History’s musical notes

What sets Primus, Over the Electric Grapevine: Insight Into Primus and the World of Les Claypool (Akashic Books, $24) apart from other books about musicians is that it's written by the San Francisco-based band and author Greg Prato as a conversation between friends. Interviews with the likes of Les Claypool, Matt Winegar, Geddy Lee, Kirk Hammett, Tom Waits, Chuck D, Stewart Copeland, et al. comprise an oral history of both this one-of-a-kind band and of music during the '80s and '90s. Organized around the band's albums including Frizzle Fry, Sailing the Seas of Cheese, and Pork Soda, as well as events seminal to the formation and growth of Primus, Prato and the band members provide plenty of insight, laughs and surprises.