The audio version is 12 hours and it went by fast… I will get the hard copy of this book.
Kenney Jones was the drummer of three of England’s most influential bands – The Small Faces, The Faces and for a few years The Who. I was pleasantly surprised by this book. Kenney keeps the book interesting from his childhood, teen years, swinging London, the Swinging Seventies, up til now.
I never knew much about the Small Faces and Faces and this book answered some questions I had about both bands. He gave much more information than Roger Daltrey did in his book about Jone’s tenure as the drummer of the Who and their difficulties. Personally, I don’t think Kenney was the right drummer for the Who but then again…I don’t think anyone could have taken Moon’s place. He does give an interesting perspective on it though.
I didn’t’ realize that Keith Moon and Kenney were as close as they were. Kenney had played with the Who before in sound checks when the Small Faces and Who were touring with each other and Moon couldn’t be found. After Moon died a few strange things happened to Kenney right before Bill Curbishley (The Who’s Manager) called to see if he would join. The strange events helped him make the decision.
He goes over his career thoroughly and he doesn’t leave any gaps. He also talks about being in the band “The Law” with Paul Rodgers and now he is with The Jones Gang that had a #21 hit with Angel in 2005. He also owns a Polo club, is working on an animation of Ogden’s Nut Gone Flake, and fighting for the control of the Small Faces music which was lost a long time ago. He doesn’t need the money he just wants it put right.
Near the end, he sums up the three big bands he was involved in… The Small Faces were the most creative, The Faces were the most fun, and The Who were the most exciting and professional. You can tell though that his love is with the Small Faces and he does wonder how far they could have gone if they would have had decent management. He said they never realized how good of a band they were.
I cannot recommend this book enough.
Interesting. I’d only vaguely heard his name before and didn’t know much of anything about him.
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He is a great drummer but not a wild drummer… the Who should have done a Zeppelin and not continued.
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Glad you liked the book. I think he went into a bad situation there with The Who- of course it happened to them first- but like Led Zeppelin a year later The Who should have just ended it when Moon passed away.
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Yes I agree. He is a great drummer but just not the one for the Who… Very good book though. Sheds a lot of light on Rod Stewart and Steve Marriott
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Thanks for the review and recommendation. I think I’ll like this book. Our library has it, so I’ve just put in a request to pick it up at my branch. It’s always such a surprise, who writes the most interesting memoirs. It’s often not who I’d expect. I’m glad Kenney is telling his story with all three bands he’s known for.
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I reccomend it over Roger’s….and that says something for me… I really think you will like it.
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I just finished listening to Roger’s. I’ll make my way back over to your review of his book soon.
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I think the reason people bitched about him with The Who was just because he was not Keith Moon. Moon could not be replaced by anyone. It does not matter who it was he was going to get criticized.
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Oh yea Kenney was a great drummer but they should have not went on because no one was going to replace him. Zak has come the closest
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Well, when you’re the son of Ringo and had been taught to play by Moon you have come as close as possible.
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Yes he was Keith’s Godson
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