Still Whispering After All These Years: My Autobiography

by Bob Harris

Bob Harris first became known as the face of the 1970s live music TV show The Old Grey Whistle Test and his infectious enthusiasm for music and ability to discover new talent has seen him become a national treasure. He continues to be a household name today and his velvety voice can be heard on Radio 2's The Bob Harris Show and Bob Harris Country.

In this fully revised and updated autobiography, with a forward by Robert Plant, Bob tells his story of over 40 years of broadcasting with the BBC, from the young, passionate music fan who moved to London determined to make music his life, to being presented with an OBE for his services to music broadcasting. Much like his musical heroes, Bob's personal life has had somewhat of a rock 'n' roll vibe: he has been married three times, gone bankrupt, fought cancer, weathered a very public spat with a fellow DJ and has had to revamp his career four times. Throughout all these times, however, his love of music and talent for broadcasting has endured.

The Whispering Years is a frank, vibrant and inspiring tale of one of the most influential names on the radio and reveals the story of the man behind the voice.

Genres: Music, Biography, Nonfiction, Autobiography, Memoir

289 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 14, 2015

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[Gayle · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for any music lover! ☺️

[Luke · Rating 3 out of 5]

It starts well but the second half has a lot of padding

I am grateful to Bob Harris, as though I cannot claim to be a massive fan, in 1990 or 1991, I used to record his late night show and listen to it on my way to work in my summer job and it was because of that show, that broadened my musical taste from heavy rock into a whole different array of rock music which has most probably helped to influence my love of music ever since. As far as this auto-biography goes, it starts well, explaining Bobs early career, his love of music and giving an insight into some of the influential bands he met in the 70s. It also gives an insight into the real Bob; behind that nice guy, soft spoken persona, it actually transpired Bob was an un-faithful husband, selfish and a bit narcissistic. The biggest example of the is the Bruno Brookes episode. Not only was Bob ridiculously naive, he then blames Brookes for this and is very bitter towards him. It is quite clear however, that Bob is firmly in the wrong and the fact that, to this day, he cannot see he was in the wrong, says a lot about his personality. Oh, and I find it abhorrent that he moans about Brooks and moans about how difficult filing for bankruptcy was and then in the same breath, celebrates having another kid (he has eight from 3 women). The second half of this book (written after the first publication) mainly covers his ascent into country music. Now, I have a passing interest in this but this half of the book is massively padded out. He talks in detail about people that helped him in this venture, which includes a lot of names most of us wouldn't have even heard of, let alone care about. Overall it's intermittently interesting and I did learn quite a bit about good old Bob, which is that he isn't really that good at all and I don't blame John Peel for not talking to him for many years.

[Roy Szweda · Rating 2 out of 5]

One to borrow and skim I think. Like another reviewer I found bits early on interesting. Mr H had a role in the earlier history of rock radio on the BBC but has battled with all sorts ever since. The book is all about these trials and troubles. So readers looking for say radio broadcasting should look elsewhere.
As a teen listener I enjoyed his progs way back when but today's C&W stuff leaves me cold. But like his audience, tastes change. You could extend this to ponder as to whether we still need some "personality" to tell us what to listen to and like. Have always found this a little unsettling.
You can, as he does, justify your job by some championing of the underdog and unfamiliar. Not everyone wants to be shown new stuff of course. Besides, with our computers and Interweb we can explore new music to our heart's delight and effortlessly the way we could never have dreamed of when Uncle Bob started spinning his platters way back when.
OGWT gets some coverage of course and all very interesting it is too. Sadly it flits from one name drop to another leaving you wanting more. And at times all the family stuff got the skimming treatment. Great for friends and family to read about themselves in his oft gushing prose but not for those looking for real insight or substance from the DJ profession. But then it IS an autobiog.
This is the second Radio 1 DJ AB I have looked at and I found it more interesting than Ms Wiley's... now on to Mr Walker's perhaps?

[Catie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm sure he's a lovely man - he seems to have a real talent for friendship. However Bob points with pride to an early review which celebrates his straightforward presentation "he is not an entertainer". That is welcome in the day job - I personally dislike the kind of dj who thinks he rather than the music is the star of the show - but renders a book like this far duller than it should be. It seems like heresy but I think it would have been better ghosted. I read every word and there is interesting (and moving) stuff in there, but oh it was a struggle at times.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the seventies stuff Bolan whistle test etc got a bit less interesting after that but it was good to read his life story bob is up there with John peel a national institution

[David Highton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too detailed and therefore too long, with many names I had or had not heard of - got to be a bit of hard work to get to the end> However, Robert Plant thinks he is a good bloke so he must be.

[Phil Wildcroft · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bob is obviously a nice chap and there's some great source material. But this book is in desperate need of a strong editor.

[Lesley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have always followed & loved Bob Harris! This book was really easy to read..... I remember some of the events he mentioned & had forgot but now remembered the band Wally whose 2 vinyl albums I still possess! I purchased my copy of this book only this year when met Bob at a gig he’d organised as part of ‘under the apple tree’ & am the proud owner of a signed copy of this book!

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read concern the Whistle Test years, Bob's radio career and his relationships with musicians and others in the music business. He was brave to reveal so much about his health scares and his personal relationships. But he does go into too much detail about his children, decorating schemes, food menus and other extraneous details. Cut all of this out and it would be a much better read.

[Darla Ebert · Rating 1 out of 5]

The author MUST have more interesting stories to tell given his life and the people he met. I would have enjoyed reading his memories of his growing up years and anecdotes about those he interviewed and those with home he brushed shoulders

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mostly interesting although I did lose interest a bit around the half way mark as he becomes obsessed with country music and discusses lots of people I’ve never heard of!

[Johnnyblue · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's only half a book unless you're really that interested in long lists of people Harris has played on his radio shows and OGWT, has seen in concert, has met, however fleetingly, has worked with, is friends with or is related to.

The first half of the book is quite interesting, detailing, as it does, his early career and the huge influence John Peel had on him, although there are very few actual anecdotes.The only revealing anecdote is that Peel stopped speaking to him because he disapproved of Harris' adultery. Instead, there are lots of very strange and egotistical inclusions such as an early music paper article he wrote or an old review by the Melody Maker praising his programme or several verbatim quotes from famous people saying how marvellous he is.

The only people who don't seem to think he's great are the founders of Time Out to whom he attached himself in its early days and who sacked him, and the various radio station heads who also sacked him or encouraged him to resign. Why? He claims not to know, citing how popular he and his programmes always were, but there must have been some reason. Perhaps it was something to do with a passive/aggressive personality that peeps through every now and again in his writings here with snide little digs at various people who have upset him. There are vague stories about living the high life in London and LA, although any drug taking is glossed over, names are dropped but the reader learns nothing substantial. Quite a lot is written about how he's fought back against two very serious illnesses either of which might have been his undoing and his problems with Bruno Brookes and bizarrely the rules of a game of garden cricket. On the other hand he writes of how friendly he was with Marc Bolan and how John Peel was his mentor and at one time best friend, but doesn't even mention their deaths, which I found very odd.

Almost exactly half way through the book he focuses mainly on his resurrection (figuratively and literally after his illnesses) with The Bob Harris Country show on Radio 2 and it becomes little more than a list of names and places and awards he's won and as a result it becomes very boring. There is actually one whole page which is just a list of names of musicians.There's also a lot about all the work he does for "charidy" which is obviously very commendable but does come across as a bit Smashie and Nicey after a while. At times it's surprisingly badly written, especially as he started his career as a music journalist, I lost count of the times he wrote "little did I know then...", which is such a lazy cliché, and he's a shameless name dropper, but most of his stories consist of little more than "We had dinner with Famous Person and there was good food and conversation and much laughter". Apparently, there's always much laughter, god knows how as he comes across as a particularly humourless man and writes at one point that someone (there are so many names dropped that I forget who) is one of the very few people who can make him laugh.

I bought the Kindle edition because it was cheap and because I used to watch OGWT and listen to his Radio 1 programme and have on occasion listened to his country show and I think it's fair to say that our musical tastes often overlap,so I suppose if you'd asked me before I'd read this what I thought of him I'd probably have shrugged and said he was alright. Having read this I'm afraid he's gone down in my estimation and I'm now left with the impression that he's quite a needy egotist who in many ways has led a charmed life thanks to having the right connections, such as Mohamed Al-Fayed. The first half of the book is an easy read, but unless you're a huge fan I wouldn't recommend buying it because pretty much anything that's interesting can be found for free on the internet.

[Scott Vine · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable read that hits all the spots you'd expect: Time Out; Bruno Brookes; John Peel; Marc Bolan etc. The love of music of course shines through it all.

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a terrific read for anyone who remembers the early days of Whispering Bob and his arrival on The Old Grey Whistle Test. Bob Harris has led a very full life and he lays it all out in this book. It's a very honest autobiography and a fascinating insight into a man and his love for music.
Highly recommended.

[Alison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting in parts, tended to skip over the lists and lists and lists and lists of bands

[Eliot Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a man

I enjoyed this book greatly. Bob is one of the nice guys and this comes across in his writing. The names he drops are staggering