In Jackson Browne: His Life And Music, Mark Bego presents the singer-song writer's life in chronological order and a straightforward manner. The book is compiled from previously available sources rather than direct author interviews of the star. The result is a book that is long on facts and short on insight.
Bego attempts little in the way of interpreting Jackson Browne's life. It is probably not necessary to do so, since Browne's very personal and poetic songs have always served as an open window through which to observe the man and his life. The book serves more to reveal the details of this life. In many ways, Browne is the quintessential California boy, having grown up in Southern California during the period that some would consider the Golden Age for that area of movies, music, and endless beaches. Born in Germany, his family returned to California when Jackson was about three years old. They soon took up residence in "Abbey San Encino," a stucco and stone mansion built by Jackson's grandfather. The eccentric house even contained a chapel with a pipe organ. By Browne's early teenage years, the area around Abbey San Encino was deteriorating, and Jackson began to fall in with the wrong crowd. This short detour into mild juvenile delinquency may be the most surprising revelation for Browne's fans.
It was music more than anything else that pulled Jackson out of this phase. The robust rock and roll scene of Southern California presented lots of opportunities for a talented young songwriter. Browne gradually made connections, and as he developed his guitar and singing skills, the offers came in. The rest is musical history, and is presented in detail in this book. Bego does a fine job of documenting the albums and the public appearances. He covers Browne's energetic and extensive gift of his talent and time to the many causes he has backed over the years, and the list is impressive. Few performers have been half so dedicated.
It would be all but impossible to write this book without dealing with the infamous Darryl Hannah incident. After all these years, there is still no way to know what happened. Bego does detail the chronology of the event and its aftermath in the press, and offer some insight into why Browne's initial position was not to comment. Still, as before, the reader must draw his own conclusion based on how he feels about the actors.
For some this book may be rather dry reading. Do not expect to come away with some epiphany on what makes Jackson Browne tick. If you are a fan looking more for the dry, bricks and mortar facts of his life and career, they are nicely detailed here.
Over the course of forty years, Fleetwood Mac has been a force in popular music. They have fascinated us with their songs and with their lives, facing fame and adversity with a relentless drive to create. Their story is a tale of beautiful, gifted people who went from obscurity to wealth and fame, and for some members, back to poverty and relative obscurity. Along the way they went through numerous lineup changes and more talent than any five bands would normally see. There was love, marriage, infidelity, divorce, rampant drug use, insanity, and career threatening health problems. If only they had thrown in a case of amnesia and an evil twin, this long running soap opera could have been serialized for daytime television.
In its earliest incarnation, Fleetwood Mac was a blues band that went by the full name of Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac featuring Jeremy Spencer. Peter Green had become an instant legend on the British blues scene when he replaced Clapton in John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. The bass player for that group was a young (he started with the Bluesbreakers when he was 17 years old) John McVie. Green had also played in a band with Mick Fleetwood, who had come to London at just 15 years old to pursue his career in music. That band, known as Shotgun Express, also featured a singer by the name of Rod Stewart. When the Bluesbreakers needed a new drummer, Green thought of Fleetwood, who was currently out of work. Fleetwood did not prove to be a popular replacement; however, there was definitely a rapport between Green, Fleetwood, and McVie. When Mayall gave Green some time in a recording studio as a birthday present, Peter decided to take these two into the studio with him. One of the tracks cut that day was given the name "Fleetwood Mac." Although they did not know it at the time, that name would enter the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
When Fleetwood was asked to leave the Bluesbreakers, Green quickly followed and Fleetwood Mac was formed; initially without John McVie who was reluctant to leave his band. The name was kept anyway, possibly in the hope that McVie would change his mind. Eighteen year old Jeremy Spencer was hired to play guitar and another bass player was found. The new band made its debut at the Windsor Jazz Festival, and was warmly received. Another band appearing at the festival was Chickenshack, whose lead singer was Christine Perfect. Green, Fleetwood, and McVie (who was also appearing at the festival with the Bluesbreakers) were all impressed by the attractive singer, who eventually became Christine McVie. Less than a month later, John McVie joined the band that was already named for him. With this lineup, the first album was Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac. The album spent seventeen weeks in the top ten and stayed on the charts for one year. The legend of Fleetwood Mac had been launched.
