The "Impossible" Morrissey

Sasha Frere-Jones has written a very entertaining review of Morrissey's "Autobiography" in the New Yorker.  Morrissey's writings sounds self indulgent, self serving and all over the dial.  I don't know if I can stomach reading this one.  Apparently his ex-band members in the Smiths all hate each other which is broadcast loud and clear.  I read Mike Doughty's book and quickly got sick of his hatred of ex-band members.  I also have no tolerance for ramblings either.   This book sounds like a thorn in the side. 

The Life Of A Very Clean Tramp

--> I love a racket.  I love it when it seems like a group is slipping in and out of phase, when something lags and then slides into a pocket, like hitting the number on a roulette wheel, a clatter, like the sound of the Johnny Burnette trio, like galloping horses’ hooves.  It’s like a baby learning how to walk, or a little bird just barely avoiding a crash to the dirt, or two kids losing their virginity.  It’s awkward but it’s riveting and uplifting and funny.  In a way it’s the aural representation of that feeling the makes the first time people feel the possibilities of rock and roll music in themselves the benchmark of hope and freedom and euphoria.

               -Richard Hell  from I Dreamed I Was A Very Clean Tramp

It’s important to know what excited Richard Hell. It leads to a clearer picture of his life until age 34, as he lays it out in his autobiography.   He followed that quote by saying he and friend/fellow Television bandmate Tom Verlaine disagreed on how they wanted their music to sound. According to Hell, he was exhilarated after the band’s first performance.  Verlaine was not.  It was the end of Television for Hell before it really even began.  This is a pattern that would follow him throughout his music career.  

Richard Hell’s influence on both music and culture is understated.  I mentioned I was reading his book, I Dreamed I Was A Very Clean Tramp and only 1 of the 20 people I spoke to had a passing knowledge of him. A handful of them were my partners in crime in frequenting the NY clubs mentioned in the book.  We lived these times and Hell still didn’t register with them.  It’s not a name you would forget.  He was the first to have choppy spiky hair, wear torn closes, paint words on them and use the safety pin as a fashion accessory.  He performed with abandon. 

I never paid much attention to Television or Richard Hell.  I knew the song Blank Generation.  I was into bands with tight songs mixed with pop sensibilities.  Even the anarchy of the Sex Pistols could fit in with that description, although I wasn’t a big fan of them either.  I love Blondie and the Ramones, both of which Hell has distain for.  He mentions that Chris Stein (Blondie) and Dee Dee Ramone auditioned for Television but didn’t make the cut.  While Dee Dee had his problems, I think both fared better with their respective bands. 

The writing is erratic, but so was his life.  He was a heroin addict who kept journals.  Without the journals how would he be able to describe in such detail all of his sexual conquests breasts?  (There are many references.)

His childhood was unremarkable. He grew up in Kentucky. It’s not a charmed life, but it certainly isn’t the broken home of a truant which he later became.  His father dies at an early age.  At sixteen, he and best friend Tom Miller (later re-christened Verlaine) have their Thelma and Louise moment by fleeing home and driving a car as far as Alabama where they get picked up by the cops.  They were heading to Florida.  Shortly after that Richard earns enough money to come to New York City. His mother agreed to let him go at 17.  His early tales of a grizzly Lower East Side are accurate and intriguing.  He has many menial jobs, but it was possible to live off of next to nothing those days in the city.  The book then starts to read like many a candied musician memoir:  lots of drugs, lots of sex, record company screws artist.  (Somehow Keith Richard’s book didn’t fall into that trap.)

His description of drug addition has become the norm for these autobiographies:

Addiction is lonely.  It starts as pure pleasure, and the degeneration, in a few quick years, into a form of monumental compulsive-obsessive condition is actually more psychological than physical.  One the drug use has replaced everything else, life become purely a lie, since in order to keep any self-respect, the junkie has to delude himself that use is by choice.

Richard doesn’t stick with anything that isn’t solitary.  He can’t hold on to jobs, he moves from one band to the next.  He didn’t hang around long enough with either Television or The Heartbreakers.  When both bands released their debut albums, he was long gone. 

It makes sense that he eventually settled in a career that is solitary:  a writer.  

Probably most overlooked was how smart he was about marketing his bands early in his career.  He went to the owner of the newly opened CBGB’s and asked for and got a Sunday night residency. He knew the importance of having people know where to see the band and being able to see them on a regular basis.  He created posters for specific shows using band photographs as well as eye-catching graphics and text.   He gave a performance. 

