Down The Road Apiece: The Rolling Stones' London

Arts & Photography

Gorman, Paul

Music

Herb Lester Associates

On a cold night in January 1961, Bob Dylan arrived in New York. Within hours, he made his first New York performance at the Greenwich Village coffeehouse Cafe Wha? This guide charts Dylan's journey through the city from that first day through the 1960s, as he transitioned from unscrubbed folkie to world-conquering rocker, before a July 1966 motorcycle crash forced him into exile upstate.\nThis annotated map includes more than 40 entries, including the locations of friends' apartments where he'd crash for a few nights, the many small clubs and bars at which he strummed and sang for change, the scenes of first successes and later controversies, locations of LP cover shoots, and much more.\nBorn and raised in Minnesota as Robert Zimmerman, it was only in New York that he completed his transformation into Bob Dylan, during the frenetic period this guide documents.

Bob Dylan's New York Revisited: 1961-69

Travel

Lester, Herb

Reference

Dorothy L Sayers' Britain

Literature & Fiction

Sandberg, Eric

History & Criticism

Written by Gary Lachman, who, as Gary Valentine, was an original member of Blondie, this fold-out map and guide draws on his firsthand experiences. It offers an insider’s view of the clubs, streets, and landmarks that defined New York’s underground music scene between 1974 and 1981.\nLachman captures the energy of the time, taking readers back to legendary venues like CBGB, where Blondie, the Ramones, and Talking Heads performed. His recollections breathe life into once-gritty, now-unrecognisable neighbourhoods, including the Bowery, East Village and Soho, which served as the backdrop to a cultural revolution. The map traces pivotal spots like the Blondie loft on Bowery Street, where Lachman lived with Debbie Harry and Chris Stein, or Max’s Kansas City, a crucial hub where artists, musicians, and Warhol’s Factory crowd gathered.\nThis guide is more than a catalogue of places; it’s a memoir that intertwines personal stories with the history of punk. From Lachman’s performances with Blondie to after-hours hangs at iconic locations like the Mudd Club, he immerses the reader in the gritty, chaotic world where art, music, and rebellion collided. Valentine highlights the birth of punk fashion at shops like Trash and Vaudeville and recounts the artistic energy flowing through places like the Poetry Project at St. Mark’s Church, where Patti Smith’s performances paved the way for punk’s poetic edge.\n"Fear City" also introduces readers to other significant cultural figures who were part of that vibrant scene, including William Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg. With stops ranging from the infamous Hell’s Angels’ clubhouse to after-hours joints like the Nursery, Lachman paints a vivid picture of a wild, creative world that shaped not just punk music but the culture of New York.\nThrough a personal narrative, "Fear City" invites readers to explore this transformative period in New York’s history. It offers a unique, nostalgic map of the underground from the perspective of someone who lived and breathed it.

Fear City: The New York Underground, 1974-1981 (Herb Lester Associates Guides to the Unexpected)

LACHMAN, GARY

David Bowie, though well-traveled, was fundamentally a London boy. The capital shaped his cosmopolitan worldview and influenced all aspects of his persona and artistry. From his distinctive voice with its Brixton-by-Bromley inflections to his ever-evolving personal style and musical prowess, London's impact on Bowie was profound. 
Born in post-war Brixton, Bowie's formative years spanned the urban inner city and suburban Bromley. He used central London as a canvas for his life and creativity, his journey through the city mirroring his artistic evolution. From seductive Soho, where he honed his craft as an uber-Mod and recorded groundbreaking early '70s albums, to upscale areas like Marylebone, South Kensington, and Chelsea, where he resided with various managers and collaborators, London was integral to Bowie's development. 
In Beckenham, Bowie explored counterculture through his community-based 'arts lab'. Covent Garden played a significant role, hosting his performances with the experimental trio Feathers at the original Arts Lab. This area later became home to early '80s nightclubs Blitz and Hell, epicentres of the New Romantic movement Bowie heavily influenced. 
Despite leaving the UK in 1974, never to return as a permanent resident, London continued to shape Bowie's artistry. His ability to reinvent himself mirrored the city's capacity for constant renewal. From mod to glam to New Romantic and beyond, Bowie's transformations reflected London's ever-changing cultural landscape. 
In this guide, we chart 61 locations associated with Bowie, from childhood to global superstar.

