Savage wins Penderyn Music Book Prize

Jon Savage has won the 2016 Penderyn Music Book Prize for his title 1966: The Year The Decade Exploded (Faber).

Savage beat off competition from Patti Smith’s memoir M Train (Bloomsbury), Elvis Costello’s Unfaithful Music and Disappearing Ink (Viking), Electric Shock: From Gramophone to the iPhone – 125 Years of Pop Music (Bodley Head) by Peter Doggett, Detroit 67: The Year that Changed Soul (Stuart Cosgrove) by Stuart Cosgrove and Naked at the Albert Hall: The Inside Story of Singing (Virago) by Tracey Thorn.

Richard Thomas, founder of the Penderyn Prize and the Laugharne Weekend Festival, said: “It was an incredibly strong and varied shortlist which went from memoirs to biographies of specific years to a complete history of pop. I read and enjoyed all the books and was very relieved that I did not have to be a judge myself.  I congratulate Jon Savage who wins the Penderyn Music Book Prize precisely 50 years after 1966, the fascinating subject of his brilliant book.”

Savage said: "I’m very pleased that there is a prize that recognises the depth and breadth that exists in the writing about music. It’s not just a fad but a way of life. And of course I’m honoured to be the winner of the prize in its second year: may there be many more."

The Penderyn Music Book Prize is the only UK-based book prize specifically for music titles including history, theory, biography, autobiography.  This year's judging panel consisted of influential musicians, writers and broadcasters Stuart Maconie, Annie Nightingale, Mark Ellen, Green Gartside,  Robin Ince and Jude Rogers.

The prize is sponsored by Welsh whisky company Penderyn, which has its distillery in the village of Penderyn nestled in the foothills of the Brecon Beacons.  The winner receives a cheque for £1,000 and a bottle of Penderyn Single Cask single malt whisky.