Sean Egan is well known for his book on the making of "Let It Bleed", but he has another Stones book that is really worth a look. First a little story- I was on holiday in Sweden visiting my girlfriend at the time. I was there for 3 months, and it was an amazing experience because I had never travelled to Europe before. Anyway she was working in a little cafe sometimes, and I used the time to explore the Swedish towns on my own. In a little bookstore I found an english-language book "The Rough Guide To The Rolling Stones" by Sean Egan, and even though I have far too many Stones books I decided to grab it for light reading.

Sitting by the Gota Canal and reading the book, I was pleasantly surprised by just how interesting a job Sean Egan had done. The book has many different sections, "Stones Rarities", "50 Great Stones Songs", "Stones in Print and On Screen", "Wannabe Stones", "Almost Stones" etc etc... And it manages to present all of these topics in a fresh manner. Whilst it presents only a thumbnail sketch of some things, it has enough points of interest to make it a worthwhile purchase. I have returned to this book many times for a casual read, it is the kind of book that is great for random dipping into. Thought I would mention it here, if you ever see it around...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011-01-06 05:45 by bolexman.

Completly agree, bolexman, I bought this book in Oslo in 2006 and I brought it with me when I went to Bergen for the Stones concert. And with a pen in my hand I was waiting outside the hotel in Bergen for many hours for hopefully get some autographs on the book...but of'course the boys never came out ... but the book was indeed a very good reading while waiting for the boys who never came...

Having his "Let it Bleed" book I found even though he was writing about a classic album he seemed to not actually really rate quite afew of the tracks.

His "Rough Guide" is extremely critical of the post 'Some Girls' period; whatever your thoughts on the merits of 'Steel Wheels' for example, I don't think it's a "turkey" as Egan professes it to be. I just found it very one-sided; opinionated instead of being somewhat impartial.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011-01-06 12:06 by IrelandCalling4.

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IrelandCalling4
Having his "Let it Bleed" book I found even though he was writing about a classic album he seemed to not actually really rate quite afew of the tracks.

His "Rough Guide" is extremely critical of the post 'Some Girls' period; whatever your thoughts on the merits of 'Steel Wheels' for example, I don't think it's a "turkey" as Egan professes it to be. I just found it very one-sided; opinionated instead of being somewhat impartial.

You're right, he can be very opinionated. Its fun to disagree with him in the book, for example I disagree with his theory that some lyrics on the Let It Bleed album don't age well. But for the most part I agree with his opinions... especially his remarks concerning Taylor vs. Wood

Egan is a capable writer, but as others pointed out the post Some Girls period is described way too bad, the Stones' albums remained enjoyable.