Guitarist Autobiographies

Rocker

Read Rory Gallagher A Biography by Jean-Noel Coghe.

Then Riding Shotgun by Gerry McAvoy

And finally Cash The Autobiography by Johnny Cash

I have read a fair number of biographies and autobiographies but those three are about the best IMHO.

andyoz

richardhomer;576166" said:

[quote="andyoz;576165"]The one I'd really want is Angus (or Malcolm) Young. What a read that would be!!

That would explain why the Clapton ones were not to your liking.[/quote]

Yes, good point. EC's was just too dark...at least some of the others had a bit of humour in them...and I don't like Strats so was doomed from the start..

RocknRollDave

richardhomer said:

andyoz;576165" said:

The one I'd really want is Angus (or Malcolm) Young. What a read that would be!!

That would explain why the Clapton ones were not to your liking.

Not sure why that follows, but hey. I personally found Clapton's to be disappointing because of the humourless, uninspired way the story was told, for the most part, but one man's meat and all that.
Stewart Copeland's book is a good read, if drummers are allowed? I forget what it's called...

Skipped

If we are moving beyond guitar players....

Abbey Road to Ziggy Stardust - Ken Scott
Sound Man -  A Life Recording Hits -   Glyn Johns
Tony Visconti's Autobiography

All excellent, All packed with detail that would bore the pants off many but would be fascinating to people reading this thread.

usedtobe

I just found Clapton to be really unlikeable.

Chuffola

RocknRollDave said:

Andy Summers - One Train Later

+1 Best music autobiography I've read.

Also enjoyed Nick Mason's Floyd one.

HAL9000

Enjoyed the Ronnie Wood and Clapton ones.

Disliked Keef's 'Life' which was basically him portraying himself as some knight in shining armour rescuing damsels from bad relationships etc. Looking after number one anf basically dismissing anyone he doesn't see eye to eye with as a 'prick'.

Faves so far are Wilko Johnson's Looking Back at Me, and Buddy Guy's one which I've forgotten the title of.

KKJale

Man guitarist Deke Leonard’s Rhinos, Winos & Lunatics. Very entertaining indeed.

iseverynamegone

Can we include Films ? Yes you say? k how about the interview with teenage Alex Lifeson in Beyond the Lighted stage .

Autobiographies are great for representing what you want people to think after the event but the little interview of a young Alex Lifeson telling his dad it's all about the music is great in that film, sets the scene for the rest of his career.

Always enjoyed Wonderland Avenue by Danny Sugarman too . A great read about the doors.

I don't have any autobiographies of guitarists , thatt may well be evident from the above ...

tone1

I love autobiographies! I find Fiction boring which to me is reading someone else's imagination... Blimey I've even read Russell Brand's booky wook

Philly_Q

tone1 said:

I love autobiographies! I find Fiction boring which to me is reading someone else's imagination... Blimey I've even read Russell Brand's booky wook

Does that mean you find film and TV fiction boring too?

tone1

Strangely, yes to an extent and I'm always aware someone has written it and there's someone holding a mike boom and pointing a camera etc.
It has to be a really great Film to take me 'away' to forget that

rawk100

Didn't think Slash's book was that good really, The Dirt by Motley Crue was a lot better......

Jaded

I've nearly finished reading Neil Young's one, "Waging Heavy Peace". So far it has been fantastic, very disjointed in some ways, quite often jumping between events as and when they come to him... much like all of his musical projects I guess! 

Parts of it do almost read like an advert for his PureTone player (now the PONO) which was a little annoying ( especially when you're really hoping he'll talk about Old Black a little more) but you can at least see how much it means to him by the way he talks about it so enthusiastically. 

andyoz

I've read the Slash one twice now. Best read whilst listening to AFD.

His story about Adler playing drums in the park whilst people strolled by (he had nowhere else to practice) is really rock'n'roll

andyoz

rawk100;576425" said:

Didn't think Slash's book was that good really, The Dirt by Motley Crue was a lot better......

The Dirt's a must read, jaw dropping story's on every page.

Danny1969

The Dirt is prob my fave 

Exit Music - Radiohead is very good although for some reason the print is tiny

When Giants walked the Earth - Led Zep very good

Townsend - who I am ....... mmmm not convinced by his explanation of his version of the events that led to his caution ... search engines don't work like that

Moon the Loon - entertaining and sad at the end - written by his side kick Dougal the man entrusted with keeping him out of trouble

My appetite for Destruction - Adler's version of the GnR rise to fame and his battle with drugs

Inside out - Nick Masons personal history of Floyd is great and a must for PF fans

Eric Clapton - written in a style that constantly deflects Clapton from taking responsibility for his own actions ...... he became a heroin addict because his dealer insisted he buy it when he brought his coke ..... please !!!!

Skydog : Duane Allman - not bad 

Philly_Q

tone1 said:

Strangely, yes to an extent and I'm always aware someone has written it and there's someone holding a mike boom and pointing a camera etc.
It has to be a really great Film to take me 'away' to forget that

The only place I feel like that is in the theatre - I always find myself watching the people standing around playing bit-parts and wondering what they're actually thinking about.  But that's down to the fact that they're there "live", in the same room as me, pretending that they're not.  I never get that feeling with films, thank goodness.

 

Rox

Skarloey said:

Edit: I forgot Jimmy Pages's which I haven't bothered with to date. The idea of doing it as photos is okay I suppose, but it conveniently allows him to avoid the more...er...delicate parts of his private life. 

I tried to read Jimmy Page's biography, but it seemed to be chapters copied wholesale from other, less well known guitarists with the odd name changed.

richardhomer

Danny1969;576473" said:

Eric Clapton - written in a style that constantly deflects Clapton from taking responsibility for his own actions ...... he became a heroin addict because his dealer insisted he buy it when he brought his coke ..... please !!!!

I am by no means an expert on how drugs are sold - but one of the arguments which is regularly put forward for legalisation, is it takes dealers' 'influence' out of the equation.

What EC ultimately did take responsibility for, was getting clean and sober.

I often think if he'd died a 'rock and roll' death at a young age, he would be viewed more favourably. He wouldn't have lived long enough to record with Phil Collins, long enough to wear Armani - or long enough to be compared unfavourably to his younger self....

I really don't get the approbrium that EC receives.

As I've often said on here before - I'm highly partisan; EC is a childhood hero. Tomorrow he is 70 years old.

I wish him well - he's made a genuine difference to my life.