Tell Me :
Talk
Even if Victor does come over as an even bigger Keith fan that Keith
ROCKMAN
..which is still great IMO though it ends with the Tour of Europe 1976.
A very bad book was written by Barbara Charone About Keith Richards. She admires him so much that it is very boring to read. In her opinion, everything he did was just great, and she thinks he is the center of the Rolling Stones. I mean, if you are not able to take a critical view on an artist, acknowledging his merits AND his fails it is just a fairytale. (Btw this is why I always insist that on this site fair critizism should never be suppressed). Boring, boring, boring!
Not exactly a biography, but yes, absolutely a great book with quite some eye opening stories! Great contributions by Clapton, Page, Townshend, etc., etc. if I remember well (not to mention the individual Stones ...). Very limited number of prints and those that are around cost quite a bit!
Maybe one day a pocket version may see the light ...
he does, although hes still only half as big a fan as Barbara Charone!
I agree with the both of you on that.
And since Flippo was in Toronto in March'77 the chapter about the Mocambo gigs are a great companion to the new release.
Flippo was obviously a smart, deep person : from the book you can tell Keith considered him a valuable interlocutor instead of "just another journo who wants an interview".
Talk about your favorite band.
For information about how to use this forum please check out forum help and policies.
Re: What are the best Rolling Stones biographies?
Posted by:
Spud
()
Date: January 8, 2020 09:47
Quote
dcbaQuote
His Majesty
Keith Richards by Barbara Charone.
... and Keef's bio by Victor Bockris. Great reads!
Even if Victor does come over as an even bigger Keith fan that Keith
Re: What are the best Rolling Stones biographies?
Posted by:
DandelionPowderman
()
Date: January 8, 2020 09:57
Rolling Stone 1971: "The Rolling Stones was Brian's baby!"
In Life: "Ian Stewart. I'm still working for him. To me The Rolling Stones is his band"
Can't both statements be right? Brian was the entrepreneur, but Stu was the "musical authority"?
That's how I read it anyway
In Life: "Ian Stewart. I'm still working for him. To me The Rolling Stones is his band"
Can't both statements be right? Brian was the entrepreneur, but Stu was the "musical authority"?
That's how I read it anyway
Re: What are the best Rolling Stones biographies?
Posted by:
Single Malt
()
Date: January 8, 2020 10:13
Bill's books are great ("Stone Alone" and "Rolling With The Stones") and very much recommended as is James Phelge's book "Phelge's Stones" about the very early days at Edith Grove. I still haven't read Keith's "Life" because Keith tends to twist the truth so I wouldn't know what's true and what is not.
Re: What are the best Rolling Stones biographies?
Posted by:
Nikkei
()
Date: January 8, 2020 10:26
'Life' is great to read. Not because of it all being true, but because Keith sincerely conveys emotion and opinion. You can read a lot of blase interpretations on the work of Jean-Luc Godard, but only Keith will give it to you straight: "Nobody can ever quite honestly say what the hell he's been aiming at. He did manage to set Olympic studios on fire"
Re: What are the best Rolling Stones biographies?
Posted by:
jbwelda
()
Date: January 9, 2020 03:39
Life by a furlong.
jb
jb
Re: What are the best Rolling Stones biographies?
Posted by:
Rockman
()
Date: January 9, 2020 05:32
ROCKMAN
Re: What are the best Rolling Stones biographies?
Posted by:
jbwelda
()
Date: January 9, 2020 06:40
That's one I haven't read, have to check it out, looks pretty promising from the excerpt you posted. Thanks man.
jb
jb
Re: What are the best Rolling Stones biographies?
Posted by:
Rockman
()
Date: January 9, 2020 06:47
….. pleasure Big Daddy …..
ROCKMAN
ROCKMAN
Re: What are the best Rolling Stones biographies?
Posted by:
saltoftheearth
()
Date: January 9, 2020 11:08
Quote
astmalia
In the seventies, I liked: The Rolling Stones - An illustrated record by Roy Carr
..which is still great IMO though it ends with the Tour of Europe 1976.
A very bad book was written by Barbara Charone About Keith Richards. She admires him so much that it is very boring to read. In her opinion, everything he did was just great, and she thinks he is the center of the Rolling Stones. I mean, if you are not able to take a critical view on an artist, acknowledging his merits AND his fails it is just a fairytale. (Btw this is why I always insist that on this site fair critizism should never be suppressed). Boring, boring, boring!
Re: What are the best Rolling Stones biographies?
Posted by:
Palace Revolution 2000
()
Date: January 9, 2020 14:51
Quote
saltoftheearthQuote
astmalia
In the seventies, I liked: The Rolling Stones - An illustrated record by Roy Carr
..which is still great IMO though it ends with the Tour of Europe 1976.
A very bad book was written by Barbara Charone About Keith Richards. She admires him so much that it is very boring to read. In her opinion, everything he did was just great, and she thinks he is the center of the Rolling Stones. I mean, if you are not able to take a critical view on an artist, acknowledging his merits AND his fails it is just a fairytale. (Btw this is why I always insist that on this site fair critizism should never be suppressed). Boring, boring, boring![/quote
I agree and I disagree w/ your Charone book assessment. Because back then I loved it very much. It is probably not possible anymore nowadays, but there was a time when one looked at a book not only for content, but also how it stood within it's own time.
The Charone book was the first of a kind. Written from a woman's POV. It was someone from inside-ish; it was about Keith.
Yes, many paragraphs seem a little silly today, but at the time they were not.
Just like the huge RS interview with Keith was straight gold. But by today's standards it's a yawner.
Re: What are the best Rolling Stones biographies?
Posted by:
jlowe
()
Date: January 9, 2020 15:15
I often wondered if the Keith 1971 RS interview was that he was trying to go one better than the December 1970 Lennon interview (Lennon Remembers).
I think both still stand up to scrutiny, certainly compared to the 'PR' interviews we've had for the last 20 years or so.
Of course, with both John Lennon and Keith you have to have a large grain of salt handy.
I think both still stand up to scrutiny, certainly compared to the 'PR' interviews we've had for the last 20 years or so.
Of course, with both John Lennon and Keith you have to have a large grain of salt handy.
Re: What are the best Rolling Stones biographies?
Posted by:
woody
()
Date: January 28, 2020 12:36
A lovely book simply called 'STU' difficult to find and expensive but very good
Re: What are the best Rolling Stones biographies?
Posted by:
georgie48
()
Date: January 28, 2020 19:09
Quote
woody
A lovely book simply called 'STU' difficult to find and expensive but very good
Not exactly a biography, but yes, absolutely a great book with quite some eye opening stories! Great contributions by Clapton, Page, Townshend, etc., etc. if I remember well (not to mention the individual Stones ...). Very limited number of prints and those that are around cost quite a bit!
Maybe one day a pocket version may see the light ...
Re: What are the best Rolling Stones biographies?
Posted by:
Lynd8
()
Date: January 29, 2020 00:41
I wish Keith had spent a little more effort talking about the music. It annoyed me that an album like "Let it Bleed" gets two-three pages and then talking about carrying drugs or using drugs or talking about groupies would get 5-6 pages right after that.
I really like the "Jagger Remembers" article in Rolling Stone when he was interviewed quite a bit about the albums. I was always wondering if a longer version of that might see the light of day and while on this subject,
What would be your recommendations for books more focused on the music?
I picked up the heavy "Stories behind All The Songs" - pretty fun in parts.
I really like the "Jagger Remembers" article in Rolling Stone when he was interviewed quite a bit about the albums. I was always wondering if a longer version of that might see the light of day and while on this subject,
What would be your recommendations for books more focused on the music?
I picked up the heavy "Stories behind All The Songs" - pretty fun in parts.
Re: What are the best Rolling Stones biographies?
Posted by:
jbwelda
()
Date: January 29, 2020 06:02
Appears there is a prolific mathematician author named Ian Stewart. Some of his titles look very interesting, but I was searching for a certain piano player.
Where can this book "Stu" be found?
jb
Where can this book "Stu" be found?
jb
Re: What are the best Rolling Stones biographies?
Posted by:
Rockman
()
Date: January 29, 2020 06:19
STU was 1000 copies only ….a leather bound work of art
with comments by everyone from Keith's mum to PJ Harvey...
Beautiful photos and layout... at the time only 950 copies available for sale to the public...
If you can find one today Id say it would be going for BIG bucks ….
ROCKMAN
with comments by everyone from Keith's mum to PJ Harvey...
Beautiful photos and layout... at the time only 950 copies available for sale to the public...
If you can find one today Id say it would be going for BIG bucks ….
ROCKMAN
Re: What are the best Rolling Stones biographies?
Posted by:
jbwelda
()
Date: January 29, 2020 08:07
This must have been a Genesis publication?
I have a couple of their books, crazy deep.
Edit: just went out and searched Genesis' site, no luck so they were not the publisher. A bunch of really interesting books though. I bought I-Contact and Blinds and Shutters when they were first released, got screaming deals on signed copies under #20 on both. My only Keith Richards and Eric Clapton signatures. And the books are endlessly interesting. Contact sheets of Gered Mankowitz photos from American tours especially, including a couple shows I went to in Sacramento.
Anyway I am going to keep my eyes open for this Stu book, honestly it was the piano drove most Stones music especially in the early days.
thanks again Rockman!
jb
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2020-01-29 08:31 by jbwelda.
I have a couple of their books, crazy deep.
Edit: just went out and searched Genesis' site, no luck so they were not the publisher. A bunch of really interesting books though. I bought I-Contact and Blinds and Shutters when they were first released, got screaming deals on signed copies under #20 on both. My only Keith Richards and Eric Clapton signatures. And the books are endlessly interesting. Contact sheets of Gered Mankowitz photos from American tours especially, including a couple shows I went to in Sacramento.
Anyway I am going to keep my eyes open for this Stu book, honestly it was the piano drove most Stones music especially in the early days.
thanks again Rockman!
jb
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2020-01-29 08:31 by jbwelda.
Re: What are the best Rolling Stones biographies?
Posted by:
Rockman
()
Date: January 29, 2020 10:05
…. STU was published in 2004 by Out-Take
and only available for purchase from their on line site
The book is bound in Nigerian goatskin ….
was put together by Will Nash and from memory cost 600 pounds …
ROCKMAN
and only available for purchase from their on line site
The book is bound in Nigerian goatskin ….
was put together by Will Nash and from memory cost 600 pounds …
ROCKMAN
Re: What are the best Rolling Stones biographies?
Posted by:
jbwelda
()
Date: January 29, 2020 10:36
yeah probably ain't gonna run into that in the corner used book store. Never know though. Will keep my eyes out and thanks for the info. Maybe it will get a reprint one day.
jb
jb
Re: What are the best Rolling Stones biographies?
Posted by:
Gazza
()
Date: January 30, 2020 03:03
Quote
SpudQuote
dcbaQuote
His Majesty
Keith Richards by Barbara Charone.
... and Keef's bio by Victor Bockris. Great reads!
Even if Victor does come over as an even bigger Keith fan that Keith
he does, although hes still only half as big a fan as Barbara Charone!
Re: What are the best Rolling Stones biographies?
Posted by:
GasLightStreet
()
Date: January 31, 2020 03:10
I read Chet Flippo's book several times a year. It's awesome.
Re: What are the best Rolling Stones biographies?
Posted by:
woody
()
Date: February 15, 2020 20:27
It really is excellent, I have Exile, etc but I rate the STU book the highest, a great read,
Re: What are the best Rolling Stones biographies?
Posted by:
willnash
()
Date: May 27, 2022 14:35
There will not be a reprint of my Stu book. It was very much a one off. Thank you Woody,Rockman & Georgie48 for your kind and appreciated words
Re: What are the best Rolling Stones biographies?
Posted by:
treaclefingers
()
Date: May 27, 2022 16:07
Quote
Rocky Dijon
I largely agree with all of that, hopkins. LIFE knocked Keith off the pedestal I'd had him on since my teen years.
I agree with the both of you on that.
Re: What are the best Rolling Stones biographies?
Posted by:
dcba
()
Date: May 27, 2022 16:19
Quote
GasLightStreet
I read Chet Flippo's book several times a year. It's awesome.
And since Flippo was in Toronto in March'77 the chapter about the Mocambo gigs are a great companion to the new release.
Flippo was obviously a smart, deep person : from the book you can tell Keith considered him a valuable interlocutor instead of "just another journo who wants an interview".
Re: What are the best Rolling Stones biographies?
Posted by:
Barkerboy2
()
Date: May 27, 2022 16:53
There are so, so many, but my personal favourites are 'Fifty Years' by Christopher Sandford, 'Stone Alone' by Bill Wyman, and 'Phelge's Stones' by James Phelge (probably the best, in my opinion).
