Has anyone read Bill German's new book on the Stones and if so what was your take on it?

Thanks!

Yeah...worth it.

Teaches you what you already know if you are on this board:

Mick is a user and can turn on you on a dime
Keith is great and caring when you get to know him and he knows you
Ronnie would be friends with anyone in the world
Charlie plays it close to the vest and doesn't like to socialize or go out of his way to make friends

PECMAN



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009-04-03 18:44 by Pecman.

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Pecman
Yeah...worth it.

Teaches you what you already know if you are on this board:

Mick is a user and can turn on you on a dime
Keith is great and caring when you get to know him and he knows you
Ronnie would be friends with anyone in the world
Charlie plays it close to the vest and doesn't like to socialize or go out of his way to make friends

PECMAN

i second that .perfect.great book .a fast read

The most surprising story of the whole book for me was when Charlie pulled a prima donna move at The David Letterman show and refused to go on because he didn't get his way and left the building.

PECMAN

Have any of the Stones endorsed the book?

I read it and enjoyed it. Its not a Stones biography so much as it is Bill German's account of his fanzine and how close it did and didn't take him to the band. Most grumblings about it (critics and fans alike) seem to stem from a misunderstanding that the book is about something other than his experiences. If you subscribed to BEGGARS BANQUET or CONNECTION or bought back issues from his website, [www.beggarsbanquetonline.com] you'll probably be glad you picked it up. At least in the States, the book is now in plenty of bookstores and libraries so you can easily pick it up and glance through it and get a sense of whether its for you or not.

If you are on this board, it's for you...you will never say "I wasted $20 something bucks."

PECMAN

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Pecman
If you are on this board, it's for you...you will never say "I wasted $20 something bucks."

i know i won't

is this the book?

[www.target.com]

let me know pls im in a spending mood right now

lol

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keefan4ever
is this the book?

[www.target.com]

let me know pls im in a spending mood right now

lol

Yes.

"It's just some friends of mine and they're busting down the door"

thank ya kindly...

I´m in the middle of it, it´s available here in Sweden on the online bookshops Adlibris and Bokus, got mine on monday. Probably one of the best books about the Stones I ever read. And I read alot of them, good and bad. Bill´s got an uniqe point of view, and were most Stones books mostly rush through the end of the 70:s and 80:s, Bill was there, right in the middle of it. And he is a wonderful writer, in my opinion, I overslept for work this morning, cause I could not put the book down. This is required reading, if anything.

Vilhelm
Nordic Stones Vikings

Quote
keefan4ever
is this the book?

[www.target.com]

let me know pls im in a spending mood right now

lol

get it. very enjoyable read. As Pecman says, its aimed more at the sort of fans who would frequent fan sites.

I loved it. It gave such a great picture of the agony and the ecstasy of moving in or close to the Stones' aura.... Being a great journalist and not taking a bunch of drugs definitely helped too... "I give it 5 and I'll buy it" as they used to say in my home country. (Ready, Steady, Go)

Nice review in today's Sunday Times:

[entertainment.timesonline.co.uk]

...and an interesting extract from the same paper:

[entertainment.timesonline.co.uk]

Yes and the same edition has a much much larger feature on a new book about Dylan.
Reinforces the reality that the Stones are about celebrity /drug lifestyle whilst Dylan is about his work.
Which just about sums things up, really.

Cartoon review by Ward Sutton
From The Barnes & Noble Review.





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009-04-20 00:59 by schillid.

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Barn Owl
Nice review in today's Sunday Times:

[entertainment.timesonline.co.uk]

...and an interesting extract from the same paper:

[entertainment.timesonline.co.uk]

Next week's Sunday Express will have an extract/review as well.

I liked the book, and recommend it. It was a very easy read - breezed right through it.

I loved it. It's worth it for the bits about Freddy Sessler alone. "Vot de hell, no blow and no pussy!" from a guy in his 60s.

Very good book because it had stuff that was in no other book.

Coming Down Again

I'm curious if at this point if any of the Stones have read it.

Great book.

Yes, it's a unique Stones book that belongs in every Stones library. Not about their best era, but it gives an insight into the 80s Stones and the dynamic between Mick and Keith. It also shows what happens to a fan when he gets to live his dream and is integrated into the Stones circle. A cautionary tale. Bill is an engaging writer remarkably free of ego and pretensions.

Recently, I read the book by Chris O'Dell who worked for the Beatles (mainly George Harrison) but also the Stones on the 72 tour. She appears on the cover of EOMS.

Has a couple of interesting chapters about Jagger and Richards. I think the book is called "Pisces Apple Lady"

Typically, Jagger shagged her and Richards got her to bring smack into the U.S. for him.

I think everybody read Bill´s book.

The best book about the stones, without any doubt.
Booth´s is good but i think he writes like someone who still wants to remain friendly with the band while B.G. has no compromise at all.

Ronnie s book i quite like despite all the criticism about it.

Life is a great read but i dont like the vibe

It's a great Stones book capturing the band in a particular time and place, but it's also a great book about being a fan and taking your hobby too seriously. Something every single regular here can understand to one degree or another.

Diehard fans keep hoping for a definitive 50-year band history that is well-written and honest and chock full of stories none of us have ever heard before from someone who was actually there, but for a variety of obvious reasons such a book would be impossible to realize. Accepting that, Bill's memoirs of his time publishing the official fanzine for 15 years is easily one of the best and most honest books to come along about the band. It is essential reading.

>> from someone who was actually there, but for a variety of obvious reasons such a book would be impossible to realize.<<

couldn't there just be a well written, well researched, definitive band history/biography by someone who wasn't neccessarily there all the time but nonetheless knows the band

as diehard fans we don't want rehashing of magazine articles/interviews, etc.

Personally I'd like to see a Ken Burns style multi - part documentary on PBS, then available on DVD...

Anybody else see the irony of a "German" being that affected by the Anne Frank house?

Not trying/wanting to get political. Just thought that was ironically interesting.