Book Reviews

by Max Ink Staff Writers


"AC/DC FAQ" by Susan masino

AC/DC FAQ
Author: Susan Masino
Review By Sal Serio
Publisher: Backbeat Books
Posted: Apr 2015
(9301) Page Views

There’s probably no one on the planet more qualified to write the ultimate fan’s guide to AC/DC than Madison journalist Susan Masino. Having first met the iconic and diminutive Australian rock group in 1977 during their first tour of the United States, Masino struck up a friendly rapport with the band, which has lasted over the years. Additionally, Masino has developed a professional relationship with AC/DC, having interviewed them a few times, including, perhaps, the only interview with the entire band at once - including Bon Scott - in late 1977. Masino also published the book “Let There Be Rock: The Story Of AC/DC” in 2006.

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Punk Rock Blitzkrieg - My Life As A Ramone
Author: Marky Ramone with Rich Herschlag
Review By Michael Sherer
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Posted: Mar 2015
(5950) Page Views

Born Marc Bell in ‘56 in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, NY, the drummer that’s best known as Marky Ramone certainly paid his dues before becoming a Ramone in ‘78. His very honest and thorough new autobiography tells his story all the way through. We learn that as a member of one of America’s earliest bands to define the heavy metal genre, Dust, Marc tasted a bit of real success with them, as they had a record deal with the Karma Sutra/Buddha label and some good opening tour slots. Marc also played with Wayne County, who would go on to be Jayne County, America’s first transsexual act. There was also time and a record with Richard Hell and the Voidoids. Hell was the first to wear torn clothing with safety pins, and influenced the whole punk scene in England, especially the Sex Pistols.

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The Haight: Love, Rock, And Revolution - The Photography of Jim Marshall
Author: Jim Marshall with Joel Selvin
Review By Michael Sherer
Publisher: Insight Editions
Posted: Jan 2015
(6255) Page Views

One of the most important factors of Jim Marshall’s great success in capturing the life and times of the Haight-Asbury area of San Francisco during its hippie/psychedelic ascent in the pivotal years of ‘65 to ‘68 is that Marshall had lived in the general area since he was two years old, having moved there from his birthplace of Chicago in ‘36. Marshall had only lived elsewhere for two years, that being NYC from ‘62 to ‘64, where he was very busy on assignments from Columbia, Atlantic and ABC/Paramount Records, essentially launching his photographic pursuit which became a lifelong career. Marshall had taken his first photos in ‘59.

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Jack Nicholson

Jack Nicholson

Big Shots - Rock Legends and Hollywood Icons
Author: Guy Webster
Review By Michael Sherer
Publisher: Insight Editions
Posted: Jan 2015
(10622) Page Views

Guy Webster grew up in Beverly Hills during the 1950’s and early ‘60’s, and was the son of Oscar-winning lyricist Paul Francis Webster. This afforded Webster an inside view and easy access to the evolving entertainment world at a level that very few of his peers enjoyed. Webster was in L.A. to see it go through much change and expansion during the ‘60’s and ‘70’s, and was of the same generation of myriad talented and charismatic people beginning their careers at about the same time that Webster was his.

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Joe Perry, with David Ritz - ROCKS - My Life In and Out of Aerosmith
Author: Joe Perry with David Ritz
Review By Michael Sherer
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Posted: Oct 2014
(5232) Page Views

With Aerosmith being such a successful, long lasting, and interesting band of modern times, I was quite curious as to what guitarist and songwriter Joe Perry’s life story would be like. Perry, 64, is refreshingly honest, introspective and thorough in this 371 page book. Many interesting and life spanning photos are included.

Perry takes us back to his childhood in Hopedale, Massachusetts, a small town in the Eastern region of the state. There’s ample information about his family, which played a big role in his life. Perry father’s side was Portuguese and his mother’s was Italian. Neither was at all musical, with Joe’s father being an accountant and his mother being a high school gym teacher. They were supportive, both morally and financially, during Perry’s formative years as he ambitiously pursued his musical goals. This essentially began through Perry having neighbors with teenage boys that played guitar. Hearing and seeing them lured him in to a lifelong love affair with guitars and rock and roll. The same occurred for Perry with the Beatles when they appeared on the Ed Sullivan show in ‘64, which served as a major catalyst for his longing to be in a band. Blues based rock was what became Perry’s muse, with Peter Green of Fleetwood Mac being a prime influence.

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Chris Stein/Negative - Me, Blondie, and the Advent of Punk
Author: Chris Stein
Review By Michael Sherer
Publisher: Rizzoli
Posted: Oct 2014
(4095) Page Views

While Chris Stein is best known as the co guitarist and songwriter in Blondie, the band he cofounded with Deborah Harry in ‘74, he was photographing before he started playing guitar. Stein, 64, who grew up in Brooklyn, NYC, began photographing at the age of 8. Stein attended the School Of Visual Arts (SVA) in Manhattan in ‘66 and ‘67 as he was finding himself. He then left “to be a hippie,” as he says. The environs and ethos of the the Village, Washington Square Park, The Bowery and downtown Manhattan in general shaped Stein’s own identity. Returning to SVA at the dawn of the ‘70’s as he was newly into his 20’s, Stein decidedly was a photography major. Seeing flyers for a relatively new band called New York Dolls in the lobby bulletin boards of SVA, Stein was curious about their over the top drag/androgynous looks. He went to see them at the long defunct Mercer Arts Center in downtown Manhattan. Opening for them was a another new band called Magic Tramps. Stein quickly fell in with them, especially their late lead singer Eric Emerson. It was Emerson that led Stein to the first performance of a girl group that the mother of Eric’s child, Elda Gentile, had founded. They were called the Stillettoes, and featured Deborah Harry, then unknown. Chris was smitten with her, and in short time was able to join the group as guitarist, mainly to be near Harry. Friendship turned to romance between them, and they would go on to form Blondie together not long after. 40 years on, and long after their romance ended in the late ‘80’s, they’re still best friends and business partners in the revived Blondie of ‘97, after have broken up in ‘82.

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Rock And Roll Stories - Lynn Goldsmith
Author: Lynn Goldsmith
Review By Michael Sherer
Publisher: Abrams books
Posted: Dec 2013
(5275) Page Views

Lynn Goldsmith’s first and clear choice for subject matter to photograph is musicians. She’s been capturing them in a compelling and candid fashion for fifty years. (Goldsmith has a photo of hers published of the legs and feet of the Beatles in their Cuban-heeled boots in ‘64, at the height of Bealtlemania.)

Goldsmith’s newly issued 399 page, large-sized hardcover book is the most complete retrospective of her work yet. The cover dons a striking image of her then live-in boyfriend Bruce Springsteen. It was snapped in ‘78, by which time Springteen had become a major star since breaking through three years prior with his Born To Run record. The leather jacket he’s wearing is Goldsmith’s, and after she had sold off some of her clothing in ’96, which included the jacket, it wound up in the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame Museum in Cleveland.

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I Slept With Joey Ramone

I Slept With Joey Ramone

I Slept with Joey Ramone:  A Family Memoir
Author: Mickey Leigh with Legs McNeil
Review By Jeff Muendel
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Posted: Mar 2010
(23819) Page Views

Although the title of this book suggests a sexual connotation, it is offered in humor. It is written by Joey Ramone’s brother, Mickey Leigh Hyman, and the title refers to the protection his brother offered him growing up. Born Jeffrey Hyman in Queens, New York, Joey Ramone was the tall, quirky lead singer of The Ramones. Often, when young Mickey was scared, his older brother (the future Joey Ramone) would let him sleep in his bed with him. When the Ramones released their debut album in 1976, it ushered in punk rock as a complete artistic entity. The Ramones, fast, ugly, and draped in leather, spoke to the angry youth of the seventies and inspired future bands for decades to come.

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London's Burning: True Adventures on the Front Lines of Punk 1976-1977 by Dave Thompson

London's Burning: True Adventures on the Front Lines of Punk 1976-1977 by Dave Thompson

London’s Burning: True Adventures on the Front Lines of Punk 1976-1977
Author: Dave Thompson
Review By Jeff Muendel
Publisher: Chicago Review Press
Posted: Jan 2010
(19102) Page Views

Dave Thompson is a fun and energetic writer, and this is the tale of his experience in the London punk scene of ‘76 and ‘77. It is essentially the story of British punk rock as it happened, stripped of hindsight and future legend, and laid bare. Bands bubbling into existence include The Damned during their early gigs and The Sex Pistols swearing through their prime-time television debut. Lesser known groups like The Adverts and Tom Robinson Band are covered, the latter of which are represented by a story wherein the group leads a club full of skinheads through a sing-along anthem called “Glad to Be Gay.” Yes, there are some seriously wild and funny antics.

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The Velvet Underground: New York Art

The Velvet Underground: New York Art

The Velvet Underground: New York Art
Author: Johan Kugelberg
Review By Jeff Muendel
Publisher: Rizzoli Press
Posted: Dec 2009
(8628) Page Views

Documenting the formative years of the band, Kugelberg includes newly published photographs starting with the group’s first live show in New York. Andy Warhol is referenced, especially with regard to his Velvet Underground cover and poster designs. Lou Reed’s handwritten music and lyrics are included, and underground press clippings, flyers, handbills, and posters, are added as well to complete a uniquely comprehensive survey of the first rock group ever to transcend genre and embrace subterranean American culture.

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Cassette From My Ex: Stories and Soundtracks of Lost Loves

Cassette From My Ex: Stories and Soundtracks of Lost Loves

Cassette From My Ex: Stories and Soundtracks of Lost Loves
Author: Jason Bitner
Review By Jeff Muendel
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Posted: Dec 2009
(5956) Page Views

Mix tapes have been described as “an art form that combines the skills of a DJ with the intimacy of a letter.” Today, the cassette tape has been rendered obsolete, and the art of crafting these sonic calling cards has been relegated to back of the closet, thirty-something nostalgia. Now, thanks to Jason Bitner, the middle-aged can relive lost youth and lost loves. In this book, sixty writers and musicians wax poetic about their own experiences with these charming artifacts and the relationships that inspired them.

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Led Zeppelin: The Neal Preston Collection

Led Zeppelin: The Neal Preston Collection

Led Zeppelin: The Neal Preston Collection
Author: Neal Preston
Review By Jeff Muendel
Publisher: Omnibus Press
Posted: Dec 2009
(9455) Page Views

Another coffee table book, this photo collection focuses on one of the greatest (and also thoroughly overplayed) bands ever, the mighty Led Zeppelin, While many of the photographs have been widely published, the collection is nonetheless a great record of Zep at their peak.

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