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Review
"A fine meditation on the Canadians who mythologized America." -- "Esquire"
"Hoskyns has managed to make the less glamorous business of being a band come so alive. The attention to fluctuations in group chemistry and morale, on stage and in the studio, is steeped in the author's engaging fascination with the minutiae of how rock music gets made. It makes for a surprisingly refreshing and admirable read." -- "Sunday Times"
"Hoskyns has managed to make the less glamorous business of being a band come so alive. The attention to fluctuations in group chemistry and morale, on stage and in the studio, is steeped in the author's engaging fascination with the minutiae of how rock music gets made. It makes for a surprisingly refreshing and admirable read." -- "Sunday Times"
Book Description
The definitive book on one of the great, iconic bands of the 1960s and 70s
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book about The Band first appeared at around the same time (c. 1993) as This Wheel's on Fire, the memorable account of the group's history written by Levon Helm, its drummer and singer. The two books even use the same photograph on their front covers: the classic shot by Elliott Landy (depicting the five members as stiffly-posed desperados against the backdrop of the Catskill mountains) which did so much to crystalize their image - for example, Elvis Costello says on p210 of this book, "I liked The Band because they had *beards* [...] They didn't look pretty, and they weren't *boys*.".
More pertinently, Hoskyns mentions in his preface that he was unable to interview Helm for this book because he was working on his own account at the time. As a result, this makes more use of the recollections of Robbie Robertson, the guitarist and chief songwriter for The Band. Some of these are extremely insightful - e.g., commenting on their admiration for Booker T. & the MGs, Robertson says (p80), "It seemed that there was no other band in the world who had fathomed that instead of doing a bunch of [stuff] between the verses of a song, it was better to do nothing and just come back in. They kept things real tight, and that's what we tried to do."
Further comparisons with Helm's excellent book would be odious, but Hoskyns is clearly able to take a more detached view of the group's rise and fall, giving praise where it's due (e.g. to their first two extraordinary albums) and being commendably strict where their later work doesn't come up to scratch (this includes Robertson's solo work, notwithstanding the extensive help the author received from him). Somewhat surprisingly, Hoskyns is also unimpressed with the work of fellow journalist Griel Marcus when he writes about The Band: thus, commenting on his essay in the revered collection Mystery Train - which was the introduction to the group for me, and probably many others - Hoskyns (rather gleefully) quotes Robertson as saying he had 'no idea' what he was talking about (p419). All in all however, this is an authoritative account of this important but enigmatic group, which is to be strongly recommended to anyone who's interested in finding out more about them.
More pertinently, Hoskyns mentions in his preface that he was unable to interview Helm for this book because he was working on his own account at the time. As a result, this makes more use of the recollections of Robbie Robertson, the guitarist and chief songwriter for The Band. Some of these are extremely insightful - e.g., commenting on their admiration for Booker T. & the MGs, Robertson says (p80), "It seemed that there was no other band in the world who had fathomed that instead of doing a bunch of [stuff] between the verses of a song, it was better to do nothing and just come back in. They kept things real tight, and that's what we tried to do."
Further comparisons with Helm's excellent book would be odious, but Hoskyns is clearly able to take a more detached view of the group's rise and fall, giving praise where it's due (e.g. to their first two extraordinary albums) and being commendably strict where their later work doesn't come up to scratch (this includes Robertson's solo work, notwithstanding the extensive help the author received from him). Somewhat surprisingly, Hoskyns is also unimpressed with the work of fellow journalist Griel Marcus when he writes about The Band: thus, commenting on his essay in the revered collection Mystery Train - which was the introduction to the group for me, and probably many others - Hoskyns (rather gleefully) quotes Robertson as saying he had 'no idea' what he was talking about (p419). All in all however, this is an authoritative account of this important but enigmatic group, which is to be strongly recommended to anyone who's interested in finding out more about them.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
There is a reason, why they were called The Band, and the reason is still valid, and the book communicates that great.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
12 reviews
37 of 41 people found the following review helpful
Terrible book that should be in a gossip section.
4 Jan 2008
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book is full of blatant and unacceptable inaccuracies. For instance, it has the wrong year for Robbie Robertson's birthday. It plagarizes a quote out of Levon Helm's book (a quote by Levon Helm), paraphrases it inaccurately and attributes it to Robertson. (pg 401). It misstates the name of F.S. Walcotts Rabits Foot Minstrels etc. etc. Quotes are taken from the interviews in the Last Waltz and deceptively placed here as if they were obtained by some research done by the author and again they're not 100% verbatim despite the quotation marks. There is an immense amount of conjecture and unwarranted personal opinion interjected throughout. The inaccuracies completely destroy all credibility of this book. Even Robbie Robertson stated in a Rolling Stone interview that he read the first 30 pages and had to put it away because of all the mistakes. This is a third rate product. There are better books to read to learn about the Band.
