Snodgrass and Other Illusions by Ian R. MacLeod

I found Snodgrass and Other Illusions (AMZ / BN / KOBO / ITUNES) by accident. I had a credit to redeem for a free book on [defunct ebook site], and Open Road Media is one of the major publishers that accepts it. I've purchased a number of reprints from the house, and when this purple floating mirage of cartoon Lennon appeared on my screen I bit. This is a collection of stories from acclaimed author MacLeod, speculative and science fiction, yet Snodgrass is presented at the forefront not necessarily because of the Beatles link, but due to a recent UK television adaptation. For this review, as we're a rock and roll book blog, I'm only reviewing this story.

Despite my trigger Buy Now finger, I remain wary of Beatles fiction. I've read some interesting takes and I've seen some shit. With the exception of John Lennon and the Mercy Street Cafe, everything I've read stays within the boundaries of band history. Some have classified Snodgrass as science fiction, but it's more alternative history. It's a What If that has a middle-aged Lennon - having missed the acorn planting, war is over if you want it phase - living hand to mouth in Birmingham. Cynthia and Julian exist, but you only hear of them in passing as John left them long ago. Them and the band. In this timeline, creative differences prompt John to quit The Beatles on the cusp of their international breakthrough. In 1990, Lennon can barely buy smokes and The Fabs have plugged along for decades, presumably with no Lennon versus McCartney tension to inspire a break-up.

It's a bleak story, and after reading I still can't decide who is worse off in this speculation: John for having left the band in 1962, or The Beatles for maintaining commercial popularity yet not achieving that level of influence that other bands can't touch. Lennon comes off as grouchy and sardonic, a shell of the younger man whose dark sense of humor is legend.

I liked the story - it's definitely one of the better Beatle fictions I've read. I'm slowly working through the rest of the book to see how other stories compare.

Rating: B

Billy Joel by Fred Schruers

About four years ago, Billy Joel was to have published a memoir. The Book of Joel had gone to the pre-order on Amazon stage, with a cover and final manuscript turned in to the publisher. Two months before go time, Joel pulled the plug. I'll repost his quote as seen in an article about it:

"It took working on writing a book to make me realize that I'm not all that interested in talking about the past, and that the best expression of my life and its ups and downs has been and remains my music," he said.

Schruers had been hired by Joel to help with the project. An interview in Newsday details the journey from memoir to "semi-authorized" biography - the author notes in the book that while Joel contributed thoughts and clarifications, he left Schruers to his work.

Rather extensive, at that. Billy Joel (AMZ) comes together through multiple interviews with friends, associates, ex-wives, and archives of articles and interviews with the Piano Man. The more you read, you do realize Joel had a point with regards to his music telling his story, and Billy Joel could be read in tandem with a binge listen of Joel's music. One would be hard-pressed to think of another American singer/songwriter with an equally extensive, autobiographical catalog. More telling that the story "stopped" twenty years ago with Joel's last album of original work, River of Dreams. Why that is, I won't spoil it.

You come to understand Joel as a private person with a very public career, and while he has no interest in rehashing the past it doesn't make the life lived any less interesting. Schruers documents everything from family struggles in Nazi-occupied Europe to the heartaches turned tabloid gossip: money mismanagement, divorces, substance abuse. Rock and roll problems suffered by one who doesn't necessarily lead the fabled lifestyle to match. It may be why, compared to stories of other musicians, I am more sympathetic toward Joel's struggles. He doesn't have to worry about his next meal, but he's still just like us. 

I enjoyed this book. It is detailed without being gossipy. You might come away realizing you're more of a Joel fan than you initially thought.

ARC received via NetGalley.

Rating: B+

Kathryn Lively is a mystery author and a book blogger. Her latest title is Killing the Kordovas.

Sound Man by Glyn Johns

It's rare that I have found a recent work for this blog that isn't a rock star memoir. While Glyn Johns had a very brief career as a singer (with modest success in non-English speaking Europe), he is known more as a producer and engineer. He had the great fortune of being present at the creation of many now-legendary albums. Can you imagine hearing Led Zeppelin for the time ever, before the records are even pressed? Johns has this enviable place in history, and when you pick up Sound Man (AMZ) you might expect a vivid portrait of 60s and 70s rock as it evolved and how the people who created the sound lived.

You do find it, to some extent. As Johns explains in Sound Man, he came to music with the intent of singing and performing when circumstances led him to the engineer's booth and kept him there for better part of four decades. This book, though, is more technical than dramatic, with Johns focusing less on his personal life (and therefore his relationship with many of the players) in favor of the mechanics of recording music. If you'd prefer to know the equipment and recording methods used to create Let it Be and Sticky Fingers you struck gold. If you want eyewitness accounts of groupies and candy bar urban legends...sorry. At best, you'll receive hints of behavior in the studio and notes on personalities Johns liked and disliked. He doesn't seem afraid to call out a unpleasant person or his opinion of how Phil Spector "puked all over" Let it Be.

If the science behind recording music fascinates you, you will enjoy Sound Man. You won't find any more personal insights on your favorite musicians that can't be read elsewhere, but the light personal touches and style of the book make it easy and interesting to read.

ARC received from the publisher via NetGalley

Rating: B

Kathryn Lively is an author and book blogger.