Thank you so much for your kindness in going to the trouble of leaving a review!!
Writing is hard – long hours and loneliness. A book will take around a thousand hours in the gestation! That’s a lot of one’s life to invest. I’ve been writing for some fifty-five years during which time I have created over a hundred book on a great range of subjects – fiction and non-fiction. I enjoy writing but sometimes it does become intrusive and often I wonder whether I should be spending my time in some other way. When I get those moments and feel it’s all pointless I just have to read your reviews and it raises my spirits. Thank you for keeping me insane!
Roy Harper
5.0 out of 5 stars A GREAT READ ABOUT A WONDERFUL ARTIST
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 15 August 2021
Verified Purchase
I have had a most enjoyable week reading Opher Goodwins’ book about Roy Harper’s songs while relistening to my own albums or streaming those not yet acquired via my favourite service. The book gives new insights into familiar tunes and lyrics, brings knowledge about recently heard gems and adds a greater depth to our collective knowledge about one of the most loved singer/songwriters of his generation.
The author’s easy, readable style and deep knowledge, based of hundreds of attended gigs and an almost life-long friendship with Roy, helps take the reader through each album track chronologically, including any associated singles and B-sides.
I came to Roy’s music via 1970’s Flat Baroque and Berserk’s ‘I Hate The White Man’, a fiery, almost contemporary, song, condemning those too rich or powerful to care. I’ve been lucky enough to see several equally emotional gigs. The associated paragraph’s detailed description of the song, the background to its live recording at the then home of English folk music, Les Cousins and the discussion about Roy’s desire to preamble the song, has given a greater depth to my understanding. This skill, to inform, educate and entertain, and in a lively way, is one of the strong points of the book, and will have the reader, leaning into its pages time after time when exploring one of Roy’s twenty-four described albums.
As an added bonus – as such – the author details many of Roy’s live recordings and radio sessions, compilations unreleased tracks, guest appearances and rarities as well. The book contains a fine selection of carefully chosen colour and B&W photographs of Roy in performance, socializing, his album covers and other memorabilia.
This book is a great read and a credit to a wonderful artist.
Phil Ochs
5.0 out of 5 stars An Amazing Book
Reviewed in the United States on 19 December 2024
Verified Purchase
Phil Ochs was a contemporary of Bob Dylan, Tom Paxton, Judy Collins, Joan Baez and other well known denizens of the folk scene in Greenwich Village in the 1960s and 1970s. Ochs was a singer-songwriter who, unlike Dylan, remained true to his political beliefs throughout his career. From melodic renditions of poems by Alfred Noyes and Edgar Allen Poe to classic social justice songs like I Ain’t Marching Anymore and There But for Fortune, Ochs was a lesser known giant in the folk music scene.
Opher Goodwin has written the definitive book about Ochs’ songs. For those new to his subject, it is a wonderful introduction to the breadth of what Ochs achieved and longtime fans will find new dimensions to familiar lyrics. Opher writes with clarity, insight and ultimately, a love of Ochs that shines through, without fawning. I recommend it without hesitation.
Captain Beefheart
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 2 November 2022
Verified Purchase
This is such a brilliant book.I have been using this as a reference book to check which musician played on which album ! A lot of research has gone into it and the book is very informative ! The author loves the band,but isn’t afraid to speak out against something he doesn’t like (The Tragic band !)
It has me listening to the albums more intently now !
Nice to see some of the Captain’s lyrics about the state of our planet ! ( I wonder what he would think of mother earth in 2022!)
Highly recommended.
In Search of Captain Beefheart
Verified Purchase
We move from the rock of a 2004 White Stripes gig to the deep blues of Son House performing in 1968 in the very first paragraph, which gives some idea of the huge range of personal and musical experience covered in this always lively and thoroughly engaging personal testimony. We are taken on a freewheeling and cheerfully anarchic journey across time and space from the earliest days of rock’n’roll through the vibrant 60s and its many musical offshoots and current influences, with every anecdote giving ample evidence for the author’s central idea – that music transforms and inspires like nothing else, forging an organic link with our own lives and even the politics and beliefs we live by. There are sharp, vivid, honest and cheerfully scatological portraits of his musical heroes with warm praise and candid criticism providing the salty ring of truth. The book has wry down-to-earth humour, a breakneck momentum, mostly good musical taste, fascinating gossip, strong opinions, passionate loves and equally passionate hates – and there’s not a dull moment in it. Written with a warm and generous spirit, in the end it amounts to a radical critique of much more than music. It captures the modern zeitgeist with zest and courage. Recommended.
Neil Young
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 26 April 2024
Another book in the fantastic On Track series from publishers Sonicbond.
Opher Goodwin’s book is indispensable to anyone who has an interest in Neil’s music or in 1960s music in general. This book deals with Neil’s formative years and has a very thorough 10 page introduction setting the scene before we even get to the first recordings. Neil’s life is described in detail and each LP track ( and single) is forensically described. Mr Goodwin obviously has a very deep love and understanding of his subject having been a fan since day 1. Neil Young is an enigma but Opher gets behind th rock star persona. He describes Neil’s early bands, The Mynah Birds, Buffalo Springfield, Crazy Horse and of course Crosby Stills Nash and Young. Thoroughly recommended.
Bob Dylan
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 8 August 2023
Verified Purchase
Dylan 1962 to 1970 is another book in the marvelous On Track series, published by Sonicbond.
It concentrates on Bob’s early career which is when he wrote most ( not all) of his best songs such as Like A Rolling Stone Blowing in the Wind, All I Really Want To Do, It Ain’t Me Babe etc. Opher Goodwin knows his subject inside out. He was around in the 60’s and saw many of the 60s legends.
This book goes from Dylan’s first album in 1962 up to New Morning in 1970. I can thoroughly recommend it to anyone interested in Dylan or 60s music in general.
Nick Harper
Verified Purchase
This is not just a book, it is a Labour of love. Other has known Nick for most of Nick’s life. He has a pride in him like a father, or at worst the best of teachers (though he will deny having taught Nick anything.) The book was intended as a companion to three L.P. Collection. It is more than that. Much more. It is the story of a songwriter, musician and maverick. It tells of a man who is committed to two things, his family and his musical integrity. The former should be the first consideration for any person with a family, the latter the method to support and provide for the former. Music is love. I have known Nick since 1984, but not as Opher does. I do not have bragging rights, but I know who he is. Looking back I realise he was enigmatic. I watched him over the years. I saw him to from passenger to team player to engine driver in his musical journey. Biscuits playing from very good to superb and peerless. His songs have taken a simi?at journey. His style has woven down many lanes, albeit closely linked. Through them all you hear Nick’s character.This story was familiar to me, like talking to an old friend. But there was more. The story is bigger than what I knew, the songs more complex, and intellectual.
If you know Nick Harper’s music, this book is essential. If you don’t, this is a guide to some of the most satisfying stuff you will hear this side of Killing Joke, classic 60s and 70s songwriters, modern day guitar wizzkids. A great read in easy style, with delightful interview responses from Nick himself to put flesh and blood to the story. Designed as a companion, but stands up by itself as a great little biography. Not just another chord in your song.
Like this:
Like Loading...
