#566: Reads-a-lot

I'm usually juggling at least 2 books at a time. Lately it's been more like 1/2adozen, mosta them music-related. Here's a few bites....

Gerri Hirshey -- NOWHERE TO RUN: THE STORY OF SOUL MUSIC (1984).
Nelson George -- WHERE DID OUR LOVE GO?: THE RISE AND FALL OF THE MOTOWN SOUND (1985).
Clinton Heylin, editor -- THE DA CAPO BOOK OF ROCK AND ROLL WRITING (1992).
Miles Davis and Quincy Troupe -- MILES: THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY (1989).
Max Barry -- JENNIFER GOVERNMENT (2003).
Bret Easton Ellis -- AMERICAN PSYCHO (1991).

As I continue thru my Motown Phase....
Gerri Hirshey's NOWHERE TO RUN unfortunately opens on maybe the weakest section of the book -- as Screamin' Jay Hawkins opens 4 the Rolling Stones, & the kids in the audience think that when Jay performs his most famous song, "I Put a Spell On You," that Jay's ripping-off the Stones. Or Creedence. Or Kiss.
But 1nce she gets rolling, Hirshey has some involving, beautifully-detailed chapters on/interviews with Michael Jackson, Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross, Martha Reeves, Mary Wells, the Four Tops, Mary Wilson of the Supremes, Atlantic Records head Ahmet Ertegun, producer Jerry Wexler, & many more. Tough 2 put down, Xcept 4 the arrival of....
WHERE DID OUR LOVE GO? focuses a little more on the fall of Motown, which is what I wanted it 4. George's narrative is detailed & riveting from the point where Motown head Berry Gordy sets up his "production line" in 1963, harnessing the songwriting & production talents of Smokey Robinson, Barrett Strong, Norman Whitfield, Holland-Dozier-Holland, Ashford & Simpson, etc., & making stars outta the Supremes, Four Tops, Temptations, Miracles, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, etc.
Lotsa great behind-the-scenes info, including lotsa detail about the Funk Brothers studio band that played on many of Motown's '60s hits. I didn't know that both legendary bassist James Jamerson & great drummer Benny Benjamin succumbed 2 drug & alcohol problems. But the book also paints a clear picture of the great times at Motown -- when so much was happening & it was such a cool place 2 B that all these folks just hung around the studios even when they weren't getting paid! Includes a lengthy discography with songwriting & production credits, pop & soul chart-placings, etc. Only complaint: At 200 pgs, it coulda bn TWICE as long....
THE DA CAPO BOOK is a huge collection of (mostly) rock criticism, & there's some great stuff here: Most of Jules Siegel's close-up view of the Beach Boys' 1966-67 SMILE sessions, "Goodbye Surfing, Hello God!"; Richard Goldstein's Xcellent June 1967 demolition job on SGT. PEPPER; & Tom Wolfe's "First Tycoon of Teen," a vivid portrait of Phil Spector in the mid-'60s. Steve Albini's "Eyewitness Record Reviews" is a hysterical collection of opinions on albums he produced. Frank Zappa's Congressional testimony about the Parents' Music Resource Center is classic sarcasm. & Allen Ravenstine's "Music Lessons" is an involving, vivid, apparently-fictionalized look at the early days of Pere Ubu. & there's LOTS more....
MILES is pretty funny in places. Vivid recollections of his mid-'60s development of jazz-rock, & it reads just as if Miles is sitting in the chair across from you & telling you just how it was. He doesn't hold back much. As a result, much of the book is -- as an old friend of mine 1nce described an Eddie Murphy performance -- "A necklace made out of the word muhrfuhr." Every great jazz musician is a muhrfuhr. Every great band is "a real MF." When some1 does Miles wrong they're a real MF. When some1 impresses Miles, he thinks they're a real MF. You get the idea.
This book made me laff out loud. But it ain't all funny. Miles talks about his 5-year retirement -- seems that being 1 of the most respected jazzmen in the world, earning 1/2amillion $$$ a year, driving his Lambo, & sleeping with as many women as he wanted wasn't ENUF. His knee-jerk mistrust of white people bugs me 2.
Note 2 Miles fans: There is plenty of detail about his mid-'60s albums, & about IN A SILENT WAY, BITCHES BREW, LIVE EVIL -- & about the other guys who played on those albums. Not enuf about ON THE CORNER, nothing about GET UP WITH IT. Miles sez the critics buried JACK JOHNSON -- hmmm, not Bob Christgau, who gave the album an A+ & chose JACK JOHNSON as the best album of 1971....
Ah well, good 4 laffs. But we don't learn much about what drove & apparently tormented this man.... Oh, & the discography is hash.
JENNIFER GOVERNMENT is about a weird & wacky future in which EVERYONE works 4 some corporation, & takes the last name of that company. (In that future, my name'd B Tad Blogger. Or maybe Tad Google. Tad Microsoft?) NEway, in this future, a couple nefarious mid-level mgrs at a certain shoe company (which shall not B divulged here, this is FICTION) hatch a plan 2 drive up the price of their already-astronomically-priced latest pair of flashy tennishoes -- by murdering a random dozen teens who cough up enuf $$$ 2 buy them. Special police agent Jennifer Government is there when the killing starts, but can only track down the Bad Guys if she can get funding from the victims' families.... This book is clever, fast-moving, laff-out-loud funny, pretty outrageous in places. & tho it's a comedy, you'll care about these characters....
I stopped in PSYCHO right after that chapter-long review of Genesis's 1980s output, which followed immediately after bad guy Patrick Bateman's most recent murder. I might get back 2 it, but you gotta B a big fan of yuppies or Wall Street-related details 2 B able 2 get thru it without skimming....

All week at work I've played Xactly 2 songs: Weather Report's amazing live "Boogie Woogie Waltz" & Sparks' great, silly "Eaten by the Monster of Love." Not sure what people think of "Monster," but the Weather Report piece is PERFECT 4 rush hour or when it's busy. Only responses I've gotten so far R 1 Regular who thot I was playing "scary old man music"; 1 younger guy who thot it sounded pretty trippin'; & 1 guy who asked if the sounds were coming from a movie I was watching Bhind the counter....