Hello, classic rockers and those who wish they were! It’s time to look back at a time when the world was young, music was anarchy, and groupies were everywhere!
Life by Keith Richards and James Fox (Contributor) – published in 2010
Oh, and what a life it was! This is one of the most candid, honest, and entertaining books I have ever read – and there was SO much I didn’t know!
Amazon tabbed it as one of the best books of the month it was released, saying: “It’s hard to imagine a celebrity memoir–or any memoir for that matter–that is as easy to drink in (so to speak) as Keith Richards’s Life. Die-hard Stones fans will love tales of the band’s ascension from the “interval” band at the Marquee to the headliners at Super Bowl XL; guitar gearheads will scramble to sample the one lick that has eluded Richards for 49 years; and historians and romantics alike will swoon over the raspy, rambling, raucous detail of this portrait of the artist.
Yes, some tales are told, but “Life” is refreshingly not gossipy, mean-spirited, or sordid–or at least not more than the truth demands. Richards is as comfortable in his bones as a worn pair of boots, and Life captures the rhythm of his voice so effortlessly that reading his tale is like sharing a pint with an old friend–one who happens to be one of the most iconic guitarists of all time.”
“The world’s greatest rock band” — between 1966 and 1973, it’s hard to argue that they weren’t. Songs poured out of them: “I used to set up the riffs and the titles and the hook, and Mick would fill in. We didn’t think much or analyze….Take it away, Mick. Your job now. I’ve given you the riff, baby.”
Drugs? Necessary. In the South, a black musician laid it out for Keith: “Smoke one of these, take one of these.” Keith would move on beyond grass and Benzedrine to cocaine for the blast and focus, heroin for the two or three day work marathon. Engineers would give their all and fall asleep under the console, to be replaced by others. Keith would soldier on. “For many years,” he says, “I slept, on average, twice a week.”
ENTER THE ICONIC LOGO!
With money and success, though, there’s suddenly time to think — in Keith’s case, about all the things about Mick that drove him nuts. His interest in Society. His egomania. His insecurity. And his promiscuity: “Mick never wanted me to talk to his women. They end up crying on my shoulder because they’ve found out that he has once again philandered. What am I gonna do? The tears that have been on this shoulder from Jerry Hall, from Bianca, from Marianne, Chrissie Shrimpton… They’ve ruined so many shirts of mine. And they ask me what to do! How should I know? I had Jerry Hall come to me one day with this note from some other chick that was written backwards — really good code, Mick! — “I’ll be your mistress forever.” All you had to do was hold it up to a mirror to read it… And I’m in the most unlikely role of counselor, “Uncle Keith.” It’s a side a lot of people don’t connect with me.”
THE TINY TODGER CONTROVERSY!
This story broke big on March 18, 2012 Keith Richards has apologised to bandmate Mick Jagger and admitted some parts of his autobiography Life “really offended” the singer. In the new autobiography, Life, Keith writes: “Marianne Faithfull had no fun with his tiny todger.
“I know he’s got an enormous pair of balls – but it doesn’t quite fill the gap.”
The guitarist described the frontman as “unbearable” and revealed his nicknames for Jagger are “Brenda” and “Your Majesty” in the candid memoir published in 2010.
“He and I have had conversations over the last year of a kind we have not had for an extremely long time and that has been incredibly important to me,” Richards said.
“As far as the book goes, it was my story and it was very raw, as I meant it to be, but I know that some parts of it and some of the publicity really offended Mick and I regret that.”
Referring to a early chance encounter with Jagger when the pair bonded over a love of the blues, Richards said: “What some of our detractors forget is that although we look like old codgers living an ocean apart we are still at bottom the boys on platform three at Dartford Station.”
It ends with Johnny Depp basing his performance as Pirate Jack Sparrow on Richards, and Richards joining him in the 3rd film – as his father! A great great book!
