books

Case of the Punks

Posted by mikeydread

Jul 102010

Children’s books aren’t what they used to be. My daughter, for example, is reading the novel I Am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want To Be Your Class President by Josh Lieb. It’s story of Oliver Watson, an evil genius disguised as dorkish new boy who wants his father’s love and will do anything to get it. Yep, anything.

Even introduce middle grade kids to Captain Beefheart and Trout Mask Replica. Oliver explains to the reader why Beefheart was an evil genius:

…a musician so brilliant, so evil, he drove his own band insane. He would not let them eat. He would not let them sleep. He would not let them leave the house. He made them wear dresses (and they were not girls). He stripped them of their very names and subjected them to hours of abusive group-therapy sessions. When a dejected and desperate member of the Magic Band managed to escape the Captain’s clutches, Beefheart snatched him off the street and dragged him back to the practice studio.

It was cruel. Assuredly. Inhumane. Undoubtedly. Evil. Disgustingly so. And yet I defy you, today, to listen to Trout Mask Replica and say it was not worth it.

Being in step with the times, ie, aping Diary of A Wimpy Kid like mad, we also get a photo of Beefheart and the Magic Band in their pomp. And the cover of Trout Mask Replica. To a generation raised on Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber (whoever he is!), explaining Captain Beefheart isn’t easy.

Townsmen and Townswomen – how do you explain Captain Beefheart to a child of the 21st century? Where would you start? What song by Beefheart might best explain his strange magic? When I gave Doc At Radar Station a quick spin my daughter fled the room with ears covered.

Clarence Clemons’ Big Man Hits the Bookshelves

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Dec 032009

Judging by this New York Times’ book review of Clarence Clemons’ long-awaited autobiography, Big Man, a newly added coauthor, Don Reo, and the book’s editors really hacked up the initial galleys that Rock Town Hall was granted exclusive rights to review in November 2007. Back then the book was entitled No Small Parts for The Big Man, and excitement was in the air. Beside cutting out all the gripping stuff about the recording of The Boss’ classic records, the galleys we received had none of the fantasy stuff described regarding the likes of Thomas Pynchon and Norman Mailer.

Let’s not even get into this book’s fictional “legend” chapters, printed on gray paper, in which Mr. Clemons has extended imaginary run-ins with people like Thomas Pynchon, Norman Mailer, Richard Brautigan and the surfer Laird Hamilton. It’s too painful. – Dwight Garner, The New York Times

Thanks to Townsman dbuskirk for tipping us off to the book’s delayed release and eventual review in this obscure publication.

What Are You Looking for Most When You Read a Rock Biography?

Posted by Mr. Moderator

May 032009

The subject line pretty much asks all I want to know: What are you looking for most when you read a rock biography?

Is it technical/musical insight – what gear the musicians played, how things were mic’ed, stories about the development of favorite arrangements and performances?
Is it dirt: who slept with Jackson Browne, who slept with David Crosby, who could have slept with Yoko first?
Is it something deeper, like what is the key to a great artist’s greatness?

You may answer in the present, in your rock bio-reading peak, and all points in between.
Continue reading »

Casting Call: The Eagles (win an honest to god prize!)

Posted by The Back Office

Aug 202008

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Doors shmoors man, we’re talkin’ Eagles babies!

The Movie: The Eagles

You: Casting Agent.

Mission: Cast it. Duh.

Who plays who? Not just The Eagles but any relevant player in the scene, man.

Wiley, the publisher of the Don Felder bio-tome discussed here, was unable to secure us an interview with the man (missed it by this much) but has been kind enough to offer 10 free copies of Heaven and Hell: My Life In The Eagles (1974-2001) by Don Felder and Wendy Holden.

Soooooo. Here in The Back Office we have assembled an anonymous team of judges who will select the top 10 responses. You will be awarded points based on; creativity first and foremost, historical accuracy and neatness.

You have until I say you have to stop.

Ready….begin.
Continue reading »

Heaven and Hell: My Life in the Eagles (1974-2001) by Don Felder & Wendy Holden

Posted by sammymaudlin

Jun 052008

Wiley Publishing recently contacted The Back Office with a request that Rock Town Hall review their upcoming release of Heaven and Hell: My Life in the Eagles (1974-2001) by Don Felder and celebrity biographer Wendy Holden. Our request for an interview with Mr. Felder (we even told them we had a correspondent in Australia) was politely responded with an offer for a free review copy of the book. We don’t even have to return it!

