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Guitar
Read this rollicking rock 'n' roll memoir of the last 50 years of rock history, from David Bowie's longest serving lead guitarist and legendary sideman, Earl Slick.
He's played with everyone from John Lennon to the New York Dolls – and he's got the stories to prove it.
Earl Slick was barely out of his teens when David Bowie hired him to play guitar on the ground-breaking 1974 Diamond Dogs tour. It marked the beginning of a relationship that would endure through thick and thin for the next forty years.
Gracing classic albums like Young Americans, Station to Station and the 2013 comeback, The Next Day, Slick played on the tour that followed Bowie’s smash hit Let’s Dance album and was at his side for the epic Glastonbury show in 2000.
But it wasn’t just Bowie.
The young guitarist was in John Lennon’s band at the time of the former Beatle’s tragic murder. Other collaborations read like a roll call of rock ‘n’ roll royalty including Mick Jagger, The Cure, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Joe Cocker, Buddy Guy, Ian Hunter, David Coverdale and Eric Clapton. And in the ‘80s he became an MTV star in his own right with the success of Phantom, Rocker and Slick.
Through it all he lived the rock ‘n’ roll life to the hilt. Until it nearly killed him.
One of rock’s great sidemen, Earl Slick was in the room when music history was made. Guitar takes us there, shining a light on superstars like Bowie and Lennon, while recounting the extraordinary story of the boy from New York City who became a real-life Johnny B. Goode.
He's played with everyone from John Lennon to the New York Dolls – and he's got the stories to prove it.
Earl Slick was barely out of his teens when David Bowie hired him to play guitar on the ground-breaking 1974 Diamond Dogs tour. It marked the beginning of a relationship that would endure through thick and thin for the next forty years.
Gracing classic albums like Young Americans, Station to Station and the 2013 comeback, The Next Day, Slick played on the tour that followed Bowie’s smash hit Let’s Dance album and was at his side for the epic Glastonbury show in 2000.
But it wasn’t just Bowie.
The young guitarist was in John Lennon’s band at the time of the former Beatle’s tragic murder. Other collaborations read like a roll call of rock ‘n’ roll royalty including Mick Jagger, The Cure, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Joe Cocker, Buddy Guy, Ian Hunter, David Coverdale and Eric Clapton. And in the ‘80s he became an MTV star in his own right with the success of Phantom, Rocker and Slick.
Through it all he lived the rock ‘n’ roll life to the hilt. Until it nearly killed him.
One of rock’s great sidemen, Earl Slick was in the room when music history was made. Guitar takes us there, shining a light on superstars like Bowie and Lennon, while recounting the extraordinary story of the boy from New York City who became a real-life Johnny B. Goode.
227 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 30, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
June 7, 2024
A very breezy and honestly quite delightful read. Slick is very charming and brutally honest, in a “coolest uncle ever” kind of way, and his anecdotes are great. Went in looking for Bowie stories (of which there were many, quite heartfelt), and left with an appreciation for many of the other artists Slick worked with (the John/Yoko stuff is fabulous). Say what you will, I find this kind of music biopic to be the best.
June 23, 2024
A great read. I do like my music biogs. This guy probably spent more time, off and on, playing with Bowie than Mick Ronson but there will be many who've never heard of him. He also recorded an album with John Lennon shortly before John was shot, so he has a great CV.
Of course there are the obligatory booze and drugs excess - de rigueur for the times and commonplace in such biographies these days. At the end there is a bit on the guitars, amps, pedals and speakers that he has used, not the dry read I was expecting (not being a musician) but quite an interesting trawl through where and how they were acquired, where used and where mislaid.
Of course there are the obligatory booze and drugs excess - de rigueur for the times and commonplace in such biographies these days. At the end there is a bit on the guitars, amps, pedals and speakers that he has used, not the dry read I was expecting (not being a musician) but quite an interesting trawl through where and how they were acquired, where used and where mislaid.
September 21, 2025
It wasn’t particularly well written, but it was an honest sideman account — and I just enjoyed it for that. Slick worked with a few legends and the Bowie story is really where it is at of course — worth it for Bowie fans for a different flavour.
January 10, 2025
saw david bowie on the cover, read the book, smash.
June 10, 2024
Earl definitely knew his audience with this book. No 100-page childhood. He's already into getting the Bowie gig in chapter two. A quick read with lots of stories about working with some of the greats.
June 12, 2024
A really good read. Concise, direct and a brilliant insight into life with David Bowie and beyond. I always appreciate memoirs that avoid overly long exposition and unecessary family trees, and Slick cuts to the chase - any fans of Bowie or the life of a rock 'n' roll gunslinger will enjoy this.
September 6, 2025
As the selected discography at the back of the book shows, Earl Slick has worked with a bunch of famous and lesser-known musicians, but all of those fade into insignificance compared to the central creative relationship of his life, that with David Bowie. Slick played more times with Bowie than I'd realised, over 40 years, and unsurprisingly the book is mostly about this. Slick's a real rock'n'roll original and although he says he never considered a different life, you get a sense of how precarious it could be at times. It's an easy read, with some interesting titbits about working as side man Bowie and also with John Lennon, but I didn't get as much of a sense of the man behind the guitar as I did with, say, Steve Lukather's autobiography.
April 1, 2025
As a guitarist and some time fan of David Bowie, I really enjoyed this one. Earl Slick has embraced the rock guitarist lifestyle to the full, lived it 100%, and is lucky to have come out alive at the end of it.
It is a great memoir and only lacks the bits he can't remember. I loved his description of his favourite guitars and amps. He had to miss out everything from the 1980s, he was that high, he couldn't recall what he played on! Slick is one groovy dude, a cool cat, yeah man etc. But he's the real deal, it's not an act.
But there are loads of great insights into the world of rock, be it recording, gigging or working with legends like Bowie and Lennon. It is mostly a record of his professional career and the antics that went with it. He avoids personal stuff. It's not a perfect book and lacks a dimension of insight or reflection. For example, he makes light of his drink and drug issues. They're not so much a personal problem as an occupational hazard.
I really enjoyed this. I read it in 48 hours, as I could barely put it down.
It is a great memoir and only lacks the bits he can't remember. I loved his description of his favourite guitars and amps. He had to miss out everything from the 1980s, he was that high, he couldn't recall what he played on! Slick is one groovy dude, a cool cat, yeah man etc. But he's the real deal, it's not an act.
But there are loads of great insights into the world of rock, be it recording, gigging or working with legends like Bowie and Lennon. It is mostly a record of his professional career and the antics that went with it. He avoids personal stuff. It's not a perfect book and lacks a dimension of insight or reflection. For example, he makes light of his drink and drug issues. They're not so much a personal problem as an occupational hazard.
I really enjoyed this. I read it in 48 hours, as I could barely put it down.
April 30, 2025
Picks up pretty much where the Susie Ronson book I read earlier this year ends.
Bowie is the main selling point for this, but he remains (typically) enigmatic throughout. The best, and most affecting chapters, are Slick working with John Lennon on what would turn out to be his last album.
Bowie is the main selling point for this, but he remains (typically) enigmatic throughout. The best, and most affecting chapters, are Slick working with John Lennon on what would turn out to be his last album.
July 3, 2025
One of my favourite all time guitarists, played on some classic Bowie albums (one of my all time greats) what's not to love? Great insights into working with a couple of legends, Bowie and Lennon.
Highly recommended, especially for all types of music lovers
Highly recommended, especially for all types of music lovers
September 29, 2024
It’s a really nice book, I’d recommend it to all guitar players/musicians
April 7, 2025
I really enjoyed this book, being of similar age to the author it was like going back in time, and reliving history.
April 22, 2025
slick
Brilliant insight into the world of Earl Slick and the relationship between him and David Bowie. A very easy read
Brilliant insight into the world of Earl Slick and the relationship between him and David Bowie. A very easy read
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews