Auf ein Miniaturbild klicken, um zu Google Books zu gelangen.
Lädt ... Eminent Hipsters (2013)von Donald Fagen
Favorite Memoirs (34) Lädt ...
Melde dich bei LibraryThing an um herauszufinden, ob du dieses Buch mögen würdest. Keine aktuelle Diskussion zu diesem Buch. Music biographies come in two flavors: "I'm a miserable guy, but you'll like me a little better after reading this," and "I'm a.m.g. and this biography will ruin my music for you." This sits in the first category -- of *course* Donald Fagen is a grumpy guy, but he's an interesting thinker who reads and listens to everything, so this book is packed with wide-ranging thoughts about how he formed his taste, what art means to him, what art should be. The second half of the book is his unadorned and almost stream of consciousness tour diary, a big tonal shift from the closely argued and sourced first half of the book, but once you settle in, he's ... not good company exactly but honest in a way that feels genuinely respectful. As a bonus, I learned a ton of facts from this book, and got turned on to the amazing music of the Boswell Sisters. ( ) I won this in the Goodreads First Reads giveaway, although I already had it on library hold at the time I entered. I enjoyed it but I'm not sure I would have bought it; the book really is that short, just 159 pages--and half those pages are the 2012 Dukes of September tour diary. I did enjoy the essay portions, particularly the essay on Henry Mancini. Zeige 5 von 5
“Eminent Hipsters” is as bleakly funny about the aging rocker’s plight — What’s he going to write songs about? His kidney stones? — as Steely Dan always has been about its perversely chosen subjects. If you’d like to know what the lyrics to their song “Deacon Blues” were really about, and whether it has to be played at an Alabama tour stop just because it mentions Alabama, take comfort: Mr. Fagen’s cranky new incarnation is just as thornily entertaining as his cranky old one. This book is a piece of pure bliss, and it's not even the book I thought or hoped it would be. When they said a memoir by Donald Fagen was on the way it seemed reasonable to assume that the co-founder of Steely Dan would be reflecting on the run of seven LPs between 1972 and 1980 that constitute one of the greatest oeuvres in American rock, and would thereby shine a light on the famously enigmatic lyrics with which he and his partner Walter Becker used to bamboozle us. For instance, in "Brooklyn Owes the Charmer Under Me", who or what was the charmer? Could it be true that the strolling blues "Chain Lightning", from their 1975 album Katy Lied, was actually about two old Nazis surreptitiously meeting in a Uruguayan square to mark the 40th anniversary of Hitler's rise to power? Oh, and can pretzel logic be taught? It’s characteristic that the author knows what his readers want—the story of Steely Dan—and refuses to give it to them. As you can tell from this, the 65-year-old American, a proud snark in his youth, has matured into a rabidly grumpy old man. But thankfully age has not stripped him of his keen wit and nose for elegant prose. Rock stars are not necessarily sensitive wordsmiths or deep self-analysts by nature – their life stories, documenting a rake’s progress through narcotics and women, tend to be tossed off as record sales dwindle. In his usual contrary fashion, Fagen has decided instead to create a collage of writing made up of critical essays (some previously published) on the cultural heroes or “eminent hipsters” of his youth, combined with his recent tour diary. I’d hoped this book might confirm my notion of Fagen as a dark lord of nebbishy cool. I eagerly anticipated dish about Fagen groupies (surely a unique, beguiling breed of woman) and tales of dissipated, sun-bleached, ‘70s California angst. No dice. For one, Fagen eschews the typical memoir form and instead pieces together something he terms an “art-o-biography.” Auszeichnungen
The "musician, songwriter, and cofounder of Steely Dan reveals the cultural figures and currents that shaped his artistic sensibility, as well as offering a look at his college days and a hilarious account of life on the road"--Dust jacket flap. Keine Bibliotheksbeschreibungen gefunden. |
Aktuelle DiskussionenKeineBeliebte Umschlagbilder
Google Books — Lädt ... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)781.64092The arts Music General principles and musical forms Traditions of music Western popular music {equally instrumental and vocal} Biography And History BiographyKlassifikation der Library of Congress [LCC] (USA)BewertungDurchschnitt:
Bist das du?Werde ein LibraryThing-Autor. |