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Eric Clapton is far more than a rock star. Like Dylan and McCartney, he is an icon and a living legend. He has sold tens of millions of records, played sell-out concerts all over the world, and been central to the significant musical developments of his era. His guitar playing has seen him hailed as "God". Now, for the first time, Eric tells the story of his personal and professional journeys in this pungent, witty, and painfully honest autobiography.
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 '70s, to the acrimonious schisms of the late '80s and '90s.
Gold Dust Woman gives "the gold standard of rock biographers" (the Boston Globe) his ideal topic: Nicks' work and life are equally sexy and interesting, and Davis delves deeply into each, unearthing fresh details from new, intimate interviews and interpreting them to present a rich new portrait of the star. Just as Nicks (and Lindsay Buckingham) gave Fleetwood Mac the "shot of adrenaline" they needed to become real rock stars - according to Christine McVie - Gold Dust Woman is vibrant with stories and with a life lived large and hard.
Van Halen's rise in the 1980s was one of the most thrilling the music world had ever seen - their mythos an epic party, a sweaty, sexy, never-ending rock extravaganza. During this unparalleled run of success, debauchery, and drama, no one was closer to the band than Noel Monk. Throughout Van Halen's meteoric rise and abrupt halt, this confidant, fixer, friend, and promoter saw it all and lived to tell. Now, for the first time, he shares the most outrageous escapades.
From the voice of a generation: the most highly anticipated autobiography of the year, and the story of a man who wanted The Who to be called The Hair; wanted to be a sculptor, a journalist, a dancer and a graphic designer; became a musician, composer, librettist, fiction writer, literary editor, sailor; drank too much and nearly died; detached from his body in an airplane, on LSD, and nearly died; planned to write his memoir when he was 21; and published this book at 67.
In this candid, intimate portrait of a life lived in music, Mick Fleetwood sheds new light on well-known points in his history, including many incredible moments of recording and touring with Fleetwood Mac, as well as personal insights from a man who has been a major player in blues and rock n' roll since his teens.
Eric Clapton is far more than a rock star. Like Dylan and McCartney, he is an icon and a living legend. He has sold tens of millions of records, played sell-out concerts all over the world, and been central to the significant musical developments of his era. His guitar playing has seen him hailed as "God". Now, for the first time, Eric tells the story of his personal and professional journeys in this pungent, witty, and painfully honest autobiography.
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 '70s, to the acrimonious schisms of the late '80s and '90s.
Gold Dust Woman gives "the gold standard of rock biographers" (the Boston Globe) his ideal topic: Nicks' work and life are equally sexy and interesting, and Davis delves deeply into each, unearthing fresh details from new, intimate interviews and interpreting them to present a rich new portrait of the star. Just as Nicks (and Lindsay Buckingham) gave Fleetwood Mac the "shot of adrenaline" they needed to become real rock stars - according to Christine McVie - Gold Dust Woman is vibrant with stories and with a life lived large and hard.
Van Halen's rise in the 1980s was one of the most thrilling the music world had ever seen - their mythos an epic party, a sweaty, sexy, never-ending rock extravaganza. During this unparalleled run of success, debauchery, and drama, no one was closer to the band than Noel Monk. Throughout Van Halen's meteoric rise and abrupt halt, this confidant, fixer, friend, and promoter saw it all and lived to tell. Now, for the first time, he shares the most outrageous escapades.
From the voice of a generation: the most highly anticipated autobiography of the year, and the story of a man who wanted The Who to be called The Hair; wanted to be a sculptor, a journalist, a dancer and a graphic designer; became a musician, composer, librettist, fiction writer, literary editor, sailor; drank too much and nearly died; detached from his body in an airplane, on LSD, and nearly died; planned to write his memoir when he was 21; and published this book at 67.
In this candid, intimate portrait of a life lived in music, Mick Fleetwood sheds new light on well-known points in his history, including many incredible moments of recording and touring with Fleetwood Mac, as well as personal insights from a man who has been a major player in blues and rock n' roll since his teens.
The Eagles are the bestselling, and arguably the tightest-lipped, American group ever. Now band member and guitarist Don Felder finally breaks the Eagles years of public silence to take fans behind the scenes. He shares every part of the bands wild ride, from the pressure-packed recording studios and trashed hotel rooms to the tension-filled courtrooms, and from the joy of writing powerful new songs to the magic of performing in huge arenas packed with roaring fans.
The long-awaited autobiography from Phil Collins, one of the best-selling music artists of all time. This is the roller-coaster journey from his beginnings as a child actor to his domination of the charts as both a solo artist and part of Genesis. His success is astounding, his music has global reach, and his story is legendary.
No one other than Warren Zanes, rocker and writer and friend, could author a book about Tom Petty that is as honest and evocative of Petty's music and the remarkable rock and roll history he and his band helped to write. Born in Gainesville, Florida, with more than a little hillbilly in his blood, Tom Petty was a Southern shit kicker, a kid without a whole lot of promise. Rock and roll made it otherwise.
