Category Archives: Books

Classic Rock Titans and Friends: Harrison and Clapton

Posted on May 5, 2022 by Bob Ruggiero

All Things Must Pass Away: Harrison, Clapton, and Other Assorted Love Songs by Kenneth Womack and Jason Kruppa 304 pp., $28.99, Chicago Review Press One of rock and roll’s most enduring friendships was between George Harrison and Eric Clapton. From … Continue reading →

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Miles Copeland Remembers the Police, Go-Go’s, Bangles, & Timbuk 3 in Memoir

Posted on March 23, 2022 by Bob Ruggiero

Miles Copeland II was a longtime CIA operative in the Middle East and involved in all sorts of secretive spy missions from the 1940s through the ‘60s. And his son—Miles A. Copeland III—often had to use similarly delicate skills and … Continue reading →

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Mercy, Mercy She: A Groupie’s Wild Child Story

Posted on February 21, 2022 by Bob Ruggiero

In the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, Mercy Fontenot was anything but a shrinking violet. In her alter ego as “Miss Mercy” – sporting distinctive raccoon eye makeup and dressed in layers of flowing gypsy clothes of lace, leopard prints, … Continue reading →

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Hair Metal Years Revealed in Massive Oral History

Posted on January 5, 2022 by Bob Ruggiero

Come with us, children, back to the magical, mystical land of the 1980’s. Where for a brief but shining span of time the hair was high, the riffs were righteous, the lead singers preening, the flashpots fiery, the colors popping, … Continue reading →

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Rob Halford of Judas Priest Confesses Everything. EVERYTHING.

Posted on August 5, 2021 by Bob Ruggiero

Confess: The Autobiography by Rob Halford 368 pp., $30, Hachette Books For much of the 1970’s and ‘80s, even as he was fronting Judas Priest, one of the most popular, loved, and revered heavy metal bands of all time, lead … Continue reading →

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Chris Hillman Looks Toward the Byrds, the Burritos, and Beyond

Posted on August 3, 2021 by Bob Ruggiero

Throughout his nearly 60-year career in music, he’s flown high as a Byrd and a Burrito Brother. He’s served as a Squirrel Barker and a Golden State Boy. He left the train depot in Manassas on his way out west … Continue reading →

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Jimi Hendrix: Where the Wild Thing Was

Posted on July 13, 2021 by Bob Ruggiero

Wild Thing: The Short, Spellbinding Life of Jimi Hendrix By Philip Norman 400 pp., $28.95, Liverlight Publications When veteran music journalist Philip Norman turns his attention to a musician, the word “definitive” is not an understatement. For while many of … Continue reading →

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America’s Book of History

Posted on June 2, 2021 by Bob Ruggiero

If you’re a fan of the band America – the trio behind the classic rock warhorses as, well, “A Horse with No Name” along with “Sister Golden Hair,” “Ventura Highway,” “Tin Man,” “Lonely People,” “Sandman,” “I Need You,” and “You … Continue reading →

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Chris Frantz Remembers Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club, and – of course – Tina!

Posted on May 28, 2021 by Bob Ruggiero

Chris Frantz remembers very vividly the first time he ever laid eyes upon one Martina Weymouth. It was September of 1971, and was lounging on a grassy park with a fellow student at the Rhode Island School of Design. When … Continue reading →

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Peter Frampton Shows the Way to His Past in Memoir

Posted on May 6, 2021 by Bob Ruggiero

Do You Feel Like I Do?: A Memoir By Peter Frampton with Alan Light 352 pp., $28, Hachette Books If rock star careers were measured in terms of their level of roller coaster-ness, then Peter Frampton’s would be a ride … Continue reading →

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