Artistic Biographies (and Other Things Related)

Cafe Society
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Musicians, directors, comedians, writers…

To me, autobiographies are even more interesting, but some didn’t live long enough… There’s some who are more interesting than their work… When it comes to biographies, I usually try to find them all, to compare. And with the internet, I will stop so I can look up said concert, interview, etc., and compare it with the perception of the author.

Another great thing I like to do, and recommend, is if you see a quote - type it in a search engine and find the entire interview. The bibliography page has led me to finding full archives of free interviews/magazines.

Do you “investigate”? If you see conflicting reports, or something you think is off? Many of the biographies I read are events so old, and memories get hazy, and sometimes it’s the modern-day influencing what is said, or not said.

I love interview/diary books as well. There’s a compendium of interview books like “Conversations With Filmmakers Series” or “Musicians In Their Own Words”.

I’ve read close to a hundred, and obviously the autobiography and biography (fairly new) of Mort Sahl’s are most interesting, but I just finished:

Street Player (Danny Seraphine)
Edward Van Halen A Definitive Biography (Dodds, Kevin)

and currently reading:
Whiskey Bottles and Brand-New Cars The Fast Life and Sudden Death of Lynyrd Skynyrd (Ribowsky, Mark)

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I read Bob Woodward’s Wired, about John Belushi. It seemed well researched, though I never did any supplemental investigation.

I read a bio of Mike Nesmith, and there was a story he told of his time in the Air Force that didn’t ring true, so I emailed the author (!) and she agreed, but said that’s the way he told the story. I can’t fault the author, but I still don’t believe it.

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How interesting! I was just checking my e-mail, and there was a story about Mike Nesmith. The headline read something like, “How Mike Nesmith Hated The Eagles’ Success” and I thought about getting it, simply for showing vulnerability, in this case, “musical jealousy” because he felt his album was being ignored.

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I was always a “Mike” fan. I look a little like him, have a green wool hat and a dry sense of humor. If I’d been 18 years older and lived in LA…but no.

But Mike, I think you got some great songs, but I gotta say, you don’t have the volume of good stuff to be jealous. For one Joanne, the Eagles put out an entire album worth of good stuff.

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My favorite is Keith Richards’s Life. Richards comes across as thoughtful and very appreciative of just how fortunate he’s been in life. And the book is interesting.

Patti Smith’s Just Kids is beautiful. I have M Train in my “stack to read,” but I’m holding off on that one. I can only read it for the first time once.

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Whenever I see a celebrity biography, I remember this quote from The Simpsons:

I’ve been scorched by Krusty before. I got a rapid heartbeat from his Krusty Brand vitamins, my Krusty Kalculator didn’t have a 7 or an 8, and Krusty’s autobiography was self-serving with many glaring omissions!

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The Mike Nesmith book to read is Infinite Tuesday-An Autobiographical Riff. Bonus points for the audiobook narrated by Papa Nez himself.

Another good rock ‘n’ roll autobio is Al Kooper’s Backstage Passes & Backstabbing Bastards: Memoirs of a Rock ‘N’ Roll Survivor

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Hulk Hogan’s autobiography is notable for the many lies and inaccuracies in it.

https://franticplanet.wordpress.com/2012/03/09/the-mad-lies-of-hulk-hogan/

https://whatculture.com/wwe/10-crazy-lies-told-by-hulk-hogan-that-no-one-believes

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Groucho’s autobiography is a fun read.

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I can’t wait to listen to some of these! I’ve been listening to a lot of artists’ autobiographies.

Just loved Tina Fey’s (Bossypants). But didn’t like Martin Short’s laundry list of everyone who was on whoever’s yacht he was on that week.

Oh, if you’re ever down, Dick Van Dyke’s is infectiously optimistic.

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The title sounded enticing, and I’ve had this for a while, and plan on checking it out next, despite not knowing too much BS&T. Thanks for the reminder!

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Not a biography per se, but Mid-Life Confidential: The Rock Bottom Remainders Tour America With Three Chords and an Attitude is the amusing tale of “fifteen of America’s most popular writers who left their day jobs for life on the rock ‘n’ roll road. They stayed up late, ate junk food, traveled by bus, and actually tried to play and sing before paying audiences. Here’s the whole sordid story, in hard-to-believe words and even harder-to-believe pictures.”

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It’s also very, very funny. and though Keith had a co-writer, the book seems to speak with his voice, at least the voice I’ve always expected from him.

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I read it, might read it again (not in the near future), but Keith seems preoccupied with The Beatles and “being a bad boy”

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Two autobiographies that I’ve mentioned here before and still recommend heartily:

“Big Bill Blues,” by Big Bill Broonzy with the help of Yannick Bruynogue.

  • He tells some tall tales, as he was prone to do, and he spins some fascinating yarns, which he did better than anyone. What makes it extraordinary IMO is that he also goes over some important things that happened to him, more than a few related to racism, and he reflects at length on human nature. It’s interesting that the text inspires a wide range of emotions, just like his art.

“Swing That Music,” by Louis Armstrong.

  • I remember less about this one, especially now that I’m getting over a headcold, but I do remember being highly impressed by his humanity and intelligence. This first autobiography covers his early years. I’ve read that there’s another that came out some time later and covers the rest of his career, but this one is definitely worth reading.
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Heck yeah.

Recently I was blown away by noted musician Pat Martino’s Here and Now!

As well as Levon Helm’s autobiography, This Wheel’s On Fire.

And rediscovered the shamefully OOP autobiography of Mac Rebennack à la Dr. John à la The Night Tripper’s Under a Hoodoo Moon.

All of these had … not exactly ghostwriters, but assistants and transcribers. The flavor of each musician’s voice seemed preserved, and the jewel is that as I become older, I understand not only the experiences with more ability, but also the supporting “characters” in each musician’s life.

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Light and Shade Conversations with Jimmy Page (Brad Tolinski)

I like direct quotes, so this should be a good one.