Pioneers of Britain's nascent rock and metal scene back in the late 1970s, Iron Maiden smashed its way to the top, thanks in no small part to the high-octane performances, operatic singing style, and stage presence of its second but twice-longest-serving lead singer, Bruce Dickinson. As Iron Maiden's front man - first from 1981 to 1993 and then from 1999 to the present - Dickinson has been, and remains, a man of legend.
The son of a classical pianist straight out of the Bronx of old Archie comics, Steven Tyler was born to be a rock star. Weaned on Cole Porter, Nat King Cole, Mick and his beloved Janis Joplin, Tyler began tearing up the streets and the stage as a teenager before finally meeting his "mutant twin" and legendary partner, Joe Perry. In this addictively listenable memoir, Tyler unabashedly recounts the meteoric rise, fall, and rise of Aerosmith over the last three decades and riffs on the music that gives it all meaning.
From Graham Nash - the legendary musician and founding member of the iconic bands Crosby, Stills & Nash and The Hollies - comes a candid and riveting autobiography that belongs on the reading list of every classic rock fan.
Two sisters. Two voices. One Heart.
The mystery of "Magic Man." The wicked riff of "Barracuda." The sadness and beauty of "Alone." The raw energy of "Crazy On You." These songs, and so many more, are part of the fabric of American music. Heart, fronted by Ann and Nancy Wilson, has given fans everywhere classic, raw, and pure badass rock and roll for more than three decades. As the only sisters in rock who write their own music and play their own instruments, Ann and Nancy have always stood apart - certainly from their male counterparts but also from their female peers.
Loud rock, fast cars, and Cabo. This is the life of Sammy Hagar. For almost 40 years, Sammy Hagar has been a fixture in rock music. From breaking into the industry with the band Montrose to his multiplatinum solo career to his ride as the front man of Van Halen, Sammy's powerful and unforgettable voice has set the tone for some of the greatest rock anthems ever written - songs like "I Can't Drive 55", "Right Now", and "Why Can't This Be Love".
Since the age of 21, Paul McCartney has lived one of the ultimate rock 'n' roll lives, played out on the most public of stages. Now Paul's story is told by rock music's foremost biographer, with McCartney's consent and access to family members and close friends who have never spoken on the record before.
They were the last great band of the '60s and the first great band of the '70s. They rose, somewhat unpromisingly, from the ashes of the Yardbirds to become one of the biggest-selling rock bands of all time - and eventually paid the price for it, with disaster, drug addiction, and death.
An early architect of punk rock's sound, style, and fury, whose lip-curling sneer and fist-pumping persona vaulted him into pop's mainstream as one of MTV's first megastars, Billy Idol remains, to this day, a true rock 'n' roll icon. Now, in his long-awaited autobiography, Dancing with Myself, Idol delivers an electric, searingly honest account of his journey to fame - from his early days as front man of the pioneering UK punk band Generation X to the decadent life atop the dance-rock kingdom he ruled.
In 1984, at the age of 20, Duff McKagan left his native Seattle - partly to pursue music, but mainly to get away from a host of heroin overdoses then-decimating his closest group of friends in the local punk scene. In LA only a few weeks and still living in his car, he answered a want ad for a bass player placed by someone who identified himself only as "Slash." Soon after, the most dangerous band in the world was born. Guns N' Roses went on to sell more than 100 million albums worldwide.
The long-awaited autobiography of one of rock's true megastars. Rod Stewart (aka Rod The Mod and to a very select few, Dad) was born the working-class son of a Scottish plumber in North London. He was never, as some stories later had it, a professional footballer or a gravedigger, though he did become a bit of a singer - and a fairly good one at that. Rod started out in the early 1960s, playing alongside acts like The Rolling Stones, before his distinctively raspy voice and natural onstage presence caught the eye of the iconic guitarist, Jeff Beck.
An often-interesting two year stint with Beck’s group paved the way into the angst-inducing (for the world's hoteliers) five years with the Faces, whose offstage antics with alcohol, hotel rooms, and groupies have become the stuff of legend. And during all this, he found a spare moment to write "Maggie May", among a few others, and launch a solo career that has seen him sell in excess of 200 million records, be inducted into the Hall of Fame twice, and play the world’s largest ever concert. Not bad, as he says, for a bloke with a frog in his throat.
And then, there is his not so private life: marriages, divorces and affairs with some of the world’s most beautiful women - Bond girls, movie stars and supermodels - a struggle with steroid dependency, and a brush with cancer which very nearly saw it all slip away. Rod’s is an incredible life, and here, thrillingly and for the first time, he tells the whole thing, leaving no knickers under the bed. Joyously entertaining and at times deeply moving, this is the remarkable story of a guy with one hell of a voice - and one hell of a head of hair.
I knew his life would be full of fascinating, entertaining, funny stories and I fully expected to enjoy it, but I had no idea he's such a fantastically entertaining writer.
If you're interested in him already - definitely get it, you'll love it even more than you expect.
Detail, honesty and humour by the bucketload. Particularly loved hearing about the process of how certain classic songs came to be written, and all the detail about different bands and people he played with over the years - all written in a totally entertaining way. Always fast moving and entertaining. Never angsty or plodding. Of course not, it's Rod.
