Enter a world full of musical geniuses, lyrical masters and soul-touching beats, and you’ll find yourself reading the 33⅓ series. The world is full of music fanatics and so is Tucson. We see it as we buy, sell & trade music-related paraphernalia all day long. We see it in the amazing shows and DJ sets in local venues and we see it in the now flourishing local record store Wooden Tooth. Tucson loves music, there’s no doubt about it. That’s why here at Bookmans we take it upon ourselves to provide you with the best selection of instruments, CD’s & vinyl, cassette tapes, record players and anything else that gets the groove flowing; including the rare gems that are the 33⅓ books.

Are you familiar? We just recently started ordering these little babies brand-new to provide our customers with yet another music related treat, read and obsession.

33⅓

With a slew of musical bios, magazines and internet blogs, the available information for your favorite album is already out there, but what makes the 33⅓ titles so unique is the in depth personal feel of each one, all dedicated to just one album at a time.

Written by different authors that spend countless hours researching, interviewing and ultimately throwing their supreme love into the universe for the bands and their story, we get an intimate look into the lives of the band mates and where they came from. You can Wikipedia all you want, but the insight and passion in each of these slim little volumes is overwhelming.

While each pocket sized publication is typically no more than 150 pages, there’s no denying the sense of camaraderie you’ll feel with the band after reading. Even better, the series covers every end of the musical spectrum. From James Brown, Neil Young and Pink Floyd to J Dilla, DJ Shadow and Flying Lotus, there’s a title by 33⅓ for every music connoisseur out there.

The first title was released in 2003 by Continuum and  covered the album Dusty in Memphis by Dusty Springfield – written by Warren Zanes. There are now 116 titles in the series with the latest one being released just last month on LCD Soundsystem’s album Sound of Silver (written by Ryan Leas).

The 116 titles cover such a diverse scale of musical history, and we encourage you to pick one up that maybe you’re unfamiliar with. If you know classic rock but aren’t up with current bands maybe you’ll like number 29 that covers the album In the Aeroplane Over the Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel, written by Kim Cooper. Or if Kanye West is your jam (number 97 written by Kirk Graves) maybe you’ll want to broaden your musical knowledge and try number 76 on Radiohead’s album Kid A.

Either way, there’s something for everyone in this amazing series and we’ve got them stocked right here at Bookmans.

33⅓

Find your favorite title and match it to the corresponding vinyl or CD. There’s nothing quite as satisfying as jamming out to the tunes that get you going and to pair it with the prodigal insight from the series you’re sure to learn something from, even about a band you thought you knew like the back of your hand.

Bookmans is forever your store to explore and we remain proud to offer you the finest, most obscure selection around town. Give us a call or stop in today but don’t forget your trade credit, otherwise known as Tucson’s Golden Ticket!