Comfortably Numb: The Inside Story of Pink Floyd by Mark Blake – published in 2008
And then there was Pink Floyd – from the formation of the band, the meltodwn of Syd Barrett – and the raging ego of Roger Waters – this is the book that tells it all!
Mark Blake draws on his own interviews with band members as well as the group’s friends, road crew, musical contemporaries, former housemates, and university colleagues to produce a riveting history of one of the biggest rock bands of all time. We follow Pink Floyd from the early psychedelic nights at UFO, to the stadium-rock and concept-album zenith of the seventies, to the acrimonious schisms of the late ’80s and ’90s.
Along the way there are fascinating new revelations about Syd Barrett’s chaotic life at the time of Piper at the Gates of Dawn, the band’s painstaking and Byzantine recording sessions at Abbey Road, and the fractious negotiations to bring about their fragile, tantalizing reunion in Hyde Park.
DARK SIDE OF THE MOON
One of the most fascinating aspects of this book is how the classic album “Dark Side Of The Moon” was made – using material that had been recorded and set aside, animosity forming within the band due to Roger Waters…and how David Gilmour quietly became the soul of the band.
THE WALL
There are also great stories about how The Wall came about – and how difficult Roger Waters became…all leading to the ultimate disintegration of the group.
THE DIVISION BELL
Pink Floyd would go on to release a number of albums after Waters left, the last being “The Division Bell”. The story of how the band fought over the name, and how Waters launched his own tours, is terrific…in fact, waters is set to perform “The Wall” at Dodger stadium this spring…
Still, you will be hard-pressed to come away from the book with a positive feeling about Waters…instead, you will get a renewed appreciation and respect for David Gilmour…
Meticulous, exacting, and ambitious as any Pink Floyd album, “Comfortably Numb” is the definitive account of this most adventurous—and most English—rock band. You know, the one who flew the pig over the factory for the cover of their album “Animals”…
Still one of the most iconic images in rock!
GROUPIES, GROUPIES, GROUPIES!!!
I’m With The Band by Pamela Des Barres – published in 1988
The stylish, exuberant, and remarkably sweet confession of one of the most famous groupies of the 1960s and 70s is back in print in this new edition that includes an afterword on the author’s last 15 years of adventures.
As soon as she graduated from high school, Pamela Des Barres headed for the Sunset Strip, where she knocked on rock stars’ backstage doors and immersed herself in the drugs, danger, and ecstasy of the freewheeling 1960s. Over the next 10 years she had affairs with Mick Jagger, Jimmy Page, Keith Moon, Waylon Jennings, Chris Hillman, Noel Redding, and Jim Morrison, among others. HERE SHE IS WITH JIMMY PAGE…
She traveled with Led Zeppelin; lived in sin with Don Johnson; turned down a date with Elvis Presley; and was close friends with Robert Plant, Gram Parsons, Ray Davies, and Frank Zappa. As a member of the GTO’s, a girl group masterminded by Frank Zappa, she was in the thick of the most revolutionary renaissance in the history of modern popular music. Warm, witty, and sexy, this kiss-and-tell–all stands out as the perfect chronicle of one of rock ‘n’ roll’s most thrilling eras.
WITH KEITH MOON
Pamela’s honest, revealing autobiography was an immediate bestseller, and she has released follow up books as well…and critics loved her work:
“She charms me every time she refuses to regret. And she regrets nothing.” —Los Angeles Times
“Sunny, uninhibited prose.” —Slate.com
“Her prose is…glittery, raw and real.” —Indie-music.com
“Should spur enough interest…that…her story can be made into the movie it needs to be.” —The WOW Report
“Granted it’s gossipy, but it’s also a worthwhile document of the blossoming of an innocent California flower-child.” —Star Tribune
“Eminently readable, offering all the fun of a trashy read without resorting to sensationalism or mean-spiritedness.” —North Bay Bohemian
She currently has a great website – so check it out and relive the free spirit of the early music scene!
http://www.pameladesbarres.com/