At this point the group felt it was time to try the United States. The trip took them to the San Francisco Bay area, where future members Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks were just beginning to discover their own musical talents. It brought them into contact with the Northern California music scene and the nascent hippie movement that was gaining strength there. It also brought them into contact with the Grateful Dead and LSD guru Owsley Stanley. While the group decided not to experiment with psychedelic drugs at this time, they would later play a part in the disintegration of Peter Green. Problems on this short tour were caused by the group's raucous and rowdy behavior. This was especially true of Jeremy Spencer, who already seemed to be exhibiting signs of instability. Spencer was a bible toting family man who could not begin to handle the temptations that were available to him. His onstage antics were a problem in Europe, but more so in the States. The tour was short, and "The Mac" returned home to record their second album.
That follow up album, Mr. Wonderful, did not meet with the same success. Undaunted, Green took the unusual step of adding a third lead guitarist to the group. Eighteen year old Danny Kirwan was also a songwriter, which took the pressure off Green to be the sole creative force in the band. They quickly released an instrumental single, "Albatross," which was a huge hit and signaled a move in a new direction: rock music. Fleetwood Mac then left for a more lengthy tour of the U.S. On the San Francisco leg, the group again met with the Grateful Dead and Owsley. This time they did not resist the call to try LSD, and Peter Green was the one most taken with it. Green began spiraling downward emotionally, his problems fueled by the powerful drug. Understanding his stature as the star, he did try to remain with the band long past the time he wanted to do so. It proved to be futile. Green became schizophrenic. He resigned from the band after one acid-fueled episode, and proceeded to give away his money and possessions. The band's future looked to be in doubt.
Rather than give up, Fleetwood Mac retooled. Christine McVie had given up both Chickenshack and her solo career, and she agreed to join the group. This meant another strong vocalist, a keyboard player, and a songwriter. The group released a new album, Kiln House, and went on tour, finding receptive audiences. Again they returned to San Francisco where they played a successful show. The night before they were to leave the Bay area for Los Angeles, L.A. was struck by an earthquake. The religious and unstable Jeremy Spencer saw it as a sign from God and refused to make the trip, only giving in after being convinced by his bandmates. Although he made the trip, Spencer disappeared and did not make the show. The other band members, using their considerable resources, took three days locating him. When they found him, he was surrounded by hundreds of chanting kids. Spencer had been recruited by a neo-Christian cult known as the Children of God.
The next guitarist to join the group was Bob Welch. He was also the first American, and completed the transition from British blues band to West Coast rock and roll. By this time, the band had lost its popularity in Europe but gained a stronger American following. Just as it appeared to be a successful transition, Danny Kirwan became the latest victim of self destruction. Fueled by drugs just as Green and Spencer had been, Kirwan cracked under the strain one night before a show. He began to bang his head against the wall, destroyed his guitar, and refused to go on stage. Worse, he hung around just off stage and laughed at Welch's attempts to play the guitar parts that were Kirwan's. It fell upon Mick Fleetwood to fire him.
Next up, the group added Dave Walker as lead vocalist and Bob Weston to play guitar in place of Kirwan. Walker had previously been the front man for British blues band Savoy Brown. Probably due to his fundamental devotion to himself, the talented Walker's time with Fleetwood Mac would be relatively short. Bob Weston on the other hand, fit in a little too well. While on tour with their new album, Fleetwood was made aware that Weston was having an affair with his wife Jenny. Mick insisted that Weston be fired, which meant cutting the tour short. When manager Clifford Davis was unable to convince the band to go on, he began legal maneuvers to commandeer the Fleetwood Mac franchise. He filed papers claiming to own the name and put together a band to finish the tour. The band featured Danny Kirwan, Dave Walker, and Bob Weston.
In 1974, the band regrouped in Los Angeles to coordinate the fight against Davis. The McVie marriage was also all but on the rocks, and Welch was the only band member who was really up to fighting the good fight. Fleetwood's devotion to the band eventually brought him out of his funk, and with Welch's help they did manage to convince the record company that they were indeed the rightful owners of all things Fleetwood Mac. The two also decided they could best manage the band themselves. With their money almost completely gone, it was time to record a new album.
