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The Big Wheel
Thomas was bassist with Elvis Costello and The Attractions at the height of the band’s success with hits like "Oliver’s Army" and "Accidents Will Happen." Though names are never mentioned, The Big Wheel paints a vivid and hilarious picture of exactly what it is like touring the US and the rest of the world with Costello and Company, sharing your life 24 hours a day with a moody egotistical singer, a crazed drummer and a host of hangers-on. Originally published by Viking in 1990, The Big Wheel was nominated for the Ralph J. Gleason award for music writing. Less impressed, Costello sacked Thomas for writing it. This is one of the great music books, and probably the funniest.
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1991
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
July 30, 2014
I see the publisher's blurb focuses on the standard rock-memoir ideas of humour, excess and wackiness. Fair doobries, but that wasn't what I got from The Big Wheel. It's true there is some humorous writing and some of it works - though some is corny and those lines are among the least successful in the book.
The book seemed to me to be mainly about Thomas' dissatisfaction, disdain, unfulfilledness, with the life of a busy working musician living a disconnected life on and off the road. There are reminiscences from further back, too. But the Thomas narrated here seems to live mainly inside his head, reflecting fretfully on everything he sees and does.
A lot of his descriptive writing is pretty good: true, vivid, personal. Formally it's a little rough, e.g. he has a habit of inserting a gratuitous comma between subject and verb - but when the writing is worth reading, as this is, such flaws are easy to ignore. Likewise he sometimes goes for effects that come across a bit clumsily, somewhat in the vein of his employer, Elvis Costello, as in the onomatopoeia where a truck "rattled metallic" over... something. It works but not well because it's just dropped in there haphazardly. Still, I'm inclined to let it pass in the circumstances.
There isn't a grand narrative arc here; the storytelling darts around disjointedly backwards, forwards, sideways. But there is an inner movement from chaos and anxiety to peace and acceptance, and it has a ring of truth.
Having said all that, which adds up to a five-star review, I'm sure this isn't for everyone. My receptiveness to the big wheel derives partly, I'm sure, from the biggish place Elvis Costello and the Attractions (anonymised though they are here) had in my own angsty early adolescence - when records meant a lot to me, This Year's Model was a huge one (and Thomas created the brilliant bass line of I Don't Want to Go to Chelsea); the Armed Forces tour, with Richard Hell and John Cooper Clarke, referred to herein, provided my third-ever live pop experience - still, unsurprisingly, one of my fave shows ever. And, as importantly, I feel some personal recognition of Thomas's nagging, troubled consciousness. So I was very pleased about the happy ending.
There is a follow-up. I'll probably track that down too sometime.
The book seemed to me to be mainly about Thomas' dissatisfaction, disdain, unfulfilledness, with the life of a busy working musician living a disconnected life on and off the road. There are reminiscences from further back, too. But the Thomas narrated here seems to live mainly inside his head, reflecting fretfully on everything he sees and does.
A lot of his descriptive writing is pretty good: true, vivid, personal. Formally it's a little rough, e.g. he has a habit of inserting a gratuitous comma between subject and verb - but when the writing is worth reading, as this is, such flaws are easy to ignore. Likewise he sometimes goes for effects that come across a bit clumsily, somewhat in the vein of his employer, Elvis Costello, as in the onomatopoeia where a truck "rattled metallic" over... something. It works but not well because it's just dropped in there haphazardly. Still, I'm inclined to let it pass in the circumstances.
There isn't a grand narrative arc here; the storytelling darts around disjointedly backwards, forwards, sideways. But there is an inner movement from chaos and anxiety to peace and acceptance, and it has a ring of truth.
Having said all that, which adds up to a five-star review, I'm sure this isn't for everyone. My receptiveness to the big wheel derives partly, I'm sure, from the biggish place Elvis Costello and the Attractions (anonymised though they are here) had in my own angsty early adolescence - when records meant a lot to me, This Year's Model was a huge one (and Thomas created the brilliant bass line of I Don't Want to Go to Chelsea); the Armed Forces tour, with Richard Hell and John Cooper Clarke, referred to herein, provided my third-ever live pop experience - still, unsurprisingly, one of my fave shows ever. And, as importantly, I feel some personal recognition of Thomas's nagging, troubled consciousness. So I was very pleased about the happy ending.
