Psychedelic Days (1960-1969)
By Patrick Campbell-Lyons
GRA Publishing, Nov 25 2009
$19.99
Review by: Wesley Britton originally posted at Wesley Britton’s Entertainment Scrapbook
Like everyone else, I’m sure, when I pick up a biography or history dealing with rock ‘n roll, I choose titles about performers, bands, or periods I’m interested in. Normally, I’m looking for the behind-the-scenes stories about how classic music came to be, whether written by stars like Eric Clapton, session musicians like Vic Flick, or historians who’ve done their due diligent homework.
But, last month, I received a review copy of a book called Psychedelic Days written by a performer from a band I never heard of—the British Nirvana of the late ‘60s. I had absolutely no pre-conceived ideas about the book as, then and now, I’ve never heard a bar of their music. But, as revealed in Patrick Campbell-Lyons’s fast-paced (240 pages) memoir, I’m far from being alone, at least in the states. While the original Nirvana made waves internationally, because Bell Records in the U.S. released the debut album with no publicity whatsoever, it disappeared without a trace, the band not even knowing an American version had been issued. So when I began reading the text of PD, what I knew about Nirvana wouldn’t fill a back-cover publicity blurb.
So here’s a bit of history: While a number of musicians came and went on stage and in the studio, Nirvana was essentially Irish guitarist Patrick Campbell-Lyons and Greek composer/ keyboardist Alex Spyropoulos. Before ELO and the “progressive rock” of the ‘70s, they fused rock ensembles with baroque instruments for a then fresh approach in popular music. Their Oct. 1967 album, The Story of Simon Simopath, is widely regarded as a predecessor to concept albums by the likes of The Who and The Kinks. The LP was produced by Chris Blackwell for his then-new Island Records, and Blackwell and his legendary label play a prominent role in Psychedelic Days.
Apparently a moderately commercial success, Nirvana’s single “Rainbow Chaser” was their biggest hit in 1968, the first rock single to use flange from beginning to end (flange being the sound you hear in the Small Faces “Itchycoo Park.”)Nirvana was nonetheless a critical favorite and the group was part of the heady days of late ‘60s counter-culture. So, while Campbell-Lyons’ memoir is told from a performer’s point-of-view, the tale is essentially a whirlwind tour of what life was like experiencing the exuberance of the times in England, Greece, France, South America, Morocco, and points in between. Campbell-Lyons paints a wide canvas of just how interconnected youth culture was around the world. No matter where you hailed from, you didn’t need to be Jimi Hendrix or Mick Jagger to have a good time, and Campbell-Lyons and most of the cast of players in his book were indeed having the times of their lives. The first paragraph sets the stage:
For me and Nirvana, the ‘60s were a trip indeed. Immigration blues, Paddies, navvies, booze, dope deals, thrills and pills, rhythm & blues, guitars and groupies, Mods and Rockers, free love and flower power, bohemian swagger boys and gypsy princesses, Ealing Art College, the local scenesters at Jim Marshall’s Music Store in Hanwell, Speedy Keen, Mitch Mitchell, John McVie, Cliff Barton, Jimmy Royal, Ron Wood and Kim Gardner with the Birds, the boss guitar man Terry Slater, Pete Townshend, Pete Meaden, Vic Griffiths (the best harp player in West London), the legendary Ealing Club, the Rolling Stones, the Speakeasy in Margaret Street W1, the Limbo Club in Soho, the Bluebeat Jukebox, Blackbombers in Hyde Park, 51 Club Great Newport Street, La Gioconda Café, Denmark Street and the Tin Pan Alley publishing houses, Regent Sound, St. Martins, the musical >>Hair>>, >>You Can All Join In>>, Jimi Hendrix, Guy Stevens, Mickie Most, Hamburg’s Star Club, Paris, Belgium, Rio de Janeiro with Jimmy Cliff, Stockholm, Tangiers and the “happenings” of Morocco, Island Records and Chris Blackwell, Alex Spyropoulos and I creating the band Nirvana.
Like I said, that’s just the first paragraph, and the roller-coaster ride to follow is just what the title claims—Psychedelic Days. This is one reason readers unfamiliar with a band pretty much a footnote in rock history would enjoy this trip. It’s not an introspective personal odyssey chronicling inner torments or regrets about any addictive excesses. It’s not a vanity trip either, but rather a lively series of vivid observations from the inside looking out. That alone is something different in the genre of rock memoirs. Yes, the book has the perfect title—it’s about a time that remains unique, whether you were a concert attendee or standing behind a mic. It looks at these heady days from a perspective I’ve not encountered before, that is how the youth scene expressed itself all over the world.