The resulting album, Heroes Are Hard to Find, was not well receive. However, the relocation to Los Angeles was about to pay more dividends. In preparation for recording another album, Fleetwood began scouting recording studios. On a visit to Keith Olsen's Sound City, Olsen played a demo he had been working on just to give Mick an idea of the studio's sound. The demo was a song by a duo who had been having their own struggles: Buckingham-Nicks. Stevie and Lindsey had been a couple for several years at this point, and were undergoing personal as well as professional problems. The pressures of a crumbling marriage and co-managing a band were also weighing heavily upon Bob Welch. Near the end of 1974, he resigned from the band. On New Year's Eve, Mick phoned Olsen's house and asked Lindsey Buckingham to join Fleetwood Mac. Lindsey and Stevie Nicks would be the final pieces that ushered in the "Mac's" most successful era.
The new version of the band rehearsed for two weeks and then cut the album simply titled Fleetwood Mac. They also began a relentless touring schedule. It was obvious to the band members that they were on to something special professionally. However, their personal lives were suffering. Mick's marriage to Jenny had collapsed, and midway through the tour Christine reached her breaking point with John and told him she could no longer be married to him. Stevie and Lindsey were faring somewhat better, but the emerging independence in Nicks signaled problems for the future. By the end of the tour, her ascendancy to de facto star of the group had irrevocably changed the dynamics of their relationship.
When the band began making plans in 1976 for its next album, all the personal relationships were in meltdown. Mick and John were alone, Stevie and Lindsey were increasingly at each other's throats, and Christine had begun a relationship with the group's lighting director. No one would have guessed that this would be the crucible for the group's greatest triumph. The songs were forged in the Sturm und Drang of personal hell pitted against ambition and creative fire. Christine's new love inspired the song "You Make Loving Fun," while her profound and lasting affection for John was the basis for "Don't Stop." The bitterness between Lindsey and Stevie gave the new record "Go Your Own Way" and "Dreams." Meanwhile, Fleetwood Mac was still charting and bringing the group more money and fame than they had ever expected.
The actual recording of the album that became Rumours was a marathon of bile and invective. Drug use was by now out of control, with cocaine having become a staple. Stevie and Lindsey split after a number of ugly scenes. John's drinking was more out of control than ever, and with it his behavior. Still the band held together. It was under these trying circumstances that Stevie contributed "Gold Dust Woman" and "Dreams." Christine, in an effort to raise the band's spirits, wrote "Songbird." Specifically to make Fleetwood feel better she penned "Oh Daddy." As Stevie Nicks would later state: "If we had been getting along, the songs would not have been as good." When the album was released, it would be akin to reading your diary out loud to the entire world.
By the time the release of Rumours actually occurred, the tension among bandmembers had eased considerably. Rumours began a relentless rise to the top of the charts and became one of the best selling LPs of all time. Fleetwood Mac now sold out arenas rather than small venues. Touring to support the album was a much more luxurious affair than earlier tours had been. Of course, with Fleetwood Mac involved things would not stay smooth forever. Lindsey and Stevie both began experiencing serious health problems. On the personal front, Stevie and Mick began an affair which had the potential to derail everything. Fleetwood's profligate spending became an issue, and he was eventually forced to declare bankruptcy. Finally, Buckingham decided to go out on his own. New lineups were tried, and veteran rocker Dave Mason did a stint with the band. At last, they broke up. After years apart, Fleetwood Mac fans were thrilled to hear of a reunion tour. The old magic was still there, and once again these talented musicians realized that the whole was greater that the individual parts. While Christine McVie has once again retired, the other members keep playing. And that one near perfect album, Rumours, continues to sell.
Of course rock stars do dumb things. It's one of the perks of being a rock star, and sometimes part of the image. It can even be good for the career. Sometimes, however, that daring, living-on-the-edge dumb can cross the line and become drugged-out, dumb-as-a-box-of-rocks stupid. In Rock Stars Do The Dumbest Things, the authors do not attempt to separate one from the other. The information here has been gathered from news reports and is presented in a coversational style. The book is organized in alphabetical order by artist/group, and each section is organized with information such as dumbest quotes, general biographical information, and dumbest acts.
