| 5th December 2006 08:58 AM |
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| gimmekeef |
Sounds kinda lame................Funny last line though!
'Exile' takes readers back in time with Rolling Stones
By SCOTT BAUER
Da Capo Press provided this photo of Robert Greenfield, author of `Exile on Main Street.' (AP/Da Capo Press/D. Frantz)
(AP) - Drugs, sex and rock 'n' roll - in that order - are detailed in Robert Greenfield's book "Exile on Main Street: A Season in Hell With the Rolling Stones."
In it, he describes the decadent times surrounding the Rolling Stones' recording of "Exile on Main Street," the band's masterpiece double album.
Anyone looking for a song-by-song analysis of the album in this book is advised to go elsewhere. So, too, is anyone who wants any semblance of detail about the recording sessions themselves.
But if you want to know what type of heroin Keith Richards favoured while holed up in the south of France to record the album in the summer of 1971, or with whom Mick Jagger was sleeping at the moment, "Exile" is for you.
Greenfield does an admirable job trying to cut through the smoky haze to go back 35 years and more or less accurately re-create what went down at the Villa Nellcote on the French Riviera. And at least he's honest when he passes along tall tales from that time and then ferrets out what may be the truth, or at least a more believable version of the story.
To be sure, the tale told by Greenfield is one full of chaos, over-the-top drug use and, frankly, boorish behaviour by the bad boys of rock 'n' roll. He describes pointless recording sessions so dominated by the boredom of waiting for either Richards or Jagger to arrive that gambling tables were installed to help pass the time.
Oh, they take tons of Quaaludes and acid, too.
Greenfield's is far from a scholarly tome. If anything, he tries too hard to fit his writing style to that of the band. He's no Hunter S. Thompson, but who is?
Readers would have been better served if Greenfield had sprinkled in more details about the actual music being made along with the excessive behaviour. He seems to assume, and perhaps correctly, that anyone interested in reading the book will already know all about the album. But it's too important a piece of the story to be only superficially addressed toward the end of the book.
Unfortunately, one gets the sense that part of Greenfield's motivation for writing the book is to settle some scores and get his own version of the truth out there. Who's to say who's right or wrong, but it wouldn't hurt if he could be less petty.
That said, it is an entertaining read - if only to marvel at the fact that Richards is still alive and (somewhat) well.
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| 5th December 2006 10:51 AM |
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| Boogie-Woogie |
so the bew exile book is nowhere as good as the EXILE book from genesis publications(the limited version book with rare pictures) i guess... |
| 5th December 2006 07:41 PM |
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| mac_daddy |
apples and oranges...
but thanks for bringing this book up - i had forgoten to add this to my xmas list (and this is one item in the list that i stand a chance of rec'g  ) |
| 5th December 2006 11:11 PM |
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| Altamont |
I read this Greenfield book about Exile and I quite liked it. However, he looked kinda silly trying to discount Spanish Tony's stories, yet at the same time, it seems he used Tony's book as a major reference for many of the events at Nellcote. And he made a specific point of calling out other authors of Stones books on their innaccuracies, Even going so far as to tell them to call him if they need Stones Facts. Pages later he gushes about how "Sticky Fingers" is a great Stones Lp with the song Jumpin Jack Flash on it.
Still a good book though, I'll read it again someday. |
| 6th December 2006 09:14 AM |
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| Jumping Jack |
It is a not as interesting rehash of Spanish Tony's book. I did find the tidbit of Moon banging Bianca on her weding night as Mick partied downstairs interesting though. She claims her marriage was over on her wedding night. |
| 6th December 2006 09:31 AM |
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| lotsajizz |
decently written but could've used some more editing attention (i.e. 'JJF' is mentioned as being on SF!!!!!)
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| 6th December 2006 12:48 PM |
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| TampabayStone |
quote:
Jumping Jack wrote:
It is a not as interesting rehash of Spanish Tony's book. I did find the tidbit of Moon banging Bianca on her weding night as Mick partied downstairs interesting though. She claims her marriage was over on her wedding night.
What??
I need to read that. She was smoking in her day!
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| 6th December 2006 07:59 PM |
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| sammy davis jr. |
I thought it sucked.....many many quaotes I'd read a hundred times.....total innacuracies, etc.... Keith did seem to be a real asshole in those days. |
| 6th December 2006 08:34 PM |
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| mac_daddy |
i liked greenfield's book about the 1972 tour...
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| 8th December 2006 01:09 AM |
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| JOHNNYSTONED |
very interesting book from a very trusted source. keith
the hero and anti hero all at the same time. it sure wasnt pretty. but it was a hell of a ride. i am glad keith survived it. |
| 8th December 2006 02:32 PM |
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| texile |
quote:
JOHNNYSTONED wrote:
very interesting book from a very trusted source. keith
the hero and anti hero all at the same time. it sure wasnt pretty. but it was a hell of a ride. i am glad keith survived it.
yeah, i'm gald everyone else survived keith...
he could be a real prick in those days.
expecting everyone else to revolve around his own chaotic, heroin haze. |
