BOOK REPORT #3

Michelle Mercer is a writer and NPR contributer, but beyond that, she is, like myself, a fan of Joni Mitchell. She writes from a (highly informed) fan's perspective. I like that. I relate to that. If it's dark sides you're looking for, this may not be the right book. If you are a fan - especially of her "Blue Period" - you must read this.

Mercer met Joni while working on her first book Footprints: The Life an Work of Wayne Shorter. After interviewing Joni for that book, she continued to conduct first hand interviews with her, many of which are chronicled and quoted in the book. She also looks into her motivations as a songwriter and storyteller. Some of Joni's more obvious influences are relationships and her geographical surroundings but Mercer takes it to a higher level: What makes anyone want to write a song about themselves at all? Why do we engage in so-called "confessional songwriting"? As much as she is associated with it, Mitchell doesn't like that term. Nevertheless, the history of confession-as-art is documented by Mercer with references to Augustine among others. It's very meta. Why was Joni doing these things she didn't even like or know she was doing? Because it's human nature or some kind of collective sub/conscious...yadayadayada. I dig it.

The "Blue Period" is, arguably, the span in Joni's career when she did her best work. It covers 1971 - 1976 (Blue, For the Roses, Court and Spark, Hissing of Summer Lawns, and Hejira). WOWOWOW. What a collection of albums. All amazing. Just to go on record - Hejira is my favorite. It's a masterpiece. Before I read this book, I didn't know that it was primarily written while Joni was driving across country to Damariscotta, Maine on a pseudo kidnapping mission. I like knowing these things. This book is informative and anecdotal without being gossipy. There are no piano songs on Hejira. It's much easier to write guitar songs on the road. Very eeenteresting.

Some may take issue with Mercer injecting the book with stories from her own life but I found her stories entertaining and her writing good -if a bit aggressively anti-Dan Fogelberg/Carly Simon. Sometimes I felt like telling her "If you don't have anything nice to say..." but perhaps she had spent a little too much time Joni. Anyone who's read interviews with Joni knows that it's better not to get her started either. Don't bring up that "minor talent" Jackson Browne if you know what's good for you!

I recommend this book to all fans of Joni Mitchell, all song-writers, all hippies and Graham Nash who is all of the above.

BOOK REPORT #2

Geoff Emerick's book Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of the Beatles is a first hand account of what it was like to work with the Beatles from their first session when they were nobodies through to the end. The first time I picked up this book was when Bel Air was recording at Cowboy Technical Services in Williamsburg. There was a copy hanging around by the couch. In some downtime, I started reading it and had a hard time putting it down. I had that same feeling thoughout the book once I got my own copy.

This was the first book I'd ever read about the Beatles. When I was a kid I thought of myself as quite the little Beatles scholar because I had memorized the documentary "The Compleat Beatles" by watching it on repeat one summer. But, despite this comprehensive education, I really knew nothing about them before reading this. I was riveted by stories that others have probably heard many times over. What is new in this book is the account of Emerick's life - his childhood and how he developed a passion for music and recording at a very early age. He was a teenager when he started working with the Beatles.



Naturally, given the author, the sections about the recording process are some of the best. It's incredible what Emerick was able to do with such limited recording equipment. Sgt. Pepper was recorded using four track recorders! Reading about how they overcame the challenges of this in brilliantly inventive ways was fascinating. I found myself turning down corners of pages in which Emerick explains the tricks they used so that I could go back and listen to those songs with that in mind. I really wish I had loaded up my iRiver with Beatles albums before starting this book.

Emerick's accounts of the Beatles themselves were, at times, harsh. He is decidedly in Paul's camp and has no problem telling stories about what a sub-par guitar player George Harrison was in the beginning or how moody and self-involved John was. This may have been the way things were but I can't help but find his point of view overly biased. Emerick had a close relationship with Paul, eventually having him as the best man at his wedding. He also went on to engineer Wings albums and some of Paul's solo stuff. There is a chapter near the end about recording Band on the Run in Africa that is particularly engrossing.

I recommend this to fans of the Beatles and particularly those interested in engineering and recording. It's an entertaining, informative and inspiring read.

Book Report #1

BOOK REPORT

I highly recommend Black Postcards by Dean Wareham to anyone who is in a band, anyone who loves music and really anyone that can appreciate a good story. Wareham, the frontman/guitar player for a couple of my all-time favorite bands, Galaxie 500 and Luna, spells out his life story from the beginning to the end of Luna. It reads in a lot of parts like a novel. There is much drama in both bands and in Wareham's personal life to read about in this well-written and incredibly honest book.

The amount of detail in this book is amazing. Clearly, Wareham kept good notes on his touring/recording/life experiences. I was particularly fascinated by his accounts of the recording process. Some albums took 3 days to record (Today), others took months (Pup Tent). It's hard to say which of those two albums I like better.

Beyond the recording and touring a lot of focus is put on how a band can have the kind of success that Luna had and still have to struggle with money. There are ups and downs. Label signings and labels disolving. Advances and massive debt. Making a living off of t-shirt sales. This is an unglamorous look at being a rockstar.

Wareham can be arrogant at times, especially when talking about other bands, but he is also self-depricating. Either way, he doesn't pull any punches. Anecdotes from his years on the road are entertaining and I found myself laughing out loud a few times.

On a personal note, I was very happy to get to page 295 and have a mystery solved. Every once in a while for birthdays and mother's/father's day I give my parents mix CDs mostly comprised of Brooklyn bands and other indie stuff. One mix that I gave to my mom had Broken Chair on it from Luna's album Rendevous. My mom and I both really like that song (written and sung by guitarist Sean Eden) but we always wondered why it was called Broken Chair. There is no reference to a chair in that song at all. Wareham offers this explanation:

"The song refers obliquely to his former girlfriend, who had bought him two matching vintage leather chairs when they lived together - as a birthday gift. One of the chairs was broken. When Sean moved out, she let him take the broken chair."

Now I feel better.

Wareham calls his book a Rock and Roll Romance and I love that description. I couldn't put it down. Now, go get it!