So, who is the only rock star to get five pages in this book? Here's a hint: his family gets four of their own. And what rocker knocked himself out by throwing a Guinness bottle against the wall (it bounced back and hit him in the head) while trying to trash his hotel room because he wanted to be like Keith Moon? Stranger still, which lead guitarist tossed four live octopuses in the hotel bathtub where two of his groupies were soaking?
The celebrity with five pages of inanities is none other than Michael Jackson. The only stretch of the imagination here is to think of him as a rock star. Stupidest quote may have to be awarded to his Mother: “Michael is pretty stable. I think it's his raising.” Ray Davies of the Kinks managed to knock himself out with a Guinness bottle, and Jimmy Page was guilty of roiling his groupies bathwater.
Courtney Love committed one of the most classless dumb acts. After appearing at a benefit concert in Seattle that was dedicated to stopping violence agains women, she went backstage and physically assaulted a woman herself.
One incident, however, stands out as possbily the funniest of all. After a five year breakup, Aerosmith decided it was time for a reunion. While they were gathered for a group dinner and a chance to get reacquainted, someone put on some music. Liking what he heard, Steve Tyler admired the song and suggested that Aerosmith cover it. When he asked who it was, Joe Perry was quick to inform him that he was not only listening to Aerosmith, but that it was the very song Tyler had insisted on hiring a 109 piece orchestra to record. Just another day in the life of a rock star.
November 8th, 2005
TOMMYLAND
BY TOMMY LEE WITH ANTHONY BOZZA
The introduction to Tommy Lee's autobiography consists of an argument between Tommy and his penis as to whom is the boss. Since Tommy gets the most ink in the remainder of the book, we can assume that it is him. If nothing else, the intro shows that Mr. Lee is not going to offer apologies or whitewash his life story.
As much as he has enjoyed his life, there is probably no reason for either. This is not to say that he has no regrets. There are plenty of those, with low points that helped him to appreciate the better times. And there were certainly plenty of those. The son of a Greek mother and an American father, he and his sister spent summer vacations in Greece. His music career began before he could even finish high school, and took off quickly. He found himself touring the world and earning lots of money on the strength of the Motley Crue albums. There were lots of beautiful women, including marriages to Heather Locklear and Pamela Anderson. Tommy Lee was able to build his dream home on a hill in Southern California, and fathered two sons that he loves very much.
Of course, this kind of success often breeds excess; especially in the life of a rock and roll star. There are high-profile divorces about which he is very forthcoming, and struggles with drugs that he seems to gloss over somewhat. There are also the well documented (in the press) legal struggles and, of course, that famous sex tape.
There are probably two things that Mr. Lee would like for the reader to glean from this book: he has a strong sense of family, and he is very serious about the music. These are the anchors that kept him from drifting too far during tempests of temptation as well as the stormy seas of divorce, personal failure, and jail time. If you don't like Tommy, this may not be enough to change your mind. Tommy Lee doesn't care. Nor does his penis.
If ever anyone was meant to be a rock star, it was Anthony Kiedis. There is no indication in the book that he evinced any early musical talent, or even that he knew how to sing before he began singing with the group that eventually became the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Still, he seemed to be living the rock star life at an early age.
Kiedis' future began to take shape around age 12 when he moved to Los Angeles to live with his father. John Kiedis was a drug dealer and something of a player on the L.A. club scene. Immediately after his son arrived in Los Angeles, his father introduced him to marijuana. His sexual education began that same day, and his virginity was gone shortly after. Hanging out at Sonny Bono's (a friend of his father) house once led to his being baby-sat by Cher. With sex, drugs, and celebrity, the only thing missing was rock and roll. Barely through puberty, Anthony Kiedis was practically living the life of a rock star.
Before the fame however, there would be several years of growing up without a compass. With no direction and little parental guidance, Anthony spent his teen years living the life of a sociopath. While his appetite for most drugs grew slowly, his taste for alcohol and adrenalin was a dangerous combination. Kiedis and his friends were fond of games such as jumping from the balconies or roofs of various apartment buildings into the swimming pools. Like most stunts that are fueled by booze and testosterone, this one had to keep escalating to hold their interest. A jump from the fifth floor and a landing next to the pool ended the game and almost took his life. Stealing was another favorite activity. Most of the thievery was in the forms of alcohol and food. Although it was often the only way for an underage kid to obtain beer and liquor, it was probably for the thrill as much as the merchandise.
The friendships that Kiedis made during this time turned out to be important both personally and professionally. These were deeply held friendships, and led directly to the formation of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. It may have been serendipity that Anthony Kiedis met some very talented musicians, but it was determination that allowed him to become a singer and lyricist. More than his bandmates, you can trace Anthony's growth as a musician through the years. The band and the music were also crucially important to him. Unfortunately, hard drugs were becoming more of an issue. Cocaine and heroin were now the drugs of choice. While it was not just Kiedis who had descended into this underworld, he was probably the one who suffered the most initially from addiction. His frank and honest depictions of his heroin binges are, to say the least, bleak.
Eventually, Kiedis is probably better defined by his struggle to stay sober than by his addiction. Despite his sociopathic behavior, there is always the feeling that this is a good person who gave in to the urges to do bad things. While he sees himself as immoral for his behavior, there are good qualities in evidence as well. He always had a strong sense of family, and was steadfastly loyal to his friends. An obvious romantic, Anthony fell deeply in love with the women in his life. While these romances all ended eventually, it is plain that he needed to love and be loved by these women. Perhaps most telling, he always took a vibrant pleasure in the talents and successes of those around him. In the end, it can be said that he lived his life fearlessly. He had a sense of adventure that took him to the jungles of Borneo, and earned him a meeting with the Dalai Lama in India. He had a confidence in himself that took him to the top of the music world, and he had an honesty that allowed him to tell his story here without censoring the unpleasantness.
My candle burns at both ends; It will not last the night; But, ah, my foes, and, oh my friends- It gives a lovely light. Edna Saint Vincent Millay
A white hot bolt that stuns the skies Too sudden comes, too quickly dies. Planetkeeper
No one here gets out alive. Jim Morrison
Brilliant. Troubled. Enigmatic. These words seem to be referenced over and over by those strruggling to understand and chronicle the life and career of Jim Morrison. One of rock music's true poets, he was correspondingly one of it's most complex actors. It does not help that he cultivated that image and was not especially forthcoming, even with those that he should have trusted. Passing away at the young age of 27 only ensured that we will never know the man behind the legend.
Author Stephen Davis has written what likely stands as the definitive biography of Morrison to date. Building on what was known about this rock hero-rebel, Davis has conducted numerous interviews and meticulouly researched his subject. He admits early in the book that little is known about Morrison prior to his time with the Doors. The son of a career navy man who eventually attained the rank of Admiral, Jim's early life was spent moving back and forth across the country. This gypsy life is notorious for leaving some participants with lingering issues of trust in relationships, as friendships are formed and deserted frequently. As noted by Mr Davis, it is significant that Jim Morrison never owned a house or even rented an apartment for himself. Even after the success of the Doors he continued to live in hotels and motels, mostly second rate. For years he payed for an apartment for his girlfriend, Pamela Courson, and he would often stay with her. Otherwise, he would sleep on the sofa in the Doors business office. Too many times, he simply slept where he passed out.
While permanence was never a trademark of Jim Morrison, his intelligence was obvious early on. A voracious reader for his entire life, Jim showed an early interest in both philosophy and poetry. He was heavily influenced by Nietzsche, the brilliant, radical philosopher who suffered a mental breakdown at an early age and never recovered. Jim also read Aldous Huxley, the British author who migrated to California and was an early proponent of experimentation with psychedelic drugs. Huxley published an account of his experiments and titled it “THE DOORS OF PERCEPTION.” The title was taken from a quote by the English poet William Blake: “If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, infinite.” The influences here are obvious, from the name of the band he eventually helped form to the massive amounts of drugs that he was known to consume. Interestingly, the author notes that Huxley died while on a massive dose of LSD 25 on the same day that President Kennedy was assassinated. It must have affected Jim to think about this odd confluence of deaths. The Kennedy assassination represented the loss of innocence for many American youths, while the life of Huxley may have represented the same.
The author relates a number of interesting stories about Morrison, some noteworthy for their possible insights into his personality and others just for their surprising peculiarity. In the latter category, Jim was picked up by a cousin of President Johnson while hitch-hiking through Texas. The President was in Washington, and Jim spent the night at the LBJ ranch; unusual for someone who later made the enemies list of the ultra-paranoid Richard Nixon and the ultra-sinister J. Edgar Hoover. Another incident, which probably says more about Jim, occurred in August of 1969. Sitting with a small group of friends and poets, and with everyone very drunk, Morrison reached over and broke a beer bottle over the head of a friend who had just said something (what was said is not reported here) to him. When another of the companions told Jim that it was “a rotten thing to do,” he responded by picking up another bottle and breaking it over his own head.
One of the gratifying things about reading this book is learning the genesis of that great DOORS music. The DOORS concerts were very uneven, with some being extraordinary displays of improvisational creativity. During these shows, Jim would weave together bits of poetry that he had previously written, often as separate pieces, while the rest of the DOORS would follow him and hold the whole thing together musically. Other shows, sometimes on the same night, would fare much worse; usually as a result of Jim's mood or altered state of consciousness.
There is no way to gain a firm understanding of this complex individual. It may be important to remember that he always thought of himself as a poet. Since his death, much of his verse has found it's way to the public and substantiated his poet's sense of rhythm and imagery. It may also be important to remember that he wrote this line: “The fuure's uncertain and the end is always near.”
Larry Kane was news director for a Miami radio station in 1964 when he was handed a job that he did not want. A new sensation known as the Beatles was set to invade America, and WFUN had arranged for Kane to be the sole American journalist to travel with this group. As a serious newsman, Kane had little interest in covering a pop group whose music he was only passingly familiar with. Before his time with the Beatles was over, Mr. Kane would complete not only the first tour, but also the second. As he states in his book, Larry Kane was given a very unique “Ticket to Ride.”
Kane's opinion of his assignment changed for two reasons. First, he realized that he was a witness to historic changes in both music and society. Correspondingly, he also realized that he liked both the Beatles and their music. Without the latter, it is doubtful that Mr. Kane would have agreed to the second tour. The initial tour, in 1964, was as punishing as a marathon. This was the first major rock'n'roll tour, and was small by today's standards when a tour may last for two years or more. The difficulty came in the scheduling. Thirty-two shows in twenty-five cities over thirty-one days is hectic even when scheduled logically. This tour seemed to be scheduled by someone with no map and no knowledge of geography. The band and their entourage criss-crossed the country over and over rather than playing the cities in a geographically sequential order. Since the reporters traveled with the group on their leased Lockheed Electra, Kane spent a great deal of time with “the boys,” as the Beatles were called by those around them. They were together on the plane, at the hotels, and at the shows.
After some initial friction, the reporter quickly settled into a comfortable relationship with the band. They respected his integrity, and he was enthralled with their playful spirit and obvious concern for each other and for their fans. At this time, the Beatles were still four very close friends from a working class background. They were not just unaffected by their new-found fame, they seemed to be mystified by it. Any Beatles' fan will be fascinated by this first-hand account of their behavior under both extreme and mundane circumstances during the tours.
It took a little longer for Kane to learn to appreciate the music. The noise level at the Beatle shows made it impossible to hear much of the music. Gradually, though, the songs came through and he realized the basis for this new phenomenon. However, it also became apparent that “Beatlemania” encompassed something more. No previous performer, not even Elvis, had generated the kind of hysteria that this British band was inspiring. Their female fans were testing security, fainting, and endlessly screaming. The pent-up, buttoned down 50' and early 60' were coming to an end, and these fans seemed to be releasing the frustrations of an increasingly disenchanted youth with every scream. They were mostly teenagers, they were still dressed in the conservative styles of the time, but they were suddenly looking for something different. Young girls who would normally not even consider defying authority were traveling alone into the cities, trying to break through security at airports, concert venues, and hotels. The Beatles, with their long hair, their beautiful melodies and tight harmonies, had become a catalyst. There would be no turning back.
After the second tour in 1965, the Beatles and their music began to change with the times. The social conscience that the group developed affected everything they did and much of what the world's youth did. Larry Kane had a front row seat for the beginning of this new era. What a ticket it must have been.