There are passages that are so ripe with description that you can see the scene play out in your head.  They are also very humorous.  In describing the girls in his neighborhood:

They were a skittish herd of scaled-down giraffe girls with pretty, flat kitty-cat faces.  I liked all of them.  We were going to drive into the country out by Versailles, where another of the giraffe girls lived on a horse farm. It’s those moments that make reading about his early childhood so rewarding. 

His tale stops cold at age 34, which is when he decided to get out of music.  He has since dipped his toes back in on several occasions, including a stint with the band Dim Stars.  Life in New York in the 70’s and early 80’s was raw, gritty and oh so much fun. 

Rotten

35 years ago on January 14, the Sex Pistols played their final gig as the band we remember,  that lineup with Sid Vicious.  It's ironic that on that date this year, I finished reading Rotten, John Lydon's memoir.
Takeaways: 

• Lydon has a great respect for women.  With the exception of Vivienne Westwood, who he disliked immensely, they come off pretty well.  As for the men in the book, there are few that he liked or had any patience for.  Strangely he did have patience for Sid Vicious who he brought into the band.
   
• The Sex Pistols career was short (not including reunions).  It was basically a two year stint.      

• Their only US tour during the 1970's took place in southern states.  Their manager Malcolm McLaren thought animosity would follow them throughout the South.  This would bring publicity.  Logic would have them playing NY, Philly, Chicago, LA.  Logic rarely entered into  McLaren's thinking.  

Some of the most interesting anecdotes come from the photographer Bob Gruen who accompanied the Pistols on the US tour.  The stories of tour manager Noel Monk trying to keep things in check are riveting.  Did you know that John and Sid were on a tour bus with the crew while bandmates Steve Jones and Paul Cook traveled separately and stayed in different hotels with McLaren?  Chaos hung around this band like a noose. 

The book also contains words from those who were part of Lydon's scene ( Billy Idol, Chrissie Hynde, Steve Severin). They shed an ancillary light on the Pistols story.  The commentary basically ends when the Sex Pistols ended. The book was published in 2008, but there was no mention of the 1996 Filthy Lucre Tour (Original member, Glen Matlock returned to replace a departed Sid).  There are mentions of his second band Public Image Ltd, but the bulk of the book deals with his life as Johnny Rotten. 

After reading Rotten,  I'm inclined to think that the Sex Pistols may have had a longer career than one album if Lydon had never brought Sid into the band.  He was disruptive and useless.  Except for his image and his tabloid attention-getting antics, there isn't much to say about him.  In today's world (with 24/7 media coverage of anyone's moves), I don't know if Sid would have been considered a legend.  His disruptive girlfriend Nancy Spungen would be dismissed as annoying (apparently everyone hated her and had no problem vocalizing it).  The media has had it's fill of the closest we've come to another Nancy in Courtney Love, who ironically I met when she was filming Sid and Nancy.  Lydon writes that there are many falsifications in that movie and nobody bothered to consult him on the story.  

John Lydon rants and raves throughout his story.  Would you expect anything else?

My Cross To Bear

I know the hits by the Allman Brothers Band.  I haven’t listened to Live at the Fillmore all the way through. I always felt like I should.  After reading My Cross To Bear, I need to make it to the Beacon in March. 

Gregg Allman’s style is conversational.  You know this is coming from him.  There is humor.  His southern descriptions of incidents are amusing and I found myself laughing out loud a few times.  This is not a kiss and tell scandal book, which adds to its greatness.  

The message of the book:  do something you love and make it happen.  Once Gregg picked up a guitar, (he taught Duane how to play) he never wanted to do anything else.  He did originally toy with the idea of being a dental surgeon.  He didn’t care how many people he played in front of as long as he was playing.  It was all about the music.  His brother bullied him into the band and staying with it.  His brother bullied him about a lot of things, but was also his biggest defender.

There is no whining in this book. No blame to pass around. Gregg doesn’t rely on demons to justify his well-documented drug and alcohol abuse.  He opens the book with the murder of his father.  He was two when it happened; Duane was three. He thinks the reason he was married so many times (he‘s engaged to the 7^th future Mrs Allman) is that he was looking for a friend.  He hates being lonely. The title of the book, My Cross To Bear is a bit misleading. I know it’s a play on the song It's Not My Cross To Bear from their first album.  I thought it might be full of self-loathing. Thankfully it’s not. 

The brothers started out in cover bands.  In one of their earlier incarnations, The Escorts, they opened for the Beach Boys in 1965 in Florida.   Duane and Gregg played in several bands before The Allman Brothers Band came to be.  Gregg started writing songs and it gelled.  They didn’t look or sound like any other band out there.  They loved the blues.  Gregg has a snide disdain for the “British Blues”. 

