Classic Rock Book Reviews: quick and dirty

  DREAMGIRL My life as a Supreme Mary Wilson Off the jump, I knew a couple of things about the Supremes. It’s clear that they are talented, that they are beautiful. I was aware of some of their songs like “Baby Love” and “Where Did Our Love Go”.  Sure, I also knew of Diana Ross as a solo artist and that she was the lead singer of The Supremes. But I had no idea who any of the other Supremes were. That was my loss. I have corrected that, to some degree. It was clear I needed to brush up on my knowledge of Motown and some of the wonderful artists they had. So this is the first step. Mary Wilson made me aware of some uncomfortable truths about touring the south while being black. She had no control over how some people saw her. She had no control over people insulting her and calling her the “N” word on a daily basis. She had no control over the fact that people shot at her for simply being black. I was aware of the struggles of black Americans in the 50s and 60s. I understood th...

  Break on Through The Life and Death of Jim Morrison By: James Riordan and Jerry Prochnicky This is a long, and in some sections boring, read. Where it didn’t drag it was marvelous. Sadly, it was just too long. Too much pontificating in so many places caused me to doze off on occasion. It’s really too bad because their subject was anything but snooze-worthy. My copy of this charming book was about 500 bloody pages long. The authors might have had a masterpiece on their hands had they had the ability to rein themselves in a wee bit. 400 pages would have been just fine and removed the snoozy parts.   Once that gets done we have one hell of a book. I think the idea here is that because Jim Morrison was larger than life the fine gents who wrote this thought the biography should be as epic as the man’s life. Well, they were wrong-ish. Sort of wrong. This could have been, maybe not epic, but certainly better than the average biography. As it sits it’s still a good biography. I...

  Jagger - Rebel, Rocker, Rambler, Rogue   Marc Spitz   I just love the alliteration of the subtitle but sadly that’s about all I loved.  This “tiny todger” of a book came out within a year of the Richards book and this is curious? What was the point of this look at Mick Jagger? Maybe, just maybe old Mick was attempting to set the record straight, at least as straight as he saw it. Richards has used the term “tiny todger” to refer to Mick’s penis size. Richards might actually know! Richards has claimed that former girlfriend Marianne Faithful simply had no fun with Mick sexually. Is that too much information?  That would have destroyed the fantasies of women around the world But someone had to set the record straight about Jaggers’ todger. Weren't you wondering? It’s a shame Cynthia Plaster Caster didn’t work her magic on Mick then we would have known for sure! While this book has a bunch of fun, easy-to-read stories, I can’t help but feel Jagger or th...

  Mick Fleetwood Play on Mick Fleetwood and Anthony Bozza   Everyone is familiar with Fleetwood Mac and its affable, lanky drummer Mick. But there are things here that would amuse most Fleetwood Mac fans. “Play On” is not simply the autobiography of Mick but it’s also, as you might imagine, a biography (autobiography?) of a band. Given how committed Mick Fleetwood has been to Fleetwood Mac over the decades, another choice for the title of the book could have been “Don’t Stop” because Mick Fleetwood hasn’t stopped drumming for Fleetwood Mac . . ever. Ok sure he was in other bands in the beginning but once he and John McVie were proclaimed Fleetwood Mac he just kept playing on and didn’t stop. Given his name is in the name of his band I had assumed that he and John McVie decided, after much ale and laughter, that their band would now be known as Fleetwood Mac. A cute combination of their two last names. But it turns out I was wrong. The proclamation came after guitar guru Peter ...

  Billy Joel The Biography Mark Bego This biography should be titled “Billy Joel The Biography according to Liberty DeVitto. I get that Mr. Bego had no access to the famed Mr. Joel but the reliance on the words of Mr. DeVitto was just kind of silly, after a while.   This might have been a better book if Bego had simply written about Liberty DeVitto’s life with Billy Joel. Sure he has a ton of Joel stories but it was overkill. I’m not certain why so much of the book was based on the tales of Liberty DeVitto but there we have it. Seems every second page there is DeVitto’s name. You can’t escape it. Not related to anything Liberty DeVitto was the Lemon Pledge suicide attempt. There are so many jokes but suicide is a serious thing so I’ll refrain. This event was one of the more important things to happen in Billy Joel’s life. Fortunately for the world, furniture polish is not a deadly poison. 21-year-old Billy Joel checked himself into a hospital and changed his life. I know ...

  Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen “Some silicone sister with a manager mister told me I got what  it takes She said "I'll turn you on, son, into something strong, play the song with the funky break And go-kart Mozart was checkin' out the weather chart to see if it was safe outside And little Early-Pearly came by in his curly-wurly and asked me if I needed a ride”.  Blinded by the Light lyrics by Bruce Springsteen. Bruce Springsteen wrote his own life story in “Born to Run”. If any of you had any doubts that Bruce Springsteen was capable of such a feat then you haven’t paid any attention to the man’s lyrics.  My first introduction to Springsteen was with “Blinded by the Light” and I was left wondering. I was left wondering who this idiot was. What kind of nonsense was this? Why? Why? Why? Later I heard more Springsteen tunes and I began to understand. Bruce is a poet on par with Bob Dylan. The man can write lyrics about anything and somehow it is relatable to all his...

  DOLLY My Life and Other Unfinished Business By Dolly Parton  When I read a book I remove the cover. This saves the cover of the book so that it can look good on a shelf. When you remove the cover you can get a different sense of a book. “Dolly” has a beautiful cover. It’s silver and gold with her name embossed in gold on the silver cover. It’s beautiful and there is no doubt that someone put some work and care into this cover. Always remove the covers of your book and check out the book without it. The hard boards binding the book together are not often given much thought. If Dolly actually had a hand in this design then bravo. It’s a lovely cover. I am not a fan of country music. Sorry, I'm just not but I do recognize how important some of its stars are in pop and rock music. Is Dolly Parton one of those country music stars that crossover to become influential and even loved in the rock and pop world? I don’t think so. She is a country artist. Dolly Parton is one of the mos...

  John Lennon The Life Philip Norman WHEW! This is one long book. Philip Norman begat this brick of a book. Look at it! It’s huge. It’s kind of impressive in its sheer size. Who knew the life of John Lennon could be fascinating enough to fill the pages of “War and Peace nearly”?  Firstly, this is a must-read for all rock and roll fans. The life of John Lennon is the history of rock and roll. Don’t believe me? Of course, you do.    Beatles fans will love pouring over the details of Lennon’s life and his creative life within the Beatles. Mr. Norman spends the vast majority of the book on The Beatles. John Lennon’s creative life after The Beatles was essentially ignored, for all intents and purposes.   “John Lennon the Life” spends so little time on his life in the 70s that the name of the book should have been different. Maybe it should have been “John Lennon The 60s Life”, that’s a genius title - if I do say so myself. That is not to say this is a bad book—j...

By Shania Twain “ Let’s go girls . . . “ Fans of the Timmins Ontario native should love “From This Moment On”. There isn’t too much more to say. If you are a fan of Ms. Twain’s music grab this as soon as you see it. You should have a blast.  But the book does have issues and they begin with the idea that Shania wrote this herself. If she did, well sorry but it’s not very well written. It could have been much more potent as an authorized biography. It might have been better with a co-writer. It might have been better with a more forceful editor. It all boils down to one thing: Shania Twain really should not have actually written a book by herself. Being able to write, record, and perform music does not necessarily mean you can write prose. So no Ms. Twain should not have been allowed at a keyboard by herself.  Now, as I said all the way back at the beginning, fans of Shania Twain should have a good time with “From This Moment On”. It contains everything Shania fans could hope f...

  Behind Blue Eyes: The Life of Pete Townshend by Geoffrey Giuliano I was strolling through an ok Townshend biography garden one day. The sun was shining in a clear blue sky. I was enjoying watching the clouds of Pete Townshend’s life go by one by one. The temperature was perfect with only a slight breeze. It was a nearly perfect day.  Then suddenly, I got lost. Somehow I ended up waddling through the mire of a Geoffrey Giuliano biological bog. The temperature fell and the sun disappeared behind a bunch of dark clouds. The garden was gone and the mud began to grow. I began sinking deeper and deeper until walking was a slog. Turns out the biographer has a history with his subject. And that bothers me, greatly. Giuliano lived with and was friends with Pete Townshend for a period of time in the 70s. Sure, it was just a short period of time but nonetheless, his history with his subject is an issue. Both Pete Townshend and Geoffrey Giuliano were influenced by this particular Irania...

  Careless Love The Unmaking of Elvis Presley    By Peter Guralnick Where on earth do I begin? This might be the single best biography of a popular music artist. “Careless Love The Unmaking of Elvis Presley” by Peter Guralnick belongs on lists as one of the best biographies ever written about anyone. I have read a couple of biographies about Winston Churchill and “Careless Love The Unmaking of Elvis Presley” is of the same caliber as any of those. You know, I really hate hyperbole and I realize that the first paragraph appears to be full of hyperbole, exaggeration, and the like. But it’s not any of that. It is all true. This is one of the best biographies ever written about anyone and you need to read it. Now. The downside of having read this book is that I now know there is another book in the series. “Careless Love The Unmaking of Elvis Presley” is part Two of Mr. Guralnick’s study of Elvis Aaron Presley. I need to find part 1 and read about the first part of his life....