Glenn's Autobiography

  • In the past year or so, I have read a handful of biographies and autobiographies of musicians and they have varied in style and substance...Leading off was the Tommy Bolin biography, "Touched By Magic". Greg Plato conducted numerous interviews with musicians and family members and stitches them together to tell the story....And enough quotes from Tommy are included to give a bit of his presence to the proceedings. You get a lot of questions answered and a certain feel for Tommy as a human being AND a musician.

    Bill Bruford's autobiography was up next and forget all the jokes about drummers; these stereotypes do not apply to Mister Bruford. He is, by turns, articulate, well read, wickedly funny and incisive....his comments on the business are required reading for all you closet Cobhams and garage skin beaters. He doesn't dish dirt in a tabloid fashion, he tells the story with a class and style...and he wrote it himself, ladies and gentlemen. I heard an interview with Bill on NPR in which he expressed surprise at the fact that so many autobiographies are ghost written....and that you won't find any tales of childhood traumas or trashed hotel rooms...

    Jack Bruce is the subject of Harry Shapiro's biography and Jack has a tremendous amount of input into the book. Meticulously researched, Shapiro pulls no punches; Jack's financial missteps and drug problems are discussed at length but not in a sensationalistic manner. But you also learn much about the man and his music; I thought I knew a lot about Jack Bruce but I was wrong....so many stories and facts I was unaware of. A fabulous read.

    Arthur Lee is the subject of John Einarson's biography. Now, I have always been a huge fan of Love and really looked forward to this book. And it doesn't disappoint. Arthur had been working on an autobiography up until his death in 2006 and Einarson uses Arthur's words in italics to give the reader a conversational feel as if Arthur is commenting from his easy chair. All of the surviving band members from Love as well as many colleagues, friends and fans are interviewed and this wealth of information is presented in a clear, crisp style. A lot of the myths surrounding the band have been repeated over the years...and I am abashed to admit that I was guilty of said crime in blithely repeating the story about the "donut shop bandits" in my tribute here to Arthur Lee when he passed away. John Einarson addresses and debunks most of them. I was glad that after his years in the wilderness and a prison term, that Arthur Lee finally got the recognition and acclaim that eluded him for many years.

    Ginger Baker's autobiography "Hellraiser" was decades in coming and very different from Bill Bruford's book in its style and delivery (let's be honest here; Nettie Baker, his eldest daughter did the writing) in that it is very conversational as if you are sitting next to him in a pub listening to him tell his story through a cloud of cigarette smoke. His love/hate relationship with Jack Bruce is well documented and you also have to wonder how he has lived this long given his many misadventures with drugs, women and the US immigration authorities. He recounts all the bands he has played in over the years and stomps on a few toes in the process. Given his health problems over the past few years, it is a story finally told and worth reading.

    Johnny Winter is the subject of Mary Lou Sullivan's biography "Raisin' Cain" and a book long in the making; she conducted interviews with Johnny and his fellow musicians over the years and encountered resistance from Johnny's late manager Teddy Slatus who was ripping Johnny off for years. After a number of years in a drug induced haze (much of which was aided and abetted by Slatus to keep Johnny in the dark about business matters) Johnny has a manager looking out for his best interests and improved health and enthusiasm for performing again. Growing up albino and legally blind in the 1950's South, Johnny and his brother Edgar overcame those obstacles and rose to stardom on the strength of their prodigious musical talent. Johnny Winter is doing now what he was born to do; he plays the blues and IS the blues.

    And now we have Glenn's story....and I can't wait to read it! Glenn is a raconteur extraordinaire; I have had the pleasure of sitting across a table from Glenn and listened to him tell a story with that incredibly expressive face of his...I hope his personality comes across on the written page! We all know about how he was seemingly a casualty of the lifestyle only to come back with his talent burning brighter than ever. Now with Black Country Communion lifting off like a Saturn V and the press behind him as never before, this book couldn't be timed any better!

    Bring it on!! :thumbup:

    Yours In The Funk
    Bill "Capt. Midnite" Redford

    :ghcp:

    http://www.facebook.com/bill.redford

    "Cause if you fake the FUNK..your nose got to grow!" Bootsy Collins

  • There's some great books coming out,,, another rock star is about to hit with one the same time as GH, Steven Tyler and it's said to have more info and detail than Aerosmith's group autobiography.

    Steve Lukather plans to get one together but it's kind of on the back burner at the moment. That would be a great book as well!

    Add to your list a must read that's recently come out:

    Keith Richards: Life

    I highly recommend this one as well. Despite years of drug and alcohol abuse, Keith remembers tons of little details of his life and also brings out the magic behind the music of the Rolling Stones (unlike that boring Clapton book, which seems to have none of the passion of the music). I'm halfway through Life and I'm enjoying every minute of it. It's no small book either at 500 pages. It's well written, easy to get into and chock full of fantastic stories. I love it. It's clear, Keith is no rock ape dummy, but a very intelligent musician.


  • Add to your list a must read that's recently come out:
    Keith Richards: Life
    I highly recommend this one as well. Despite years of drug and alcohol abuse, Keith remembers tons of little details of his life and also brings out the magic behind the music of the Rolling Stones (unlike that boring Clapton book, which seems to have none of the passion of the music). I'm halfway through Life and I'm enjoying every minute of it. It's no small book either at 500 pages. It's well written, easy to get into and chock full of fantastic stories. I love it. It's clear, Keith is no rock ape dummy, but a very intelligent musician.

    Keith Richards - Life (Documentary Movie) 1/6


    The Stones are The Stones are The Stones! :claphands :bow: This is the band which turned me on to good rock music when I was... hmmm, many moons younger! ;)

    "I might have been born in Liverpool, but I grew up in Hamburg." John Lennon

  • John, your statement about Clapton's book having none of the passion of the music....surely you don't mean Clapton's music! When I think of his music the last word to pop into my head would be passion...more like passive!

  • Captain! What an insightful post that was. As a general book about rock's dark side I'd add Gary Herman's Rock n Roll Baylon which you can still get second hand online. I wish someone could update it and put it out as a later edition. Anyhow that's by the by.

    I have also had the priviledge of hearing Glenn chat so openly about his past in person. I would love to get involved with a DVD or even an audio book. Just being able to imbibe those anecdotes and hair curling (if I had any) moments would be a great honour. I am sure there are many of us who feel the same.

    What I like about Glenn's life story is its deep integrity. We have heard the well told tales from other "rock stars" about peoples' hair being set on fire and how we laughed. Sadly this has almost branded some of our major icons with images they could have done without. But Glenn is NOT trying to play the clown prince of rock. Yes he is a very witty man with a quick sense of sardonic humour. But he knows when to turn that off too.

    Photographer, Ross Halfin famously said "never meet your icons." I am sorry Ross but you didn't meet this one. Since I first set foot in that auditorium in 1976 I'd always wanted to meet this guy and chat to him about what it was like playing in world's best band at the time (ok Chuck I mean Trapeze of course :) ) I have often said on this forum and previous versions of it that this life needs to be shared with the world and this is about to happen.

  • Lol...sure Todd, the past 20 years yawn...But Layla was smoking, Cream was smoking, and I thought there were a lot of smoking moments (and some boring ones) on the three Phil Collins produced albums in the 80s.

  • Yeah, "Layla" was great...up until the point Duane Allman started wailing away with the most atrocious display of slide guitar I've ever heard. It sounds like he's trying to find a note, and never gets there. Awful.

    The Phil Collins-produced albums have a few good songs. I have Behind The Sun, which I picked up on the strength of the great "Forever Man", and Journeyman had some good stuff. But the rest of Clapton's stuff, aside from his work with John Mayall and Cream, leaves me cold. Booooring...

    BUT going back to Glenn's book...I'm anxious to find out what's in it. Obviously I don't know what exactly is covered, but at the moment I can tell you I'm interested in finding out about the transition in Trapeze from a 5-piece to a 3-piece...the Play Me Out sessions...the periods when he shared residences with David Bowie and Gary Moore...the dark 80's...maybe his thoughts on his own recorded vocal work...lots of stuff.

  • I preordered this book over a year ago using the "Stormbringer" discount code and there was mention of a "special something secret" when using this code. Has this secret been leaked, yet?
    Really looking forward to reading this book!


  • I have also had the priviledge of hearing Glenn chat so openly about his past in person. I would love to get involved with a DVD or even an audio book. Just being able to imbibe those anecdotes and hair curling (if I had any) moments would be a great honour. I am sure there are many of us who feel the same.

    Keith, Whatever the subject - it's a joy to read your posts. Guess Mrs. Thompson must have a field when you come home... ;) :D
    You have no hair??? Blimey, and I thought you were a Liverpoodlian... :lol:
    Greez Yvonne

    "I might have been born in Liverpool, but I grew up in Hamburg." John Lennon



  • I have also had the priviledge of hearing Glenn chat so openly about his past in person. I would love to get involved with a DVD or even an audio book. Just being able to imbibe those anecdotes and hair curling (if I had any) moments would be a great honour. I am sure there are many of us who feel the same.

    Here's an anecdote from my archive:

    Comment of the week (late 1974)

    "German groupies are the most thorough ones" (Sorry, HIS words...)

    David Coverdale taking stock after having toured with Deep Purple for one year

    Guess Mr. Coverdale knows a thingy or two about that... :P :D

  • Finally - can't wait! And thank God for the regular edition :bow: I remember that photo of Glenn very well from one of the articles I have, most likely taken by Didi Zill.

    "I might have been born in Liverpool, but I grew up in Hamburg." John Lennon

  • It's coming! I have a feeling the world will not be the same once I read this book! G is so brave and full of courage to tell his story so openly and honestly. The writing would have been a very cathartic experience for him - exposing so much of himself to us. I can't wait x

    Love and hugs xxx :)

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