This autobiography has mass appeal. For music lovers it’s a must read.  I knew the basics about the Allmans (although I did think that Duane was killed by a peach truck, which is rumor and not fact) and didn’t listen to them growing up. I still loved this book. What resonated the most was the dedication, time and practice that went into the music.  If anyone wants to make it as a musician today, read this book, follow their music regiment (skip the drug/alcohol phases).  How many rookie musicians can you think of today that would just set up shop in a park and play just so they can play? 

Yes, he touches on his marriage to Cher. No he doesn’t malign her. Did you hear Chaz on Howard Stern tell the story of Gregg picking her up from school one day and not bringing her home until 11pm because he couldn’t remember how to get there?  This was before cell phones and I’m sure Cher was freaking out. 

The heart of the book is the music and it’s that love that makes this book work.  

Rockstar & Entrepreneur Does It Get Any Better?

Being a rock star is a dream so few people achieve.  Being a successful entrepreneur is probably an even bigger dream now.  Being both, well does it get any better? Sammy Hagar appreciates what he has. 

He has such passion for music and life, which is what makes reading his book Red My Uncensored Life In Rock so much fun. 

He grew up in California.  His grandparents were migrant farm workers. His mother, a first generation American (Italian parents), married his father when she was 15 years old.  His father “could beat up anyone.”  Sammy is the baby of his family.  The mother, with kids in tow, would flee the father more than once.  His father was an abusive alcoholic.  When his dad was sober for nine months, it was the happiest time of Sammy’s childhood. 

As with a lot of musicians, when he heard the Beatles, his career path was decided.  Sammy saw the Rolling Stones in 1964 in San Bernardino.  He and a friend (who taught him to play guitar) snuck in the venue right behind the band. He was at the band's first US show.  His mother told him if he learned how to play Never On Sunday, she would buy him a guitar. Not wanting this opportunity to pass, he learned the song and got his guitar. 

Great lesson for aspiring musicians:  If you want something bad enough you’ll get it.

“I got a record deal because I went to bed writing songs.  I woke up in the morning writing songs.  I spent every second of my waking hours trying to write songs.”  He’s a great songwriter. He’s writing the lyrics to I Can’t Drive 55 as the cop is giving him a speeding ticket. 

He never stopped touring.  After he left Montrose and embarked on a solo career, he opened for bands like Boston.  On nights off he would play smaller venues.  He was on the road constantly.  He befriended promoters such as Bill Graham and Louis Messina.  He was selling out arenas, but Capitol Records couldn’t get him past the 350,000 records sold mark.  When he signed with Geffen Records, the hits followed. 

The cliché story is the one where the musician becomes popular, has success and then it goes to his/her head.  He/she becomes complacent.   Sammy does a 180. “Success really motivated me.  When I was hungry I lacked confidence.  I was faking it.  It took fame and fortune for me to become myself.” 

No matter how famous he was, his mother reminded him that he needed something to fall back on.  He took this to heart and the entrepreneur took over. He co-founded the second largest fire sprinkler company in the US. He owned a bike shop.  He funded a travel agency.  It didn’t make him a lot of money, but he had no travel costs on the road.  I worked for such a company that was co-owned by John Telfer who was managing Joe Jackson at the time.  He funded it for the same reason. 

One of Sammy’s financial disasters was a clothing company.  He turned his “red” branding into a line of clothing.  They didn’t meet deadlines and it went under. 

His best-known ventures are the Cabo Wabo Cantinas and Cabo Wabo Tequila.  The history of both is worth the read.  A few years ago he sold 80 percent of his Cabo Wabo tequila business to Gruppo Campari for $80 million. 

Oh, there is also a band called Van Halen.  If you want rock star tales, there are plenty of them in this section. Sammy as it seems is  always looking for something to stimulate him.  He took a pay cut to join Van Halen.   The band’s best songs came during the Sammy years. Why Can’t This Be Love and Right Now are the standouts. 

It was not easy reading about the decline of Eddie Van Halen.  Sammy doesn’t paint a rosy picture.  Although he appears to have loved working with him, Eddie’s misery was too much to deal with.  After Sammy was pushed out of the band, you’ll wonder why he ever wanted to try a second time.

This book is inspiring for someone who wants to be a musician and/or entrepreneur.   If you’re willing to put in the hours and are passionate about your craft/project, it can be done.  Stay positive and grasp life.

