Mick Jagger

By: Philip Norman

Narrated by: James Langton

Length: 24 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

A supreme achiever to whom his colossal achievements seem to mean nothing....

A supreme extrovert who prefers discretion.....

A supreme egotist who dislikes talking about himself....

Philip Norman has long towered above other rock biographers with his definitive studies of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Elton John, Buddy Holly, and John Lennon - legends whom the world thought it knew, but who came to life as never before through the meticulousness of Norman's research, the sweep of his cultural knowledge, and the brilliance of his writing.

Now Norman turns to a rock icon who is the most notorious yet enigmatic of them all. Throughout five decades of fronting the Rolling Stones, Mick Jagger has been seen as the ultimate arrogant, narcissistic superstar, whose sexual appetite and cavalier treatment of women rival Casanova's and whose supposed reckless drug use touched off the most famous scandal in rock history. Now a grandfather nearing 70 and a British knight of the realm, he still creates excitement at the mere mention of his name; still remains the model for every young rock singer who ever takes the stage.

Norman shows Jagger to be a character far more complex than the cold archseducer of myth: human, vulnerable, often impressive, sometimes endearing. Here at last is the real story of how the Stones' brilliant first manager, Andrew Oldham, transformed a shy economics student named Mike Jagger into a modern Antichrist...of Jagger's vicious show trial and imprisonment on minuscule drug charges in 1967...his remarkable feat at the Stones' Hyde Park concert in making a quarter of a million people keep quiet and listen to poetry...his unpublicized heroic role at the Altamont festival that brought the sunny sixties to a horrific end...the cavalcade of beautiful women from Chrissie Shrimpton to Jerry Hall, whom he has bedded but not always dominated... the enduring but ever-fraught partnership with his "Glimmer Twin", Keith Richards.

While playful about some aspects of Sir Mick, Norman gives him long overdue credit as a songwriter, whose "Sympathy for the Devil" is one of the few truly epic pop singles, and as a harmonica player fit to rank among the great blues masters who inspired the Stones before money became their raison d'etre.

Mick Jagger, above all, explores the keen and calculating intelligence that has kept the Stones on their plinth as "the world's greatest rock 'n' roll band" for half a century.

©2012 Jessica Productions Ltd. (P)2012 HarperCollinsPublishers

Interesting

This book was interesting, but not overly compelling. Jagger is such an interesting person, but I didn't get a really intimate feel from the book, perhaps that is just due to a guarded man though.

Masterful Writing & Wickedly Funny Delivery

Where does Mick Jagger rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Among the top 6

Who was your favorite character and why?

Mick Jagger - the "deep field" style of writing really brings the personality justice.

Have you listened to any of James Langton’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes. But this title is too long for that, of course.

Any additional comments?

Reading the dreadful negative reviews adjoining this audiobook, I can only wonder if the readers in question were listening to the same book that I have been hearing this week. The perception that this is a poor offering is entirely erroneous in my view. Just wrong! My take is quite different. The writing alone is simply incredible- witty, highly informative, and brimming with original and inventive use of the English language. The reader / performer of the audiobook itself takes the wit of the text to a higher level still: in all it is a fabulous reading, rich with obvious love of language, and wickedly, often uproariously funny. I find myself laughing out loud several times during each hour of listening. The story is utterly compelling, with a scope of personalities and events that reach far beyond the details of Mr. Jagger's own journey. You'll get a wide lens view of cultural life in England. The book is every bit as good as Keith Richards' autobiography ("Life") audiobook. I am going to turn to Pete Townshend's new autobiography after I finish "Mick Jagger"- but the Jagger opus is going to be one hard act to follow. I haven't had this much fun with an audiobook in a long time, maybe never. Both the writing and the vocal delivery- absolutely masterful. Engage!

More than a biography. Satirical masterpiece.

Loved it. Loved the narrator. too. Great storytelling. Top shelf entertainment. Off to search for more books by same author.

MICK

This book is for all men and women
born from 1940-1950. Those are the fortunate ones who literally grew up
with the Rolling Stones and the 1960s.
For many of us, the Rolling Stone were
touchstones that acted as outposts where we could eat, rest and relate to the world inside and outside ourselves.
Although we did not know it, they were mentally in sync us. I remember carefully packing their albums in 1964
for the journey to college and carrying them to parties and serious discussions of what was going on.
You had to live through the 1960s with
your selective service card as your other guide. This card was responsible for your life and death, regardless of your political position. Fear and Loathing in the '60s were as physically palpable as both flowers and bullets.
The nation was blessed with the largest and brightest post graduate students in history. Why? We knew and our soulmates, the RS, knew.
Going to school meant you would live
while not going and losing your student deferrment meant you would probably die in Vietnam. For those of us who can still remember the 1960s, the defining mess at Altamont seemed
a fitting end to not just a the decade
but to any flower power hope for the future. This and so much more is in MICK. Their odd and sometimes painful journey to 2010 mirrored our own.

An Intelligent non-sensational biography

I became a born-again Stones fan after listening to Keith's 'Life". I was interested in reading Mick's autobiography, but I doubt if he ever will write one, and I wouldn't believe a word of it anyway.

I read all the reviews for the many Jagger bios, and this one got either horrible reviews or great ones.

I think the folks who gave it a horrible review were looking for a sensational sex and drugs scandalous book. This book is serious, slow paced, very well-written and carefully researched. The author has an excellent command of language and the narrator has a droll way of delivering the text.

It's just what i was looking for - not garbage, but a real attempt to write a quality book about this very interesting and complicated character

Satisfied

Loved the story.
I’m fascinated by the longevity and elusiveness of the Mick Jagger persona.
There is a lust for life and drive that may take its roots from a carnal source…aka the “Mick Dagger”, but the energy of The Rolling Stones live performances and creative production across decades blows my mind.
I’d love know what drives Mick Jagger outside of the superficial libido and ego explanations which serves to propelled his image and persona… This book had so many details and was well done. Thank you I enjoyed it.

Tumbling Dice

I rolled the dice and I was pleasantly surprised by this book. After attempting to read “Life” purportedly written by Keith Richards, I had given up on Stones books. “Life”, in my opinion, was more-or-less the ravings of a person hoping to rewrite history. Philip Norman presents Mick Jagger in a documentary style; neither extoling nor degrading this icon of music history. The reader was mediocre at best. If you like those big lips and scrawny body, you will like this book.
If you found this review helpful, please let me know. Cheers!

Good read.

Loved this book. It started at the very beginning and not as good as life but a fine read ..

SURPRISES

I bought this because it was about, well Mick Jagger. Enough said. It turns out that Mick is smarter than I thought and about as narcissistic as I thought. Is he happy? Beats me but he is a survivor and very rich.

Awful

Written and narrated in a very prissy style. Recommend the Keith Richards book over this one