CRITIC CRITIQUE 

Never discuss religion or politics… or Rock and Roll. 

Why? 

Because, for some fans, rock embodies both religion and politics. Especially where its idols are concerned: Elvis, Lennon, Garcia, Cobain, Hendrix, Morrison, Janis, to name a few.  

In The Rock and Roll Book of the Dead, my goal was to portray these stars from “an impartial point of view committed not to adulation or defamation, but to the truth." 

J. Parker, an Amazon reviewer, found this “disingenuous.” He characterizes the work as a “Mishmash of bits and pieces from a multitude of the seamier "tell-all" books,” concluding: “If you want ‘all the dirt’ then there are plenty of books out there that are far more well written.”

The critic neglected to consult my bibliography: more than a hundred biographies, the vast majority of which were written by the stars’ families, friends, lovers, managers, bandmembers, or “authorized” biographers. 

         The reviewer may refer to the handful of my less reverent sources such as Albert Goldman, Fred Seaman, Red West, Peggy Caserta. 

“Star biographies come in two varieties: the hagiography or the expose,” I write in the Introduction. “The first kind, often 'authorized' by family, eulogizes its subject, enlarging on legend while euphemizing or ignoring critical information. The second kind, often denounced by insiders, pierces the façade, diminishing its subject, while overlooking the positives…. The greater truth of an historic personality is found in a judicious inclusion of faithful and critical perspectives -- not in a rigid adherence to one or the other.” 

Hoping to arrive at this nonpartisan middle ground, I carefully studied books of diverse points of view. But for every one title which a critic may dismiss as dirt, ten reverent titles were examined and quoted.

The Rock and Roll Book of the Dead’s alleged preference for “the seamier” details, however, “is actually the least of its problems,” this reviewer continues. “There are an endless array of factual errors that leave me believing that [the author] knows little to nothing about the musicians that he is writing about. I will list only a few examples, as a thorough list would be enough for a book in itself.”

Though dedicated to accuracy, this critic seems fond of hyperbole. Anyway, his four examples…

1. “Jimi Hendrix's mother died when he was ten and in the very next paragraph says she died when he was fifteen.”

         Parker misread the text. It quotes Jimi saying, “She died when I was ten.” In the next paragraph, it states that Jimi confused her death date with her divorce date. “In fact, Al [J’s father] divorced Lucille [mother] when Jimi was ten… Lucille passed away five years later at age 32.  Jimi was 15."

2. “He errantly attributes a condition Brian Wilson suffered from called tardive dyskinesia to LSD use in the '60s, when in fact it is well-documented that the condition (which Wilson suffered from in the '80s) was a result of antipsychotics prescribed to him by Dr. Eugene Landy (this condition is a well-known side effect of the specific medication that Wilson was prescribed)."

         Incorrect. My text reads: [In the late 60s] The Beach Boy… would be diagnosed with Tardive Dyskinesea, a debilitating nervous condition resulting from acid saturation."

Wilson’s chronic LSD consumption during the 60s is confirmed by all his biographers. Dr. Landy began treating the singer for TD in 1975. In “The Future of LSD Psychotherapy” (http://www.psychedelic-library.org/groffutr.htm), Dr. Stanislav Grof writes: “There are an increasing number of professional papers that emphasize the dangers of massive use of these drugs (hallucinogenics), leading to the irreversible neurological symptoms of tardive dyskinesea.”

3. “On more than one occasion [Comfort] follows the phrase, "Lennon sang..." with lyrics actually sung by Paul McCartney.” 

  There is but one debatable example: “Getting Better.” While McCartney is the lead vocalist here, Lennon does sing “Can’t get no worse,” and harmonizes on the bridges. Moreover, as pointed out at http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=121,“This song was a true collaborative effort for Lennon and McCartney, with Lennon adding that legendary part about being bad to his woman."

4. “A couple of quotes in the Jerry Garcia section are attributed to "Grateful Dead manager Vince Welnick" (Welnick was the band's keyboard player, not manager)

         Correct. Welnick was indeed the Dead’s keyboardist. Identifying him as a manager was a mistake overlooked in the manuscript proofing. 

To err is human. Most major newspapers, though written by studious journalists and proofed by countless fact checkers, run a daily “Correction” column. Has a newspaper, a telephone directory, a history, a biography or any other fact-rich text ever been written without a single proofing error? 

Is this reviewer's real problem, then, with imagined factual errors, or is it with larger issues -- the portrayals and themes of the book? If so, please be honest: challenge these themes. Dismantle the logic. Do not try to discredit the entire work based on misreading or misinformation.