Vintage Rock Memoir Review

Backstage Passes And Backstabbing Bastards: Memoirs Of A Rock 'N' Roll Survivor by Al Kooper

Bowie, Bolan And The Brooklyn Boy by Tony Visconti

If you know the names Al Kooper and Tony Visconti then you know why I am reviewing these bios together. Kooper was the organist on Bob Dylan’s “Like Rolling Stone”; a producer and arranger in New York in the late 60s; a founding member of Blood, Sweat and Tears (not to mention principal songwriter at the very beginning; and Lynyrd Skynyrd’s producer. Tony Visconti is the famed producer of T-Rex (and survivor of Mark Bolan’s ego); friend, producer and co-writer with David Bowie; and owner of one of the most influential home studios in London back in the 70s. Both have written books describing in frank and fun details their lives on either side ‘of the pond’ during the formidable days of rock and roll. You name the group or artist who was making records in the 60s and 70s (and even artists working today), and Kooper or Visconti (or both) were there, playing with and/or produced them.

I ripped through each paperback, delighted by the details and stories. Kooper’s Backstage Passes And Backstabbing Bastards: Memoirs Of A Rock 'N' Roll Survivor dispels more myths (something he claims from the outset of the book), while Visconti’s autobiography reveals as much as you’d ever want to know about Bolan, Bowie and swinging London (he claims Bowie is one of the most creative and classiest cats in rock). I can’t begin to tell you what a delight it was to learn about American popular recording of the 60s and 70s from Kooper and be just as entranced by Visconti’s account of working with bands like the Moody Blues and Sparks in England at around the same time. What both these men do with aplomb is get you right into the recording studio while they arrange, produce, play cajole and sometimes argue through some of the most influential albums in history.

Kooper’s book does give the reader details on equipment and techniques, but his story is centered round his personal journey, his feelings coming to the fore in practically every chapter of the book. I believe this is because Kooper really is a composer and player at heart, forever nagged (and often times frustrated) by this vision and need to express himself through songwriting. Visconti’s account is no less personal really (there are the sad stories of his three failed marriages and the toll that those took on him and his kids), but he reveals what he does from a producer’s perspective more often than not (which works well if you’re like me and hungry for stories of the nuts and bolts of recording way back in the day).

It was a treat to read Backstage Passes And Backstabbing Bastards: Memoirs Of A Rock 'N' Roll Survivor and Bowie, Bolan And The Brooklyn Boy back to back, getting a clear picture of ‘the scene’ as it unfolded in NYC and the UK (though both Kooper and Visonti have flown all over the globe to work). Kooper’s book is an updated pressing of the book first published a decade ago, while Visconti’s book was published in 2007. These books are like history texts from the men who lived through the history! And what you learn about the bands you love and the recordings you cherish is nothing compared to the honest accounts of these two men who have worked hard to earn the right to write books such as these.

~ Ralph Greco, Jr.

• Discuss this article