The worst unauthorized biography of a musician or band you've ever read

This may be the book I mentioned above. If so it belongs (based on bit I read).

 

Stop right there. If there's anything I see too much of with "Cobain Nuts" is that they try to find excuses for his suicide (Taking the responsibility off of him for it and blaming others for it when he clearly had issues.) or glorify it as some positive experience as something that he "had to do". I never cease to be amazed by such fanatical fandom.

 

But....McCartney is dead, so maybe there's something to the McCulloch story. Maybe he wanted to eliminate the impersonator.

 

I said 'some' , genius. Not 'all'.
So you're telling me, if he really and truly loved her with every once of his being, and she was having an affair, that wouldn't contribute to his feeling like he didn't want to live anymore? Yeah, I think it would, along with the fact that he had depression that ran in his family, and was a junkie. So no, I'm not going to stop right there.

 

His book on Elvis was equally bad. Speaking of Elvis, there are a ton of horrible biographies that have surfaced over the years.

 

Most likely. But it sure was a good read!

 

Eric Clapton Edge Of Darkness was pretty bad. It seemed well researched, but the author's tone was way too negative. Don't get me wrong, my criteria for biographies is not cheerleading fluff - a well balanced perspective is ideal. The problem with this book was that the author seemed to strongly dislike his subject and made tearing down Clapton his agenda.

 

I really want to read this now. Lines like:

I wish you could Mystery Science Theater 3000 a book, because this one sounds eminently deserving.

 

Think about it for a minute. People don't just run out and commit suicide because someone cheats on them. That's not how it works. There are almost always underlying factors that no one else is to blame for. His being a junkie and the fact he had depression is the reason. It might be convenient to try and blame her but the reality regarding what we know about depression and mixing that with drugs is that there is no way we can point any finger at her and say "she's the reason he committed suicide". That's a gross oversimplification and misunderstanding of depression and suicide.

 

Well said Spaceman.

 

After I read about this Creedence book I did a Google search and found this interview by the same writer with Barbra Streisand a few years earlier. Similar dumb writing, but his style is more appropriate for Streisand than for John Fogerty.

 

I found the Cross book to be really strong, well researched, etc. Of course, it's been 10 years since I read it, but at the time I went on a spree of reading Cobain books and that ranked as the best for me.

 

That's the curse of the 33 1/3 series. Authors have free reign to submit manuscripts of any sort. Some are great, compact histories; others are music-theory snoozefests; still others are self-indulgent wankery.

 

I read a recent Rolling Stone interview with him and he came off as the most narcissistic doofus I've seen in many a moon.

 

As a massive UFO fan I was somewhat excited to get this - despite the fact I'd heard it added little to what Martin Popoff had already written in his very good book "Shoot Out The Lights". Imagine how disappointed I was when as I read through it I discovered the line "Mogg contacted guitarist Tommy McClendon best known for his tenures in Boy Wonder, Loudness and Thunderwing"

Loudness (coincidently being my equal favorite band!) has only ever had one guitarist and his name is AKIRA TAKASAKI!

Clearly Daniels knows little of the band as this is one of many mistakes littered through the book.

Any UFO fan would be well advised to spend their money tracking down Popoff's book.

 

an amazing guitar player

 

I think the Replacements must hold the record for having the most self indulgent navel-gazing crap written about them of any band. It's puzzling that a band so great has inspired so much really awful writing.

 

btw i saw loudness a few years ago live at the M3 festival. they did not let me down

 

After being a fan for over 25 years (since Disillusion) I finally saw them in 2011 in then US and have since seen them again last year on the Monsters Of rock Cruise and earlier this year in Japan...awesome band and great guys

 

they rushed to the b stage after their set to see kings x and then flew back to japan

 

The Beatles: The Biography
(Bob Spitz)

Heroes and Villains: The True Story of The Beach Boys
(Steven Gaines)

 

Didn't that book start with an account (wildly unsourced, now that I think back) of John having an, uh, intimate moment with his mother?

 

I really can't remember if Lennon In America started with the John/Julia bit or the John/Linda bit...I do know both of those 'stories' were in there, though (I read the thing exactly once, back when it came out). Quite frankly, I don't want to remember ...see my thoughts on Geoffrey Guiliano in the ongoing Guiliano discussion.

 

I liked the book with the exception of the chapter where they made up what Kurt was thinking during his final hours alone. I thought that was melodramatic and unnecessary.

But the rest of the book is great.

 

I despise his book, "The Act You've Known For All These Years", which is a bait-and-switch, and basically sneers at the reader how stupid they are for liking 'Sgt Pepper' instead of Dylan, Pink Floyd or The Beach Boys.

It reeks of a book that the publisher wasn't interested in unless it looked like it focused on the Beatles.