NewBeats

(from simonandschuster.com)

If you ever wondered where the personal angst in Rick Springfield’s songs (i.e. “Jessie’s Girl,” “Don’t Talk to Strangers,” “Affair of the Heart”) came from, his new memoir provides the answers to that question. To say this artist had personal issues may be the understatement of the year. Although Springfield has achieved in a career that most aspiring artists would dream of, it didn’t come easy before, during and after the fame. Some of the episodes from Late, Late at Night are pretty provocative and sad to read: Springfield’s attempt at suicide when he was 17, the moments of infidelity/sex addiction committed by him while he was dating and later marrying to his longtime love Barbara; and his depression. His career trajectory is pretty unique in itself: starting out as a teen heartthrob in the ‘70s whose albums bombed and then left in the dust; resurging in the early ‘80s thanks to the Working Class Dog album and his role as Dr. Noah Drake on the TV soap General Hospital; and persevering through the ‘90s and 00’s when the hits dried up. In very honest and blunt language, along with a self-deprecating sense of humor, Springfield lays his soul bare with his frustrations, whether it’s the music business, sexual insecurities or family– it’s amazing that he even got through all of these issues given his circumstances he described. Late, Late at Night is the story of not just an iconic ‘80s figure, but a person who recognizes his own frailties and weaknesses in both his life and art.

Always Been There: Rosanne Cash, The List, and the Spirit of Southern Music
By Michael Streissguth
Da Capo
Review by David Chiu

Rosanne Cash is an artist of integrity. Anyone who is familiar with Cash knows that she always tried to not be pigeonholed in order to achieve something different yet true. Although she’ll be forever synonymous with her famous country music family, Cash rode on the wave of the Nashville hit machinery in the ‘80s, only to go against expectations with some critically acclaimed records highlighted by the 1990 masterpiece Interiors. And she’s also a survivor from losing her father, mother and stepmother within a short period of time to overcoming a brain operation.

But Always Been There, written by Michael Streissguth, who had previously penned a 2006 biography of Johnny Cash, is not a strict, exhaustive biography of the singer-songwriter, although it does trace moments in her life and career. What the author presents, however, is someone on a journey in revisiting and reclaim her musical roots. That is symbolized by “the list,” which, back in 1973, was given to a young Cash by her famous father Johnny containing 100 important songs that an emerging musician should be familiar with. Thirty-five years later Rosanne Cash recorded an album of the songs that might have been on that list (at the time of the book’s writing, she was never able to find it).

The List is the driving force for this book along with the album. This insightful approach to telling Cash’s life in this manner is more compelling than the standard biographical fare. The author was given practically unlimited access to Cash last year as she was recordtng the new album and touring parts of Europe. Streissguth delves into what the songs meant to Cash and provides a glimpse of her recording in the studio with her producer-husband John Leventhal. Accompanying her along the tour stops along Zurich, Scotland and Berlin, Streissguth documents her processes and ideas as well as interactions with her husband, manager and the audience members. More telling is her feelings about her family, especially about her father, which are poignant as it is revealing.

Streissguth makes no bones that he is a fan of Rosanne Cash but he doesn’t stray away from his primary role as observer. We feel like we’re with Cash in the studio as she’s summoning herself to be one with the song emotionally, or why this particular song or artist resonates with. Always Been There achieves in being both a chronicle of an artist still at the top of her game but also the love for music that inspires and defines where we come from.

Blues & Chaos
The Music Writing of Robert Palmer
Edited by Anthony DeCurtis
Scribner
Review by David Chiu

When it comes to music journalism, the late Robert Palmer is in a class all by himself. He was the first pop music critic of The New York Times as well as the author of Deep Blues and a contributor to publications such as Rolling Stone and Penthouse. His liner notes have graced recordings by Miles Davis, Ray Charles and Led Zeppelin. And throughout his extraordinary career Palmer has interviewed many musical legends such as Eric Clapton, John Lennon, David Bowie and Muddy Waters.

Palmer died in 1997 at age 52 but left a great legacy of music writing behind him. He wrote about nearly every musical style: rock, pop, soul punk, blues, jazz, world music and the avant garde.Now his work has been compiled into a superb anthology edited by Rolling Stone contributor Anthony DeCurtis titled appropriately Blues & Chaos. Hopefully this collection will spark renewed interest and appreciation of Palmer’s writings. (Full disclosure: I was involved in the research aspect of the book five years ago as an unpaid intern).