21 of 24 people found the following review helpful
A Classic Book, Revised, Updated and Expanded
13 Nov 2006
Format:Paperback
First written some years ago, this book has long been out of print. Now Hal Leonard has finally issued a new revised and expanded edition. It contains all the information from the original book plus updating the information on the members of the band. This includes an obituary of Rick Danko and a brand-new interview with Robbie Robertson.
With the years that Mr. Hoskyns has put into this book, it is likely to remain the definitive book on 'The Band' and on the early years of rock. The Band pioneered not only music, but many other things. Here were a group of young men that were suddenly thrust into the spotlight. Here was a band that put out two of the most significant albums of our time, and then fell apart.
This book chronicles the interplay between the members of the band that led to their breaking up, it talks about the suicide of Richard Manuel, and of course the life that Rick Danko lived with drugs and pain killers until his fatal heart attack.
This is one of those books that is literally a labor of love by a professional writer of course, but also by a devoted fan.
With the years that Mr. Hoskyns has put into this book, it is likely to remain the definitive book on 'The Band' and on the early years of rock. The Band pioneered not only music, but many other things. Here were a group of young men that were suddenly thrust into the spotlight. Here was a band that put out two of the most significant albums of our time, and then fell apart.
This book chronicles the interplay between the members of the band that led to their breaking up, it talks about the suicide of Richard Manuel, and of course the life that Rick Danko lived with drugs and pain killers until his fatal heart attack.
This is one of those books that is literally a labor of love by a professional writer of course, but also by a devoted fan.
16 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Third-rate Hack-job
15 Aug 2009
Format:Paperback
Unfortunately, this book is a third-rate hack-job, filled with misquotes, wrong information, speculation presented as fact and lots of plain old-fashioned bad writing. The Band deserve much better than this, and hopefully someday someone will write a much better book about them.
Levon Helm's "This Wheel's On Fire" is an infinitely better read, showing Helm's deep South musical upbringing, Levon and Ronnie Hawkins' being inspired as kids by Sonny Boy Williamson and the King Biscuit Flour Time, through their many wild nights on the road as The Hawks, through hitting the big time and working with Dylan, playing at Woodstock, The Last Waltz, etc....
"This Wheel", of course, presents a subjective view. Helm and Robertson, for example, have become completely estranged and Helm's book shows only his side. I was hoping that Hoskyns' book would be a sober balance to "This Wheel,' but I was sorely disappointed. It is so poorly written as to be almost unreadable, and Hoskyns doesn't seem to use a fact-checker or proofreader. He does, however, steal several lengthy quotes from Helm's book without attribution, as well as quoting Greil Marcus repeatedly--while also belittling him. Weird. A 'rare interview' with Robertson, presented as an appendix, is little more than a chance for him to plug a new 5 cd Band compilation. Yawn.
If you're interested in The Band, I recommend reading Helm's vastly superior book, and leaving this disappointing, half-assed attempt alone. Sure, Levon's book is not objective--but it is a great read and paints a vivid, finely detailed portrait of life in The Band.
For the record, I read Hoskyns' "Hotel California" and thought it was pretty good. Not particularly well-written, but passable and provided lots of presumably good information on the whole Laurel Canyon scene.
"Across the Great Divide" just sucked.
Levon Helm's "This Wheel's On Fire" is an infinitely better read, showing Helm's deep South musical upbringing, Levon and Ronnie Hawkins' being inspired as kids by Sonny Boy Williamson and the King Biscuit Flour Time, through their many wild nights on the road as The Hawks, through hitting the big time and working with Dylan, playing at Woodstock, The Last Waltz, etc....
"This Wheel", of course, presents a subjective view. Helm and Robertson, for example, have become completely estranged and Helm's book shows only his side. I was hoping that Hoskyns' book would be a sober balance to "This Wheel,' but I was sorely disappointed. It is so poorly written as to be almost unreadable, and Hoskyns doesn't seem to use a fact-checker or proofreader. He does, however, steal several lengthy quotes from Helm's book without attribution, as well as quoting Greil Marcus repeatedly--while also belittling him. Weird. A 'rare interview' with Robertson, presented as an appendix, is little more than a chance for him to plug a new 5 cd Band compilation. Yawn.
If you're interested in The Band, I recommend reading Helm's vastly superior book, and leaving this disappointing, half-assed attempt alone. Sure, Levon's book is not objective--but it is a great read and paints a vivid, finely detailed portrait of life in The Band.
For the record, I read Hoskyns' "Hotel California" and thought it was pretty good. Not particularly well-written, but passable and provided lots of presumably good information on the whole Laurel Canyon scene.
"Across the Great Divide" just sucked.
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