The Rolling Stones: The Biography

Name: The Rolling Stones: The Biography
Brand: Penguin Press
SKU: 9780593489093
Price: 45.60 USD
Availability: InStock

$45.60

Product Variants

Biographical Note:
Bob Spitz is the award-winning author of The Beatles and Led Zeppelin: The Biography as well as ten other works of non-fiction. His best-selling book Dearie: The Remarkable Life of Julia Child has been made into a documentary and will open as a play called The Recipe early next year. A lifelong musician, Spitz helped manage Bruce Springsteen and Elton John at crucial points in their careers. He lives in New York City and Los Angeles

Review Quotes:
"This rascally, standard-bearing biography presents the saga of the Rolling Stones as a melodrama fed by forces in diametric opposition: blues versus pop, sobriety versus altered consciousness, the Stones versus the law, Stone versus Stone." -- The New Yorker

"Fond, voluble and diligent . . . Spitz is both forensic and poetic." -- Leah Greenblatt, New York Times

"Excels at presenting the Stones in glorious Technicolor . . . indispensable." -- Marc Ballon, LA Times

"You won't look at the Stones the same way again" -- David Kirby, The Wall Street Journal

"Sure to titillate Stones fans with its many insider stories" -- Nathan Smith, The Observer

"Booze, blues, bust-ups, sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll ... captures the unique and often troubled alchemy ... the definitive (and debauched) biography" -- Telegraph

"An epic new biography" -- Sunday Times

'A comprehensive, unsparing and bloody history of the biggest rock band of all time' --Independent

"A real rock 'n' roll revelation ... a story with many dark corners" -- Sunday Mail

"Deft and wide-ranging ... is sure to titillate Stones fans with its many insider stories; skeptics may be converted by the book's electrifying history of a group that has remained at rock's forefront for countless decades." -- Observer

"A lengthy volume - deserving of a band as big and influential as the Stones - but it is so well researched that there will be satisfaction throughout" -- Sunday Express "The story unfurls with crime fiction thrill and speed, the focus on the intense, jealousy-filled relationship between Mick Jagger and Keith Richards." -- Mojo

"A terrific biography . . . A must for every fan of the Stones and rock and roll, a work of music history to savor." -- Booklist (starred review)

"Spitz offers a good explanation for why the Stones have endured, filthy rich while continuing to present themselves as unwholesome, dangerous street rats . . . a treasure trove for Stones fans." -- Kirkus (starred review)

Publisher Marketing:
An Instant New York Times Bestseller

"A magisterial work that charts the 60-year journey of 'the greatest rock and roll band in the world.' . . . Hundreds of books have been written about the Rolling Stones, but few sparkle quite like Spitz's. For anyone who loves or even likes the Stones, it's indispensable." --Los Angeles Times

All great music is a threat.

What left is there to say about The Rolling Stones? A hell of a lot, it turns out.

Bob Spitz has brought his indefatigable energy and five decades of experiences in the fields and hollows of rock 'n' roll to bear on his five-year journey to reexamine one of popular music's greatest stories. There are myriad revisions to the conventional narrative which underscore just how in control of that narrative the band has been up to now--small example: no, Muddy Waters was not mopping the floors at Chess Records when the Stones showed up. But in a larger sense, as with the Beatles and Led Zeppelin, Spitz's greatest gift is for the big picture. He knows where the magic is, and why it is. He is as clear-eyed a connoisseur of the show business, the spectacle and the collateral damage of this whirlwind as anyone alive, and that lucid gaze pierces a lot of incrusted bullshit, but the ultimate goal is to connect with a creative force whose power shows no signs of fading, over sixty years on.

At its heart the story is about two boys, Mick and Keith, and their unique, fraught, alchemical bond, often tested, never sundered. The Glimmer Twins. The bandmates, like Charlie Watts, who found their groove in relation to this double star made the trip intact, while those who struggled, like Brian Jones and Mick Taylor, were chewed up and spit out. This is a story with many dark corners, including a surprising number of deaths. But whether Jagger and Richards sold their souls to the devil is at the crossroads for blues greatness or just squeezed their heroes for every drop of inspiration, in the end their connection to their music and to each other put them in a category of one, where they very much remain.

Review Citations: