Ben Fong-Torres

A formative read for me . . . reading 10 years after the music and events covered here was made, I was enthralled by this book, much obviously written with a contemporary perspective (Jim Morrison jailed last week!), but a surprising amount of it stands up as good history and good criticism.

When I was a teenager I discovered Gram Parsons's amazing music. He was still alive then, and he performed on Providence TV 12 just before he died. I saw him, propped up there at the mike, wasted and perfect...

His songs move me in ways that few others are or were capable of.

Ben Fong-Torres does an admirable job telling the story of this rich country boy, the boy who gave the Byrds their American Soul, the boy who invented Cosmic American Music.

Story of an American Born Chinese to immigrant parents. Follows a young man into adulthood. Culture clash and Chinese values makes for a tough upbringing. Author never even learns enough Chinese to communicate with his parents...who do not learn enough English to communicate with their children well. Positive side of the book is the successful career the author has and his opinion that his race did not hold him back any on being a writer/dj. Worth a read if you are interested in the show more immigrant/native children lifestyle. show less

fetish object for collectors. cool format. interesting for the collection. no new info or facts