Jimmy Page's biography/Books on Rock (SZC)

["Josh Mooney" <jmooney10@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Thanks for your take on the Jimmy Page book, Steve. Well done. Though to be
honest, it hasn't made me want to run out and buy it! I'm betting the things
about Case's writing style that irritate you would annoy me as well. Anyway,
yours was a big improvement on the "book review" that was recently posted
here. I'm not familiar with its author, Ed Driscoll, but he didn't review
the book so much as offer his take on Page. Which is all well and good, but
not the point of a book review. I got zilch from him on what Case's book is
actually like. So I look forward to your final take, once you've finished
reading it.

It's true that "Tangents Within a Framework" can be a bit of a cut-and-paste
job, but I've always enjoyed it. (Have you read it, Steve?) Howard Mylett's
a good writer, with a lot of knowledge about, and passion for, Mr. Page. In
the end, I'm wondering if I'll really need "Magus, Musician, Man." (Hell,
the title alone is a bit annoying. Alliteration and all. I suppose he
could've called it "Magician, Mystery Man, Maestro," or "Rocker, Reprobate,
Rune-Meister," or... well, I've made my point, surely.) Page is certainly a
worthy subject for a top-notch biography. Yet one wonders if we'll ever see
a definitive one. I highly doubt Page would cooperate with a writer for an
"official" tome, and I don't see him writing an autobiography, like, EVER.
(As he once said to some journalist, in a rare moment of candor, "I know how
much the mystique matters, so why should I blow it?") 

When it comes down to it, there are so few really great books on rock, and
rock musicians. I'd like to know what you FBO'ers think are the best ones.
Here are a few of mine: England's Dreaming (by Jon Savage), Sweet Soul Music
(by Peter Guralnick), Mystery Train (by Greil Marcus), Roomful of Mirrors
(by Chuck Cross), True Adventures of the Rolling Stones (by Stanley Booth),
Chronicles: Volume 1 (by Bob Dylan).

Please Rock On,

Josh


Date: Thu, 17 May 2007 12:34:56 -0400
From: zeppelin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: Jimmy Page Biography

Actually Harry, I'm in the process of reading George Case's "Magus  
Musician Man" this week! I was planning on writing a review after  
completing it but I'll do an impression for you now.

It's not a bad book per se but a combination of its unauthorized  
nature along with Case's occasionally annoying writing style makes it  
a little bit disappointing (but certainly not a waste of time). You'll  
be reading a passage that's mature, balanced and well written but then  
he'll suddenly throw in some statement that's meant to be a clever  
remark and it comes across as something like a high school kid's  
writing assignment, kind of clever for its own sake but not fitting  
the tone of the overall text you're reading. Stephen Davis did this a  
lot in Hammer of the Gods. While this book seems far more grounded in  
reality than the Davis book, these little clever comments can be  
annoying, sort of like someone who's smart enough to know all the big  
words but hasn't yet mastered the art of knowing when and where to use  
them. There are lots of little things that are like references to drug  
habits, occult worship, etc., that seem as if they're attempts at  
sharing an "inside joke" with the reader but end up coming across as a  
writer trying to hard to sound clever.

It's not an authorized biography, so Case has to rely on the various  
magazine and book accounts of various things. He's done a very  
commendable job of researching everything. However, when he  
encountered events with differing accounts, he tried to present them  
all by qualifying them with "one account has it that..." "another  
version of this story is that...." In the end, this kind of distracts  
from the reading and undermines the credibility of what you're  
reading. To be fair, this isn't Case's fault and he tries to be  
balanced without sensationalizing, it just hinders the flow of the  
story. He does mention that he tried to contact Page through his  
management company to invite him to contribute, but he never heard  
from Jimmy or the company.

Plus there's a bit of "ga-ga fanaticism" in the text too. When I first  
received the book in an Amazon order, I thumbed through and found the  
final chapter entitled "Outrider: Interpreting The Rune Of Zoso." I  
was intrigued and decided to read this right away. Instead of being a  
discussion or explanation of the rune, it's simply a personal account  
by Case of how Page inspired him, etc. It's not a "golly gee, he's so  
cool" kind of thing, but after seeing the title, you feel somewhat  
cheated. Nothing wrong with being a dedicated fan; I've been accused  
of this myself over the years and occasionally even slightly ridiculed  
my fondness for all things Zeppelin. Still, at some point you have to  
learn how to reign it all in and show a bit of balance, especially if  
you're trying to author a credible biography!

Anyway, I'd still recommend the book based on what I've read so far.  
After that first chapter, I thumbed through the rest and saw that he  
covered a lot, although the little bit I read on the Unledded and  
Clarksdale years seemed a bit very scant. Perhaps I didn't look at  
that section enough. Afterwards, I did start from the beginning of the  
book and so far I've reached the end of the Neil Christian and the  
Crusader years. All the annoyances I mentioned above are scattered  
throughout what I've read but it's still fascinating material if you  
overlook the "high school writing assignment" flourishes. This morning  
for instance, I read a part I thought to be a bit cheesy that went  
something along the lines of "little did he know that up in Liverpool"  
in reference to the Beatles or a similar comment about the Stones, or  
Clapton. In fact, now that I think of it, he didn't mention Clapton  
yet at all as a childhood friend of Page. It's been years since I  
looked back at the chronology, but didn't Jimmy and Eric hang out  
before Page was in Neil Christian and the Crusaders. Perhaps not, but  
if he did, then Case is missing a rather notable friendship from  
Page's early years.

Don't get my wrong, the book is definitely worth getting, but at times  
it kind of reminds you of one of those lead guitarists who doesn't  
realize that the space between the notes is as important as the notes  
themselves. It also makes you wish Jimmy and the others (if they are  
involved) would get the official Zeppelin biography completed and  
published. It will be a tremendous read with the official and  
authorized versions of the stories.

Steve.