Author:Bernie Marsden

This book originally appeared a couple of years ago via a Pledge campaign, but has now been picked up by a mainstream publisher, getting a welcome update in the process.

Rather than being a lurid sensationalist expose of rock n roll debauchery, this is instead an honest warts and all look at the author’s days of hard graft on the British blues rock scene. Of course, he’s best known for his work with the original classic line up of Whitesnake in the late seventies and early eighties, before they transformed themselves into the hair metal darlings of MTV as they targeted the lucrative US market. Nevertheless, no doubt the royalties from his co-authorship of Here I Go Again provide a nice annual pension, and there are some interesting insights into the band’s hectic recording and touring schedule in their heyday, and the inevitable tensions it created. The book isn’t exclusively about Whitesnake though, and Marsden has many a tale to tell of life before and after his tenure with the band. There are also interesting accounts of the first gigs and festivals he attended and musical heroes he has met and played with, as well as a chapter » Continue Reading.

Author:Gerald Seymour

It’s that time of the year again, when Gerald Seymour’s annual novel hits the shelves. I’ve been reading his books since his debut, Harry’s Game, appeared way back in the seventies when I was but a teenager and he was still a regular sight on the nightly TV news bulletins. I’ve followed him ever since and although there have been a few bumps in the road, by and large his work rarely disappoints. His novels are always firmly rooted in grim reality, with no glamorous women, fast car chases or shoot outs, and this one is no exception. Here, a member of a covert military observation unit who suffers from PTSD after witnessing an atrocity in Syria is brought back into the fold to locate and identify the person responsible and dispense justice. The book superbly captures the various scenarios, the desolate Orkneys, the bare Syrian Desert and the bleakness of Russia, as well as the damaged personalities of the main protagonists. As expertly plotted and written as usual, if you haven’t read any of Seymour’s previous novels then this is a good place to start and then work your way through them all. – just don’t expect » Continue Reading.

Author:Mark Blake

Jethro Tull have set a high bar with their excellent ongoing program of cd reissues, but this super book has no problem in meeting that standard. Encased in what can only be described as a cushioned cover, it gives for the first time the official authorised history of the band. Although author Mark Blake pulls the strings to provide the narrative of the story through the words of the thirty odd players who’ve passed through the Tull camp at one time or another, it is unsurprisingly Ian Anderson’s voice that is heard most often, either through his own contributions or via interjections in to the recollections of others. There are certainly some revealing insights into life in the band in this chronological trip through their sometimes tempestuous career – Dave Pegg, for example, contrasts life in a group of mates who play music (Fairport) with life with a group of musicians who aren’t mates at all. The earlier years of the band’s career, up to the late seventies, are covered in most detail, unsurprisingly given this was their most creative and successful era. However, as we move past 1980, the detail becomes noticeably less forensic, although Anderson interestingly » Continue Reading.

Author:Pete Townshend

Around the time of The Who’s Endless Wire album, Pete Townshend mentioned on his blog that he was working on a project with the working title of Floss, which he intended to be a multi media effort – an opera, a novel and an art installation were all formats mooted. Finally, we have one incarnation, albeit with a new title, in the form of this novel. Townshend mentions in his afterword that the book was actually finished in May 2013, but oddly gives no clue as to why it’s been in the works for so long. It’s a complicated and sometimes confusing work, containing, I would suggest, a number of autobiographical elements. It’s the tale of an ex- junkie art dealer (who also acts as narrator), a rock star turned film star who has a breakdown and becomes a hermit and a painter of apocalyptic visions, and a younger musician who begins seeing and hearing connections with his live audience in the form of soundscapes, aural hallucinations if you will, somewhat akin to the scenario of Tommy and the abandoned Lifehouse project. Throw in a pair of Irish sisters, one of whom murdered their father and talks to » Continue Reading.

Author:Sid Smith

Crimson fans will be familiar with Sid Smith from his excellent sleeve notes for the ongoing series of box sets and reissues of the band’s music. Some may even recall his 2001 biography of the band, of which this book was originally intended to be a slightly revised and updated version. Well, that was the idea, but this is in fact a fully rewritten book, now over 600 pages long, the sort of book that words like ‘comprehensive’ and indeed ‘definitive’ were invented for. The book covers the band’s story right up to April 2019, and comes with a host of new interviews with band members past and present, particularly Robert Fripp, to recount the band’s story over the last fifty years. As if that wasn’t enough, there’s a detailed track by track commentary on all the studio albums, as well as a ‘gigography’ which usefully also acts as a guide to the numerous live recordings available. Throughout, the author conveys skilfully his undoubted passion for the music while retaining the critical distance and awareness necessary for a balanced appraisal. Quite simply, if you’re a fan then this is a must read, as this volume will surely become » Continue Reading.

Author:Lou Reed

This time last year, I reviewed Kate Bush’s book of selected lyrics, a slender volume. By contrast, this book of Lou Reed’s work is a real doorstop of well over six hundred pages, housed in a suitably sombre glossy black cover. This title has been put of print for a number of years, and this new edition has been updated to include the controversial Lulu album he made in 2011 with Metallica. Starting with the first Velvet Underground album, the book follows chronologically through Reed’s lengthy career from proto punk to glam rocker to elder statesman, and although there’s no commentary on the lyrics themselves, the book does include new introductory pieces by his widow, Laurie Anderson, James Atlas and Martin Scorsese. Many lyrics are morally ambiguous, both profound and profane (Street Hassle, songs from the Berlin and New York albums for example), while some are much more throwaway efforts, and others are just plain weird., but most have their own unique qualities in one way or another. There’s a lot of songs here that I wasn’t particularly familiar with that are well worth a look (and a listen), and it’s an interesting exercise to follow the changes » Continue Reading.

Author:Joni Mitchell

It’s late 1971, six months or so after the release of Blue, and Joni Mitchell is pondering on the thorny topic of Christmas presents when inspiration suddenly strikes in the form of her folder of lyrics, poetry, paintings and drawings. Just one hundred copies of the original handmade book they were transformed into were produced and given to family and friends that year. Now, almost fifty years later, the book has been reproduced for all to enjoy in a ‘coffee table’ format and on lovely thick paper. Subtitled ‘early songs and drawings’, it is exactly that, with thirty or so original watercolour paintings and sketches, accompanied by her (not that easy to decipher) handwritten lyrics and poetry. It’s a beautiful book to just flick through and enjoy, both for the words and the artwork, and includes, for example, the lyrics to Both Sides Now,This Flight Tonight, A Case Of You and I’m A Radio (later to become You Turn Me On, I’m A Radio of course), and portraits of David Crosby, James Taylor, Graham Nash and Judy Collins among others. There’s even a new introduction written by Joni especially for this edition, plus a wealth of previously unseen » Continue Reading.

Author:Campbell Devine

Do you remember the Saturday Gigs? Among the albums that take me straight back to my teenage years, Mott and The Hoople are frontrunners – All The Way From Memphis, Honaloochie Boogie, Roll Away The Stone, the memories come rushing back. This is the first part of a hefty, authorised two part biography of Ian Hunter, put together by Mott archivist and all round authority Campbell Devine, who also curated the recent thirty disc box Stranded In Reality. It will eventually cover the whole fifty years of Hunter’s career, but this volume covers just the period up to the end of Mott The Hoople. It includes numerous interviews with all the key players over the years, band members, road crew and management, together with more contemporary and extensive recollections from Hunter himself. Starting with his formative rock n roll years and progressing to his period of peak commercial success as the face and voice of Mott, this is a fascinatingly frank account of the many trials and tribulations of his career in that influential band. It’s all here: the band’s early struggles for commercial success, the crucial intervention of David Bowie, the departures of Verden Allen and Mick » Continue Reading.

Author:Richard Chizmar

This is a sequel to a novella from a couple of years ago, Gwendy’s Button Box, a joint effort by Stephen King and Richard Chizmar. King has bowed out of this one, although he does provide a short foreword, so this is very much a solo effort by Chizmar. I haven’t read any other titles from his own catalogue, but this one does read remarkably like a Stephen King novel, and I mean that as a compliment. Rather like King’s ‘From A Buick 8’, you just have to accept that the button box exists though, with no explanation as to why it appeared, how it works, what its purpose is etc.

Once again the majority of the action takes place in King’s favourite location Castle Rock. The author actually does a very job of capturing and evoking life in this typical example of small town America at the turn of the twentieth century (it’s set in 1999). Out of the blue, the box reappears in the now adult Gwendy’s life, but without any explanation this time. Meanwhile, two girls disappear in mysterious circumstances in her home town, while her mother struggles as her respite from her battle with » Continue Reading.

Author:Gerald Scarfe

This memoir begins with the author interviewing Roger Waters for a book on the making of The Wall. Waters suddenly announces he has to leave for a prearranged game of golf, but suggests ‘if you want any more memories, just make it up.’ Well, Scarfe assures us there’s no fiction here as he looks back over 83 years of professional and personal life, although he scrupulously avoids any mention of wife and children throughout, and nor sadly are there any of his trademark cartoons or caricatures. Nevertheless, the book encompasses his work during his time on Fleet Street, several wars, the stage, Hollywood and of course the world of rock music. During the course of this, he also analyses his drawing technique and style. It is quite an astonishing rollercoaster of a life, from an asthmatic, bed-ridden war time childhood to Private Eye and on to Nixon era America, the Vietnam War and the troubles in Northern Ireland. Inevitably he eventually progressed into the arena of television and animation, directing documentaries, creating sets for the theatre and opera, collaborating with Pink Floyd on The Wall in its various incarnations and then working on Disney’s Hercules film. Throughout this » Continue Reading.

Author:Phil Taylor

‘I told Phil that I wasn’t interested. It seems a daft idea to me, writing a book about an ordinary guitar that I bought at Manny’s.’ Thus spoke David Gilmour over ten years ago about this excellent book, now in its fourth edition, lovingly put together by Phil Taylor, his personal guitar technician and studio manager. It’s a weighty, A4 sized tome, printed on thick, top quality paper, with a fantastic array of superbly detailed photographs of the instrument, and a clear narrative following the journey of the guitar through the years. The book briefly touches on some of Gilmour’s many other guitars, but the main focus is of course on the iconic black Fender Stratocaster, which over the years became virtually synonymous with the music and sound of both Pink Floyd and his solo work. Staring life as a humble 1968-69 Strat with black painted over the original sunburst finish, it has been subject to many modifications over the years, and the level of detail provided on these changes is in depth to say the least, covering all the numerous mods made (and sometimes reversed), each individual one being lovingly documented and clearly illustrated and explained. There » Continue Reading.

Author:David Hepworth

Christmas is coming, so Mr Hepworth has turned his attention to that festive staple the quiz book for his new venture. It’s certainly a departure from his previous books, but actually it’s very well done, with testing, well researched (and surprisingly tricky) questions, and informative and sometimes surprising answers.

There are numerous quizzes on pop/rock, arranged in the way of a school syllabus, covering just about any subject you could conceive – and rather than the usual one line answers, most are expanded with a short accompanying explanatory paragraph.

What you ideally need is a group of friends to play along with, and a suitable volunteer to play the role of quiz master, but alternatively you can simply just amuse yourself, consulting the answers to each set of questions as you go along. Of course, like all such books, once you’ve been through all the questions they’ve really rather outlived their usefulness. Nevertheless, I predict this book will find its way into the Xmas stockings of many an Afterworder on Christmas morning.

A very well compiled book with questions ranging from simple to very hard indeed, and the answers often reflect Hepworth’s dry Yorkshire wit. A very entertaining » Continue Reading.