Disclosure: I received a review copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion. Thank you Biblioasis for sending me a copy of the book!
Lately, books have been taking over my life, whether it’s reviewing them, reading them for research, or writing my own. This year has been a year packed full of reading and writing, and in the process, a lot of learning! When I got an email from Canadian book publisher Biblioasis asking me if I’d like to review a book of 12 different stories of “poets with guitars”, I sent an enthusiastic yes, upon seeing names of musicians whose work I love like Alex Chilton (The Box Tops, Big Star), Nico, Duane Allman (The Allman Brothers), Danny Kirwan (Fleetwood Mac), and Nick Drake. There were also musicians whose stories are told that I had an interest in and whose music I’ve probably heard and know of, but didn’t know where to begin like The Staple Singers, Captain Beefheart, and Muddy Waters. There were also some new names for me like James Booker, Handsome Ned, Lee Mavers (I know the La’s song “There She Goes”, but didn’t know his name), and Duster Bennett, so this book was also an education for me too.
Recently, I reviewed Tim Durling’s guide to Fleetwood Mac and a while back I wrote blog posts about classic rock musicians who are published poets and the best “flops” in rock and roll, so I had a feeling I’d like the book going into it. The debate over songwriters being poets is as old as time. Personally, I think song lyrics are poetry, because why not? Poetry is moving and it’s basically really good writing, artistic. Song lyrics can be the same. You can take my opinion with a grain of salt since I was the type to fall asleep in English class because if it wasn’t about The Beatles, I didn’t care! Which I think was a mistake on my part, but it didn’t help that my English teachers would make reading feel more like a chore than a pleasure.
As you can expect from the title, you’ll be seeing comparisons to poets and authors whose work you might have read in English class. Even if you’re not familiar with their work, the most important thing here is the storytelling about a dozen geniuses in music. Some whose work you’re familiar with, but others you may not know. It is also a sequel to the 2016 book Lives of the Poets (With Guitars), which talks about Gene Clark, Ronnie Lane, The Ramones, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Townes Van Zandt, Little Richard, Alan Wilson, Willie P. Bennett, Gram Parsons, Hound Dog Taylor, Paul Siebel/Willis Alan Ramsey, and John Hartford.
It’s a well curated, eclectic bunch of musicians and I think there’s music for everyone in this book whether it’s power pop, R&B, proto-gothic rock, gospel, avant-garde, country rock, blues rock, folk rock, or country blues. Each musician holds a significance to the author, so there’s a lot of passion and enthusiasm in the storytelling. There’s also a good mix of eras with the music being from the 1940s-1990, so about 50+ years of music history being covered. That’s what really makes someone a good music critic to me: an open mind, diverse and eclectic tastes, and having a passion for what you’re writing about. In general, these musicians are not ones whose music you’ll hear every day on classic rock radio nor are they ones who have been talked about to death. For the most part, they’re pioneers, mavericks, renegades, dreamers, people ahead of their time, or perhaps born too late. The only critique I’d give is I wish the chapters were in chronological order, but that’s just how I like reading books about music.
Each of the 12 chapters focuses on a different musician and the approach is storytelling, all about their lives and their music. Ray Robertson’s storytelling skills are excellent and I felt like each story would make a great film or documentary. Think of each chapter as a Behind The Music of sorts, but with a poet, outsider, rebel sort of angle. Just like in Behind The Music, the musicians’ stories are told warts and all. Credit and praise is given where it’s due and criticism is given when deserved, particularly on any personality flaws, weaknesses, or lacklustre releases. Each chapter goes into detail about the musician’s life and is very well researched. You can really see how passionate the author is about each artist and I think he does each of them proud and makes a great case for why you should listen to them and why their music is important artistically and historically.
Each chapter is self-contained, but you can see common themes throughout of the outsider, loner, misfit, eccentric, gone too soon, dark moments, soulfulness, and of course poetry. The great thing about each chapter being self-contained is you don’t have to read them in order and if you want to move on, don’t worry, the next chapter will be about something completely different. This book is quite lengthy at almost 300 pages, so most chapters are quite long, but with the price being £12.45, $18.95 US, or $25 Canadian, it’s great value.
Overall it’s an excellent book with a dozen biographies of under-appreciated musicians. If you’re a fan of poetry and mid 20th century music, you’ll love this book. If you relate to Squidward Tentacles’ quote, “Hello, you’ve reached the house of unrecognised talent” from the SpongeBob episode “Band Geeks”, you’ll especially love this book. Sometimes it’s a bit close to home, but I find inspiration in these stories. Keep creating and keep sharing your work, hopefully it finds the right audience! If you’re a fan of my long reads classic rock storytelling approach on The Diversity of Classic Rock, then this is the perfect book for you. It’s not often I see books like this, and they’re real treasures. One more important message I want to share, show appreciation for people while they’re still alive.
