I recently finished both Robbie Robertson's biography Testimony and Springsteen's biography Born to Run. Both were great reads and although I would consider myself much more of Springsteen fan than a fan of The Band, it is Robertson's book that I enjoyed more. I would recommend this to any music fan, whether you are familiar with The Band's music or not. Robbie has a phenomenal memory for conversations and events that happened over 50 years ago and is a raconteur of the highest order. There are stories of stolen diamonds, mobsters, guns, girls and drugs. Encounters with many historical figures, such as Jack Ruby, Salvador Dali, David Geffen, Bo Diddly, Jimi Hendrix, Martin Scorsese, and Muddy Waters form part of his story, although none nearly as important as being Dylan's best musical friend in the 1960's. He was there when Dylan recorded "Like a Rolling Stone" and was part of Dylan's band during one of the most seminal moments in rock history when Dylan decided to go electric. He details the abuse he and Dylan took on that first tour and has some great anecdotes about Dylan and the Beatles and the time spent recording the Basement Tapes with Dylan. He wraps up his his story in 1976 with the filming of the Last Waltz documentary.
Overall an entertaining read, and if you need a Hip connection, Gord wrote a poem about the The Band called "The Band, Upstate" in Coke Machine Glow and of course the Hip have covered the Band's "It Makes No Difference" and "The Weight" in which Paul takes lead vocal on the third verse and kicks some serious ass.
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Anyone else read a good rock biography lately?
Scar Tissue! Anthony Kiedis from the Chili Peppers!
It's pretty intense. He's had a pretty insane life. It's well written and very interesting.
arewhyehen Wrote:Scar Tissue! Anthony Kiedis from the Chili Peppers!
It's pretty intense. He's had a pretty insane life. It's well written and very interesting.
I agree, that's a fantastic book. I recently finished reading Trouble Boys- the Story of the Replacements, which was pretty fascinating. It's amazing how much those guys sabotaged their own career with their crazy antics and pissing off record execs, producers, etc.. They were even banned from SNL at one point.
Right now I'm reading the book about the early days of Muchmusic called "Is This Live?". Very entertaining book. It's like stepping into a time machine and re-living your adolescence. I basically grew up on Much during their heydey.
direwolf74 Wrote:arewhyehen Wrote:Scar Tissue! Anthony Kiedis from the Chili Peppers!
Right now I'm reading the book about the early days of Muchmusic called "Is This Live?". Very entertaining book. It's like stepping into a time machine and re-living your adolescence. I basically grew up on Much during their heydey.
Dropped a Father's Day hint to my wife for the Much book!
Scar Tissue is a fantastic read. I really enjoyed that one.
Keeping with the Springsteen thread, Bruce Springsteen and the Promise of Rock 'n' Roll by Marc Dolan and Walk Like a Man by Robert Wiersema are two of my all-time favourite music reads. Can't recommend either of them enough; the former is probably the best music biography I've read, although John Lennon: The Life by Philip Norman runs it a very close second.
NWOntario Wrote:Keeping with the Springsteen thread, Bruce Springsteen and the Promise of Rock 'n' Roll by Marc Dolan and Walk Like a Man by Robert Wiersema are two of my all-time favourite music reads. Can't recommend either of them enough; the former is probably the best music biography I've read, although John Lennon: The Life by Philip Norman runs it a very close second.
I've read
John Lennon: The Life as well and I wholeheartedly concur that it is an excellent read. It is about as detailed a character study that you will ever find in a biography as he spends plenty of time examining Lennon's character flaws. Philip Norman also wrote a great Beatles biography called
"Shout!". I'd call it the definitive biography of the Beatles, but since I've only read one, that would be reaching a bit! I particularly enjoyed the stories from the 1960-62 time period (prior to Love Me Do and Beatlemania), when they were gigging everywhere and spending lots of time honing their craft in Hamburg, Germany. There are some great, lesser known, stories from that time.
potsie Wrote:NWOntario Wrote:Keeping with the Springsteen thread, Bruce Springsteen and the Promise of Rock 'n' Roll by Marc Dolan and Walk Like a Man by Robert Wiersema are two of my all-time favourite music reads. Can't recommend either of them enough; the former is probably the best music biography I've read, although John Lennon: The Life by Philip Norman runs it a very close second.
I've read John Lennon: The Life as well and I wholeheartedly concur that it is an excellent read. It is about as detailed a character study that you will ever find in a biography as he spends plenty of time examining Lennon's character flaws. Philip Norman also wrote a great Beatles biography called "Shout!". I'd call it the definitive biography of the Beatles, but since I've only read one, that would be reaching a bit! I particularly enjoyed the stories from the 1960-62 time period (prior to Love Me Do and Beatlemania), when they were gigging everywhere and spending lots of time honing their craft in Hamburg, Germany. There are some great, lesser known, stories from that time.
I'd love it if Norman wrote a Stu Sutcliffe biography. He's a fascinating subject and an underrepresented one, as well.
