Books I Would Recommend…Part 3

Keith Moon Dear Boy

Keith Moon: Dear Boy – Tony Fletcher

I didn’t think I would ever see an extensive book (nearly 600 pages) on Keith Moon. Tony Fletcher wrote this book and he thoroughly researched Keith and he had been a fan since his teenage years. As a teenager, he actually met Keith before he died.

Fletcher talks to everyone of importance in Keith’s life. The only disappointing thing for me and for Fletcher himself is he had to debunk some of the myths about Keith. The great story of him driving a car in the pool of a Flint Michigan Holiday Inn… didn’t happen… but the real story is just as interesting though.

The veil is drawn back on a lot of myths. It’s not a book full of Keith doing wild things like the book “Full Moon”. This one shows his ugly side also. Keith had one of the most dangerous traits you could have…the ability not to be embarrassed. Think about that…that keeps us in check at times. With Keith, anything could happen at any time.

Replacements - Trouble Boys

Trouble Boys – Bob Mehr

One of the only books about The Replacements. After this book, I started to understand the reckless and sabotaging behavior of the band. It also goes through the tough decision of Bob Stinson leaving the band only to die a few years later.

It was interesting to see the relationship they had with other bands such as REM at the time. They would goad each other into making better albums. I was a fan before I read it but it increased my interest by a bunch afterwards.

Up and Down with the Rolling Stones - Tony Sanchez

Up and Down with the Rolling Stones – Tony Sanchez

This was the first book I read on the Rolling Stones when I was around 13. It’s an easy but dark read. It’s written by Tony Sanchez, Keith’s drug dealer and sometimes partner in crime. Tony was also a photographer who took photos of the Stones and the Moody Blues. Spanish Tony, as he was called hung around with the Stones, Moody Blues and also knew the Beatles.

It’s full of wrecked cars, heroin, dead friends, sleazy characters, and some eventful journeys. At first, I would take some of the stories with a grain of salt but most of the events were verified by Keith’s book “Life.”

Let The Good Times Roll - Kenney Jones

Let The Good Times Roll – Kenney Jones

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.

Living The Beatles Legend

Living The Beatles Legend – Kenneth Womack

I did a review on this last year but I wanted to get it in here.

I’ve been waiting on this book since I read about the Beatles in the 70s as a kid. I knew the story…after a showdown with police Mal Evans was shot and killed on January 5, 1976. He was working on his autobiography at the time. Evans was the last person you would think would die that way…and in this case…he wanted it. Could the police have handled it better? Yes, but Mal had said that is how he wanted to go out. He forced the situation. He was only 40 years old.

Mal Evans along with Neil Aspinal were the roadies for the Beatles. Imagine that…2 roadies for the world’s biggest band. Mal worked at a telephone company in the early ’60s but he loved rock and roll…especially Elvis Presley. He would go see bands at the Cavern and struck up a friendship with George Harrison. George told him since he loved music…take a part-time job as a bouncer at The Cavern. The Beatles automatically liked him from the start. He was a big guy at 6’4″ but he never wanted to use violence. More times than not…he talked his way out of trouble. Aspinal was their only roadie and when Love Me Do and then Please Please Me came out…they needed another person because Aspinal was worn out.

I would highly recommend this book. Kenneth Womack had full access to his diaries and used many of the entries. This book turned up a lot of things about them that I had no clue about. It also gave a different look at their personalities on an everyday basis. Near the end, Mal went to the 2nd Beatles convention and spoke. He started to battle depression in the seventies after living in California and missing his wife and kids back in London. He picked up a girlfriend in California and that made his guilt worse. Drugs also affected him in the end.

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

33 thoughts on “Books I Would Recommend…Part 3”

    1. That would give you a guide to go by. In that case the Mal Evans and Keith Moon books are not autobiographies so those are the two. The Stones one was written by…well I wouldn’t go by that one lol. Fun book for Stones dark side though.

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  3. The Beatles book looks interesting. Mal was with those guys for years. I wondered for at least a day after I saw The Who in Dallas around 1966. Why did he tear up his drums at the end of the show? Why did those guys feel the need to destroy their gear in front of an audience? Did Townsend really ruin a Rickenbacker? Maybe the book explains?

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    1. The Mal book is very interesting…I knew he wrote some of it and I waited for years to read it.
      Oh the Townshend thing…he went to art school and learned about “auto-destructive art” from an artist named Gustav Metzger. Moon could care the hell less about the art of it…he did it to join in.

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      2. They would glue them back together…but as you and I know…a Ric is not a fender…you can’t piece them back together as easy.

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  4. Got the British Invasion pretty well covered there Max! The one on Mal sounds interesting…but there are SOmany Beatles books out there! The local B&N store has I think about 3 shelves devoted to them, it’s hard to know where to start.

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    1. The Beatles book to read…if you want to really know them is Tune In by Mark Lewisohn. It only goes to 62 but it’s the best…it sold A LOT…everyone is waiting for the second book from 63-66 or so…then the third book which would be the rest…BUT if that is more than you want…
      The Mal book good and you get to know The Beatles on a personal basis.

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  5. Ive dropped off in my music bios over the years. I have a ‘Moon’ I havent got to yet but it’s calling me to pick it up. Same author but different title from the one you posted. The Matts and Jones peak my interest. Im into a non musical book ‘Cloudsplitter’ by Russel Banks, about John Brown the abolitionist. Heavy read.

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    1. Thats right…it was also caleld “The Life and Death of a Rock Legend” I think. He covers about all there is to cover about Moon I believe…
      Whoa…that is heavy! High school history just popped up in my head….I remember that name.

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      1. I’ve read some great music bios but then ran into some duds. I still have some on the shelf that I’m still interested in. I’ll get to them. I skimmed through a Clapton one recently.
        This is my second go round with the John Brown book. Fascinating character and a big part of your history down there.

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      2. The biggest dud I read for me was one about Jann Wenner…who I didn’t like to begin with…so big mistake on my part there.
        Yes he is…if I remember correctly in the 1840s and 50s but I could be wrong.

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      3. Not familiar on old Jann but Ill take your word for it.
        You did not want to mess with John Brown and get on his wrong side. And yes your correct on the time. I had an old Kansas record and there was a famous painting of him on the cover. At the time I had no idea who it was. I regret getting rid of the record for that reason.

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      4. You don’t want to be…he is an ass lol.
        I think I know that record you are talking about. Hard man for hard times… I can’t imagine what it was like back then and to take the position he did.

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      7. Back to Moon. I read an Oliver Reed bio (probably mentioned it ) and Moon was in quite a bit Both a couple piss tanks with lots of money and time to get in trouble. We’ve talked before where it goes from not being funny anymore and into dangerous places.

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      8. I would like to read more about Reed…he appeared in Keith’s book as well…it’s a wonder one of them didn’t die earlier. It seemed like Keith was funny until the back part of his life…and he was a dangerous caricature of himself then.
        Dave Davies mentioned him in his book….he met him a few months before he died…he said he was forcing jokes and trying to be funny.

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      9. I really liked Moon. First of all he was a perfect drummer for that band. He looked like a lickable guy but like most drunks they wear out their welcome. I felt for the guy at the end. Living up tp an image that was bullshit. From what I know the band had had it with him. I get it. Same as Robertson with The Band. I’m as far from a teetotaler as you can get but alcoholic drinking is no fun for anyone especially family and friends. It would have been very cool to see him clean up. Wasnt to be.

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      10. Yea I agree it would have been…the irony of it as you know…the very medicine he od’d on was the medicine that kept him from drinking. Of course he shouldn’t have been on it without being in a hospital…
        I think the guy could have been a decent actor for the right parts. It would be nice seeing him alive now.

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  6. A lot of these band books are thick with trivia, slim on facts, the author usually lets too much of their opinion clutter up the story. ‘So I said to Janis, “the band is holding you back, you should go solo, and she said to me, ‘you know, you could be…’ blah blah blah.” The first band book I remember reading as a teen was Hunter Davies ‘The Beatles’ and there was too much information in it for my tiny brain to take in at the time. I did find that a good quick easy and unpretentious read is ‘Things The Grandchildren Should Know’ by Eels singer Mark E Everett.

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    1. I know what you mean…I’ve read many like that. The most aggravating book of this collection? You probably can guess….The Replacements. “Lets shoot ourselves in the foot today! And Tomorrow!”
      The Keith Moon book is both funny as hell and said as hell. At the end he was a caricature of himself and that was sad to read about.
      I’m reading the Dave Davies bio right now…he said the same thing about Keith at the end.

      I read the Hunter Davies book as a teen…it’s a Beatles fan rite of passage…
      I looked ‘Things The Grandchildren Should Know’ up….it looks really good.

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  8. Kenny Jones I always liked in The Who even though Grumpy Rog didn’t, but you know that! lol…if you come across the Geddy Lee bio, read it..more to the story than RUSH and there’s a fair bit of that.

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