Re: [bomp] Before I Get Old by Dave Marsh

[weisbaker <roky@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

i also love the street that never sleeps but his rock stuff is lame-o; shaw 
is a journalist who lived it, so the book breathes of ambiance, backdoor 
dealings, and playgirls clubhopping between mintons amd 3 deuces. 
outstanding.

you know what i feel about marcus: re harry smith, american lost innocence, 
richard manuel's amgelic voive, and mr zimmerman's  liquid mercury, marcus 
is the best.
 i know those kenton recordings: they were early 1940's and although the 
blueprints for his later haevy sounds, it was  a few yaers later that the 
band attained near genius, featuring a bunch of my fave musicians of all 
time: kai winding, getz, shelley manne, and anita o'day. hubba hubba.

other fave jazz books:
i trust giddens the most, friedwald is excellent on singers, and gioia's 
west coast jazz, devaux's BeBop, goldberg's jazz masters of the 50's, are 
excellent.

actually
there are so many great books on jazz--theory, individual, memoir(pepper!!), 
and stylistic--that you'd hope rock writers will catch partially up someday.

marsh blows.

*******************************************
Michael Baker/Mindy Weisberger
380 Mountain Rd #1213
Union City, New Jersey  07087
Tel/Fax: 201 867 0198
Email: roky@optonline.net


----- Original Message ----- 
From: <ItsBoss9@aol.com>
To: <bomp@router.xnet2.com>
Sent: Thursday, February 03, 2005 8:58 AM
Subject: [bomp] Before I Get Old by Dave Marsh


>
> I just read "Before I Get Old" by Dave Marsh, which
> has to be the least interesting bio on an extremely
> interesting band ever written. It drove home how much
> I've always hated Marsh's writing. Marsh managed to
> make the Who seem boring and mediocre, even in the
> 60s. Any better books out there on them? Just thought
> I'd ask the group.
>
> I suffered through that thing, but I'll tell you, at least he does mention
> everything that happened, including Great Shakes commercials... he was 
> pretty
> complete, though dull.  When I was finished with the book, though, I'd 
> felt I'd
> gotten something out of it, but I should have gone over it with a 
> highlight
> pen so that I could remember the best parts without ever having to read it 
> over
> again.  Lots of great clues to unreleased music and other one-off things. 
> I
> always considered MAXIMUM ROCK 'N' ROLL more about the pictures.  Rolling 
> Stone
> magazine put out a little magazine-styled book on the Who, soft-cover and
> perfect-bound, in I think 1975 that I cherish to this day, basically 
> collecting
> all their articles on the Who, but it has a great interview with Keith 
> Moon and
> lots of fun pictures.
>
> That generation of writers, by the way, is pretty much married to 
> overlooking
> NUGGETS, Rockabilly or Mod frame of mind.... let alone 40s R&B... it all
> starts with Bill Haley for them.  Nick Tosches is the only one of 'em who 
> stands
> apart from the pack and doesn't buy into the dullness thing.  I do like 
> Steve
> Propes and Jim Dawson's great WHAT WAS THE FIRST ROCK 'N' ROLL RECORD, 
> which I
> think is an essential purchase... those guys don't miss the boat either,
> though for Tosches, Dawson and Propes, its pretty much a pre-Beatles 
> thing.  When I
> had lunch with Tosches, he did seem to like Bob Dylan a lot, though.
>
> I'm currently grappling with wether or not I like the Greil Marcus books,
> though I do find LIPSTICK TRACES enlightening.  I've been trying to get 
> into his
> book on Dylan's Basement Tapes (forgot the title, something about
> REPUBLIC???), but the yawns start to come... even though I love the 
> Basement Tapes.
>
> Arnold Shaw is kinda overlooked these days, but he did a few good ones,
> especially his book on 52nd Street, originally called THE STREET THAT 
> NEVER SLEPT,
> but now re-titled.  THE JAZZ AGE is also essential to understanding where 
> all
> those songs came from, it's about the '20s.  (Arnold) Shaw did Rock 'n' 
> Roll
> books too.
>
> Domenic Priore
>
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