I just finished Trouble Boys: The True Story of the Replacements (thanks direwolf74 for the recommendation). It may be the most emotional rock biography I've ever read. If the goal of art is to make you feel something, this book certainly accomplishes that. When the job descriptions of band members in 1991 include janitor, dish washer and call centre employee, after 10 years of making some of the greatest music of the 1980's, there is bound to be a depth of sadness to the story. The book chronicles one of the most self-destructive and dysfunctional bands to ever take to a stage. The author, Bob Mehr, remains an objective observer in capturing all the peaks and valleys in the Replacements career. He writes what I consider one of the greatest biographies I've ever read, in an approach (well researched, remaining impartial, interviews with the principle band members) that I would like to see Michael Barclay take with The Never Ending Present.
As for Hip connections, the Replacements recorded "Pleased to Meet Me" at Ardent Studios in Memphis two years before the Hip recorded UTH there. The book talks about Paul Westerberg recording some of his vocals in a 5x7 room off of the studio that they called "the dungeon" and it made me wonder if Downie had done the same for some of the songs on UTH. It also relays a story of Westerberg upchucking his wine into his hands while sitting in the control room and then tossing it upwards. The vomit stain remained on the ceiling for weeks before being noticed by the owner, who reacted indifferently. I wonder if it was still there two years later when the Hip took up residence, left as a rock n' roll artifact.
My girlfriend just got a book from Alan Cross called the Legendary Horseshoe Tavern. it's by David McPherson..
Not too far in but it seems pretty interesting so far. Mentions of The Hip and Neil Young and some other big artists...
direwolf74 Wrote:I agree, that's a fantastic book. I recently finished reading Trouble Boys- the Story of the Replacements, which was pretty fascinating. It's amazing how much those guys sabotaged their own career with their crazy antics and pissing off record execs, producers, etc.. They were even banned from SNL at one point.
I remember seeing The Replacements open for Tom Petty in 89 for his Full Moon Fever tour. Later when Petty was on stage, he was complaining about them and said "you know, we were called punks back when we were younger, but you have no idea how much these guys have cost me on this tour". He then dedicated the next song to them and broke into "Even The Losers Get Lucky Sometimes". Was pretty comical, but you could tell Petty wasn't joking about it either.
I'm currently reading the Tom Waits biography, Low Side of the Road by Barney Hoskyns, and it's great. Incredibly well researched and very entertaining, even though Waits himself doesn't participate. Then again, he's never participated in any of the books written about him, so what can you do? Instead, Hoskyns spends a lot of time talking to people that either know Waits or have worked with him in the past, and he uses many quotes from interviews he conducted with Waits when he was a journalist at NME and Melody Maker. He also does a great job with his analysis of the music itself. There have been other decent biographies written about Waits, including another one I read a few years ago called The Many Lives of Tom Waits. But this is the best one I've read so far, and from what I can gather from various reviews online, it's the most exhaustive account of his life so far. Highly recommended of you're a Waits fan.
cochise Wrote:direwolf74 Wrote:I agree, that's a fantastic book. I recently finished reading Trouble Boys- the Story of the Replacements, which was pretty fascinating. It's amazing how much those guys sabotaged their own career with their crazy antics and pissing off record execs, producers, etc.. They were even banned from SNL at one point.
I remember seeing The Replacements open for Tom Petty in 89 for his Full Moon Fever tour. Later when Petty was on stage, he was complaining about them and said "you know, we were called punks back when we were younger, but you have no idea how much these guys have cost me on this tour". He then dedicated the next song to them and broke into "Even The Losers Get Lucky Sometimes". Was pretty comical, but you could tell Petty wasn't joking about it either.
Trouble Boys spends a good amount of time talking about the Petty opening slot in 89. They seemingly did everything possible to get themselves fired from that tour. When they went on stage in Nashville, Westerberg said "Last night Tom Petty told us if we fuck up again we're fired. Well, fuck you, Tom Petty... and fuck you, Nashville!" They then proceeded to play a shitty set, cutting it short after 30 minutes when Westerberg said "Boo if you have the guts" as he walked off the stage. Petty then took a dig at the Replacements when he came on. "The opener played a short set so we're going to play extra long, because we care. See, we're a little different." It's amazing that a band would want to sabotage such a great opportunity.
neil's waging heavy peace book hurt my head reading it.
way way too scattered and apparently he gave up cannabis before he wrote the book
too bad cause he should have gone back on it
and i love neil so that sucks.
springsteen's book is next and i've only heard/read great things about it
but the coolest was meeting him at one of his book signings and getting an autographed book and picture with him
all i could think of was what do i say and how do i thank him properly for giving us the opportunity for the picture/meeting?
i think the event ticket cost $48...and it's not like he needed the money. bravo bruce bravo!
ashtrayrock Wrote:neil's waging heavy peace book hurt my head reading it.
way way too scattered and apparently he gave up cannabis before he wrote the book
too bad cause he should have gone back on it
and i love neil so that sucks.
Although an oldie, I really enjoyed "Neil and Me" written by his father Scott Young. I think it was released in 83, so obviously that is where the "history" ends, but it is a really good read. Some great background stories about Neil growing up.
The last one I read was by Bif Naked "I Bificus" it was so good I could not put it down. Finished reading it in 3 sittings and its a pretty big book. She is a great story teller. She talks all about her life growing up and running away all the way up to her recent cancer diagnosis and recovery.