John Darnielle, Black Sabbath, a book reading & stuff

by Black Bubblegum

John Darnielle knows his tunes. Not just his own, everyone else’s too. I mean, how many people can blog away about Dionne Warwick, sing the praises of Con Funk Shun, AND review the Maryland Deathfest?

John also knows a thing or two about writing (check his blog or his column in Decibel) but it wasnt until recently that he decided to focus his energies into his first book, Master Of Reality. As #56 in the popular 33 1/3 series, Master Of Reality is a profile of the seminal Black Sabbath record which may or may not have laid the ground work for the entire stoner rock genre (“Sweet Leaf” anyone?).

Master Of Reality is out now and in celebration of his accomplishment, John Darnielle will be reading from Master Of Reality at Housing Works Used Book Cafe in NYC this Saturday, May 17th at 7PM.

But that’s not the only thing Darnielle has going down this weekend….. The night before, his band The Mountain Goats will headline the AIDS Walk benefit at Brooklyn Masonic Temple with The Daily Show‘s John Oliver, Rock Plaza Central, and Dave Hill on the assist tip. Tickets are still available and it’s for a great cause, so scoot on over and get’em while you can.

Black Sabbath Version 2.0, aka Heaven & Hell, are part of the Metal Masters Tour with Judas Priest, Motorhead & Testament. Tickets for those shows are still on sale too.

Popmatters was able to delve into why John Darnielle chose Master Of Reality and what he loves about metal.

Check out some of Darnielle‘s other favorite metal albums in a guest blog he did with Powell’s. Darnielle profiles WASP‘s The Headless Children, Judas Priest‘s Sad Wings Of Destiny, Black Sabbath‘s Born Again (really? that one?), Guns N Roses‘s Appetite For Destruction, and Mercyful Fate‘s Don’t Break The Oath.

The Best Ever Death Metal Band out of Denton w/ Eddie Argos