Re: What are the best Rolling Stones biographies?
Posted by:
MadMax
()
Date: May 27, 2022 17:27
LIFE is the best well written one for sure. The language used in it is just pure music for my eyes and mind.
".....very Hergé...."
Nuff said!
".....very Hergé...."
Nuff said!
Re: What are the best Rolling Stones biographies?
Posted by:
frenki09
()
Date: May 27, 2022 17:41
That's the one to read from 2009:
Bill German: Under Their Thumb: How a Nice Boy from Brooklyn Got Mixed Up with the Rolling Stones (and Lived to Tell About It)
It's fun, honest, critical, entertaining.
Under Their Thumb is an up-close and extremely personal dispatch from the amazing, exclusive world of the Rolling Stones, by someone who was lucky enough to live it–and sober enough to remember it all.
“The epic tale of an obsessive teenager who launched a Rolling Stones fanzine and spent the next two decades capturing the band’s whirlwind metamorphosis from behind the scenes. . . . First-rate, firsthand account of the world’s greatest rock ’n’ roll band, and a disenchanted chronicle of its increasingly crass commercialization.”—Kirkus Reviews
As a teenager, Bill German knew exactly what he wanted to do with his life: chronicle the career and adventures of his favorite rock band, the Rolling Stones. And in 1978, on his sixteenth birthday, he set out to make his dream a reality. Feverishly typed in his Brooklyn bedroom, and surreptitiously printed in his high school’s mimeograph room German’s Stones-only newsletter, Beggars Banquet, was born. His teachers discouraged it, his parents dismissed it as a phase, and his disco-loving classmates preferred the Bee Gees, but, for German, this primitive, pre-Internet fanzine was a labor of love. And a fateful encounter with his idols on the streets of New York soon proved his efforts weren’t in vain.
Impressed with Beggars Banquet, the Stones gave the ’zine instant cred on the rock scene by singing its praises–and by inviting German to hang with the band. At first a fish out of water in the company of rock royalty, German found himself spilling orange juice on a priceless rug in Mick Jagger’s house and getting pegged as a narc by pals of Keith Richards and Ron Wood. But before long he became a familiar fixture in the inner sanctum, not just reporting Stones stories but living them. He was a player in the Mick-versus-Keith feud and was an eyewitness to Keith’s midlife crisis and Ron’s overindulgences. He even had a reluctant role in covering up Mick’s peccadilloes. “In the span of a few months,” German recalls, “I’d gone from wanting to know everything about my favorite rock stars to knowing too much.”
In this warts-and-all book, which includes many never-before-seen photographs, German takes us to the Stones’ homes, recording sessions, and concerts around the world. He charts the band’s rocky path from the unthinkable depths of a near breakup to the obscenely lucrative heights of their blockbuster tours. And ultimately, German reveals why his childhood dream come true became a passion he finally had to part with.
Bill German: Under Their Thumb: How a Nice Boy from Brooklyn Got Mixed Up with the Rolling Stones (and Lived to Tell About It)
It's fun, honest, critical, entertaining.
Under Their Thumb is an up-close and extremely personal dispatch from the amazing, exclusive world of the Rolling Stones, by someone who was lucky enough to live it–and sober enough to remember it all.
“The epic tale of an obsessive teenager who launched a Rolling Stones fanzine and spent the next two decades capturing the band’s whirlwind metamorphosis from behind the scenes. . . . First-rate, firsthand account of the world’s greatest rock ’n’ roll band, and a disenchanted chronicle of its increasingly crass commercialization.”—Kirkus Reviews
As a teenager, Bill German knew exactly what he wanted to do with his life: chronicle the career and adventures of his favorite rock band, the Rolling Stones. And in 1978, on his sixteenth birthday, he set out to make his dream a reality. Feverishly typed in his Brooklyn bedroom, and surreptitiously printed in his high school’s mimeograph room German’s Stones-only newsletter, Beggars Banquet, was born. His teachers discouraged it, his parents dismissed it as a phase, and his disco-loving classmates preferred the Bee Gees, but, for German, this primitive, pre-Internet fanzine was a labor of love. And a fateful encounter with his idols on the streets of New York soon proved his efforts weren’t in vain.
Impressed with Beggars Banquet, the Stones gave the ’zine instant cred on the rock scene by singing its praises–and by inviting German to hang with the band. At first a fish out of water in the company of rock royalty, German found himself spilling orange juice on a priceless rug in Mick Jagger’s house and getting pegged as a narc by pals of Keith Richards and Ron Wood. But before long he became a familiar fixture in the inner sanctum, not just reporting Stones stories but living them. He was a player in the Mick-versus-Keith feud and was an eyewitness to Keith’s midlife crisis and Ron’s overindulgences. He even had a reluctant role in covering up Mick’s peccadilloes. “In the span of a few months,” German recalls, “I’d gone from wanting to know everything about my favorite rock stars to knowing too much.”
In this warts-and-all book, which includes many never-before-seen photographs, German takes us to the Stones’ homes, recording sessions, and concerts around the world. He charts the band’s rocky path from the unthinkable depths of a near breakup to the obscenely lucrative heights of their blockbuster tours. And ultimately, German reveals why his childhood dream come true became a passion he finally had to part with.
Re: What are the best Rolling Stones biographies?
Posted by:
Gram
()
Date: May 27, 2022 21:46
..and there’s a new one on the way by Lesley-Ann Jones, published on June 9th… blurb suggests it’s going to focus on how Rolling Stones Inc is at odds with the anti establishment views they held in the sixties, so probably a hatchet job. Still pre-ordered it though
From Sunday Times bestselling author Lesley-Ann Jones
On 12 July 1962, the Rollin' Stones performed their first-ever gig at London's Marquee jazz club. Down the line, a 'g' was added, a spark was lit and their destiny was sealed. No going back.
These five white British kids set out to play the music of black America. They honed a style that bled bluesy undertones into dark insinuations of women, sex and drugs. Denounced as 'corruptors of youth' and 'messengers of the devil', they created some of the most thrilling music ever recorded.
Now, their sound and attitude seem louder and more influential than ever. Elvis is dead and the Beatles are over, but Jagger and Richards bestride the world. The Stones may be gathering moss, but on they roll.
Yet how did the ultimate anti-establishment misfits become the global brand we know today? Who were the casualties, and what are the forgotten legacies? Can the artist ever be truly divisible from the art?
Lesley-Ann Jones's new history tracks this contradictory, disturbing, granitic and unstoppable band through hope, glory and exile, into the juggernaut years and beyond into rock's ongoing reckoning . . . where the Stones seem more at odds than ever with the values and heritage against which they have always rebelled.
Good, bad and often ugly, here are the Rolling Stones as never before.
Book Description
The Rolling Stones juggernaut appraised and dissected as never before - the good, the bad, the ugly
From Sunday Times bestselling author Lesley-Ann Jones
On 12 July 1962, the Rollin' Stones performed their first-ever gig at London's Marquee jazz club. Down the line, a 'g' was added, a spark was lit and their destiny was sealed. No going back.
These five white British kids set out to play the music of black America. They honed a style that bled bluesy undertones into dark insinuations of women, sex and drugs. Denounced as 'corruptors of youth' and 'messengers of the devil', they created some of the most thrilling music ever recorded.
Now, their sound and attitude seem louder and more influential than ever. Elvis is dead and the Beatles are over, but Jagger and Richards bestride the world. The Stones may be gathering moss, but on they roll.
Yet how did the ultimate anti-establishment misfits become the global brand we know today? Who were the casualties, and what are the forgotten legacies? Can the artist ever be truly divisible from the art?
Lesley-Ann Jones's new history tracks this contradictory, disturbing, granitic and unstoppable band through hope, glory and exile, into the juggernaut years and beyond into rock's ongoing reckoning . . . where the Stones seem more at odds than ever with the values and heritage against which they have always rebelled.
Good, bad and often ugly, here are the Rolling Stones as never before.
Book Description
The Rolling Stones juggernaut appraised and dissected as never before - the good, the bad, the ugly
Re: What are the best Rolling Stones biographies?
Posted by:
EJM
()
Date: May 27, 2022 23:14
I always saw Keith’s book as his therapy - trying to crate a narrative he could live with and lay to rest some the parts of his life he found most distressing
Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.
Online Users
Doxa , Erhard51 , falo01 , gimme_shelter , Jimmy.Ostrich , NedKellyBandit , syrel , teleblaster , walkingthedog
Guests:
1755
Record Number of Users:
206
on June 1, 2022 23:50
Record Number of Guests:
9627
on January 2, 2024 23:10