And even if you're not particularly interested in him - get it anyway. It's a brilliant read, never a dull moment. Everything you'd expect, plus fantastic descriptions of life in London and L.A the 50's, 60's, 70's. Lot's of it is hilarious and he comes across as such a likeable person, with the exception of how he treated some women along the way, but even that's O.K since karma eventually got him for it.
Not only highly recommended - he should write more books!!
Funny, honest, interesting and excellently read! A social documentary of our times and an honest insight into an amazing life.
7 of 8 people found this review helpful
I really like Rod Stewart's music and his highly entertaining performances. So, I wanted to read more about his life, beyond what I had read in the tabloids. This autobiography provides a candid insight into the charmed life of a talented, but non-academic artist. It is completely congruent with the tabloid image of a free spirit who has had more than his fair share of fast cars, beautiful women, drugs and immense luck. On the one hand Rod appears to be amoral, self-centred and above the law. On the other hand, his honesty, charm and young at heart approach is hard not to warm to. He was a working class boy who grasped opportunities with both hands and brought joy to the masses, through his music and songs. This is a well told story of Rod’s life so far.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
When I first saw this book I thought - good, a Rodders autobiology but why is Rod not reading it himself. Maybe he wants to save his voice. I have to say though that Simon Vance does a very good audition and makes it easy to come to think you are in fact listening to Rod. If you love Rod you will definitely love this book. He tells everything, warts and all.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
I am an avid reader (listener) of biographies and couldn't wait to start this.
I loved it! I loved how open Rod was. What a thoroughly nice, self-depreciating and down to earth guy(who happens to be a rock star with millions).
There are some great stories in here, warts and all about his many romances and broken hearts.
Warmth when he speaks of his family, his football (c'mon the hoops) and his blessed life.
Rod fan or not, give it a go, you won't regret it.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
I was a teenager in the early 70s, and although not a fan of Rod’s there was no escaping his “Every Picture Tells a Story” album, complete with the iconic image of Rod, microphone in hand, which seemed to be playing from every radio in the land. There’s no denying the amazing career he’s had, and the times he has lived through, and so this book promised to be a most entertaining read, and so it has definitely proved.
Rod tells it like it is from the very start, from humble beginnings in North London, through the nights of dragging himself around smoky nightclubs, riding in barely-legal vans, meeting heroes and villains along the way, as he slowly but surely learns how to front a band. Months become years and, almost before he realises it, Rod finds he is a bona-fide Rock Star, a role he plays with gusto.
From the initial blues clubs with Long John Baldry, through the highly respected association with Jeff Beck, Rod seems to relish in the world of late-nights, boozy conversations and one-night stands. But it is when he joins The Faces, the 60s pop group who had just lost their lead singer and leader Steve Marriot, that the world starts to sit up and take notice.
It becomes clear that Rod can really tell a good story, and he has a wealth to choose from. He pulls no punches when recounting the years of heavy touring in The Faces, the high jinks and pranks on the road, and the stream of young women who suddenly seemed always available to him. He also talks frankly about his experiences with cocaine, the fashionable drug of the day, and how his life became one long party.
On a personal level, Rod also talks openly and with affection about his previous partners and wives, and his shocking behaviour toward them all, which he recounts with a notable air of regret.
The narration by Simon Vance is first-rate, and keeps you engaged and entertained throughout.
Park any preconceptions you may have about Rod and give this book a try. It really is excellent.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
I have just gone right off Rod who I always thought was a good lad.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
What an enjoyably honest book..it was well paced ,well written with just enough scandle to keep you hooked, i look forward to reading Rods book again ,
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
From start to finish this listen held me all the way...excellent in every way! He's very honest & blimey has he enjoyed himself & why not as he still remains very down to earth...I would love him as my mate, although I would probably have trouble keeping up with him and I'm 10 years younger!!!
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
I'm a big fan of rod Stewart and found this book a great listen. Sometimes you loose the will with current music and the industry. This book takes you from the beginning of his music through to his obsession with model railways which is fantastic.Rod did not think people's knowing his passion for modelling was rock and roll but to me ,we want to know what people do with the other twenty two hours of the day to keep us all sane. Brilliant get it !
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
A very good book from a true Brit gent,would reccomended to anybody interested in Rod& the Faces
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
What a life Rod has had but he seems rather down to earth. Listened to all his songs as kid
Would you consider the audio edition of Rod to be better than the print version?
Simon Vance does a good job overall with the narration, but his Scottish accent needs work. Plenty of work. And the American pronunciation of some words (eg "schedule") jarred.
Which scene did you most enjoy?
The early chapters with Long John Baldry, Jeff Beck and the Faces are by far the most interesting. After Rod moves to LA it's little more than a catalogue of shameless infidelity, shagging, substance abuse and overall excess ("So I hired a Lear Jet and flew to Hawaii" just about sums up the second half of the book)
Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
Neither, I simply enjoyed the early chapters about the London R&B scene. The LA excess years consisted of Rod endlessly boasting about his wealth/sexual prowess/Scottishness
Any additional comments?
I love Rod, but his attitude to women is about 100 years out of date.