I Am The Rock Biography Queen, Part II

More music books I've read this year...

No More Sad Refrains: The Life Of Sandy Denny by Clinton Heylin

This book was a hard one to track down, surprisingly given how Sandy Denny's reputation has grown and grown in the last few years (there's even an expensive box set dedicated to her work that's just been released), first published 10 years ago and out of print for nearly as long, luckily my library came to the rescue (although I had to wait about four months for them to transfer in a copy). It was definitely worth the wait though because it's a beautifully detailed portrait of Sandy as a woman and artist and features lots of indepth interviews with many friends and colleagues now passed. The opening chapter describing her tragic death in detail was incredibly heartbreaking particularly given how avoidable it was: after falling down the stairs in her parents house, she later collapsed at a friend's house having suffered a brain haemorrhage. But really the biggest revelation was just how unworthy she felt and lacking in confidence she was: despite having probably one of the greatest female voices in the history of British rock and folk music and being an incredible songwriter, she didn't know how good she was and, not being conventionally pretty, was insecure about her looks to the point of depression. In the end, like many of these tales, booze and drugs were her downfall, something even the birth of her first and only child couldn't heal. A beautiful book about a beautiful and misunderstood woman.

Dream A Little Dream Of Me: The Life Of “Mama” Cass Elliot by Eddi Fiegel

Speaking of great, great talents who were undermined by their own insecurities over their looks, Cass Elliot aka Mama Cass of The Mamas & Papas, is probably the prime example of this because from the day she decided she wanted to become a star she was continually knocked back and told that because of her looks and her weight in particular she couldn't do it. This lasted all the way up until she joined The Mamas & Papas: the rather despictable John Phillips was adamant not to let her join because she didn't fit "the image" and she only really made it into the line-up because the record company assumed she was part of the package and not because of Phillips' approval. The other most tragic part of her life was her unrequited love for bandmate Denny Doherty, who, although undoubtably loved her, couldn't get past her size to have a relationship with Cass and instead had an affair with typically pretty Michelle Philips. Like Sandy Denny, Cass fell into the trap of using drugs to help boost her confidence and self-esteem which ultimately became her demise. But the biggest insult to Cass's extraordinary life has to be the urban myth that she died choking on a sandwich (because obviously, that's the way a fat person would die): this great, well-researched book reveals she actually died of a heart attack brought on by her years of drug abuse.

I’m With The Band: Confessions Of A Groupie by Pamela Des Barres

So from two exceptionally talented ladies who suffered from lack of confidence in their looks, to an extremely untalented lady who used her looks in the hopes of nabbing herself a rock star (which she ultimately did, albeit a very minor one). I read this book after reading glowing reviews from girls on the internet, who idolised her and viewed her as someone to be admired. I started to think, maybe she's not just some groupie writing a kiss and tell, maybe there's something more to this girl to inspire such devotion. But boy was I wrong. Des Barres is every bit as airheaded and flighty as you'd expect and her book shows no insight into the men she pursued and slept with. Right from the moment she discovered rock n' roll, she was far more interested in how the boys in the band looked than the music and all through the book music is secondary to how cute the guitarist is. Although she was around an exciting music scene and got to know some extraordinary characters (Frank Zappa and Gram Parsons, two she never slept with, being the most exciting examples), her life is often pretty depressing. Despite sleeping with Mick Jagger and being Jimmy Page's bedmate of choice for a short time, her groupie ways were financed by working in a dingy dancehall for much of the time while waiting for men, who clearly didn't want a proper relationship with her (which she desperately wanted), to roll into town for a couple of nights. The best part of the book though is how she captures the scene and that moment in time in the late 60s and early 70s in Los Angeles and it's definitely a lightweight, enjoyable read. But as someone to be idolised? Other than her clothes, I didn't find much to admire about her at all.

A Freewheelin’ Time: A Memoir Of Greenwich Village In The Sixties by Suze Rotolo

In complete contrast to Pamela Des Barres, Suze Rotolo, girlfriend to Bob Dylan during his early years in Greenwich Village, is an intelligent, fascinating and strong character who had dreams and ambitions of her own and was a true muse to Dylan, influencing much of his work (in a way I didn't believe Des Barres did). Also, as Dylan's fame grew she battled with the idea of being the rock star girlfriend, significent only because of their relationship to the star and refused to accept being one of many when Dylan starting seeing Joan Baez and other girls. But it isn't all about Dylan, her background alone is a fascinating one, growing up with communist parents, who were working class yet cultured, she is a true New Yorker and a witness to folk music and the counterculture's rise in the 60s, meeting many fascinating and important characters along the way. As a history of that whole scene she's both knowledgable and interesting, and while Dylan will be the motivating reason for most people to read this, and she does offer a lot that helps unwrap his mystique and the building of the Dylan persona, you get so much more than that from this great, beautifully written book.

Tammy Wynette: Tragic Country Queen by Jimmy McDonough

When I was growing up my dad used to play country music all the time. His absolute favourite was George Jones and he would often play the records he made with Tammy Wynette, George's wife in the 70s. One of the last concerts my dad went to before he died was the last night of their reunion tour at Hammersmith Apollo in 1995 and I remember my dad raving about seeing his hero George and how magnificent he was but shocked at how ill and terrible Tammy looked - frail and at least 20 years older than she actually was. A year after my dad died Tammy did too and all manner of shocking details, as terrible as her appearance in those last few years, emerged. Those last years and the aftermath of Tammy's death are covered in detail, with fourth husband George Richey coming across very much the bad guy, enabling her dependency on prescription drugs that led to her demise, driving her to continue working when she was ill, cutting off her children from their inheritance and moving in an ex-cheerleader into Tammy's home days after she died. Even George Jones and his current wife Nancy speak candidly about the subject and, the surprisingly thing is, despite all the famous stories about how awful George Jones was during the height of his drink and drugs problem (most of which are apparently true), he still comes across as an incredible man with a good heart who genuinely loved Tammy and did right by her children. But, aside from her tragic end, Tammy's life was a truly remarkable one that shouldn't be defined by how she died. While she wasn't as dirt poor as Loretta Lynn, she came from a humble background and, despite having three children before she was 20 years old, managed to become the biggest country star in the world for a while, which naturally left her in a position to be taken advantage of. McDonough is a fantastic biographer, he did a similarly stellar job with Neil Young's biography Shakey, and, not only has he managed to obtain a comprehensive set of interviews with the people closest to her (bar Richey of course), he clearly loves her music and his descriptions of her music and best vocal performances made me go back and listen to all Tammy's albums again and find a new appreciation for all of them.

Just Kids by Patti Smith

I must admit, despite being a fan for many years, there was so much I didn't know about Patti Smith. I didn't know she came from a working class family, that she had a child as a teenager that she gave up for adoption, that she lived on the streets when she first moved to New York, that she lived at the Chelsea Hotel and met the cream of the art and music world during her time there or that, not only was artist Robert Mapplethorpe a close friend, he was also her boyfriend, lover and the only person she had to rely on for many years. And it's her relationship with Mapplethorpe that inspires this book and it is beautifully crafted, telling her own story through his, since their stories are so closely intertwined. What I did know about Smith though is what an incredible poet she is and this comes through in every memory and tale shared, successfully evoking the feel and spirit of late 60s and early 70s New York. Although certainly a muse to Mapplethorpe even after they split, unlike Des Barres whose greatest wish was to be a muse (something she never really achieved), Smith wanted to forge her own path as an artist and luckily for us she did, encouraged by Mapplethorpe, she became an artist of equal stature. Easily one of the books of the year.