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

[jumpinginthenight <jumpinginthenight@xxxxxxxxx>]

My 1977 girlfriend stole that Rolling Stone Who book from a newstand & gave it to! I had already gotten very attached to it when I learned I had received stolen property!
I lent it to a Raspberries fan who still has it. I wonder why they didn't more of those??
Stephen Molly <wytches@lycos.com> wrote:
I read the book this summer, and although dry, found it informative. Yeah, it read like a history report, but thankfully three quarters of the book concentrated on everything prior to Quadophenia. Thankful again, that it didnt go into the Keith Moon sensationalism of his demise or the hotel trashing, grouping banging excesses of the 70s. The Who were a sixties, early seventies band and best remembered as such. Move the group into the seventies to face the backlash of British Punk and bombastic stadium tours and they become the fodder for Spinal Tap analogies.

Dave Marsh has had his good moments, the *Louie Louie* book is something I re-read every couple of years. And for a real guilty pleasure, *Bubblegum Music Is The Naked Truth*, with some great stuff from Dominic. I may not change your life, but it makes for some great brain pudding.



----- Original Message -----
From: ItsBoss9@aol.com
To: bomp@router.xnet2.com
Subject: [bomp] Before I Get Old by Dave Marsh
Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2005 08:58:45 EST

> 
> 
> 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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Stephen Molly
http://wytches.cjb.net
-= thee Wytches =-



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