​Though his stature as an icon of jazz is secure today, for much of his actual performing life, pianist/composer Thelonious Monk was not always so well-received by jazz critics or general fans.

His personal eccentricities - the hats, the dancing, the attacking piano keys - and odd/unprofessional behavior (whether real, imagined, or exaggerated) often overshadowed the music, itself rife with offbeat syncopations. But considering that the man produced such standards including "Ruby, My Dear," "Well, You Needn't," "Straight No Chaser," "Epistrophy" and the signature "'Round Midnight," the proof is in the tunes.

Written over the course of 14 years with full access to, though not final say from, the Monk family, Kelley has produced perhaps the most exhaustive bio ever on a jazz musician. He also theorizes that much of Monk's behavior and uncommunicativeness would today be diagnosed medically as bipolar disorder.

In addition to an incredibly detailed telling of Monk's life, the book is filled with stories about Monk's relationships with jazz players (Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, Bud Powell, Duke Ellington), and rich evocation of the New York clubs of the '50s and '60s. Later dubbed "the High Priest of Bebop," Monk was nonetheless angered that Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker got most of the credit (and press...and gigs...) for "inventing" the genre.

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​Here's a Classic Rock Math Query: Which British Invasion band, if you took the length of their career and amount of recorded output and juxtaposed it against the overall quality of their material, would end up as the "best" group? With all due respect to fans of the Beatles, Stones, Kinks, Who, Animals and even Herman's Hermits, the Zombies might take that title.

In less than four years and with just with two full-length records, an EP and a handful of singles, the Zombies tend to be a forgotten Union Jack-flying group. However, a dedicated cult of fans and the reactivation of the group as a recording/touring unit with original singer Colin Blunstone and keyboardist/singer Rod Argent - along with ardent admiration of 1968's Odessey and Oracle - has revived the Zombies' standing. And to think that the group's biggest U.S. hit, "Time of the Season," was only released at the insistence of keyboardist/A&R man Al Kooper, scoring a year after the band had broken up!

This wonderful live concert from 2008 is split into two parts. The first features the current lineup (Blunstone, Argent, ex-Kinks player Jim Rodford on bass, son Steve on drums, and Keith Airey on guitar) performing Zombies deep cuts ("I Love You," "Sticks and Stones"), Argent tunes ("Hold Your Head Up") and Blunstone solo material featuring a string quartet - the last of which is pretty, but a bit draggy. Throughout, Argent offers Storytellers-style illumination on several songs and the band's career.

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It's no secret that Lonesome Onry and Mean usually thinks of Christmas music at about the same moment the concept of suicide pops into our head. But a few days ago we were pleasantly surprised to receive a Christmas album that actually doesn't suck.

Along with 2002's excellent 'Tis The Season for Los Straitjackets, Yuletide Beat is the second album of Christmas instrumentals by the fabulous twin-guitar Austin/Nashville band Los Straitjackets. Both albums follow in the tradition of The Ventures' Christmas Album.

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In late 1969, the Rolling Stones were at a musical crossroads. They were two years away from the deep blues of Sticky Fingers and its follow-up, the majestically scuzzy Exile On Main Street. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were still very much tinkering with their new bluesier direction that would take them through the mid-70s up to Black And Blue and their late decade fascination with disco and cornball country.

The newly re-released and repackaged Get Yer Ya Ya's Out is a document of their time leading up to Let It Bleed. Originally released in 1970 to tide fans over before Sticky, the live set of Ya Ya's is an ace example of just how lethal they were at those shows at New York City's Madison Square Garden in the last days of November. The entire band was firing on all cylinders, and Jagger was getting the hang of his newfound bohemian mystic skin. Director Albert Maysles was on hand filming what would end up being the violent and bloody Gimme Shelter documentary.

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Last week, Houston's own Team Science released the final posthumous release by late local mod-punks Teenage Kicks. Sadly, the band broke up in late March and the band members have gone on to other bands and projects such as the blues-stomping Passengers and the monthly Fistful of Soul night at the Mink. The band's last show was the Masshysteria gig on March 26 with the Secret Prostitutes upstairs at the Mink, the band's usual stomping grounds.

The story of the Kicks is short and bittersweet, just like the just-released Uptight LP which we have been listening to for the past week seemingly on repeat (and is now available at Cactus Music). We've been flipping over the black circle every half-hour attempting to make sense of why these dudes aren't either headlining on any given night at the Mink or opening for a national band coming through Walter's.

It's strange to hear a band that is so vital and energetic and think that they are no more. Rocks Off sees these fellas at bars and in stores almost every week. It's like watching your divorced parents smiling and eating dinner and going home separately.

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​In one of the most rollicking and enjoyable classic rock memoirs of recent years, Chris O'Dell offers scores of interesting first-hand experiences with a who's who of icons, as well as her own keen observations on their personalities even hardcore fans will find fresh.

But just who, you might ask, is Chris O'Dell? The lithesome blonde was nothing short of a rock and roll Zelig. A chance L.A. encounter with Beatles PR guru Derek Taylor in 1968 led to a job at Apple Corps during the waning days of the Beatles. From there, it was a dizzying 15-plus year ride that found her on Apple rooftop during the Beatles' final concert... working for the Stones during the Exile on Main Street era and doing a drug run for Keith Richards (on a plane to Houston, no less!)... helping run the circus that was Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue... and much more on tours with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Santana, Fleetwood Mac and Linda Ronstadt.

During all of this, O'Dell formed a deep and lasting friendship with Pattie Boyd, meaning she spent a lot of time confiding in, partying among, and living with her and husbands George Harrison (who wrote the song "Miss O'Dell" for her) and Eric Clapton, putting her in the epicenter of that well-documented, substance- and spiritual-fueled romantic turbulence.

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[Ed. Note: Throughout the holiday season, Rocks Off will be bringing you our picks for recent DVDs, CDs and other musical wares that might be just the ticket to help fill out that pesky shopping list. Enjoy.]

​Though they never achieved the popularity of Zeppelin or Sabbath, and are still not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Deep Purple belongs in that group as a band that helped create hard rock and heavy metal. This generous 2-DVD set is a treasure trove of goodies from the band's best years, concentrating on the fan favorite "Mk II" lineup of Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Gillan, Jon Lord, Roger Glover and Ian Paice.

The footage here comes from a variety of sources: live concerts, staged videos, documentaries, news reports and appearances on the always-interesting European music shows of the day, whose trippiness proved that producers over there were smoking much stronger shit than their American counterparts.

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