There is a follow-up. I'll probably track that down too sometime.
July 6, 2017
Bruce Thomas' fictionalized, prolonged whinge about life on the road. Much of the whinge is amusing, and the chapter about his first experience in bands is actually "hilariously hip", as the blurb on the cover would have it, but I had to struggle to get through the end of the book. There is a train of thought which has it that this book got Thomas thrown out of the Attractions, which is contradicted by the last chapter, dated three years after he left the band: and yet this book is probably symptomatic of why Thomas left the band; his evident view of Pete Thomas and Steve Nieve as booze-sodden morons, and Elvis Costello as a pretentious wanker, could not have endeared him much to his bandmates while the band was touring.
August 16, 2008
I was actually horribly disappointed by this book. Thomas is one of my bass playing heroes, and I was hoping to get a little more insight on his background and approach to music. Also, of course, this is the book that got him kicked out of the Attractions, earning Costello's ire to this day apparently, so I figured I was in for some mudslinging. Which was ok since, let's face it, every once in a while you have to indulge yourself in a little low-class entertainment and bring your heroes (i.e., EC) down from their pedestal.
The writing itself was just not there. It was evident that Bruce Thomas was trying to get out of Costello's shadow and show that he was a master of the art of the English language too. Unfortunately, Thomas wasn't quite to the level of EC's facility and ferocity of the written word: the language of Big Wheel just seemed somewhat forced and empty. It was a very quick read and engaging enough, though; a good beach read for a music fan.
The writing itself was just not there. It was evident that Bruce Thomas was trying to get out of Costello's shadow and show that he was a master of the art of the English language too. Unfortunately, Thomas wasn't quite to the level of EC's facility and ferocity of the written word: the language of Big Wheel just seemed somewhat forced and empty. It was a very quick read and engaging enough, though; a good beach read for a music fan.
November 23, 2021
I am not sure what I expected from this book, but it wasn’t this.
Knowing that it was a fictionalised account of touring with Elvis Costello and the Attractions, I expected a more straightforward account. Also knowing that it was the main reason he got thrown out of the band (twice), I expected a scathing attack on “The Singer” and his ego but that wasn’t there. “The Drummer” and “The Keyboard Player” probably come out worse, particularly the former who is presented as frequently drunk and out of it. The only negative against “The Singer” is that eh something of a hypochondriac which isn’t much of a surprise.
What we do get is an insight into the strange, floating life of a touring musician: one night stops and endless hours watching the endless highways of America drift past the bus windows. The wordplay, particularly in the early parts reminded me of early Costello and I could see why they were friends and roommates in the early days. There would have been a meeting of kinds over language as well as music.
As the book progresses, you can tell the toll the endless touring has on the writer. It is much more focussed on his feelings and view than I had expected.
Knowing that it was a fictionalised account of touring with Elvis Costello and the Attractions, I expected a more straightforward account. Also knowing that it was the main reason he got thrown out of the band (twice), I expected a scathing attack on “The Singer” and his ego but that wasn’t there. “The Drummer” and “The Keyboard Player” probably come out worse, particularly the former who is presented as frequently drunk and out of it. The only negative against “The Singer” is that eh something of a hypochondriac which isn’t much of a surprise.
What we do get is an insight into the strange, floating life of a touring musician: one night stops and endless hours watching the endless highways of America drift past the bus windows. The wordplay, particularly in the early parts reminded me of early Costello and I could see why they were friends and roommates in the early days. There would have been a meeting of kinds over language as well as music.
As the book progresses, you can tell the toll the endless touring has on the writer. It is much more focussed on his feelings and view than I had expected.
December 29, 2021
There were moments in The Big Wheel that had me laughing out loud, and others that came off a bit cringeworthy - too much poetic wax, and very deep in the throes of introspection. I know how Bruce felt, as I toured for years myself. If you let yourself get buried in comparison and perspective, it will nearly always feel torturous, but when you’re in the bus or the van, often there is no escape.
I found it difficult to get through the first 50 pages or so, but once I got over that initial hump, I found many chapters to be very enjoyable. I think anyone who has worked in or enjoys the behind the scenes aspects of music will find enough here to like and relate to. For casual fans or anyone looking for an autobio, there is virtually nothing about the Attractions - this could be any band, or any person seeking the other side of the hill, really.
