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stewart
Old Love
United Kingdom
568 Posts |
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Martin Pravda
Fourth Love
United Kingdom
104 Posts |
 Posted - 11/02/2008 : 03:59:21
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| I have, it's alright. Quite interesting and full of facts. But the best book written about the band has to be Barney Hoskyns Alone Again or. That is just excellent. |
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rocker
Old Love
USA
3606 Posts |
Posted - 11/02/2008 : 15:07:52
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I haven't read Hoskyn's book but I think I should after Hultkran's.
My take on Hultkran's book was that he does seem to get into the philosophy behind the record and why it was made by arguably a musical genius of the time. I thought I got a pretty good perspective of FC with flower power on one side and disillusionment on the other. |
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The sweet disorder
Fourth Love
United Kingdom
218 Posts |
Posted - 11/02/2008 : 15:13:53
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Please be joking Martyn!!! The book is just an extended version of his MOJO interview with Bryan and in any subsequent thing he has said he has slated Arthur through and through. I personally think the Forever Changes book is a cracker. I don't agree with a lot in it but it at least offers some kind of view of the mindset of Arthur whilst creating this album, Pegasus Carousel is a decent read but it's clear that Michael didn't really know Arthur despite being in the same band. Ken Brooks Love story is not a bad read as well despite needing a copy editor. I was disappointed in Hoskyn's effort considering some of the fine stuff he has written.
Obviously the book everybody would like to read is the book Arthur had written or was writing up to his death. I recall Jazmaan saying that he'd read extracts from it, however, does anybody know if this is ever going to be released of is it a pipedream?? |
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rocker
Old Love
USA
3606 Posts |
Posted - 11/02/2008 : 15:29:40
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Now that would be something..to hear everything from the source!...
No doubt same thing for Arthur's book like Love Story: if it ever sees light of day it should get a real good editor. Somebody who knows music, the times it writes about, Arthur Lee and the personnel and Love. On the other hand I for one don't know what's written. Most likely it's the followup to "Forever Changes" and it would be real insightful to hear what the "prophet" has to say 40+ years later.He sure lived an eventful life. |
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kdion11
Old Love
USA
552 Posts |
Posted - 12/02/2008 : 01:35:10
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quote:
Originally posted by The sweet disorder
Obviously the book everybody would like to read is the book Arthur had written or was writing up to his death. Does anybody know if this is ever going to be released of is it a pipedream??
KD: Pipedream !
Free the pipes ! |
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SignedRW
Fifth Love
USA
280 Posts |
Posted - 12/02/2008 : 18:48:22
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Based only on my own response to the few pages of Arthur's self-penned tome that made their way to me, I'd have to lean toward saying that K.D. is probably correct in regards to the pipedream scenario. It was
not just that the stuff was pretty stream-of-conscious, completely run-on, non-punctuated, but also virtually no semblence at all of sequence
or time-line. Yes, it was interesting (to a long-time, hard core fan like myself), but it was way disjointed, difficult to follow, and at
times, so "inside" that very, very few people could possibly have had
a clue as to what or who was being discussed. I couldn't help but question if Arthur could have managed to complete enough in the way of pages of manuscript that would enable an editor, no matter how skilled or capable, to actually manage to piece together even a partially completed or finished work. Personally, I have far more hope of Johnny one day actually completing a contemporary version of the fabled "Gethsemene" or whatever title he might choose to give it,
in much the same way that Brian Wilson finally triumphed so many
years after the fact with his "Smile" release. Johnny is still with us, healthy and happening (to the best of my knowledge), and you know that Mike, Rusty, and the Baby Lemonade boys would step up to work with him, and perhaps even Michael Stuart-Ware and Jay Donnellan too, and just to further fantasize, what if this album included some full band arrangements of a song or two from the pen of Bryan Maclean, sourced from some of those posthumously released Sundazed tracks, or even from "Intra Muros?" That's my personal "Pipedream," and I'm sticking with it. |
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John9
Old Love
United Kingdom
2154 Posts |
Posted - 12/02/2008 : 20:34:57
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| Yes, I think that this was one of Arthur's most endearing qualities -his apparent incoherence when describing or explaining things - especially the lyrics to his songs. I say 'apparent' because I would imagine that what it really was was his being in touch with his own inner world and self. There's probably some of that in us all - it was just that he had it in larger measure than most. |
Edited by - John9 on 12/02/2008 20:37:38 |
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rocker
Old Love
USA
3606 Posts |
Posted - 12/02/2008 : 20:50:21
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Well from the looks of it I won't be waiting for soemthing in print but yes maybe music by John and the rest of the former band would be a fitting coda to what went before. With Arthur everything looks as if it's all in the music. He was a writer alright but not a novelist, diary keeper or autobiographer. Too bad some bookseller didn't offer to pay him by the word........... |
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TJSAbass
Fourth Love
USA
139 Posts |
Posted - 15/02/2008 : 01:48:26
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| The comment about Arthur's stream-of-consciousness style reminds me of Jac Holzman's comment that Arthur seemed to be high all the time, having achieved "clear light". HE knew what he meant, but if you weren't up to his level, it might make no sense at all. I had a similar experience listening to Dylan, Highway 61 Revisited made alot more sense to me after several years of consciousness expansion... Arthur's lyrics often went in several directions within one song, embodying humor, spirituality, philosophy, and topicality, thus some critics who didn't "get it" deriding him for being scattershot or nonsensical. They just weren't close enough to his level of thinking. I could see how he might be hard to follow, once freed from the structural limitations of songwriting. I sure would like to read that book though! |
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John9
Old Love
United Kingdom
2154 Posts |
Posted - 15/02/2008 : 09:13:22
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I remember reading in Holzman's book about the time when Arthur Lee was trying to explain the lyrics of 'Your Mind and We Belong Together' to someone - I would imagine that that would have been a glorious stream of consciousness moment! |
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Topic |
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Forever Changes - the book of the album!
