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Product Description
Review
"an involving and frequently hilarious account" (South Wales Argus )
FINANCIAL TIMES
"[A] genial memoir'
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I'm a bass owner and as such have only ever really been good enough to be in bands that I actually started. Guy Pratt is a proper bass player and has been asked (and paid) by some of the biggest names in rock and pop history to bring his great ability and charm to their music. It becomes apparant from his book that although his undoubted ability is important, his sardonic sense of humour, dry observations, superhuman constitution and tolerance to dubious chemicals have also gone a long way to placing him in a privileged position to document some of the greatest stories of pop and rock royalty ever told. Unlike many who read this book - I didn't come to it as Pink Floyd fan - more because I saw his live show of the same name. I've seen the show twice and it is billiantly funny highlighted by the fact that he actually plays his instrument (which quite frankly is awe inspiring). I was concerned how it would translate into the written word without the sonic interludes. I have to say I was delighted, the book is subtly different in tone and although still very funny, it is more touching and heartfelt giving a deeper insight into what has put Guy's bottom end on so many legendary performances and recordings. I can't recommend the show or this book enough - treat yourself.
13 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
One must forgive bassist/author/comedian Guy Pratt the odd rock star outburst (eg throwing bottles against the wall of a west end night club while shouting "Who cares? I am in Pink Floyd!") because while the overall tone of this rather charming book is colourfully revelatory, chemically excessive and genuinely funny, there's also a pervading sense of old fashioned gratitude at play. Pratt, a court jester amongst rock royalty, writes with the disbelieving enthusiasm of someone who has sneaked into the back stage area and blagged a laminate but is pretty sure he is going to get chucked out by a heavy at any minute. His favourite paragraph pay off is often something like "...and then Bernard Edwards waved at me. Bernard Edwards of Chic! Bloody hell!"
As both insider and fan, hired gun and hired fun, Pratt knows he has to get by, not just on brilliant playing and the constitution of a buffalo but also on his wits. Hollow-legged raconteur, session muso and superstar confidante Pratt takes the reader on a world tour with a group of musicians that reads like a Live Aid bill and lasts more than 20 years (and several relationships). The strength of the story telling comes from someone who is quite evidently more show biz luvvie than rock god and isn't too greenly reverential to take the rise from a stadium filling star every now and then. It's a proper hoot.
Fragile egos are exposed, riders are abused and there's a wholly regrettable incident involving Jimmy Page and an airport wheelchair. Mock and roll, if you will,
Enthralling and appalling in equal measures, the reliably toxic author (the funniest bassist since Derek Smalls) tells you what it's like to play with Pink Floyd, Bryan Ferry, Madonna and Michael Jackson. Bravely, he marries his boss's daughter, incurs the wrath of Martin Sheen and almost joins The Smiths. You can almost feel the wincing shards of hotel room hangovers on every page. Then he becomes a stand up comedian. The rest, as Guy Pratt might say, is chemistry.
As both insider and fan, hired gun and hired fun, Pratt knows he has to get by, not just on brilliant playing and the constitution of a buffalo but also on his wits. Hollow-legged raconteur, session muso and superstar confidante Pratt takes the reader on a world tour with a group of musicians that reads like a Live Aid bill and lasts more than 20 years (and several relationships). The strength of the story telling comes from someone who is quite evidently more show biz luvvie than rock god and isn't too greenly reverential to take the rise from a stadium filling star every now and then. It's a proper hoot.
Fragile egos are exposed, riders are abused and there's a wholly regrettable incident involving Jimmy Page and an airport wheelchair. Mock and roll, if you will,
Enthralling and appalling in equal measures, the reliably toxic author (the funniest bassist since Derek Smalls) tells you what it's like to play with Pink Floyd, Bryan Ferry, Madonna and Michael Jackson. Bravely, he marries his boss's daughter, incurs the wrath of Martin Sheen and almost joins The Smiths. You can almost feel the wincing shards of hotel room hangovers on every page. Then he becomes a stand up comedian. The rest, as Guy Pratt might say, is chemistry.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I'm a massive fan of both Pink Floyd and Icehouse, so when my wife got me this for Christmas I was overjoyed. I saved it up for a special time to read.
I've just finished it, and it was a real slog. Badly written, badly edited, just plain bad. I don't understand the positive reviews here at all. There are mis-spellings and typos galore, and the prose is turgid, and flips around from era to era, name-checking his cronies in amongst some superstars without giving any depth or insight into anything.
I say anything, but one thing the aptly named Pratt does go into detail about... again and again and again... is his wonderful ability to take copious amounts of drugs and drink. He seems proud of this, and equally proud of the wreckage he causes to people (emotionally and physically), and property ranging from hotel rooms to mercedes cars. There is no embarrassment, no concern. No regret, and certainly no apologies. He and some cronies smash a mercedes car up and the next morning pretend it was stolen. That's the sum of the tale and he seems proud. Equally proud that a cop lets him off when they are obviously smashed. He also goes into detail about how he treated girlfriend after girlfriend abysmally, and seems to be a user.. of people as well as various substances. There is no regret or guilt whatsoever. It's all very flippant and arrogant. What the late, great Rick Wright thought on reading what an absolute fool married his daughter, I dread to think.
Pratt seems in awe of many of the people he met, and that's the sum of what we learn really. He can't remember playing in concerts as they all blur into one, and he obviously can't remember much else as much of this is boring self-deluded padding. Stuff that should be so interesting, and so awe-inspiring he makes boring and tawdry. I felt relief and anger when I finished the book. It was so bad, and certainly doesn't match up to Nick Mason's 'Inside Out', where Mason is often painfully self-aware. Something that can never be levelled at Pratt, who I came to dislike intenseley by the end. I hope the next book on my reading pile 'Pigs Might Fly: The Inside Story of Pink Floyd' has more depth and is more interesting than this.
I've just finished it, and it was a real slog. Badly written, badly edited, just plain bad. I don't understand the positive reviews here at all. There are mis-spellings and typos galore, and the prose is turgid, and flips around from era to era, name-checking his cronies in amongst some superstars without giving any depth or insight into anything.
I say anything, but one thing the aptly named Pratt does go into detail about... again and again and again... is his wonderful ability to take copious amounts of drugs and drink. He seems proud of this, and equally proud of the wreckage he causes to people (emotionally and physically), and property ranging from hotel rooms to mercedes cars. There is no embarrassment, no concern. No regret, and certainly no apologies. He and some cronies smash a mercedes car up and the next morning pretend it was stolen. That's the sum of the tale and he seems proud. Equally proud that a cop lets him off when they are obviously smashed. He also goes into detail about how he treated girlfriend after girlfriend abysmally, and seems to be a user.. of people as well as various substances. There is no regret or guilt whatsoever. It's all very flippant and arrogant. What the late, great Rick Wright thought on reading what an absolute fool married his daughter, I dread to think.
Pratt seems in awe of many of the people he met, and that's the sum of what we learn really. He can't remember playing in concerts as they all blur into one, and he obviously can't remember much else as much of this is boring self-deluded padding. Stuff that should be so interesting, and so awe-inspiring he makes boring and tawdry. I felt relief and anger when I finished the book. It was so bad, and certainly doesn't match up to Nick Mason's 'Inside Out', where Mason is often painfully self-aware. Something that can never be levelled at Pratt, who I came to dislike intenseley by the end. I hope the next book on my reading pile 'Pigs Might Fly: The Inside Story of Pink Floyd' has more depth and is more interesting than this.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Boring!
This is a monster-boring read - it's a kind of a "Who's who" doing drugs and drinking excessively in the music biz. I was so bored that I couldn't finish it!! Read more
Published 4 months ago by Metanoia
Funny but a bit alarming
I have allways liked Pink Floyd and have read a lot of books about them. This is an "Outsider" story so to speak as Guy was hired to replace Roger Waters on bass, NOT the most... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Ove Munch Thomsen
Genuine Entertainment
Loved It! Written with a deft touch that makes it really easy to read. You don't need to be a fan of Guy Pratt's or any of the bands that he has worked with to enjoy this book.
Published 10 months ago by OKorbut
Read it now. Read it right now!
Told from the perspective of a musician who appears to be part observer and frequent participant in the events described, there are many great anecdotes that stand on their own,... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Jennifer Clark
Guy Pratt,sometimes living like an animal
Pratt can write entertainingly,but is no aspiring sage or transcender of the rockbiz and its banal ethics.
Published 20 months ago by Ian Stott
Thoroughly enjoyable tales from a man with a charmed life
If you except his rather unfortunate surname then Guy Pratt seems to have lead a pretty charmed life and this covers its (mainly) highlights. Read more
Published 21 months ago by R. M. Elliott
A must for Floydians
I love biographies of all types so this was right up my street. Combine that with the Floyd link and I was thrilled by this book. Read more
Published on 25 Jun 2009 by Safari Dino
A thoroughly entertaining read
Guy Pratt's "My Bass And Other Animals" is one of the most entertaining accounts of the rock-n-roll lifestyle I have read. Read more
Published on 16 Jun 2009 by S. P. Long
Good read for all
Every muso should read this, regardless of the instrument played. Should be asked onton the Jonathon Ross show.
Published on 9 April 2009 by Alexander J. Thompson
Bass runs and puns.
It is a sign of the times that I first heard of this book on BBC Radio 4, when Guy was being interviewed about it and telling a few stories. Read more
Published on 13 Feb 2009 by Mr. Peter S. Johansen
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