David Bowie's London (Herb Lester Associates Guides to the Unexpected)

This guide explores the Los Angeles of Joan Didion, one of America's most celebrated writers. It traces Didion's time in the city from 1964, when she and husband John Gregory Dunne left New York, to 1988, when they moved back east.\nThe tour highlights over 30 locations significant to Didion's life and work, including homes, workplaces, and settings from her essays and novels. It begins at the couple's first California residence in Rancho Palos Verdes and includes their Franklin Avenue house in Hollywood, where they hosted numerous parties and raised their adopted daughter Quintana Roo.\nKey sites include Sunset Sound Recorders, where Didion attempted to interview Jim Morrison; the former Herald Examiner building; and Saint John's Hospital, where Didion underwent psychiatric evaluation in 1968. The tour also covers locations related to the Manson Family murders, which Didion wrote about extensively.\nThe guide explores Didion's complex relationship with Los Angeles, from her sharp observations of its social scene to her fear of freeway driving. It includes quotations from her works and anecdotes about her interactions with Hollywood figures like Harrison Ford and Christopher Isherwood.\nReaders will discover how Didion's experiences in Los Angeles shaped her writing, from her early magazine articles to seminal works like "Slouching Towards Bethlehem" and "The White Album." The tour also touches on her screenwriting career with Dunne and their time living in Malibu.\nThis literary journey offers insight into Didion's perspective on Los Angeles during a turbulent period in the city's history, illuminating the places that influenced one of America's most distinctive literary voices.

Joan Didion's Los Angeles (Herb Lester Associates Guides to the Unexpected)

Biographies & Memoirs

Brobeck, Catherine

Arts & Literature

Let Me Tell You About Copenhagen (Herb Lester Associates Guides to the Unexpected)

Køster-rasmussen, Janus

Europe

Inspired by Mick Herron’s ‘Slough House’ novels and Apple TV’s Slow Horses, our new map and guide dives into the murky waters of jaded spy Jackson Lamb and his retinue of MI5 cast-offs. 
The London of Slow Horses is more than just a backdrop; at once grim and flash, oppressively surveilled and unknowably huge, the city is an integral part of Herron’s stories. 
Lamb’s London charts the real places used in both the books and TV show: the rundown parade of shops in Barbican in which Slough House squats; the bench by the Thames where Lamb and Diana Taverner hold secret meetings; Lamb’s favourite Chinese restaurant; the Marylebone cafe the opposition uses for dead drops, the hidden hideaways and pubs to which Cartwright, Standish, Ho and co. retreat to drown their sorrows. 
Lamb’s London is an essential addition to the library of every Mick Herron fan, and for casual viewers it provides a thrilling real-life link to the most exciting and original spy drama of our time.

Lamb's London: A Guide to the City of Mick Herron's Slow Horses (Herb Lester Associates Guides to the Unexpected)

Hutt, Richard

Genre Fiction

At the time of his death at the age of 46 from intestinal cancer, the horror fiction writer H. P. Lovecraft (1890-1937) was practically unknown. Nearly a century later, he has millions of readers, bestselling authors including Stephen King sing his praises, and fantasy filmmakers such as Guillermo del Toro echo them. Lovecraft is now a recognised ‘classic’, a not infrequent destiny for writers whose genius only becomes apparent after their death. 
In this guide, we document the real worls places that were inspiration for his fictional towns Arkham, Innsmouth, Dunwich and Kingsport; his own residences and his restless wanderings along the Eastern seaboard. As some of his protagonists do, Lovecraft engaged in a kind of time travel, seeking out the remnants of the pre-Revolutionary War, colonial America that he felt was his true homeland.

Facts Concerning H. P. Lovecraft and His Environs (Herb Lester Associates Guides to the Unexpected)

Serge Gainsbourg's Paris (Herb Lester Associates Guides to the Unexpected)

Craddock, Felicia

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Books by Herb Lester Associates