If you can get homesick for an era, this book can do that. If you weren’t there, well, this is a time capsule you’ll enjoy swallowing. For more details and ordering information:
www.psychedelicdays.com/PatrickBio.html
To read some samples from the book:
blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.ListAll&friendID=85882077
Now, to see if I can track down some of this unheard music—
---
Reviewer Dr. Wesley Britton is co-host of online radio’s “Dave White Presents” which features interviews with a wide range of entertainers. Past programs are archived at www.audioentertainment.org/dwp. He is also author of four books on espionage and runs www.spywise.net. Wes teaches English at Harrisburg Area Community College.
-----
The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using the widget below:
This blog, #TheNewBookReview, is "new" because it eschews #bookbigotry. It lets readers, reviewers, authors, and publishers expand the exposure of their favorite reviews, FREE. Info for submissions is in the "Send Me Your Fav Book Review" circle icon in the right column below. Find resources to help your career using the mini search engine below. #TheNewBookReview is a multi-award-winning blog including a MastersInEnglish.org recommendation.
Showing posts with label Nonfiction: Biography. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nonfiction: Biography. Show all posts
Saturday, June 26, 2010
The Smothers Brothers Story Reviewed by Wesley Britton
Dangerously Funny: The Uncensored Story of the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour
By David Bianculli
Touchstone Books, Dec. 2009
ISBN-10: 1439101167
ISBN-13: 978-1439101162
Reviewed by: Wesley Britton originally posted at Wesley Britton’s Entertainment Scrapbook
Books about the stars of stage and screen do run a wide gamut. There are over-priced volumes devoted to a specific actor, director, film, TV series. There are fan-oriented overviews of any given production complete with opinionated episode guides and production notes. There are memoirs and quasi-memoirs by performers, their families, or those who knew them. There are academic studies analyzing entertainment and how contributors have been influenced by or how they helped shape popular culture. Only every once in a while do we get a title that deserves the term “definitive,” that is, a focused history/biography that will become a standard reference that future writers will have to pour over should they take up the challenge of expanding on such books.
Such is the case of David Bianculli’s Dangerously Funny. It’s not surprising that a major publisher issued this contribution rather than a small house devoted to their genres of choice—The Smothers Brothers were and are an act worthy of serious consideration and Bianculli gave the act their honest and sometimes painful due. After all, while the classic late ‘60s “Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” remains the high watermark for both the act and their place in cultural history, Tom and Dick’s legacy is worthy of attention for both what came before and after their legendary entertainment challenge to network decision making.
In fact, while the book’s title implies the “Comedy Hour” is the principal subject of the overview, Bianculli offers considerable background on the brothers formative years and the creative milieu in which they developed. Had they never hosted the “Comedy Hour,” Tom and Dick would still have played an important role in musical trends as they were true pioneers in the early days of the “folk revival.” Their interest in what is now dubbed “World Music” helped the new genre expand the pool of “traditional” standards heard all across America. In addition, their stage act was a transitional presence that bridged the generation of radio and stage vaudeville singers and comics with the “hip” interests of Baby Boomers purchasing vinyl albums and watching their favorite performers on TV variety shows. While Bianculli doesn’t make this connection, I was often reminded of the development of the Marx Brothers; the earlier ensemble started out as a musical group doing comedy and turned into a comedy group that sometimes played music. Likewise, the Smothers started out doing folk music akin to the Kingston Trio and ended up using the music to frame their comic routines. Likewise, Harpo Marx picked up the harp to have an instrument like his brothers as playing the instrument added $5.00 to the group’s appearance fees; Dick Smothers picked up the bass mainly as a prop while his brother taught him how to play it.
Then came the “Comedy Hour” and its importance cannot be understated. But can the circumstances of its creation, evolution and ultimate demise be clearly understood? In the hands of David Bianculli, we get the sense we’re hearing stories we’ve been hearing for years but in a context that is balanced, copiously researched, and drawn from primary sources like Tom Smothers himself. For example, the myth is that CBS was so loopy and narrow-minded that cancelling the “Comedy Hour” was a disastrous decision akin to NBC’s recent late night debacles. But, just as the evidence shows Decca Records had good reasons to reject The Beatles, the full story of the “Comedy Hour” demonstrates both sides of the controversy contributed to an almost inevitable parting of the ways. For their part, the network was flat-footed dealing with a younger audience seeking television with a freshness and variety showcasing younger faces and concerns. On the other side, Tom Smothers, in particular, made a point of challenging the hand that fed him so often and so stubbornly that the higher-ups almost yearned for an excuse to get this monkey off their backs. As a result, the so-called reasons for cancelling the show—an alleged late delivery of a particular episode—was simply a means to give executives an out to get relief from the ongoing battles over program content.
