Author: Peter Burton
Year: 1977
ISBN: 450-03429-1
Price: £3.50
New
English Library, UK
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THE
FIRST and only book ever to be officially sanctioned by Rod's
manager, who at the time was Billy Gaff. This is a luxury coffee
table type job, but poorly designed and annoyingly square shaped!
The book reveals little of Rod's early musical escapades, but
does delve into what made Rod go into music in the first places
with references to his childhood musical influences. There is
much trivia along the way: we learn that Rod's mum couldn't
remember him ever doing any homework and that he was Captain
of the school cricket and football teams. The biggest revelation,
however, is the news of Rod's illegitimate daughter. There is
much analysis of Rod's songs and the songs he covers but little
critical comment, making the book guilty of over-praise.
There are some pretty good photographs, but they are annoyingly
out of order, so the reader views seventies photographs whilst
reading about the sixties, or reads about Rod and Britt whilst
a photograph of Rod and Ron accompanies the text. Burton was
an occasional writer for the music press and a close friend
of Billy Gaff's, especially commissioned to write the book.
This means we only get to find out what they want us to know.
The one unique feature is a lyrics section which contains words
to all the original songs from the Faces and solo albums up
to 'A Night On The Town'. Although some of the words have been
misinterpreted and are ridiculously inaccurate - 'Three Time
Loser' suffers in particular.
Finding a good condition copy of this book will be hard. Due
to its poor design, it has the tendency to fall to bits after
a few years! If you can find one, be prepared to part with at
least £20.00.
John Gray
Smiler rating: C+
Reader rating:  (3 votes) |
