Looks like Michael Barclay's book, The Never-Ending Present, is coming out in April. Book Launch at the Horseshoe on April 5.
https://www.horseshoetavern.com/event/16...y-toronto/
It’s the book you’ve been waiting for: The Never-Ending Present is the first comprehensive biography of the Tragically Hip, telling the full story from their first basement practices to their equally tragic and triumphant final tour. This unauthorized book by a co-author of Have Not Been the Same draws from more than 80 new interviews with managers, producers, peers and friends to tell the story not only of this band, but of many bands: cover bands, opening bands, aging bands, Canadian bands. A story of poetry and performance, of dealing with disease and of seeking reconciliation, of dance and its disappearance. A story about how this country sees itself in song and otherwise. A story about a show watched by 11 million Canadians, and 33 years of reasons why all those people watched in the first place. A story that will be celebrated on a night in Toronto in a place with checkerboard floors. An evening you won’t want to miss.
I'm really looking forward to reading this, unauthorized or not. Barclay is a good writer and I've enjoyed his articles in Macleans and Exclaim, as well as his contributions to the excellent CanRock bio "Have Not Been the Same".
Don't mention this book over at the Facebook fan page though, lol. Yikes. Those people are fucking militant over there.
direwolf74 Wrote:I'm really looking forward to reading this, unauthorized or not. Barclay is a good writer and I've enjoyed his articles in Macleans and Exclaim, as well as his contributions to the excellent CanRock bio "Have Not Been the Same".
Don't mention this book over at the Facebook fan page though, lol. Yikes. Those people are fucking militant over there.
That facebook page :what
You may have to deal with me over here, but I hope to Gord it's better than dealing that page :lol:
(Also looking forward to this book)
sean.bonner Wrote:direwolf74 Wrote:I'm really looking forward to reading this, unauthorized or not. Barclay is a good writer and I've enjoyed his articles in Macleans and Exclaim, as well as his contributions to the excellent CanRock bio "Have Not Been the Same".
Don't mention this book over at the Facebook fan page though, lol. Yikes. Those people are fucking militant over there.
That facebook page :what
You may have to deal with me over here, but I hope to Gord it's better than dealing that page :lol:
(Also looking forward to this book)
I had to turn off all my notifications for and unfollow that page. It was...a bit much.
Tthip Wrote:There's a Facebook page?
made me laugh
Tthip Wrote:There's a Facebook page?
:lol: :lol: :lol: 10/10
Tthip Wrote:There's a Facebook page?
you don't want to go there. Every song is the best song ever.
direwolf74 Wrote:Don't mention this book over at the Facebook fan page though, lol. Yikes. Those people are fucking militant over there.
Unless, somehow, one of the endless miserable Hip cover bands had something to do with it. Telling the band's story is morally wrong, remember, but actively copying the band is a-ok.
hotmetal401 Wrote:direwolf74 Wrote:Don't mention this book over at the Facebook fan page though, lol. Yikes. Those people are fucking militant over there.
Unless, somehow, one of the endless miserable Hip cover bands had something to do with it. Telling the band's story is morally wrong, remember, but actively copying the band is a-ok.
Regarding Michael Barclay, there was one comment over there that said "It's not his story to tell", which is simply ridiculous. Some of the best music books and biographies I've ever read were unauthorized, not to mention some amazing essays and articles I've read over the years, including the excellent "33 1/3" series of books:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/33%E2%85%93">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/33%E2%85%93</a><!-- m -->
Other great ones off the top of my head:
Hammer of the Gods (Led Zep)
A Man Called Destruction (biography on Big Star frontman Alex Chilton)
Lowside of the Road- A Life of Tom Waits
Johnny Cash- The Life
Shakey (Neil Young)
Bruce (Springsteen)
Watch You Bleed- The Saga of Guns N' Roses
Seinfeldia (biography on the creation of the show)
His Way (Frank Sinatra)
I'm no scholar of popular music, but the best work relating to popular music that I've ever read, by far, is Ian MacDonald's Revolution in the Head.<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolution_in_the_Head">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolution_in_the_Head</a><!-- m -->
This masterpiece also demonstrates just how *hard* it is to write really well about popular music. You need to have the musicological education to really pull apart songs and understand what makes them tick; the aesthetic discernment needed to separate mediocrity from excellence (e.g., there's a guy whose books discuss every Dylan song, but he's largely critical of everything Bob did after about 1995; in other words, his analysis in marred by his own inability to hear what Bob has been doing on all his awesome late-era work); outstanding writing skills; and sufficient sociological and historical flair to intelligently interpret the context within which the music was created and within which it thrived. Most writers on popular music whom I've read, IMHO, fall well short of the mark on one or more of these markers. Some of the 33 1/3 entries came up to snuff, though - the one on Elvis Costello, by Frank Bruno, was very strong on all those dimensions.
Of course, if you're writing a biography in the narrow sense (who, what, when, where, why) then you're mostly relieved of the whole 'musical/aesthetic' dimensions. These things can be referred to somewhat in passing. That's what Bob Spitz's rather dreary books on Dylan and the Beatles do. Problem is, I'm ultimately left with the question of why I should care, since it's precisely the work that matters most - at least to me. Biographies tend to leave me feeling empty, whereas a good book that grapples with the music itself can be very satisfying.
small excerpt in Maclean's today
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.macleans.ca/culture/books/gord-downie-wasnt-just-a-rock-star-he-was-a-real-poet-too/">http://www.macleans.ca/culture/books/go ... -poet-too/</a><!-- m -->
It doesn't matter if this is good or bad or what it's even about. Nothing could happen that would make me not read a biography of Hip.
I have little interest in reading an authorized biography. When I think "authorized biography" my mind immediately goes to Michael Azerrad's book about Nirvana, which is actually a hagiography under the guise of a biography. My favourite rock bios - Bruce Springsteen and the Promise of Rock 'n' Roll, anything by Philip Norman - are unauthorized, and I imagine this one being brilliant despite the band not having any input.
Not really looking forward to this book either, but the interview Potsie posted on the FC Thoughts & Insights thread gives me hope. Loved hearing that story about the loon sample on Wheat Kings -- I hadn't heard that before. I'm curious about the music, the songs, and recording process and the band's (and close associates) thoughts and feeling on all that. I can do without the hyperbole so common in these type of rock bios though, which to me sounds akin to this:
"The early 1990s was a tumultuous time in Canada. The nation was still reeling after the cancellation of The Beachcombers; hockey fans everywhere were still coming to grips with Wayne Gretzky's defection to the U.S. a few year earlier; and the news of Mr. Dressup's Finnegan's rabies diagnosis was the deathblow to our nation's innocence. All that changed, when 5 lads from Kingston..."