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bibliomaniac2021's review against another edition
dark
funny
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
3.25
"The Black Stuff" whose title to my drinker's mind evokes pints of Guinness, not the self-destructive antics of famous rock stars. Best of the bunch are the essays on Brian Wilson, Syd Barrett and Neil Young, the last of which provided the author of "Sharkey" most of the information for his ginormous biography. Wilson is portrayed as an adult child completely unprepared for fame; Barrett epitomizes the archetypal fallen rock star mystique; Young, the star who encountered many evils (including Charles Manson, a real-life drugs murder, and heroine madness) but who lived to tell the tale. A lot of these individuals don't fit into the "dark stuff" category, e.g. Iggy Pop ( a personal friend of Kent, and endorser of the book) who may have dive-bombed into rock n' roll chaos, but who now boasts about his financial independence, his score from adverts and films, and his villa in Florida.
To my mind there are three types. Firstly, the dead and gone, tragic 27ers like Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix and Brian Jones. Next, the dark ones who physically survived though never really came back from the outer levels of drug dependence, best example being Syd Barrett who fried his mind and retreated to a Cambridge semi-detached house. Finally, those who drank from the dark pitcher, but managed to survive and lead afterlives, sometimes successfully, Iggy Pop et al. So, no thesis about dark matters, just a small essay coda about self-destructiveness among the rock pantheon.
Hardly surprising to note that Kent ( a category of Group 3, as vividly detailed in his biography) opts for fade away into semi-obscurity rather than the burn-out into nothing choice. For myself, I think this debate is really null and void since we don't have the views of Group 1 who really do comprise the "dark stuff" since it killed them.
To my mind there are three types. Firstly, the dead and gone, tragic 27ers like Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix and Brian Jones. Next, the dark ones who physically survived though never really came back from the outer levels of drug dependence, best example being Syd Barrett who fried his mind and retreated to a Cambridge semi-detached house. Finally, those who drank from the dark pitcher, but managed to survive and lead afterlives, sometimes successfully, Iggy Pop et al. So, no thesis about dark matters, just a small essay coda about self-destructiveness among the rock pantheon.
Hardly surprising to note that Kent ( a category of Group 3, as vividly detailed in his biography) opts for fade away into semi-obscurity rather than the burn-out into nothing choice. For myself, I think this debate is really null and void since we don't have the views of Group 1 who really do comprise the "dark stuff" since it killed them.
morlyre's review against another edition
dark
funny
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
A series of essays by legendary music writer, Nick Kent, at turns lauding and lacerating
jesstherese's review against another edition
Mark bought this for me at Road Records in Dublin, 28 August 2009.
heatherreadsbooks's review
4.0
*Back-dating reviews based on snips I find*
Originally, I had the idea of this book skewed. I thought it was a string of interviews with the people in question throughout this book. At first, it took a little to get into since it wasn’t what I had expected but when I grasped what Kent was actually doing, I read through this book at unimaginable speed.
Profiling many musicians through his own experiences and interviews with others as well as the people in question, he paints so many pictures most would never have considered prior to this. Sid Vicious, for one, is acclaimed for his behaviour at times, but never before have I seen him depicted as ‘an explosive dim wit’. I’m more than accustomed of hearing how intelligent Nancy was, if anything, and linking him with that.
I also never knew how, dare I say, fucked up Brian Wilson was. The longest profiling of the book, it really surprised me to know all the troubles and odd personality traits he held. Honestly, I’ve never looked at the Beach Boys like that. At best, I knew their music and the fact that the Wilson brothers were involved; the Beach Boys were just a happy, successful band I was aware of growing up. You never know the shit the legends go through.
Kurt Cobain is profiled as a cult hero, but Kent depicts him as a man who is never satisfied when his dreams come true. That much is clear to anyone who reads his interviews throughout his life, but history and press dictates him to be a hero and for his death to be a tragedy. I’d never considered it not to be a tragedy, but a blessing for someone who simply did not want to be here.
Nick Kent was capable, and presumably still is, of asking the questions the get the answers people want. My first interview of 2012 was yesterday and the interviewee was someone who should go to rehab – someone his band mates plead with to go to rehab – and I couldn’t bring myself to ask about it. Try as I might, I’m not quite there yet. Nick Kent is a master of his art and, in turn, presented a really good, interesting read.
He did note at the start he asked his favourite journalist to teach him his ways. So, Nick, if you’re reading… I have my notebook ready, come teach me your ways.
Originally, I had the idea of this book skewed. I thought it was a string of interviews with the people in question throughout this book. At first, it took a little to get into since it wasn’t what I had expected but when I grasped what Kent was actually doing, I read through this book at unimaginable speed.
Profiling many musicians through his own experiences and interviews with others as well as the people in question, he paints so many pictures most would never have considered prior to this. Sid Vicious, for one, is acclaimed for his behaviour at times, but never before have I seen him depicted as ‘an explosive dim wit’. I’m more than accustomed of hearing how intelligent Nancy was, if anything, and linking him with that.
I also never knew how, dare I say, fucked up Brian Wilson was. The longest profiling of the book, it really surprised me to know all the troubles and odd personality traits he held. Honestly, I’ve never looked at the Beach Boys like that. At best, I knew their music and the fact that the Wilson brothers were involved; the Beach Boys were just a happy, successful band I was aware of growing up. You never know the shit the legends go through.
Kurt Cobain is profiled as a cult hero, but Kent depicts him as a man who is never satisfied when his dreams come true. That much is clear to anyone who reads his interviews throughout his life, but history and press dictates him to be a hero and for his death to be a tragedy. I’d never considered it not to be a tragedy, but a blessing for someone who simply did not want to be here.
Nick Kent was capable, and presumably still is, of asking the questions the get the answers people want. My first interview of 2012 was yesterday and the interviewee was someone who should go to rehab – someone his band mates plead with to go to rehab – and I couldn’t bring myself to ask about it. Try as I might, I’m not quite there yet. Nick Kent is a master of his art and, in turn, presented a really good, interesting read.
He did note at the start he asked his favourite journalist to teach him his ways. So, Nick, if you’re reading… I have my notebook ready, come teach me your ways.
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