Hardtail Strat: Guitars, Heroin, Songs and Stories

by Peter Gallway

In Hardtail Guitars, Heroin, Song, and Stories, Peter Gallway traces his coming of age in the electric pulse of Greenwich Village's 1960s music revolution. From shooting rubber bands in Arthur Miller and Marilyn Monroe's Sutton Place apartment to shooting heroin in the backrooms of New York, Gallway plunges into the intoxicating world of the Night Owl Café alongside the Lovin' Spoonful and James Taylor, through the Troubadour, Mama Cass, the Manson family, and the record companies of LA's Sunset Strip-until the road leads to Tokyo, and finally Maine, where a Fender "hardtail" Stratocaster guitar leads to an unlikely rebirth.

Written in the raw, lyrical rhythm of a songwriter who "thinks in stanzas," Hardtail Strat is a story of music and madness, abuse and opportunity, loss and redemption-and the enduring power of song to set us free.

A Hard Day's Night hits the theaters.

We go to the opening.

How can you not want to feel like that?

Free.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction

224 pages, Hardcover

Published January 30, 2026

About the author

Peter Gallway is a singer-songwriter, performer, and record producer with thirty albums and more than fifty production and special projects to his credit, including Time and Love: The Music of Laura Nyro, and works for film and musical theater. He performs around the world both solo and with his band, collaborates with synthesist Harvey Jones as the electronica ensemble Parker Gray, is married to singer-songwriter Annie Gallup, whom he collaborates with in the folk/ Americana duo Hat Check Girl, and has published the poetry collection Big Mercy. He is a licensed psychotherapist in Maine and California.Peter and Annie live on the central coast of Maine.

Reviews

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

This memoir is raw, hard-hitting and filled with insight, music, humanity, and humor. If you know Peter Gallway's music - and if you don't, you should - you'll understand what I mean. Written loosely in verse (which feels so right, with Peter a brilliant poet and songwriter) iI could hear Peter's voice throughout - his rhythm, his cadence. as he lays out a narrative that's intentionally not linear or chronological . This is how memory rises to the surface, as not-so-random points of light. I'm glad Peter wrote it this way - to descend into relentless darkness of his "lost" years of addiction - opportunities given and blown, relationships forged and fractured - would be too painful. Just as he creates a varied set list with peaks and valleys when he performs, Peter knows when to change the subject, and lighten up. Peter might not put it this way - but in getting his life together (as e has) he has defied the odds and given so many the gifts of his talents. IN the end, the book - for all its grit -is uplifting and, really, a terrific read.

[Kenneth Altman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hardtail Strat, written in a style unique to Peter Gallway, a true poet and lyricist, brings the excitement of the Greenwich Village music scene in the sixties alive on the page. Being a part of that incredible street scene, and meeting and playing with artists who were soon to make impressions on us all, was a young musicians dream. Peter tells it all. Successes, failures, the world of the artist searching for fulfillment. He leaves little out as he plays and meets many of his heroes, while creating a musical history that keeps the reader interested and inspired. It’s a great story of the music business that exploded in the 60’s, and of a wonderful songwriter who was there, who lived it, scars and all, and who gives us his heart, along with his smile. Side Note; Peter and I grew up together, made music together, believe me, Hardtail Strat is, like the guitar it’s named for, exceptionally well played.
Kenneth Altman

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written in blank verse, which at first is a bit hard to get through, this memoir has a rare honesty about it.

[Edmund Davis-Quinn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this I think of all the artists who have died and those that survived addiction.

Good fast paced book. I would love to read more from him in his second life.

[DAVID WAYNE MCLAMB · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just stumble on thus

I read a lot of genres but his is really different. For a wanta be bassist in a
cover band in the 1980s, it brought back a lot of memories.

[Janet Feld · Rating 5 out of 5]

stunning, elegant, real.

I loved reading this book and experiencing certain parts of the author’s life journey. The juxtaposition of his prose and lyrics is gorgeous.