Rock Autobiographies

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CN211276
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Rock Autobiographies

Unread post by CN211276 »

There is a good thread on this in Steve Hoffman. A lot depends upon the ghost writer, when there is one. The best ones I have read are by Keith Richards, Ozzy Osbourne and Rod Stewart. Also enjoyed the ones by Bruce Dickinson, Lemmy and Slash. Tony Iomis autobiography is poor. Ronnie Woods is ok until he joined the Stones, don't think he wanted to upset Mick, unlike Keef. Enjoyed reading Neil Youngs book, but I would not call it an autobiography as such.
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Re: Rock Autobiographies

Unread post by karatestu »

Give Alice Coopers book a go.
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Re: Rock Autobiographies

Unread post by BillyBones »

I enjoyed former 70's NME writer Nick Kent's book Apathy For The Devil, a good read but he did come across as someone who thought he was as famous and talented as some of the people he wrote about. Punk sorted him out.

Also as autobiographies go in the world of popular music, I really enjoyed Mark Radcliffe's Diary of a Rock 'n' Roll Nobody and Stuart Maconie's Cider With Roadies , both very well written and blindingly funny. In fact, I've read most of Stuart Maconie's books and he's great value.

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Re: Rock Autobiographies

Unread post by Fretless »

I've got Peter Hook's 'Unknown Pleasures' book about life in Joy Division lined up for my holiday next week.

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Re: Rock Autobiographies

Unread post by BillyBones »

Fretless wrote: Tue Aug 28, 2018 7:02 pm I've got Peter Hook's 'Unknown Pleasures' book about life in Joy Division lined up for my holiday next week.
Barny and Hooky were in my class at secondary school, I don't think anyone had an inkling what lay ahead for that pair :grin:

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Re: Rock Autobiographies

Unread post by joe »

The best one I know of is 'Head-On' by Julian Cope.

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Re: Rock Autobiographies

Unread post by Fretless »

Image

Started on this and couldn't put it down. Dirty, funny, emotional, revealing - this tale of life, love/hate and being in a band is just amazing. Written in a deadpan, conversational style, 'Hooky' tells about how he grew up in Salford and formed 'the' most influential band of the post-punk era.

'Unknown Pleasures' scared the shit out of me when it came out - and I was afraid to play that LP at night. I remember hearing John Peel announcing Ian Curtis' had died and simply HAD to get all the Joy Division / New Order records because they just meant something.

Hooky was also a major reason why I picked up the bass and Joy Div bass-lines were the first I learnt to play.

Now about to start on the follow-up book about his time in New Order, and getting hold of the remastered JD/NO albums (my original CD pressings are crap).

For posterity: I want 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' played at the end of my funeral.

Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart

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Re: Rock Autobiographies

Unread post by Berty bass »

I can heartily recommend Giles Smith's 'Lost in Music' too. He's currently a sports and motoring journalist (for The Times?) but in his pre-journalism days, in the 80's, was a musician in The Orphans of Babylon in my home town of Colchester (my own band - Lord Lucan and the Lookalikes - shared bills on a few occasions). His account of his music obsessive teens and subsequent young struggles to attain some kind of rock stardom is very funny and will strike a chord with any of us who found fame similarly elusive.

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