The Musicians of Dust: More Lives of the Poets (With Guitars) In a Nutshell:
For your benefit, here’s a little information about each of the musicians discussed in the book. I’ll give a short bio of a couple of sentences and share a couple of my favourite songs of theirs to get you started on your listening journey:
Alex Chilton:
This Memphis-born singer-songwriter got a hit at just 16 years old singing on The Box Tops’ “The Letter”. Inspired by bands like The Beatles, Beach Boys, The Kinks, and The Who, he and Chris Bell formed Big Star and released one of the best “flops” of all time, #1 Record. Chris Bell left the group after that album flopped, but Chilton continued and released two more albums with Big Star, Radio City and Third/Sister Lovers. Decades later “In The Street” would become the theme song to That 70s Show.
Songs I recommend: “The Letter”, “The Ballad of El Goodo”, “Thirteen”, and “When My Baby’s Beside Me”.
James Booker:
New Orleans born R&B pianist who had a flamboyant, eccentric stage persona, inspired by Little Richard and Esquerita. People called him the Black Liberace. He was a child prodigy, playing classically trained piano from the age of 6. At just 14 years old, he released his debut single “Doin’ The Hambone”. Finally in 1960, he had a minor hit with “Gonzo”, which reached #3 on the R&B charts. In the 70s, he was a sideman for artists like Ringo Starr, John Mayall, The Doobie Brothers, and Labelle. In the late 70s, he toured Europe, where he found many fans of jazz and R&B.
Songs I recommend: “Gonzo”, “Eleanor Rigby/My Love/Let It Be” (Beatles Medley), “Black Minute Waltz”, and “Big Nick”.
Nico:
Born in Germany, she became a model as a teenager and moved to Paris. She appeared in a few movies such as For The First Time, La Dolce Vita, and A Man Named Rocca. Before becoming a musician, she was the cover model for jazz pianist Bill Evan’s 1962 album Moon Beams. After meeting Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones, she recorded her first single in 1965, “I’m Not Sayin’”. She also met Bob Dylan and she recorded his composition “I’ll Keep It With Mine”. This was on her debut album Chelsea Girl. While in New York she met Andy Warhol and joined the Velvet Underground, singing lead vocals on three songs on the cult classic album The Velvet Underground & Nico: “Femme Fatale”, “All Tomorrow’s Parties”, and “I’ll Be Your Mirror”. In 1968, she released the proto-gothic The Marble Index, named after a William Wordsworth quote. She released two albums in the 70s: Desertshore and The End… and two albums in the 80s Drama of Exile and Camera Obscura.
Songs I recommend: “Femme Fatale”, “All Tomorrow’s Parties”, “These Days”, “No One Is There”, and “The End” (Doors cover).
The Staple Singers:
Gospel singing group formed in Chicago by Mississippi-born Roebuck “Pops” Staples with his children Pervis, Mavis, and Yvonne. Pops played guitar and that played an important role in the sound of the group and Mavis became the star of the group. Bob Dylan is a famous fan of the group, calling “Uncloudy Day” one of the “most mysterious thing” he’d ever heard. He had a big crush on Mavis Staples. Their early work is gospel, but by the late 60s when they signed to Stax Records they became more soul and R&B influenced to appeal more to mainstream audiences with hits like “Respect Yourself” and “I’ll Take You There”. They later signed to Curtis Mayfield’s label Curtom and performed with The Band on The Last Waltz, singing “The Weight”.
Songs I recommend: “It Rained Children”, “Uncloudy Day”, and “Each Day”.
Captain Beefheart:
Jack Black summed him up well in The School of Rock, labelling him as the genre “?” on the rock and roll chart in the film. His music is odd yet influential and even infamous. You could think of Trout Mask Replica as the Finnegan’s Wake of rock music, since people have heard of it, but many can’t finish it. I know I couldn’t! Born just weeks after his one-time friend, eternal rival Frank Zappa, he was born Don Glen Vliet in Glendale, California. His biggest influences were blues and free jazz.
Songs I recommend (more accessible): “Diddy Wah Diddy”, “Zig Zag Wanderer”, “Abba Zaba”, “I’m Gonna Booglarize You, Baby”.
Handsome Ned:
Country singer-songwriter from Canada. He was a local hero in Toronto. While his career was short due to his death at the age of 29, he paved the way for the country and roots rock revival scene in Canada, inspiring groups like Blue Rodeo, Prairie Oyster, Skydiggers, and Cowboy Junkies. He grew up listening to Iggy Pop and the Velvet Underground, but later got into country music and formed his own band The Velours. Like Gram Parsons, he died young of an overdose. Sadly, he never released an album.
Songs I recommend: “Put The Blame On Me”, “I’ve Come To Get My Baby Out of Jail”, and “In Spite of the Danger”.
Duane Allman:
Born in Nashville, Tennessee, he and his younger brother Gregg moved around a lot around the south, living in Virginia, Florida, and Georgia. In the early 60s, the two brothers started playing in bands. Before they were called the Allman Brothers Band (who were really more than just a Southern rock band, they had a lot of jazz and R&B influences), they were known as The Escorts, The Allman Joys, and Hour Glass. As Hour Glass, they recorded two albums in LA: Hour Glass and Power of Love. After an accident, Gregg bought him a Taj Mahal album and inspired by that he used a Coricidin pill bottle to play slide guitar and he became a master of it so quickly. In the late 60s, Duane Allman worked as a session musician, playing guitar for Wilson Pickett, Clarence Carter, Aretha Franklin, Laura Nyro, Delaney & Bonnie, and others. Outside of the Allman Brothers, one of his most famous contributions is the riff to “Layla” and the slide guitar on that song. The Allman Brothers are another sibling group with a bit of true crime in their lore: when the Duane and Gregg were young, their father Willis Allman was murdered during an armed robbery and in 1970 their friend and roadie Twiggs Lyndon stabbed a promoter to death for refusing to pay The Allman Brothers. In Crime of the Century, I also talk about drummer Jim Gordon’s story from prolific session drummer to murdering his mother in 1983 during a psychotic episode. Duane Allman died at just 24 years old in a motorcycle accident, a year after overdosing on opium. His bandmate Berry Oakley died almost exactly one year later not far from where Duane died in a motorcycle accident.
Songs I recommend: “Whipping Post”, “Midnight Rider”, “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed”, “Layla”, and “Mountain Jam”.
Lee Mavers:
Member of Liverpool jangle/indie pop band The La’s, best known for the one hit wonder “There She Goes”. Some people think the song is about heroin, but Lee Mavers denies this. In the 80s there was a jangle pop revival and you could say this was a precursor to Britpop, which was right around the corner, taking a lot of inspiration from 60s British Invasion music.
Song I recommend: “There She Goes”
Duster Bennett:
He was born Anthony Bennett in Wales, and for obvious reasons he couldn’t go by Tony Bennett, so he became Duster Bennett. In the 60s, there was a British blues boom and many classic rockers were part of this scene. If you’re a fan of Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, John Mayall, and Peter Green, why not check out Duster Bennett? He crossed paths with the latter two, playing in the Bluesbreakers during their 1970 US tour and Peter Green gifted him a Les Paul and helped him get a record deal with Blue Horizon.
Songs I recommend: “It’s A Man Down There”, “Worried Mind”, “Things Are Changing” and “Country Jam”.
Danny Kirwan:
A musician whose star shone bright at a young age, but burnt out due to poor mental health and ended up homeless for most of his life. At just 18 years old he joined Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac and played an important role in the band’s early years until he was fired in 1972. His instrumentals were excellent. He released a few solo albums that went nowhere in the 70s and by the end of the decade he left the music industry for good.
Songs I recommend: “Coming Your Way”, “Oh Well”, “Station Man”, “Jewel Eyed Judy”, “Earl Gray”, “Sands of Time”, and “Dragonfly”.
Nick Drake:
One of the greatest folk-rock singer-songwriters of the 70s. A genius songwriter who inspired many, but didn’t know it because he overdosed on antidepressants at the age of 26. He was born into an affluent family and raised in a large house in Tanworth-In-Arden, Warwickshire. His family were creative. His mother played piano and sang and his sister Gabrielle became a successful actress. His parents had high hopes for him, sending him to expensive private schools. He got into Cambridge, but dropped out to focus on music instead. Inspired by Bob Dylan, Donovan, Van Morrsion, Phil Ochs, and Leonard Cohen, he became a folk musician. He got signed to Island Records and released three albums that went nowhere: Five Leaves Left, Bryter Layter, and Pink Moon, even though his albums were liked by the few critics that reviewed them. John Martyn wrote “Solid Air” about him.
My favourite lyric of his: “And now we rise, and we are everywhere.”
Songs I recommend: “Three Hours”, “Cello Song”, “The Thoughts of Mary Jane”, “Hazey Jane II”, “Hazey Jane I”, “Bryter Layter”, “Northern Sky”, “Pink Moon”, “Road”, “Which Will”, and “From The Morning”.
Muddy Waters:
This blues musician born McKinley Morganfield in Mississippi would become the Father of Modern Chicago Blues after WWII. He grew up on a plantation and was raised by his grandmother. His biggest musical influences were Robert Johnson and Son House. In 1941 ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax travelled to Mississippi to record folk and blues musicians and when he asked about musicians whose music should be recorded and preserved, people kept recommending a guy named “Muddy”. At first, he was sceptical and thought that Lomax was the Feds, but after proving that his purpose was to record music and offering him $20 and two copies of the recording, he played for him. A couple of years later, he moved to Chicago and balanced working blue collar jobs and performing live. Early on, he opened for Big Bill Broonzy. Because his acoustic guitar was too quiet for noisy bars and venues, he bought an electric guitar and formed an electric blues band. When rock and roll took over in the late 50s, he started touring Europe, where crowds adored him. Many of his songs became standards covered by rock bands and are referenced in rock songs.
Songs I recommend: “Mannish Boy”, “Rollin’ Stone”, “Baby Please Don’t Go”, “Forty Days and Forty Nights”, “You Shook Me”, “I’m Your Hoochie Coochie Man”, and “Got My Mojo Working”.
You can follow Ray Robertson on his website, Facebook, and Instagram. You can buy Dust: More Lives of the Poets (With Guitars) on the Biblioasis website.
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