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hbwriter
--and he did this all by himself.

That is kind of the bottom line for me when it comes to BillG.

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T&A
does the book shed any appreciable light on the band's music? if it's just about his adventures with the lads, then i have a good excuse to not read it.[/quote) in the book keith and ronnie are talking about about changes to the setlist where they wanted to play songs off the new albums but were shotdown by you know who and his infatuation with the warhorses(89-present).also very insightful about how you know who and how it became all about milking the cash(the fans)cow and forget about GROWING music wise and making great music .which mick taylor says was starting to dry up the well of inspiration .you know who and his devil (cohl) cohort ONLY care about how much CASH they can squeeze from us which is okay but how about the PRODUCT?

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Rocky Dijon
T&A, in answer to your question - no, Bill German doesn't really go into the music. Its his story or rather the story of his fanzine and where it took him. He hung around outside the studio when the band was mixing EMOTIONAL RESCUE and had the likes of Ian Stewart provide him with track listings. He had the pleasure of Mick playing him an advance copy of UNDERCOVER at Mick's house, but he wasn't present at the sessions. He sat in on a couple of jam sessions with Keith and Woody with Bobby Womack and Don Covay during the DIRTY WORK sessions, but was not allowed access during the main album sessions. He listened to an advance copy of MAIN OFFENDER when Keith brought it to the studio where Ronnie was rehearsing for his 1992 solo tour. That's about it. Probably the biggest misconception about the book (which has given more than one critic an excuse to make snide remarks comparing German disfavorably to Stanley Booth) is the belief that German wrote a book about the Stones. This isn't a history of the band so much as a history of a Stones fanzine and the interaction he had with the band and their entourage from roughly 1981 through 1995. That said, I didn't really see anything noteworthy about music in Ronnie's recent autobiography either.

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hbwriter
for a book to "shed any appreciable light on the band's music" I'd say it'd have to be written by someone making the music.

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hbwriter
TA--I respectfully disagree--and this is strictly a matter of opinion--to truly shed light on music, I rely less on writers/critics and more on the artists--case in point Dylan's Chronicles, Petty's autobiography, Janis Ian's auto, Clapton's--there are others--and this is sort of away from the point--the title of Bill's book - "Under Their Thumb - How a Nice Boy from Brooklyn Got Mixed Up with The Rolling Stones (and Lived to Tell About It)" seems pretty clear that it's not setting out to shed light on the music so to dismiss it for not doing that seems harsh.

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Rocky Dijon
After thinking about all of the Stones books I've owned, I would have to conclude the answer is no.

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hbwriter
TA--I respectfully disagree--and this is strictly a matter of opinion--to truly shed light on music, I rely less on writers/critics and more on the artists--case in point Dylan's Chronicles, Petty's autobiography, Janis Ian's auto, Clapton's--there are others--and this is sort of away from the point--the title of Bill's book - "Under Their Thumb - How a Nice Boy from Brooklyn Got Mixed Up with The Rolling Stones (and Lived to Tell About It)" seems pretty clear that it's not setting out to shed light on the music so to dismiss it for not doing that seems harsh.

if you would--list the three books that you feel best shed light on the Stone's music

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jlowe

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hbwriter
TA--I respectfully disagree--and this is strictly a matter of opinion--to truly shed light on music, I rely less on writers/critics and more on the artists--case in point Dylan's Chronicles, Petty's autobiography, Janis Ian's auto, Clapton's--there are others--and this is sort of away from the point--the title of Bill's book - "Under Their Thumb - How a Nice Boy from Brooklyn Got Mixed Up with The Rolling Stones (and Lived to Tell About It)" seems pretty clear that it's not setting out to shed light on the music so to dismiss it for not doing that seems harsh.

if you would--list the three books that you feel best shed light on the Stone's music

I think you struggle to find any books that shed much light on the Stones music, their creative process etc.
The Roy Carr Illustrated Record Books and The Rough Guide RS Book are o.k. up to a point, but they are hardly music critiques in the way some books on The Fab4 and Dylan are.
I think that The Stones have (unfortunately) been overtaken by their celebrity status - I guess you could exclude Charlie. Their various life styles, busts, marriages/affairs/addcitions are all the stuff of tabloid journalism and I would assume that most publishers would expect any writer to emphasis this in any work they are giving an advance to.
Keith's book may shed some light- but he is not prone to go into analytical mode in interviews. In fact Im not sure he thinks R and R warrants it.