John Hall is a founding member of the band Orleans. He’s also a guitarist, singer and songwriter who co-wrote the hit songs “Still The One” and “Dance With Me,” as well as Janis Joplin’s “Half Moon.” He was also one of the founders of the NO NUKES project.
These accomplishments and the fact that he survived the music business would make good fodder for a biography. But in Hall’s book Still the One: A Rock’n’Roll Journey To Congress And Back, we learn about the man’s political life, one which saw him become a member of the House of Representatives.
As we learn from the book, he got into environmental causes while living in upstate New York, facing local politics first, then working his wiles and contacts to spread himself into nuclear power concerns. From there, he got deeper into New York state’s political mechanizations, and then in 2006, he won a seat into Congress.
In the book, there is as much information about Hall’s political forays as there is about his coming up through bands in the 60s, the scene in New York City, meeting people like Joplin, and putting Orleans together.
Perhaps, there could have been a few more stories from the road, but Hall balances out the rock with the politics rather well. You’ll get a good idea of the man by the time you’re done reading the breezy Still the One: A Rock’n’Roll Journey to Congress And Back.
~ Ralph Greco, Jr.
