Review copy was received from Author. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Rock & Roll Nightmares True Stories, Volume 1 by Staci Layne Wilson Narrator: Andy Garrison
Published by Indie on September 8, 2022
Genres: Non Fiction
Length: 7 hours, 59 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Author
Goodreads
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Kurt Cobain. GG Allin. Wendy O. Williams. Duane Allman. Travis Barker. Jimmy Page. Janis Joplin. Ozzy Osbourne. Chrissie Hynde. Dee Dee Ramone. Chris Cornell. Marc Bolan. Tommy Lee. Amy Winehouse. Jimi Hendrix. What do these artists all have in common? They’re rowdy rock stars whose over-the-top lifestyles spun out of control, landing them deep in Rock & Roll Nightmare territory.
The author of this book reached out to me after reading my review of Confession by Rob Halford. I’ve read a lot of memoirs and autobiographies. I have only read a handful of true stories told by someone other than the people involved. As I am a fan of many genres of rock music, I thought I would give this book a try. I love that this book covers a large group of music, everything from Janis Joplin, Kurt Cobain, Mama Cass, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, Dee Dee Ramone, Xzibit and a whole lot more.
Each chapter of the book tackles a different topic from “Chapter One: Only the Good Die Young” which talks about the infamous 27 club to “Chapter Four: Magical Mystery Tour” which talks about mysterious things that happened to some musicians over the years. There’s also “Highway to Hell”, “Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide”, “Breaking the Law”, “Tragedy”, “Flirtin’ with Disaster” and “Motherless Children”.
I don’t want to go into individual stories, but there is one that really caught my interest. I’m sure you remember Iron Butterfly with the single In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida. Well, one of the bassist (there were several over the years), was a true genius. Philip Taylor Kramer was from Ohio and when he left the band, he went back to school and got an aerospace engineering degree. He worked for the Department of Defense on the MX missile guidance system, he also worked on data compression software with Randy Jackson of The Jackson Five. He also worked on video compression and was going to be an expert witness for the OJ trial before he disappeared. And mysterious disappearance doesn’t quite cover it. I had never heard about this before, but there is an Unsolved Mysteries episode about it, and I will be looking it up.
Narration:
As I said, I haven’t listened to a lot of non-fiction books that aren’t memoirs told by the people involved. There isn’t much dialogue in this book, so this narration is way different than I’m used to. The narration isn’t bad, it just took me a bit to get used to. I would very much listen to this narrator again. I would actually like to hear him narrate something a little more my normal style to see how he does there. I really did get lost in his storytelling.
Listen to a clip: HERE
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I started listening to audiobooks when a new book in a series was coming out and I wanted to get a refresher, but didn’t have time to read all the books (I think it was Anita Blake). I fell in love. I stayed with strictly re-reading books that I’d already read for a long time. I eventually tried an audiobook for something that I hadn’t read first and was hooked there too. Now, I listen to audio for both re-reads and first time. I have some series that I’ve given up reading and only listen. I try to get any many books/audiobooks from the library to help save on my budget. Books on CD and the newer digital downloads from the library really allow me to listen more. I then purchase my favorites (because who can wait in line for your favorite book??) and less mainstream books from Audible or some other online retailer.
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I’m not sure it would be for me but glad to see you had a good time
Yeah, this wouldn’t be for everyone.
Wow Melanie what a unique kind of read and strange disappearances wow had no clue. Thanks for putting this on my radar I will be checking it out
I hope you had a chance to check this out. It really had some fun stories in it.
Wow, these are really fascinating stories.
It was very interesting to hear so many of these stories. Some I knew already, but even then, I was getting new details here.
Cool find!
I did enjoy it. I’m glad I got it to listen to as well. Thanks
Oh wow, this is different than what I thought it was going to be. Sounds like the stories were interesting. If my stepdad listened or read, I’d suggest this to him because I think he’d really enjoy it. I might still suggest it anyway! Thanks for sharing it!
It was a really interesting group of stories. I hope your stepdad was willing to give it a try.