RTH lurker, avid rock bio reader and spouse of The Back Office, took on the task of summing up this Topanga-tinged tome.

There is suffering even if you are a ’70s rock star …well, in a rock band in the ’70s…Don Felder was never really allowed to be the star of The Eagles because Don Henley and Glen Frey sucked all of the oxygen out of that jar.

Heaven and Hell is Felder’s co-written autobiography of his rise from dinky Florida house without air conditioning to Malibu Beach House and then back again to one-bedroom, post-divorce apartment. I’ve read almost every rock autobiography and biography that I come across, and many share the same cycle:

Rags to riches.
Then rags again for awhile.
Then, not so many rags.
Many riches.
Lose all the riches, usually due to blow or legal fees.
Then Reunion tour.

Don Felder got fired in 2001, though, after Hell Froze Over. His manager, who also managed all the other Eagles, let him know over the phone that his services wouldn’t be required anymore. Ewww…almost like he was temping at Manpower.

Life in the Eagles sounds like hell. They shoulda all been banking their massive paychecks and counting the days until retirement arrived. Various forms of anesthesia helped everyone through the moments they were required to spend together.

Felder says that a good home life with a wife and kids helped him gain something to return to when he wasn’t touring or recording, but I couldn’t help but imagine how independent a wife would have to be to raise four kids without him around. When he was at home it must have been like having a guest in the house. His wife got a life, so he called her and fired her over the phone. Ewww…almost like she was temping at Kelly Girl.
Continue reading »

Interview: Tom Kitts, Ray Davies: Not Like Everybody Else

Posted by BigSteve

May 012008

I first met Tom Kitts at a meeting of the Popular Culture Association. Tom and the late, great Mike Kraus used to host sessions where people presented papers on The Kinks, and I attended five of these sessions over the years, presenting and also listening to papers by Tom, Mike, and a rotating group of Kinks scholars. It’s more fun than it sounds like, and it’s always great to be around other music fanatics.

Tom has now published his magnum opus, a critical biography, Ray Davies: Not Like Everybody Else (Routledge, 2008). Tom is a professor of English at St. John’s University in New York City, and he took time out of his busy schedule for an interview about the book and more generally Ray Davies and the Kinks. If interested, click on this Amazon link to get your copy of the book. I’m sure any Kinks fan will find it a great read.

In general how has the feedback on the book been?

While formal reviews are just now starting to appear, the feedback has been very positive. Kinks fans seem to appreciate the focus on Davies’ work — even if they don’t always agree with me. I have done a series of readings and discussions and I have to say that I have been very pleasantly surprised by the positive response I have heard not only at the readings but also in emails from readers across the country and in Europe.

Any reaction from anyone connected with Ray or the Kinks?

I did hear from Grenville Collins and Peter Quaife, who both liked it very much. Both liked the emphasis on the art, which both were a part of and which both are very proud of. I spoke to Ray briefly after his recent show in New York and he seems pleased by the publication. We joked about how long it took for me to get it out. He has a copy, but he said that he hadn’t had a chance to read it yet.

Clapton Is Man

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Jan 292008

The Sound of Man

After opening my presents on Christmas morning my wife confessed to a gift she nearly bought me. The confession was a closing to an aside she had made a couple of weeks earlier, when she mentioned having consulted with Townsman Andyr on a possible gift for me. For the next couple of weeks I tried to imagine what she might have discussed with him and what his advice would have been. I’d browse lists of box sets and new rock bios, hoping that my friend would not steer her wrong. Little did I know, as my wife confessed that morning, that it was a tongue-in-cheek gift she had in mind: the Eric Clapton autobiography, Clapton. Would you believe my oldest friend in the world suggested that she not play into our typical “slave to humor” dynamic? (It’s cool, though, 35 years of friendship do not evaporate over one such bum suggestion.) Would you believe that later than day another family member, with no knowledge of my wife’s prior consideration, gave me the book as a Christmas gift?

I tore through this autobiography in a week’s time. Not because I’m a big fan of Eric Clapton but because, as I waded through the early chapters, I was fascinated at the sober, straightforward self-portrait of a man that was developing. As boring and unsatisfying as the autobiography could be – much like the man’s music – the story was refreshing in its departure from the typical rock star story of Rise and Fall and Rebirth With the Help of a Strong Woman. Ralph Fiennes can hold off on those guitar lessons. This autobiography may be second to Bob Dylan’s excellent Chronicles, Vol. 1 on the Hollywood Screenwriters Guild’s “Pass” list.

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