For some bands, there comes a time when music is not enough. Maybe the lead singer is acting like a diva, maybe there’s no more artistic inspiration, maybe your patented toothbrushes are made of toxic plastic, or maybe it’s just that you have a deep, unrealized vision of yourself as Julia Child. Regardless, for many musicians, food is the next frontier, and our Amazon shopping carts (if not our stomachs) are all the better for it. Want to make GWAR’s candied sweetbreads? How about some of Dolly Parton’s Dixie Fixin’s? Dig into our favorite musical cookbooks after the jump.
1.
by Loretta Lynn
Lynn is a whiz with lard and flour, but there isn’t much here for heart-healthy or vegetarian-leaning folks. She sprinkles her recipes with anecdotes about her country days, like the pie that won her husband’s heart: “The night we met, he bought a pie that I had made for a pie social. I had made this chocolate pie, and it looked good to me. But I had made it with salt instead of sugar.” And there’s also a recipe for Butcher Holler Possum: “I’ll teach you how to cook it just like Mommy did. Mommy’d always cook that possum until it got tender. There’d be grease an inch thick on it. She’s pour off the water and the grease and lay sweet potatoes all around the possum in her baking pan. That was Daddy’s favorite food.”
2.
by Ted and Shemane Nugent
The Motor City Madman has what is possibly the best ever opening line of a cookbook: “Praise and Braise the flesh!” Nugent, famed for his near-fanatical devotion to hunting and fishing, goes through the delicacies of cooking everything from elk to wild boar, including recipes for “Hasenpfeffer by Glock” and “Squirrel Casserole.” To quote the Nuge: “You can’t deny a gutpile.”
3.
by Coolio
Born out of Coolio’s hugely entertaining and weirdly addictive internet show Cookin’ with Coolio, this book serves up Coolio’s favorite fare, complete with metric-to-rap translations. How much spice? About a dime bag full. And how good is that chicken? “It’s about to taste better than yo’ momma’s nipples.” Shaka-Zulu!
4. The Sinatra Celebrity Cookbook: Barbara, Frank & Friends by Frank and Barbara Sinatra
Ol’ Blue Eyes and friends put this together to benefit Barbara’s Children’s Center and rounded up a bunch of celebrities to contribute their favorite recipes. You can learn how to make pasta with the likes of Bob Hope, Jay Leno, Gene Kelly, and Bill Clinton, as well as whip up Frank’s favorite, “Blue Eyes’ Italian Potato, Chicken, and Onion Dish,” and Whoopi Goldberg’s “Jewish American Princess Fried Chicken.”
5.
by Mary Frampton
Peter Frampton’s ex set out to immortalize her years on the rock’n’roll circuit with this collection of recipes. Here you can find The Rolling Stones’ Ron Woods’ recipe for passion fruit tea and Linda McCartney’s pea soup. According to an interview with People, Mary asked for Ringo Starr’s favorite, but the drummer apparently doesn’t like to cook much: “Travel to your local fish and chips shop,” he wrote. “Ask for cod and chips. Add salt and vinegar to taste. Eat with fingers for best results!”
6. by Annick Giroux
Annick Giroux, “The Morbid Chef,” compiled concoctions from heavy metal royalty like Mayhem, Judas Priest, and Anthrax for this, the evilest of cookbooks. Best metal recipes? Death’s Richard Christy’s favorite cocktail, the mighty Viking Testicle. Also, “Welfare Nachos” and “Candied Sweetbreads on a Bed of Seared Heart,” a favorite of GWAR’s Balzac the Jaws of Death.
7.
by Patti Labelle
We guess it’s only fitting that a woman whose enduring legacy is “Lady Marmalade” would have culinary inclinations. LaBelle has actually published several cookbooks, including one specializing in “Lite Cuisine.” It’s this book, though, that includes “Geetchee Geetchee Ya Ya Gumbo,” “Child! That’s Good Cheap Pot Roast,” and “Say-My-Name Smothered Chicken and Gravy.”
8. Dolly’s Dixie Fixin’s by Dolly Parton
“My food ain’t pretty, but it’s good,” Dolly notes, and you believe her — most of it is deep-fried, covered in gravy, or involves cool whip as the centerpiece ingredient, but mm-mm, we bet that catfish is tasty. Also on deck are Dolly’s Peanut Butter Pie and Cowboy Bean Salad — neither of which are for the faint of artery. And though the proceeds go to charity, we do get the feeling that part of Dolly’s motivation for the book was all those boob-enhancing apron looks.
9.
by Kay Bozich Owens and Lynn Owens
Ever wonder how you could make your dinner party still more twee? This book, a compendium of indie rock bands’ dishes, is your answer. You can serve up Belle and Sebastian’s Thai Sweet Potato soup alongside Animal Collective’s Greek Style Shrimp. Genesis P-Orridge offers a Lancashire Hot Pot with Dumplings, and Sonic Youth has an Italian Wedding Soup. Just steer clear of Chumbawumba’s Yorkshire Pudding. We can’t be held responsible for that.
10.
by Wendy Diamond
Tammy Wynette’s 24 Hour Salad, Cher’s Tuna Pasta, and Salt-n-Pepa’s Jerk Chicken are just a few entries from this encyclopedia of musical recipes from artists like the Beach Boys, Ace of Base, and the Grateful Dead (and yes, the Grateful Dead recipe does included something that has been “smoked”). Most of them sound fairly awful, particularly Randy Newman’s cheese sandwich, with recipe as follows:
“3 slices English cheddar cheese and 2 slices white bread
Place cheese between bread slices, stacking carefully. One serving.”