John Einarson (1)

Prolific rock biographer Einarson takes on yet another interesting and important band, along with Byrd and Burrito Hillman. The book definitely has an axe to grind, viz., that Hillman was the leader and glue of the band, not the more widely lauded Gram Parsons. Not that I disagree with this, but the heavyhanded repetition of it eventually came to feel a bit crabbed and unnecessary. A few dissenting views are allowed around the edges--this is basically an oral history, but they are in the show more minority, which does speak to the thesis' basic correctness, as does Hillman's status as a great musician and diligent bandleader. I do, however, believe that Parsons' status as a songwriter is too easily dismissed here; Parsons and Hillman had a great spell of co-writing, but many of the songs Parsons later wrote are far, far better than the curt dismissals the authors give them, and did Hillman ever write a memorable song by himself? I can't think of any. The book is quite an endeavor to take on, with its Talmudic coverage of not only the Burritos but The Byrds, along with several other bands, so it's definitely for obsessives such as myself. show less

Being a fascinating biography of talented singer-songwriter Gene Clark, whose life and career were quite doomed by mental illness and substance abuse. Clark was forever marked as a member of the now-legendary group The Byrds, which was not entirely a boon to a shy man whose unassertive personality led his contributions to be too easily downplayed or even ignored in a group which also included big egos such as Jim McGuinn and David Crosby. After he left the group, the remainder of his career show more was artistically very successful, but never took off very well commercially, owing to his on-stage awkwardness, lack of effective career management, and a propensity to make important enemies in the music industry. As for the book, it can fairly be called definitive; the author has clearly conducted innumerable interviews and has organized it all into an intriguing whole. The closest thing to a flaw is his habit of identifying speakers by their first name only; many of the figures interviewed are hardly household names even among the hardest-core of music fans, and using last names would have at least allowed the curious reader to consult the index and work backward through the text to ID them. That's the merest of quibbles, though, in a compulsively readable biography. show less

Being the life of frontman Arthur Lee of the rock group Love. Lee was a restless and truculent soul who, unfortunately, spent too much of his middle age incarcerated, battling mental demons, or vainly hoping to surpass or escape the long shadow of his masterpiece, Love's third album, from which the book takes its name. Fortunately, Lee was able to right the ship sufficiently to enjoy a musical comeback in the new century. Lee's stormy life is great fodder for talented rock biographer show more Einarson, and he also accessed and included liberal excerpts from a memoir Lee was working on at the time of his death--though it must be said that, though insightful, the memoir is extremely self-serving even by the low standards of the genre (he spends a lot of time excoriating his bandmates for using drugs, which is like a frog calling someone ugly). It's pretty difficult to write a memoir of a musician which will be of interest to individuals who are not fans, and Einarson does spend substantial time on musical analysis of the group's records, but this book will be of more general interest than most. show less

This history of the beloved and influential rock group consists largely of commentary by group members and others who were around and contains minimal authorial voice. It's a much-needed book; for a group which contained three major talents and launched two megastar musical careers, the group has been poorly documented. As people who are reminiscing will do, the contributors do tend to ramble on, and much of the detail they provide is slightly superfluous, yet for the fan, who can't get show more enough information, this is forgivable. What can't quite be forgiven, or at least ignored, is the book's sloppiness. Names are misspelled, homonyms are confused--the next time the author picks correctly between 'principal' and 'principle' will be the first--and the author insists on frequently identifying the individual who is speaking by first name only, which is fine if it's 'Richie', 'Stephen', or even 'Dewey', but not so great if it's 'Mike'. If the book had an index, you could track the person down, maybe, but it doesn't. Withal, an must-read for devotees. show less