DeCurtis does a great job is showcasing the spectrum of the writer’s musical knowledge in Blues and Chaos. The book is divided into several chapters, each devoted mostly to a style of music Palmer tackled. Some of these segments include early rock and roll, jazz, the blues (profiles of Muddy Waters and Lightnin’ Hopkins), punk, classic rock and John Lennon (a New York Times interview Palmer had done with Lennon just a month before the former Beatle’s murder on Dec. 8, 1980). In addition to covering popular figures, Palmer also gave a voice for artists or music that may have been not widely-known, such as bluesman Robert Pete Williams or the pop group the ’5′ Royales.

Nothing was ever off limits to Palmer, who himself was also a musician. In his introduction DeCurtis references Ira Robbins’ assessment of Palmer’s own music writing: ‘Don’t worry, I know everything,’ and that is so apt. For example, his Q&A’s, like the one he did with Eric Clapton in 1985, are amazing because they read like casual and thoughtful conversations. While his writing is scholarly, Palmer never lost sight of what the story should really about—the music and the artist behind it.

The types of artists and music he covered would seem out of character in today’s mainstream publications—for example, you probably won’t find that many jazz reviews currently in Penthouse, nor would you have a lengthy piece about Morocco (where he has previously traveled) in Rolling Stone. That’s the amount of freedom and influence Palmer had back then or perhaps it’s more of how music journalism has changed.

So for music fans and students of excellent arts writing, Blues & Chaos is required reading. It’s a wonderful tribute to a man who was not only a great journalist and critic but a huge music enthusiast first.

Led Zeppelin: Good Times, Bad Times
A Visual Biography of the Ultimate Band
By Jerry Prochnicky and Ralph Hulett
Foreword by Anthony DeCurtis
Published by Abrams
216 pp., $35.00

The Velvet Underground: New York Art
Edited by Johan Kugelberg
Published by Rizzoli
320 pp., $50.00

Reviews by David Chiu

Granted these are two totally different bands on opposite ends of the rock spectrum: Led Zeppelin, the epitome of hard/arena rock music, and the Velvet Underground, the godfathers of alternative rock. Yet these two groups do share some things in common as they were also rebels during their time and are still considered influential to this day. Recently two new illustrated books devoted respectively to Zeppelin and the Velvets only add to their aura.

Although it has been nearly 30 years since the group officially disbanded after the death of drummer John Bonham, Led Zeppelin still captures the imagination and interest of rock fans everywhere – one could look at the 2007 one-off reunion show in London as an example of their enduring popularity. Prochnicky and Hulett’s Good Times, Bad Times is a celebration of 40 years of Zep in pictures by various photographers starting from when the group was first known as the New Yardbirds. Page after page features a striking shot of what Zep did best: electrify audiences with their magnetic stage presence, especially in Jimmy Page’s guitar moves and vocalist Robert Plant’s charismatic mannerisms. Augmenting many great live photos from venues, such as Madison Square Garden and the Oakland Coliseum, are some candid shots of a band that valued their privacy — like John Paul Jones spending time with his family and John Bonham strumming on a guitar. There’s also some interesting photographs of Page and Naked Lunch author William S. Burroughs sitting together, and Plant holding a dove in one hand and a beer bottle in the other onstage. The book concludes with a photograph of the surviving members at the aforementioned 2007 show. A foreword by Anthony DeCurtis frames Zep in a historical context and their legacy. While it’s only a photo book, Good Times, Bad Times still leaves a deafening impact as if you were leaving a Zep show in their heyday.

While Good Times Bad Times focuses on Led Zeppelin’s history mainly through photographs, The Velvet Underground: New York Art: tells the story of the New York City alt-rock group through interviews, articles, flyers and mementos in addition to pictures (Note: this book only goes up to the end of the band in the early ‘70s and does not reference the early ‘90s reunion in photos). For those who particularly enjoy the Andy Warhol/Nico phase of the band, this book devotes almost half of its pages to that era. In addition to some wonderful photos of the band on and off stage (i.e. the portraits of the lovely Nico and Lou Reed side by side; Maureen Tucker tossing a football) there are also great artifacts such as posters, Warhol’s famous banana artwork for the first VU album, record company publicity pictures and ads. Interestingly, published clippings of stories and reviews reveal the mindset of the critics at the time, like when the Velvets played at the annual psychiatrists dinner in 1966. There’s also a lively conversation between Lou Reed and Maureen Tucker about the Velvets for this book and remembrances from the late Sterling Morrison and Doug Yule. This book is a pure delight for any Velvets fan.