MD at Rough Trade

“This seems to be a vanguard time for serious music journalism as printed word. In 2016 with memoirs by Bruce Springsteen et al in tandem with critical expositions from Simon Reynolds and Paul Morley it’s as if the most engaging music is being made by writers.”
Thurston Moore, Sonic Youth

Further Information:
Hannah Corbett, publicist - [email protected] / 07711 797792
Richard Thomas, founder - [email protected] / 07415 65905