Bianculli, of course, isn’t championing network decision making but rather, as with the rest of his history, presenting the contexts of a multi-faceted career from a wide menu of perspectives. The Brothers obviously didn’t operate in a vacuum, and Bianculli is often at his best bringing in stories that flesh out how the Smothers Brothers fit into the continuum of both music and television. For example, he retells the story of Jack Paar briefly leaving “The Tonight Show” over NBC’s censorship of one joke several years before the Smothers Brothers entered the censorship fray. Bianculli sketches how Hal Holbrook had to wrestle with CBS over material he wanted to include in his “Mark Twain Tonight” special. He discusses the changing climate in tastes that contributed to the “Generation Gap” of the 1960s and how the brothers changed their program from a variety hour that mixed the old with the up-and-coming into a full-fledged participant of the “Counter Culture.”
The aftermath of the “Comedy Hour” cancellation might seem like a long denouement with two failed series in the 70s and 80s, but there are lessons here as well. For example—at least in my opinion—the Brothers were at their creative zenith when they came back to CBS in the late 80s with a superb re-invention of their earlier show, only to be undone by a Writers Strike and no fault of their own. (That is my most fervent DVD request—for the brothers to issue a full set of that outstanding series.) Not to overstate the case, one might be forgiven for coming away from this book seeing brother Dick as a virtual sideman to Tom, a performer more into his hobbies and outside interests than being a cultural motor. That’s not a criticism of the team’s straight man, rather a reality of what Dick did and didn’t do over the years.
Gratefully, when talking about the Smothers Brothers, comedy can’t be avoided, and there are plenty of laughs along the way, most notably the re-tellings of some of the benign and caustic routines they performed on stage and TV. This is an important book, an entertaining book, and readable for fans of the act, of an era, of television, and no library shelf should neglect it. To paraphrase Dick Cavett describing DVD releases of his own show, if you need more than the Smothers Brothers to entertain you, than I can’t help you very much.
---
Dr. Wesley Britton is co-host of online radio’s “Dave White Presents” which features interviews with a wide range of entertainers. Past programs are archived at www.audioentertainment.org/dwp. He is also author of four books on espionage and runs www.spywise.net. Wes teaches English at Harrisburg Area Community College.
-----
The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using the widget below:
By David Bianculli
Touchstone Books, Dec. 2009
ISBN-10: 1439101167
ISBN-13: 978-1439101162
Reviewed by: Wesley Britton originally posted at Wesley Britton’s Entertainment Scrapbook
Books about the stars of stage and screen do run a wide gamut. There are over-priced volumes devoted to a specific actor, director, film, TV series. There are fan-oriented overviews of any given production complete with opinionated episode guides and production notes. There are memoirs and quasi-memoirs by performers, their families, or those who knew them. There are academic studies analyzing entertainment and how contributors have been influenced by or how they helped shape popular culture. Only every once in a while do we get a title that deserves the term “definitive,” that is, a focused history/biography that will become a standard reference that future writers will have to pour over should they take up the challenge of expanding on such books.
Such is the case of David Bianculli’s Dangerously Funny. It’s not surprising that a major publisher issued this contribution rather than a small house devoted to their genres of choice—The Smothers Brothers were and are an act worthy of serious consideration and Bianculli gave the act their honest and sometimes painful due. After all, while the classic late ‘60s “Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” remains the high watermark for both the act and their place in cultural history, Tom and Dick’s legacy is worthy of attention for both what came before and after their legendary entertainment challenge to network decision making.
In fact, while the book’s title implies the “Comedy Hour” is the principal subject of the overview, Bianculli offers considerable background on the brothers formative years and the creative milieu in which they developed. Had they never hosted the “Comedy Hour,” Tom and Dick would still have played an important role in musical trends as they were true pioneers in the early days of the “folk revival.” Their interest in what is now dubbed “World Music” helped the new genre expand the pool of “traditional” standards heard all across America. In addition, their stage act was a transitional presence that bridged the generation of radio and stage vaudeville singers and comics with the “hip” interests of Baby Boomers purchasing vinyl albums and watching their favorite performers on TV variety shows. While Bianculli doesn’t make this connection, I was often reminded of the development of the Marx Brothers; the earlier ensemble started out as a musical group doing comedy and turned into a comedy group that sometimes played music. Likewise, the Smothers started out doing folk music akin to the Kingston Trio and ended up using the music to frame their comic routines. Likewise, Harpo Marx picked up the harp to have an instrument like his brothers as playing the instrument added $5.00 to the group’s appearance fees; Dick Smothers picked up the bass mainly as a prop while his brother taught him how to play it.
Then came the “Comedy Hour” and its importance cannot be understated. But can the circumstances of its creation, evolution and ultimate demise be clearly understood? In the hands of David Bianculli, we get the sense we’re hearing stories we’ve been hearing for years but in a context that is balanced, copiously researched, and drawn from primary sources like Tom Smothers himself. For example, the myth is that CBS was so loopy and narrow-minded that cancelling the “Comedy Hour” was a disastrous decision akin to NBC’s recent late night debacles. But, just as the evidence shows Decca Records had good reasons to reject The Beatles, the full story of the “Comedy Hour” demonstrates both sides of the controversy contributed to an almost inevitable parting of the ways. For their part, the network was flat-footed dealing with a younger audience seeking television with a freshness and variety showcasing younger faces and concerns. On the other side, Tom Smothers, in particular, made a point of challenging the hand that fed him so often and so stubbornly that the higher-ups almost yearned for an excuse to get this monkey off their backs. As a result, the so-called reasons for cancelling the show—an alleged late delivery of a particular episode—was simply a means to give executives an out to get relief from the ongoing battles over program content.
Bianculli, of course, isn’t championing network decision making but rather, as with the rest of his history, presenting the contexts of a multi-faceted career from a wide menu of perspectives. The Brothers obviously didn’t operate in a vacuum, and Bianculli is often at his best bringing in stories that flesh out how the Smothers Brothers fit into the continuum of both music and television. For example, he retells the story of Jack Paar briefly leaving “The Tonight Show” over NBC’s censorship of one joke several years before the Smothers Brothers entered the censorship fray. Bianculli sketches how Hal Holbrook had to wrestle with CBS over material he wanted to include in his “Mark Twain Tonight” special. He discusses the changing climate in tastes that contributed to the “Generation Gap” of the 1960s and how the brothers changed their program from a variety hour that mixed the old with the up-and-coming into a full-fledged participant of the “Counter Culture.”
The aftermath of the “Comedy Hour” cancellation might seem like a long denouement with two failed series in the 70s and 80s, but there are lessons here as well. For example—at least in my opinion—the Brothers were at their creative zenith when they came back to CBS in the late 80s with a superb re-invention of their earlier show, only to be undone by a Writers Strike and no fault of their own. (That is my most fervent DVD request—for the brothers to issue a full set of that outstanding series.) Not to overstate the case, one might be forgiven for coming away from this book seeing brother Dick as a virtual sideman to Tom, a performer more into his hobbies and outside interests than being a cultural motor. That’s not a criticism of the team’s straight man, rather a reality of what Dick did and didn’t do over the years.
Gratefully, when talking about the Smothers Brothers, comedy can’t be avoided, and there are plenty of laughs along the way, most notably the re-tellings of some of the benign and caustic routines they performed on stage and TV. This is an important book, an entertaining book, and readable for fans of the act, of an era, of television, and no library shelf should neglect it. To paraphrase Dick Cavett describing DVD releases of his own show, if you need more than the Smothers Brothers to entertain you, than I can’t help you very much.
---
Dr. Wesley Britton is co-host of online radio’s “Dave White Presents” which features interviews with a wide range of entertainers. Past programs are archived at www.audioentertainment.org/dwp. He is also author of four books on espionage and runs www.spywise.net. Wes teaches English at Harrisburg Area Community College.
-----
The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using the widget below:
Monday, June 21, 2010
That's Entertainment! Horror Films, History and Scream Queens.
Book Review: Confessions of a Scream Queen
By Matt Beckoff
Bear Manor Media
ISBN-13: 973-1-59393-539-9
Reviewed by: Wesley Britton
For fans of nostalgia and entertainment, small presses like Bear Manor Media fill niches no other publishers will touch. For example, BMM books run the range from memoirs by child stars of the 1930s to extremely well-researched histories of radio, film, and TV series, to collections of interviews with actors from a variety of genres. As a result, many of these books appeal to specific audiences hungry for insights into the films and shows that influenced them years ago. These are readers who enjoy nostalgia conventions where they visit autograph tables and meet participants from the thrilling days of yesteryear. These buffs provide many bit or retired actors a second career—telling old stories for enthusiastic fans of projects completed before many of them were born.
So, typically, Bear Manor Media’s Confessions of a Scream Queen is a book for a particular—and loyal--fan base, in this case lovers of horror and Sci-Fi movies. In this collection, interviewer Matt Beckoff has assembled a sort of mini-con in print with 15 actresses recalling their most famous or infamous roles. Many of these ladies had careers and parts as hit-and-run as some of these interviews. As a result, with a few exceptions, film students will not get in-depth behind-the-scenes discussions of how horror films came to be. Instead, we get snapshots, glimpses into how the acting profession has changed since the early days of talking pictures to the present. One theme resonating through this book as a whole is how these working girls once found roles in pictures that none expected to have long-shelf lives, only to be happily surprised to learn they still have fans hoping to both see their work again and again and learn more about them personally long after the camera stopped rolling. For others, with more diverse resumes, their surprise is how they’ve become “Scream Queens” at all as their roles in horror movies are but a small section of their credits.
Appropriately beginning with the first talkies, Beckoff spoke with Carla Laemmle, Lupita Tovar, Janet Ann Gallow, and Elena Verdego who worked with the likes of Lon Chaney and Bela Lugosi in the early horror films of Universal Studios. These are the shortest discussions in the book as these actresses had the shortest time on screen—first, young actresses who rarely spent time with the leading men, then married and raised families, and years later discovered themselves cult favorites. Then Beckoff moved into the noir era with Colleen Gray who appeared in such films as Kiss of Death, working with directors like Henry Hathaway and actors including Richard Widmark.
The book kicks into a higher gear with Kathleen Hughes as she appeared in a number of horror/Sci-Fi projects like IT Came From Outer Space and Judith O’Dea (Night of the Living Dead). Some devotees might be disappointed Hammer Films were represented by only one alumni--Ingrid Pitt (Vampire Lovers, Countess Dracula, Wicker Man). But “slasher” fans get Marilyn Burns (Texas Chain Saw Massacre), Betsy Palmer (Friday the 13th), and P. J. Soles (Carrie, Halloween). This trio are extremely erudite about the roles that made them famous and their appreciation for the audience response ever after. In fact, readers might raise an eyebrow to hear these actresses revealing how much professionalism they brought to movies none thought were more than a paycheck for a few weeks work.
For the wider film audience, the nuggets in the collections are conversations with actresses whose careers ran a wide range of genres such as Karen Black, Jessica Harper, and Dee Wallace. Black, for example, reminisced about her work on Five Easy Pieces, her time with Hitchcock in Family Plot, and her role as a country singer in Nashville. The final interview in the group, with Adrienne Barbeau, is the perfect finale as, in this crowd, she seems the Queen of Queens. After all, she not only appeared in four major John Carpenter films, she was married to him.
This isn’t a tome for research libraries, but it’s one to take with you for autographs at all those conventions. It’s enjoyable, and even more so for the pictures contributed by the interviewees and new photos taken by Beckoff—making this package attractive for every heterosexual male alive. Well, considering the subject matter, alive might be too restrictive an adjective. This collection was clearly a labor of love as Beckoff obviously did his homework and preparation by seeing all the movies and reading past interviews, some apparently twenty years old. So the book might not be indispensible reading, but it might give readers new appreciation for “Scream Queens”—even those who never did scream on-screen.
Order this book at bearmanormedia.bizland.com
----
Dr. Wesley Britton is the author of four books on fictional espionage, owner of www.spywise.net, and co-host of the online radio show, “Dave White Presents” on KSAV.org and available for download.
-----
The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using the widget below:
By Matt Beckoff
Bear Manor Media
ISBN-13: 973-1-59393-539-9
Reviewed by: Wesley Britton
For fans of nostalgia and entertainment, small presses like Bear Manor Media fill niches no other publishers will touch. For example, BMM books run the range from memoirs by child stars of the 1930s to extremely well-researched histories of radio, film, and TV series, to collections of interviews with actors from a variety of genres. As a result, many of these books appeal to specific audiences hungry for insights into the films and shows that influenced them years ago. These are readers who enjoy nostalgia conventions where they visit autograph tables and meet participants from the thrilling days of yesteryear. These buffs provide many bit or retired actors a second career—telling old stories for enthusiastic fans of projects completed before many of them were born.
So, typically, Bear Manor Media’s Confessions of a Scream Queen is a book for a particular—and loyal--fan base, in this case lovers of horror and Sci-Fi movies. In this collection, interviewer Matt Beckoff has assembled a sort of mini-con in print with 15 actresses recalling their most famous or infamous roles. Many of these ladies had careers and parts as hit-and-run as some of these interviews. As a result, with a few exceptions, film students will not get in-depth behind-the-scenes discussions of how horror films came to be. Instead, we get snapshots, glimpses into how the acting profession has changed since the early days of talking pictures to the present. One theme resonating through this book as a whole is how these working girls once found roles in pictures that none expected to have long-shelf lives, only to be happily surprised to learn they still have fans hoping to both see their work again and again and learn more about them personally long after the camera stopped rolling. For others, with more diverse resumes, their surprise is how they’ve become “Scream Queens” at all as their roles in horror movies are but a small section of their credits.
Appropriately beginning with the first talkies, Beckoff spoke with Carla Laemmle, Lupita Tovar, Janet Ann Gallow, and Elena Verdego who worked with the likes of Lon Chaney and Bela Lugosi in the early horror films of Universal Studios. These are the shortest discussions in the book as these actresses had the shortest time on screen—first, young actresses who rarely spent time with the leading men, then married and raised families, and years later discovered themselves cult favorites. Then Beckoff moved into the noir era with Colleen Gray who appeared in such films as Kiss of Death, working with directors like Henry Hathaway and actors including Richard Widmark.
The book kicks into a higher gear with Kathleen Hughes as she appeared in a number of horror/Sci-Fi projects like IT Came From Outer Space and Judith O’Dea (Night of the Living Dead). Some devotees might be disappointed Hammer Films were represented by only one alumni--Ingrid Pitt (Vampire Lovers, Countess Dracula, Wicker Man). But “slasher” fans get Marilyn Burns (Texas Chain Saw Massacre), Betsy Palmer (Friday the 13th), and P. J. Soles (Carrie, Halloween). This trio are extremely erudite about the roles that made them famous and their appreciation for the audience response ever after. In fact, readers might raise an eyebrow to hear these actresses revealing how much professionalism they brought to movies none thought were more than a paycheck for a few weeks work.
For the wider film audience, the nuggets in the collections are conversations with actresses whose careers ran a wide range of genres such as Karen Black, Jessica Harper, and Dee Wallace. Black, for example, reminisced about her work on Five Easy Pieces, her time with Hitchcock in Family Plot, and her role as a country singer in Nashville. The final interview in the group, with Adrienne Barbeau, is the perfect finale as, in this crowd, she seems the Queen of Queens. After all, she not only appeared in four major John Carpenter films, she was married to him.
This isn’t a tome for research libraries, but it’s one to take with you for autographs at all those conventions. It’s enjoyable, and even more so for the pictures contributed by the interviewees and new photos taken by Beckoff—making this package attractive for every heterosexual male alive. Well, considering the subject matter, alive might be too restrictive an adjective. This collection was clearly a labor of love as Beckoff obviously did his homework and preparation by seeing all the movies and reading past interviews, some apparently twenty years old. So the book might not be indispensible reading, but it might give readers new appreciation for “Scream Queens”—even those who never did scream on-screen.
Order this book at bearmanormedia.bizland.com
----
Dr. Wesley Britton is the author of four books on fictional espionage, owner of www.spywise.net, and co-host of the online radio show, “Dave White Presents” on KSAV.org and available for download.
-----
The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using the widget below:
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Greg Mortenson Offers Biography of Peace
Stones Into Schools--Promoting Peace with Books, Not Bombs, in Afghanistan and Pakistan
Author: Greg Mortenson
Genre: History/Biography
Hardcover: 448 pages
Publisher: Viking Adult; 1st edition (December 1, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0670021156
ISBN-13: 978-0670021154
Reviewed by Donna A. Syed, Co-founder, Aslam Educational Support Foundation (www.AslamFoundation.org)
In his latest book, Greg Mortenson hosts the reader as a valuable and welcomed traveling companion as he retraces his steps through the most remote areas of Pakistan's Northwest Frontier areas and the formidable terrain of Afghanistan holding a mirror to our humanity. Mortenson introduces us to his trusted companions turned employees of Central Asia Institute, the so-called "Dirty Dozen", who truly embody the virtues of goodwill and perseverance in the name of literacy and, of course, God.
In short, Greg Mortenson's work makes Anthony Bordain's exotic travel look like a visit to Epcot Center.
Mortenson's commitment to cross-cultural understanding beyond the borders of Pakistan and Afghanistan is rivaled only by his determination to educate the under-served girls in the most remote areas of these countries. Stones Into Schools is a suspenseful, heart-breaking as it is heart-warming, true account of a life well lived and a people well-served. Mortenson is an honor to the human race and diplomat for world peace. About now, Greg Mortenson would do well to take his own advice and sit for a month under a walnut tree to recuperate.
-----
The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.
And while you're at it, as a courtesy to the author, please retweet this post:
Author: Greg Mortenson
Genre: History/Biography
Hardcover: 448 pages
Publisher: Viking Adult; 1st edition (December 1, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0670021156
ISBN-13: 978-0670021154
Reviewed by Donna A. Syed, Co-founder, Aslam Educational Support Foundation (www.AslamFoundation.org)
In his latest book, Greg Mortenson hosts the reader as a valuable and welcomed traveling companion as he retraces his steps through the most remote areas of Pakistan's Northwest Frontier areas and the formidable terrain of Afghanistan holding a mirror to our humanity. Mortenson introduces us to his trusted companions turned employees of Central Asia Institute, the so-called "Dirty Dozen", who truly embody the virtues of goodwill and perseverance in the name of literacy and, of course, God.
In short, Greg Mortenson's work makes Anthony Bordain's exotic travel look like a visit to Epcot Center.
Mortenson's commitment to cross-cultural understanding beyond the borders of Pakistan and Afghanistan is rivaled only by his determination to educate the under-served girls in the most remote areas of these countries. Stones Into Schools is a suspenseful, heart-breaking as it is heart-warming, true account of a life well lived and a people well-served. Mortenson is an honor to the human race and diplomat for world peace. About now, Greg Mortenson would do well to take his own advice and sit for a month under a walnut tree to recuperate.
-----
The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.
And while you're at it, as a courtesy to the author, please retweet this post:Friday, March 13, 2009
Billie A. Williams Does Her Take on Mae West
Mae West - She Always Knew How
By Charlotte Chandler
Biography
Reviewed by Billie A Williams
Mae West is an icon. Her voice, her manner, her style are mimicked and mimed and duplicated but never could they out shine Ms. West herself. Charlotte Chandler has taken this legend of film and stage and brought her to the reader full and alive. You cannot read this book and come away with anything but awe and praise for both the star and her biographer.
Ms. West is delightful and candid, she is brilliant, intelligent and in love with life and her fans. She isn’t afraid to admit she loves men and diamonds. She isn’t afraid to say she always knew what she wanted and how to get it. She doesn’t whine about not having and yet she doesn’t boast about having. Her love and respect for her mother is clear and repeated often. She is grace, and charm. She is beauty and the beholder. Confidence, charisma, exuberance, energy and verve, how could you not fall in love with her after reading this delightful trip through her life. I’m sure she is standing at heaven’s gate whispering “Come on up and see me sometime.”
I highly recommend reading this if you need a boost to your spirits, if you want to know how to instill your children with a zest for living and confidence in what they want without being boorish. Charlotte Chandler took a monumental task and gave it the tweak only she could give it. Mae West and Charlotte Chandler never looked better..
Reviewer Billie A Williams is the author of The Capricorn Goat and other mystery suspense novels.
-----
The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.
By Charlotte Chandler
Biography
Reviewed by Billie A Williams
Mae West is an icon. Her voice, her manner, her style are mimicked and mimed and duplicated but never could they out shine Ms. West herself. Charlotte Chandler has taken this legend of film and stage and brought her to the reader full and alive. You cannot read this book and come away with anything but awe and praise for both the star and her biographer.
Ms. West is delightful and candid, she is brilliant, intelligent and in love with life and her fans. She isn’t afraid to admit she loves men and diamonds. She isn’t afraid to say she always knew what she wanted and how to get it. She doesn’t whine about not having and yet she doesn’t boast about having. Her love and respect for her mother is clear and repeated often. She is grace, and charm. She is beauty and the beholder. Confidence, charisma, exuberance, energy and verve, how could you not fall in love with her after reading this delightful trip through her life. I’m sure she is standing at heaven’s gate whispering “Come on up and see me sometime.”
I highly recommend reading this if you need a boost to your spirits, if you want to know how to instill your children with a zest for living and confidence in what they want without being boorish. Charlotte Chandler took a monumental task and gave it the tweak only she could give it. Mae West and Charlotte Chandler never looked better..
Reviewer Billie A Williams is the author of The Capricorn Goat and other mystery suspense novels.
-----
The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
A Top Book for Any Speaker's Library
The Solution is at Hand: The Dottie Walters Story
by Dottie Walters and Terri Marie
Copyright 2007
Pages 156 plus intro
ISBN 0-943477-14-X
Price $14.95
Published by New World Publishing
Reviewed by Dr. Patricia Adelekan, Ph.D., DTM, Founder of Global Education, Inc.
The impact of this unique inspirational book
transcends any that I have read for a long time.
Dottie Walters wrote her last book in conjunction with Terri
Marie. It is called “The Solution is at Hand: The
Dottie Walters Story.” The impact of this unique book
inspirational book transcends any that I have read for
a long time. In it are 14 of Dottie’s Life Lessons.
And, to think that Dottie did not see the final and
finished copy of the book or hear the CD that
accompanies it before she passed away, is eerie.
I read the complete book on the plane to France in
March and was so moved by it that I had all the French
Toastmasters of the IBM Toastmasters Club in Paris
begging for it. It was my only copy, so I could not
part with it. When I got to Nigeria, the same thing
happened. They too, were inspired and touched. What a
woman Dottie was! We need to keep her spirit and
message alive as nuggets of her greatness.
Dottie’s voice on the accompanying CD reveals her
kind, caring, and giving spirit. While listening to
it, one cannot but help feeling blessed by such an
indomitable spirit, as though Dottie were right there
discussing such deep lessons.
I invite everyone to invest in buying a copy of this
treasure of a book and to give it as a gift to someone
special in your life. You will never regret it.”
The Solution is at Hand’ is one
of the top three books every speaker should have.
----
The reviewer is Dr. Pat Adelekan, Global Education, INC
“In Search of Global Greatness”
by Dottie Walters and Terri Marie
Copyright 2007
Pages 156 plus intro
ISBN 0-943477-14-X
Price $14.95
Published by New World Publishing
Reviewed by Dr. Patricia Adelekan, Ph.D., DTM, Founder of Global Education, Inc.
The impact of this unique inspirational book
transcends any that I have read for a long time.
Dottie Walters wrote her last book in conjunction with Terri
Marie. It is called “The Solution is at Hand: The
Dottie Walters Story.” The impact of this unique book
inspirational book transcends any that I have read for
a long time. In it are 14 of Dottie’s Life Lessons.
And, to think that Dottie did not see the final and
finished copy of the book or hear the CD that
accompanies it before she passed away, is eerie.
I read the complete book on the plane to France in
March and was so moved by it that I had all the French
Toastmasters of the IBM Toastmasters Club in Paris
begging for it. It was my only copy, so I could not
part with it. When I got to Nigeria, the same thing
happened. They too, were inspired and touched. What a
woman Dottie was! We need to keep her spirit and
message alive as nuggets of her greatness.
Dottie’s voice on the accompanying CD reveals her
kind, caring, and giving spirit. While listening to
it, one cannot but help feeling blessed by such an
indomitable spirit, as though Dottie were right there
discussing such deep lessons.
I invite everyone to invest in buying a copy of this
treasure of a book and to give it as a gift to someone
special in your life. You will never regret it.”
The Solution is at Hand’ is one
of the top three books every speaker should have.
----
The reviewer is Dr. Pat Adelekan, Global Education, INC
“In Search of Global Greatness”
Monday, July 2, 2007
Tackling the Tough Questions About Riders of the Purple Sage
No One to Cry To, a Long, Hard Ride into the Sunset with Foy Willing of the Riders of the Purple Sage
By Sharon Lee Willing
Biographical Memoir
ISBN-10: 1-58736-686-X
ISBN-13: 978-1-58736-686-4
Reviewer: Tim Lasiuta (Canada) reviewer (
As one of the premier western swing bands of the 1930's and 40's, Foy Willing and the Riders of the Purple Sage were in demand everywhere. Radio. Movies. Special appearances. But, unlike the Sons of the Pioneers, their lineage did not continue unbroken. Unlike the Sons, their history was not chronicled, until now.
Sharon Lee Willing has provided a look into the troubled life of Foy Willing. Not that this is a sad book, but it is more a book about sadness. Foy Willing had had it all. Wealth. Fame. Reputation. And a faithful family. But his life path was the result of poor planning, and in the end, his character.
Sharon tackles the tough questions. She relates the early history of the Riders in more detail than we have ever had. But, with her appearance in Foy’s life in the 1950's, the story gains credibility. Foy had been an alcoholic, but he recovered. He still was in demand. He wanted marriage. But he was unwilling to take the final step. When he did, alcohol was again part of his life. And his marriage dissolved. That’s where the sadness comes in.
Foy was talented. More talented than his recording history tells. More passionate and creative than he is given credit for. Near the end of his years, the ‘old’ Foy Willing resurrected and he began the nostalgic resurgence of the Riders with very much success.
She even includes a discography, his film appearances, and a comprehensive list of songs written/co-written by Foy. Collectors will love this.
This is a heartfelt book. If you want a glossed over history of Mr Willing, don’t buy this book. If you want to read about the real Foy Willing, this is for you. Written by the one who knew him best, and loved him the most, "No One to Cry To" is the story of a man, blessed with talent, on a lifelong journey who finally found what he was looking for.
Tim Lasiuta (Canada)
By Sharon Lee Willing
Biographical Memoir
ISBN-10: 1-58736-686-X
ISBN-13: 978-1-58736-686-4
Reviewer: Tim Lasiuta (Canada) reviewer (
As one of the premier western swing bands of the 1930's and 40's, Foy Willing and the Riders of the Purple Sage were in demand everywhere. Radio. Movies. Special appearances. But, unlike the Sons of the Pioneers, their lineage did not continue unbroken. Unlike the Sons, their history was not chronicled, until now.
Sharon Lee Willing has provided a look into the troubled life of Foy Willing. Not that this is a sad book, but it is more a book about sadness. Foy Willing had had it all. Wealth. Fame. Reputation. And a faithful family. But his life path was the result of poor planning, and in the end, his character.
Sharon tackles the tough questions. She relates the early history of the Riders in more detail than we have ever had. But, with her appearance in Foy’s life in the 1950's, the story gains credibility. Foy had been an alcoholic, but he recovered. He still was in demand. He wanted marriage. But he was unwilling to take the final step. When he did, alcohol was again part of his life. And his marriage dissolved. That’s where the sadness comes in.
Foy was talented. More talented than his recording history tells. More passionate and creative than he is given credit for. Near the end of his years, the ‘old’ Foy Willing resurrected and he began the nostalgic resurgence of the Riders with very much success.
She even includes a discography, his film appearances, and a comprehensive list of songs written/co-written by Foy. Collectors will love this.
This is a heartfelt book. If you want a glossed over history of Mr Willing, don’t buy this book. If you want to read about the real Foy Willing, this is for you. Written by the one who knew him best, and loved him the most, "No One to Cry To" is the story of a man, blessed with talent, on a lifelong journey who finally found what he was looking for.
Tim Lasiuta (Canada)
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