Keith Richards' Incredible Life

“I get an incredible raging glee when they (the audience) get out of their seats.”

 - Keith Richards

It’s conversational. Keith is telling his stories to you.  I felt like I was in a bar talking with him about pieces of his life. The book is aptly titled:  Life.  It’s solidly assembled.  That credit may go to co-author James Fox.  (Note: I thought this book flowed, others in my book club though it was all over the place.  I’m not sure if my years of working with musicians, has led to me to think like they do, but I had no problem following this book.)

Keith’s enthusiasm for music is what really drives Life.   He’s still curious about styles, about improving his playing and finding out what’s next. He’s insightful and observant.  Nothing is a better example of this than his take on the music business.  “It’s the sleaziest business without being a gangster.”  This guy has seen it all and this is what he deduces.

The biggest statement he makes in the book is “We turned American people back on to their own music. And that’s probably our greatest contribution to music.” It’s a humble quote from a member of one of the greatest rock and roll bands. 

As hoped for Keith takes you through the writing of songs such as Satisfaction and Tumbling Dice. “Great songs write themselves.”  I’ve heard this from other musicians.

The slices of life from his early days are eye opening in a cultural way. Keith kept diaries and the reader benefits from it.  His Aunt Patty saved letters he wrote to her, which included a description of the first time he met Mick. He credits the Boy Scouts with building his self-esteem.

He thought Americans were brash and extremely self-confident, but that’s not what The Rolling Stones experienced on their first tours here.  He sensed that Americans were insecure.  His band had longer hair, spoke with British accents and dressed differently.  “The only hostility I can recall on a constant basis was from white people.  You got the impression you were a threat.” I recently watched an interview with Leiber and Stoller who said the same thing Keith did, that the blacks embraced them and were more at ease.  Both camps are big blues fans.

There is a bit of guitar-speak in the beginning third of the book. Even though I used to play guitar, I had no idea what he was talking about.  He is Keith Richards, so it’s necessary that this be part of the book. It should not discourage a non-player from reading Life.

Having been a manager, I love that he is so dedicated and loyal to his manager Jane Rose.  She’s done right by him and he appreciates it.  He credits her with helping him kick his heroin habit. 

Miscellaneous anecdotes which I found to be interesting and surprising:

• Bobby Goldsboro (of Honey fame) showed him an elusive guitar trick.
• Ronnie (Spector) Bennett took Keith to see James Brown at the Apollo Theater.  The discipline in James Brown’s band impressed him more than anything.
• Wilson Pickett used to keep shotguns on both sides of the stage.
• Jumping Jack Flash was named after his gardener.  What you hear on the record is acoustic guitars recorded on a cassette.  It’s his favorite riff. 

Keith also talks about his relationships with band members, his family and his crew. He is not shy about telling it like it is.  Mick Jagger is taken to task a few times. 

Somehow after all Keith has been through, he doesn’t come off as crazy as I was expecting.  He’s well aware of his surroundings and circumstances. He’s very loyal to friends and family.  Most people think he has more lives than a cat.  His longevity must be attributed to the strict regiment he adheres to before a tour. “All I do to train and preserve energy is keep breathing”.

Baba Booey and Casey Kasem

Two media greats Baba Booey (Gary Dell'Abate) and Casey Kasem come together for this trailer for Gary's autobiography,  They Call Me Baba Booey.  Casey narrates the ad for the book which comes out November 2nd. Gary follows in the footsteps of boss Howard Stern and his co-workers who also penned books, Robin Quivers and Artie Lange.  Some of the funniest Stern moments were Jackie Martling's readings of Robin's book.  It would be great to bring him back to take on Baba Booey.  Fred Norris is the last hold out. He is also the least vocal of the group, except when getting fired up over whether Carol Alt is a supermodel or not.  Will he be the next to pen his life story?

Rosanne Cash Composed

Rosanne Cash is an artistic treasure.  She's an accomplished singer/songwriter. She has tackled the book publishing world with a few titles to her credit. She's also written insightful pieces for the NY Times' Measure For Measure blog.  August 10th she releases Composed, her autobiography.  If you are in NY this Tuesday, the 10th, go see her at Barnes & Noble at Union Square.  (sorry B&N, but you don't have a associates program that I'm aware of).  She'll be interviewed and perform a few songs.  Whether you are familiar with her music or not, make it a point to go.  It will be an enlightening evening.

The Boss Divulging All?

The NY Post seems to think so. The Post claims that Bruce Springsteen is quietly working on his autobiography and kept voluminous journals throughout his career.