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Backstage & Beyond Complete: 45 Years of Rock Chats & Rants
Jim Sullivan, a 2023 inductee into the New England Music Hall of Fame, spent 26 years writing for the Boston Globe and two decades more writing for national publications. He has interviewed and reviewed countless musicians, many of them multiple times.
This eBook combines the complete contents of his two-volume Backstage & Beyond anthology and adds 11 new chapters, bringing the total to 71. Each one is packed with personal experiences, astute journalism and provocative, often intimate, exchanges. After reading this book, you will feel like you know these artists better than you ever have.
Jerry Lee Lewis, Ian Hunter & Mott the Hoople, David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, Nico, Brian Eno, Bryan Ferry & Roxy Music, Robert Fripp & King Crimson, Peter Gabriel, Ian Anderson & Jethro Tull, Ginger Baker, Ringo Starr, Warren Zevon, Pete Townshend, Ray Davies & the Kinks, Dave Davies, Leonard Cohen, Marianne Faithfull, the Rascals, John Fogerty, Tina Turner, Neil Young, Richard Thompson, Darlene Love, Alice Cooper, Peter Wolf & the J. Geils Band, Joe Perry & Aerosmith, KISS, Lemmy & Motörhead, George Clinton & P-Funk, Stevie Wonder, Edgar Froese & Tangerine Dream, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Enya, Joan Baez, Judy Collins, k.d. lang, Roy Orbison, the Ramones, John Lydon, Sex Pistols & Public Image Ltd., the Clash, Patti Smith, Buzzcocks, the Damned, Flipper, Mark E. Smith & the Fall, Joy Division & New Order, Suicide, the Cure, Stiff Little Fingers, Gang of Four, Shane MacGowan & the Pogues, the Police, the Cramps, David Byrne & Talking Heads, the B-52s, Beastie Boys, Elvis Costello, Billy Bragg, the Cars, English Beat, Morrissey, Pixies, Feelies, Mission of Burma, Puff Daddy, Spiritualized, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Swans, Bono & U2
Praise for Backstage &
“I have spoken to many journalists in my some good, some bad, some terrible. And it is lovely when you meet someone who is just like you ... a huge music fan! Jim Sullivan … is friendly, knowledgeable, forthright and opinionated! An expert in his chosen field. He is no pushover ... if you have faults or are resting on your laurels, he is the first to tell you off.” —Peter Hook (Joy Division/New Order)
“There’s a lot of history here, and a lot of reflecting on that history. For me, it’s interesting to see the conflict many artists have as they try to evaluate their own work and its place in the scheme of things. Jim Sullivan has been able to coax some of those reflections out of a broad spectrum of artists, and it’s fascinating to read.” —Greg Hawkes (the Cars)
“Jim Sullivan is an expert interviewer with an uncanny ability to connect with his subjects. In Backstage & Beyond, he brings out the humanity in a host of rock and roll icons who are too often portrayed as godlike figures. This an intimate and revealing look at many of the major personalities of the classic rock era.” —Tom Perrotta, author of Election, Tracy Flick Can't Win, The Leftovers and Mrs. Fletcher
“These are wonderful stories across the whole range of popular music, by one of rock’s finest journalists. As history lengthens and some of these legends move on, these become increasingly precious fragments of lives lived at the sharp edge of music.” —Richard Thompson
“Having been on both ends of his many years of reviews and interviews with all manner of artists — as subject and reader — I am always drawn to his writing; because I know he won’t
This eBook combines the complete contents of his two-volume Backstage & Beyond anthology and adds 11 new chapters, bringing the total to 71. Each one is packed with personal experiences, astute journalism and provocative, often intimate, exchanges. After reading this book, you will feel like you know these artists better than you ever have.
Jerry Lee Lewis, Ian Hunter & Mott the Hoople, David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, Nico, Brian Eno, Bryan Ferry & Roxy Music, Robert Fripp & King Crimson, Peter Gabriel, Ian Anderson & Jethro Tull, Ginger Baker, Ringo Starr, Warren Zevon, Pete Townshend, Ray Davies & the Kinks, Dave Davies, Leonard Cohen, Marianne Faithfull, the Rascals, John Fogerty, Tina Turner, Neil Young, Richard Thompson, Darlene Love, Alice Cooper, Peter Wolf & the J. Geils Band, Joe Perry & Aerosmith, KISS, Lemmy & Motörhead, George Clinton & P-Funk, Stevie Wonder, Edgar Froese & Tangerine Dream, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Enya, Joan Baez, Judy Collins, k.d. lang, Roy Orbison, the Ramones, John Lydon, Sex Pistols & Public Image Ltd., the Clash, Patti Smith, Buzzcocks, the Damned, Flipper, Mark E. Smith & the Fall, Joy Division & New Order, Suicide, the Cure, Stiff Little Fingers, Gang of Four, Shane MacGowan & the Pogues, the Police, the Cramps, David Byrne & Talking Heads, the B-52s, Beastie Boys, Elvis Costello, Billy Bragg, the Cars, English Beat, Morrissey, Pixies, Feelies, Mission of Burma, Puff Daddy, Spiritualized, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Swans, Bono & U2
Praise for Backstage &
“I have spoken to many journalists in my some good, some bad, some terrible. And it is lovely when you meet someone who is just like you ... a huge music fan! Jim Sullivan … is friendly, knowledgeable, forthright and opinionated! An expert in his chosen field. He is no pushover ... if you have faults or are resting on your laurels, he is the first to tell you off.” —Peter Hook (Joy Division/New Order)
“There’s a lot of history here, and a lot of reflecting on that history. For me, it’s interesting to see the conflict many artists have as they try to evaluate their own work and its place in the scheme of things. Jim Sullivan has been able to coax some of those reflections out of a broad spectrum of artists, and it’s fascinating to read.” —Greg Hawkes (the Cars)
“Jim Sullivan is an expert interviewer with an uncanny ability to connect with his subjects. In Backstage & Beyond, he brings out the humanity in a host of rock and roll icons who are too often portrayed as godlike figures. This an intimate and revealing look at many of the major personalities of the classic rock era.” —Tom Perrotta, author of Election, Tracy Flick Can't Win, The Leftovers and Mrs. Fletcher
“These are wonderful stories across the whole range of popular music, by one of rock’s finest journalists. As history lengthens and some of these legends move on, these become increasingly precious fragments of lives lived at the sharp edge of music.” —Richard Thompson
“Having been on both ends of his many years of reviews and interviews with all manner of artists — as subject and reader — I am always drawn to his writing; because I know he won’t
885 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 1, 2024
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