Rough Notes

Bruce Thomas was prompted to write Rough Notes when a friend told him: ‘There’s only one history of rock …and pop and you were there!’ It follows his career from the paper-round he did to buy his first guitar and see the Beatles — all the way through to his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003 …and beyond. He recalls his time as bass player with Elvis Costello and the Attractions — setting the record straight on the so-called feud between him and the singer — and includes accounts of working with Paul McCartney, touring on Elton John’s private jet, a day at Johnny Cash’s ranch and dinner with Yoko Ono — as well as encounters with Michael Jackson, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Abba, Howling Wolf, John Lee Hooker, Mick Jagger, Jimmy Page, the Who, Freddie Mercury, Pink Floyd, Rod Stewart, Neil Young, Eric Clapton, John Belushi, Michael Hutchence …and a certain Jimmy Savile. Yet Rough Notes is far more than a personal memoir or catalogue of trivia. It traces the entire story of rock and pop from its beginnings in the 1950s, right through to the present day — despite the fact it’s been said that …’writing about music is like dancing about architecture’.