Tales from the Rock ‘n’ Roll Highway takes readers backstage, behind the scenes, into the studio, on the road, into the minds, and out on the street with anecdotes revealing what really goes on in living the rock and roll life.
Tales told by musicians at all levels of experience, their roadies, radio personalities, music journalists, tour managers, and fans offer fascinating accounts of what really goes on during road trips and tours, as well as pranks, diversions, and outlandish behavior experienced through attempts at overcoming the tedium and loneliness of the rock and roll life. In their own words, artists tell their side of the story about their daily lives, the drawbacks to touring, the opportunities they are afforded, and how it all shakes out and what it all means to them.
Divided into chapters, with sections within each introduced by the author's narration, the book includes stories about studio experiences, record company interaction, macabre behavior, surprising encounters, groupies, drug and alcohol excesses, performances, bus tales, fan encounters, concert promoters, once-in-a-lifetime shows, and off-hand evaluations of other rockers.
Over fifty artists contributed their stories including members of BTO, Big Brother and the Holding Company, Meat Puppets, The Tubes, The Motels, Steppenwolf, Insane Clown Posse, Iron Butterfly, The Firm, Chumbawamba, Sha Na Na, Country Joe and the Fish, Golden Earring, Wishbone Ash, Lynyrd Skynyrd, MC5, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Blake Babies, Big Head Todd, Big Country, Marshall Tucker Band, America, Anthrax, The Damned, Atomic Punks, The Cautions, Street Survivor, Zak Daniels and the One-Eyed Snakes, New Riders of the Purple Sage, Metal Shop, Ozark Mountain Daredevils, Slipknot, The Damned, Orleans, Analog Pussy, Herman's Hermits, Poco, as well as solo artists such as Dick Dale, Al Kooper, Graham Parker, Gloria Gaynor, Nigel Olsson, Rory Block, Janis Ian, Neal Casal, Mel Carter, Gary Wright, Lee Underwood, Bobby Berge, Andrew Gold, Brian Hyland Peter Noone, Chris Spedding, Kayte Strong, Donna Frost, Rick Rose and many, many others.
In addition to stories told about themselves or their bands, tales are told about Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, The Beatles, Mick Jagger, Tim Buckley, Bay City Rollers, Harry Chapin, Jefferson Airplane, John and Yoko, Blondie, Kiss, Phil Spector, Roberta Flack, Donna Summer, Aerosmith, Marilyn Manson, Howard Stern, Metallica, Carl Perkins, Stephen Stills, Led Zeppelin, Keith Moon, The Eagles, The Damned, Motley Crue, Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, Jethro Tull, Fleetwood Mac, Nine Inch Nails, Joan Baez, BB King, Jimi Hendrix, Otis Redding, Mick Ronson, Roger Daltry, and many others.
There are over 30 photographs from the artists' private collections.
Excerpt:
*While on stage one day, the grateful Dead's Mickey Hart was greeted by a fan who proceeded to give Hart his brother's skull. The fan explained that his brother had been a huge fan and would have liked Hart to have it. Looking at the skull, Hart proclaimed it a true "Dead Head."*
*The always outrageous Led Zeppelin held a press conference in an art gallery while in Copenhagen. When asked if he liked the paintings, John Bonham selected one and smashed it over the man's head, asking if there were "other paintings you'd like me to criticixe tonight?"*
*While recording in a studio at Montreux, Switzerland, Deep Purple watched the Montreux Casino burn and the smoke from the fire drift across Lake Geneva. This experience inspired the lyrics to "Smoke On the Water." Coincidentally, Frank Zappa and the MOthers of Invention were playing at the Casino at the time of the fire and had to run out without their equipment, which ended up being destroyed.*
*John Lennon liked to recount that while the Beates were visiting Elvis for the first time, the topic of "The King's" movies came up. Lennon said that when he asked if Elvis were preparing new ideas for his next movie, Elvis replied in his best Southern accent, "I sure am. I play a country boy with a guitar who meets a few gals along the way, and I sing a few songs." The Beatles looked at one another, and Presley and Colonel Parker started to laugh. The they told Lennon that the only time they deviated from that formula, for the film "Wild in the Country", they lost money.*
*Guitarist Steve Rothery of Marillion was once missing in action at a brewery launch party. After searching high and low for the musician as the band prepared to take the stage to perform, Rothery was found wedged into an empty barrel of brew surrounded by half-eaten, party-sized pork pies.*
*Two groupies revealing that they had slept with Rolling Stone Brian Jones vlaimed, "He was no Mick Jagger." After trying Keith Richards, they again claimed, "He was no Mick Jagger." Finally, after going to bed with Jagger himself they declared, guess what? "He was no Mick Jagger."*
Reader review:
These are great stories, I felt that I was right there as I read them. I liked the fact that while sex and drugs were represented, most of the artist's tales were about the really bizarre things that happen when musicians are on the road and when people are involved in the music business. Marley Brant makes the book even better by narrating and explaining the circumstances that surround these experiences, and frequently gives her own hilarious perspective on the story. There is more to Rock and Roll than what happens on the stage.
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