Get It While You Can

Live at the Fillmore East & West by John Glatt (Lyons Press, $26.95, 413 pages)

Live at the Fillmore East & West by John Glatt is an entertaining overview of the rock scene in the late 60s and early 70s, but it did not provide quite as much information as I expected. The book is not an accounting of all or most of the bands that played at the Fillmore East in New York City or at the Fillmore West in San Francisco (which was once my veritable second home). Instead, it is a snapshot of the times, with particular focus given to – as noted on the cover – Bill Graham, Janis Joplin, Grace Slick, and Carlos Santana. One’s enjoyment in reading the book will depend on how interested you are in these four figures. So much has been written about Joplin that there’s little new here, and there’s likely too much about promoter Bill Graham as Glatt earlier wrote Rage & Roll: Bill Graham and the Selling of Rock.

Another issue is that in attempting to humanize these figures, there’s too much attention paid to their flaws and conflicts and personal relationships; too little attention is paid to the music they created. As with most rock and roll stories, sex and drugs are over-emphasized. Graham is quoted as stating that, “…cocaine came in and cocaine ruined the music.” Even if this is true, focusing on musicians’ drug use grows boring quickly – very, very quickly.

The most fascinating part of Live is the detailed explanation as to how the Fillmore East came to be born. Fillmore West likely gets less attention than it deserved. It’s worth restating that the music fails to get the attention it deserves. Glatt’s account ends somewhat suddenly and anti-climatically with Graham’s accidental death, after the closing of the rock palaces.

Although Live lacks the depth and detail that its subtitle promised (“Getting Backstage and Personal with Rock’s Greatest Legends”), it nevertheless makes me want to read Glatt’s earlier rock and roll book.

Recommended, for those seeking a less than fully comprehensive look at the subject matter.

Joseph Arellano

A review copy was provided by the publisher.

Note: The hardbound release contains several errors/typos. For example, Spencer Dryden is referred to as Spender Dryden. The Monterey Folk Festival is called the Monterrey Folk Festival. And the drug Halcion is called Halcyon. These mistakes will hopefully be corrected in the trade paperback edition.

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A look at Live at the Fillmore East: Getting Backstage and Personal with Rock’s Greatest Legends by John Glatt.

The Romney Riddle

Mitt Romney: An Inside Look at the Man and His Politics by R. B. Scott (Lyons Press, $16.95, 264 pages)

“Like the Kennedys, the Romneys believe they were born to serve and called to the work…  Mormons are eager to put their money where their beliefs are.”

“In January 2008 it was becoming apparent that Mitt Romney might have spoken the truth months earlier when he said he had only himself to fear.”

This promised to be a balanced portrait of presidential candidate Mitt Romney, as written by one of his cousins.   However, upon finishing it, one knows little more about “the real Mitt” than one did earlier.   Scott gives considerable attention to Romney’s perceived flip-flops on issues but never seems to acquire a position on the issue of whether Romney is deliberately deceptive, or simply a person who freely exercises the option of changing his mind.   Scott, for example, cites Romney’s signing of the Grover Norquist pledge to never raise taxes; a pledge seemingly contradicted when, as governor of Massachusetts, Romney substantively boosted fees for government services in the state.

What’s frustrating – if not maddening – about this account is Scott’s repeated implication that voters would like Romney more if they knew the real man; the man who is supposedly kept hidden by his political handlers.   Yet Scott fails to provide us with his own perspective on a relative he demeans (in a chapter title) as “The Designated Old White Guy.”

Scott quotes an old friend of Romney’s who stated, “He really doesn’t have time for personal relationships.”   But the same old friend adds that he would vote for Romney for president, “in a heartbeat.”   This account is just as confusing as that.

Joseph Arellano

A review copy was provided by the publisher.   R. B. Scott’s first novel, Closing Circles: Trapped in the Everlasting Mormon Movement, has been released by Gray Dog Press.

What’s Happening?!?!

Mitt Romney: An Inside Look at the Man and His Politics by R. B. Scott (Lyons Press, $16.95, 245 pages)

“Like the Kennedys, the Romneys believe they were born to serve and called to the work…  Mormons are eager to put their money where their beliefs are.”

“In January 2008 it was becoming apparent that Mitt Romney might have spoken the truth months earlier when he said he had only himself to fear.”

This promised to be a “fair and balanced” look at presidential candidate Mitt Romney by one of his cousins.   However, upon finishing it, one knows little more about “the real Mitt” than one did earlier.   Scott gives considerable attention to Romney’s perceived flip-flops on issues but never seems to take a position as to whether Romney is deliberately deceptive, or merely a person exercising the freedom to change his mind.   Scott, for example, cites Romney’s signing of the Grover Norquist pledge to never raise taxes; a pledge seemingly contradicted when, as governor, Romney sustantively boosted fees for government services in Massachusetts.

What’s maddening about this account is Scott’s repeated implication that voters would like Romney more if they knew the real man; the man kept hidden by his political strategists.   Yet Scott fails to provide us with his own perspective on a relative he demeans (in a chapter title) as “The Designated Old White Guy.”

Scott quotes an old friend of Romney’s who stated, “He really doesn’t have time for personal relationships.”   But the same old friend adds that he would vote for Romney for president, “in a heartbeat.”   This account is just as puzzling as that.

Joseph Arellano

A review copy was provided by the publisher.

Coming Up Next…

A review of Mitt Romney: An Inside Look at the Man and His Politics by R. B. Scott.

Lucky Man

JFK in Ireland: Four Days That Changed a President by Ryan Tubridy (Lyons Press, $27.50, 302 pages)

“This is not the land of my birth, but it is the land for which I hold the greatest affection.”   President John F. Kennedy, Limerick, Ireland – June 29, 1963

“During his visit here we came to regard the President as one of ourselves…  We were proud of him.”   Eamon de Valera, President of Ireland – November 22, 1963

I’ve read most of the books written about the Kennedys and can vouch for the fact that this one is unique.   JFK in Ireland is not about John Kennedy, the politician, president or historical figure.   It is also not about JFK the intellectual.   This book lets us get to know the JFK who was an emotional person, with real thoughts and feelings – who just five months before his death fell in love with the country of his ancestors.

Ryan Tubridy concisely and beautifully covers the details of the “four days that changed a president.”   Kennedy’s visit to Ireland allowed him to discover a part of his being that had previously remained hidden.   During the last day of his visit, JFK was to state, “I wish I could stay here for another week, or another month.”   He also said, “This is where we all say goodbye.”

“…his sense of his own Irishness was growing stronger by the year.”

Tubridy, a major TV personality in Ireland, summarizes here the history and character of the Irish people; people who were once “on the lower rungs of society.”   They were to produce a president who learned in his near-final days why he was proud to have come from their stock.   Very, very well done.

Highly recommended.

Joseph Arellano

A review copy was provided by the publisher.   “Here was a fellow who came from (impoverishment) on both paternal and maternal sides who had reached the very top in the United States.   That was felt throughout the country.”   Thomas Kiernan, former U.S. Ambassador to Ireland