Record Mart & Buyer, May 1999
Sex, Brown Ale and Rhythm & Blues charts the development of The Animals from their first meeting until just before they hit fame. There have been other books written about the band, but none which focus upon their early years, nor which bring the story the personal touch of this writer. Like Kerouac's On The Road, the book which influenced this generation, this is a story of the excesses and adventures of youths like The Animals. It is not a 'rockumentary' but a factual novel which interweaves the personal story of Terry, who observed and aided the band in their struggle towards success, with the events and influences which carried them to the top. George Pearson came to writing quite late in life but despite this, he vividly evokes the sounds, smells and attitudes of an era more commonly assumed to be drab and uneventful. This book will be a surprise for anyone who ever believed that the '50s was a boring decade dominated by the aftermath of the 2nd World War. The photographs alone show that those often dubbed 'the first teenagers' were able to live a life dominated not by work and frugality, but by travelling and party going. The book clearly benefits from the writer's first hand experience of events and from the enthusiastic co-operation of others like him, most notably Animals drummer Johnny Steel. It contains exclusive photographs and accounts of events overlooked by more conventional biographers. Certainly worth a read, whether you are an Animals fan or are simply interested in the history of music and youth culture.
Book Description
To be young and interested in music and style in the late 50's in Britain was an exercise in frustration. In the early part of the decade post war youth had enjoyed it's first flush of rebellion and self-expression. "Teddy Boys" did not have their mode of dress dictated to them by the fashion moguls of the day. The many and varied styles were invented by the kids themselves and made- to- measure by horrified bespoke tailors to whom 4 button drapes in canary yellow with purple velvet collars were anathema. The music too was wild and undisciplined. Elvis Presley pumped out raw black blues music, Jerry Lee Lewis played the piano with his feet and Buddy Holly pioneered a quieter but no less unique musical style. On the home front, skiffle swept the country and thousands of kids in hundreds of church halls were making their own music. By 1959, Buddy Holly was dead, Elvis was in the army and big business was back in charge, inflicting the Italian style of short box jackets and winkle-picker shoes on an apathetic public. However in Newcastle upon Tyne a multi-faceted but like minded group of young people were ignoring what was being foisted on them by the music and fashion industry and finding their own way. The books of Steinbeck, Salinger, Keroac and Sillitoe, the poetry of Ginsberg, Ferlangetti, the films of Elia Kazan and black American blues from Leadbelly to Joe Turner were influencing them. At the same time, they were also absorbing their own folk music, which was enjoying a renaissance due to the earlier influence of skiffle. On the question of style, raggedness and self-expression were all. Clothing must be customised and well-worn, Army and Navy stores were the main source of supply. Anything that would horrify, shock, disgust or generally irritate the more conventional members of Society was to be pursued. If a spontaneous eruption of a change in the style and direction of a whole section of the youth of today were to take place it would be pored over by pundits and academics, branded as a movement and recorded as being of great significance. However, this storm in the sea of conformity went largely unrecorded. Invariably youth finds self-expression in music and any group of young people contains some aspiring musicians. This gang of rebels was no exception. Experimenting with music as uncompromising as their style in clothing and manners, these kids were definitely outside the mainstream of popular music. If the puerile lyrics of Cliff Richard's "Living Doll" or the asinine dance steps of the Shadows were a recipe for success they didn't want to know about it. They were too busy cooking up their own pie and if people didn't like the taste, too bad! But 'The Times They Were a Changing' as Bob Dylan was later to recount. By the summer of 1964, five young Geordies made musical history, topping the American charts with a single that was four and a half minutes long. The Animals had made it. This is the story of where they came from, what influenced them, and the people they met along the way.