I found it difficult to get through the first 50 pages or so, but once I got over that initial hump, I found many chapters to be very enjoyable. I think anyone who has worked in or enjoys the behind the scenes aspects of music will find enough here to like and relate to. For casual fans or anyone looking for an autobio, there is virtually nothing about the Attractions - this could be any band, or any person seeking the other side of the hill, really.
August 9, 2021
Got this book because I heard it was the memoir that got Bruce Thomas kicked out of Elvis Costello & The Attractions. That may be the case, but the book doesn't have anything in it that feels kick out of the band worthy.
It's not a tell all memoir about the band, there's not music gossip or salacious details.
It's Bruce Thomas being ~literary~
There are some interesting stories and funny lines, but mostly Thomas comes across as a curmudgeon who hates people and touring. It seems like he thinks he's smarter than everyone else and will happily pontificate to make sure you know how clever he is.
It's not a tell all memoir about the band, there's not music gossip or salacious details.
It's Bruce Thomas being ~literary~
There are some interesting stories and funny lines, but mostly Thomas comes across as a curmudgeon who hates people and touring. It seems like he thinks he's smarter than everyone else and will happily pontificate to make sure you know how clever he is.
September 3, 2013
The book is written by the former bass player with Elvis Costello and The Attractions, and if you are looking for a behind the scenes 'tell all' of what it was like to be a member of one of the best and most influential rock'n'roll bands of any era, you will be disappointed. The band members names are never used ('the drummer', 'the singer', etc), and Thomas crafts a kind of fictionalized and highly personalized view of the music biz and his part in it. On the plus side, the book is very cleverly written, and his wry observations would be captivating even if he wasn't one of the foremost bass players in music, so maybe he should have written a straight up novel instead. I guess I was looking for more of the 'inside scoop' on what it was like to be 'an Attraction', yet I couldn't help but enjoy Thomas's slightly surreal take on his professional life.
February 15, 2013
If you've ever been on the road for more than a week with a rock band, you'll recognize many of the "types" in this book. Hilarious, at times Bruce Thomas really is the "funniest fucker in the world," even if that EC lyric was a reference to Letterman and not Thomas. I think the only one who dislikes Elvis Costello more than Bruce Thomas is a couple musicians I've been on the road with. For EC "fans," the book's merit is probably inversely proportional to their love of their hero. For anyone else, a great rock-road read, up there with Ian Hunter's Diary of a Rock n Roll Star and James Young's The End.
January 20, 2010
Kind of a tell all book about Bruce Thomas time as bass player for Elvis Costello and the Attractions. This book eventually led to his firing of the band. He dosen't name people by there actual names and refers to them as the keyboard player, the drummer, singer etc. He dosen't really shed to much light on anything in particular but I could see why Elvis Costello was pissed off at him.
January 14, 2014
I really enjoyed this book. It is not a warts and all record of life on the road with a breaking rock band as I expected .This is more a witty meditation on life and the human condition written by a man searching for some meaning in what he sees around him .It is very well written and at times very obscure and poetic .It is quite short ,intense at times ,but overall quite beautiful
April 1, 2015
I wanted to like this, but couldn't. Bruce Thomas is an excellent bassist, and maybe he's also a nice guy, but as a character in a book, he comes across as smug, judgmental and indulgent. I actively disliked him by the end of the book, which was disappointing. On the other hand, I didn't think there was anything in this book that warranted his getting kicked out of the Attractions.
February 5, 2008
Sharp and funny account of Elvis Costello's early career and touring adventures by the former bass player of his band The Attractions. I'm not sure if they stopped talking before this book was written or because of it, but they haven't spoken in years!
April 30, 2015
1-
Bruce Thomas is not an author. Writing is technically fine but not at all compelling, and the rock & roll story-telling doesn't live up to reflecting the interesting experiences one would think someone in his position would have had (which is true of other R&R-artist-authored books too)
Bruce Thomas is not an author. Writing is technically fine but not at all compelling, and the rock & roll story-telling doesn't live up to reflecting the interesting experiences one would think someone in his position would have had (which is true of other R&R-artist-authored books too)
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews