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Snakes! Guillotines! Electric Chairs! My Adventures in the Alice Cooper Band
When Alice Cooper became the stuff of legend in the early '70s, their shows were monuments of fun and invention. Riding on a string of hits like "I'm 18" and "School's Out," they became America's highest-grossing act, producing four platinum albums and hitting number one on the U.S. and U.K. charts with Billion Dollar Babies in 1973. As teenagers in Phoenix, Dennis Dunaway and lead singer Vince Furnier, who would later change his name to Alice Cooper, formed a hard-knuckles band that played prisons, cowboy bars and teen clubs. Their journey took them from Hollywood to the ferocious Detroit music scene. From struggling for recognition to topping the charts, the Alice Cooper group was entertaining, outrageous, and one-of-a-kind. Dennis Dunaway, the bassist and co-songwriter for the band, tells a story just as over-the-top crazy as their (in)famous shows. Snakes! Guillotines! Electric Chairs! is the riveting account of the band's creation in the '60s, strange glory in the '70s, and the legendary characters they met along the way.
315 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 9, 2015
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July 16, 2018Not long ago, when I was trying to explain to my thirty-something daughter how utterly mesmerizing the Beatles’ sound was . . . how do you characterize how something so familiar could sound new? My kids grew up with the Beatles being part of what is now called Classic Rock. Classic Rock! I can imagine the jaw-dropped horror of my shaggy-haired peers back in the sixties.
When I saw that one of the Alice Cooper band’s members had written a memoir I had to read it. Though I’d never liked their music—it was way too crazy male-gaze for me as a teen and young adult—I knew the names, and the look, and I also was aware of how their intense theatricality changed the look of rock music, and formed punk, especially the LA Punk scene, which I was a part of in the late seventies and early eighties.
It surprised me to discover that the germinating idea behind Alice Cooper was an experience similar to one I’d shared: a talent show for kids. Dennis and his friend Vince did what I and three girls did: borrow guitars, make up silly songs to Beatles tunes, and pretend to be The Beatles.
In my situation, we four twelve year olds combed our hair in front of our faces, strummed the single chord we’d been taught, and started singing our (kaff) clever parody, “She was just 94, and shaped like a door. . .” and the rest of our amazing lyrics were lost because the entire audience erupted into frenzied screaming.
They shouted and shrieked until to the end. Even months later, kids I’d never spoken to before came up and said, “Weren’t you one of the Beatles in the talent show?” For one day I was famous, and it felt . . . unreal.
Well, the same thing happened to Dennis and Vince, inspiring them to go on to become musicians. The jet-force exhilaration of your music gripping thousands—millions—of close packed humans by flesh and spirit . . . what incredible power, what a rush!
And what a cost to keep fueling it?
Dennis talks engagingly, and with the resonant note of experience, about the pure white fire of creative flow—when it’s flowing, it’s a nerve-jolting, heart-hammering, brain-frying lightning strike. Few can control it, sparking emotional roller coasters accelerated by that step into unreality that fame causes, which can trick the unwary into thinking that the rules no long apply. It’s because that white fire is not controllable any more than lightning is, and so the young musicians would try anything—anything—to get it back.
Here’s the dangerous thing about the white fire, whether you’re high on drugs or not, you believe your every utterance is art, every movement freighted with meaning. It’s only when you’re stone cold sober that you realize that the Magical Mystery Tour Bus— if you are not in control, the drugs are—looks to everyone else like a bunch of loud, smelly, drooling louts hooting like apes.
Jimi Hendrix . . . Jim Morrison . . Janis Joplin . . . they all sought any method or means they could to tame that fire. They were surrounded by smiling hipsters cooing admiration and handing out street stuff like candy—very expensive candy, but money became one of those unreal things—and they dropped, or rushed, or sped, or mainlined, or whatever it took, to find what they thought was the fire, the attempts intensified into semblance of meaning, perceptions that exalted trivia into a tapestry of gravitas that unraveled with the bleak dawn.
Written with the aid of Rolling Stone writer Chris Hodenfield, Dennis Dunaway tells a vividly engaging, often pungent and irreverent, but at heart human and humane story of a bunch of nerdy guys in Phoenix AZ during the early sixties who made it to the top—and then, at the apex of their career, crashed and burned.
Many of the Alice Cooper myths are exploded (like the so-called chicken) as Dunaway looks honestly at the toll the rock and roll lifestyle took on them, made exponentially tougher by the fallout of fame.
As soon as the actual hardcover comes out I’m buying a copy for my drummer son, whose band is just getting going. I’ll bet he’ll enjoy it as much as I did.
Copy provided by NetGalley
When I saw that one of the Alice Cooper band’s members had written a memoir I had to read it. Though I’d never liked their music—it was way too crazy male-gaze for me as a teen and young adult—I knew the names, and the look, and I also was aware of how their intense theatricality changed the look of rock music, and formed punk, especially the LA Punk scene, which I was a part of in the late seventies and early eighties.
It surprised me to discover that the germinating idea behind Alice Cooper was an experience similar to one I’d shared: a talent show for kids. Dennis and his friend Vince did what I and three girls did: borrow guitars, make up silly songs to Beatles tunes, and pretend to be The Beatles.
In my situation, we four twelve year olds combed our hair in front of our faces, strummed the single chord we’d been taught, and started singing our (kaff) clever parody, “She was just 94, and shaped like a door. . .” and the rest of our amazing lyrics were lost because the entire audience erupted into frenzied screaming.
They shouted and shrieked until to the end. Even months later, kids I’d never spoken to before came up and said, “Weren’t you one of the Beatles in the talent show?” For one day I was famous, and it felt . . . unreal.
Well, the same thing happened to Dennis and Vince, inspiring them to go on to become musicians. The jet-force exhilaration of your music gripping thousands—millions—of close packed humans by flesh and spirit . . . what incredible power, what a rush!
And what a cost to keep fueling it?
Dennis talks engagingly, and with the resonant note of experience, about the pure white fire of creative flow—when it’s flowing, it’s a nerve-jolting, heart-hammering, brain-frying lightning strike. Few can control it, sparking emotional roller coasters accelerated by that step into unreality that fame causes, which can trick the unwary into thinking that the rules no long apply. It’s because that white fire is not controllable any more than lightning is, and so the young musicians would try anything—anything—to get it back.
Here’s the dangerous thing about the white fire, whether you’re high on drugs or not, you believe your every utterance is art, every movement freighted with meaning. It’s only when you’re stone cold sober that you realize that the Magical Mystery Tour Bus— if you are not in control, the drugs are—looks to everyone else like a bunch of loud, smelly, drooling louts hooting like apes.
Jimi Hendrix . . . Jim Morrison . . Janis Joplin . . . they all sought any method or means they could to tame that fire. They were surrounded by smiling hipsters cooing admiration and handing out street stuff like candy—very expensive candy, but money became one of those unreal things—and they dropped, or rushed, or sped, or mainlined, or whatever it took, to find what they thought was the fire, the attempts intensified into semblance of meaning, perceptions that exalted trivia into a tapestry of gravitas that unraveled with the bleak dawn.
Written with the aid of Rolling Stone writer Chris Hodenfield, Dennis Dunaway tells a vividly engaging, often pungent and irreverent, but at heart human and humane story of a bunch of nerdy guys in Phoenix AZ during the early sixties who made it to the top—and then, at the apex of their career, crashed and burned.
Many of the Alice Cooper myths are exploded (like the so-called chicken) as Dunaway looks honestly at the toll the rock and roll lifestyle took on them, made exponentially tougher by the fallout of fame.
As soon as the actual hardcover comes out I’m buying a copy for my drummer son, whose band is just getting going. I’ll bet he’ll enjoy it as much as I did.
Copy provided by NetGalley
August 26, 2015
In 1977, Alice Cooper’s hit “You and Me,” a sappy ballad about a dismal middle-class romance that seems to take place entirely in front of a TV pulled up to a bed, lousy with popcorn, made me terribly uncomfortable. I was in junior high and liked my rock soft and tad treacly, but this was a bit much. Decades later I discovered the Alice everyone else had known all along--the darkly theatrical and self-parodying hard rocker touring with Judas Priest, the elder statesman in the dripping eye- liner in Penelope Spheeris’ brilliant doc on the ‘80s LA hair metal scene. For decades, I had thought Alice Cooper was a single entity, one body--one dude. Once YouTube was invented, I finally got a clue: Alice Cooper was actually a band, a group of five guys, who incongruously assembled in Arizona, my uninspired home state. Now--in 2015--as a further corrective, one of those five guys has published a memoir, and a brilliant one, to boot. Snake! Guillotines! Electric Chairs! My Adventures in the Alice Cooper Group is found member and bassist Dennis Dunaway’s vital contribution to Alice Cooper group history and mythology. Released in June, Dunaway has spent the summer promoting the book through a series of rock-fueled readings. In these readings (I've been to three!) Dunaway first discusses the book with co-writer Chris Hodenfield--who toured with and wrote about the group for Rolling Stone in the early ‘70s--then he extracts his magnificent mirrored bass from its case and plays from the group’s catalog, assisted by Blue Oyster Cult’s Brouchard brothers, with whom he has the band Blue Coupe.
Hodenfield is a smart co-writer and his investment in this narrative is clear. He knows enough to let Dennis’s cheery voice move things along (Dennis always seems to be the one smiling hugely in vintage photographs of the group). In contrast to other memoirs in the rock genre, this one is intentionally funny. Dennis met cut-up and future sappy crooner, Alice, then Vince Furnier in high school and starts the narrative there. Not long after, still in high school, the boys have their first band, the Ear Wigs. It’s not a particularly self-revealing memoir, but Dunaways’ recollections of how the band was assembled and strove to set itself apart in a literal and figurative desert wasteland are engaging, as are his tales once the group decamps to a hippie-era LA, grow their hair as long as possible, and attempt to make their mark through sheer outrageousness and increasingly fine musicianship. What Alice Cooper--the solo artist has been long famous for--can be traced directly back to these days; indeed, the Alice Cooper mythology was a group effort with nearly equal creative contributions. (Alice’s spider eyes happens to be a Dennis idea. Who knew?) People need to know this. Dunaway and Hodenfield must have thought so, too: the bulk of the book has to do with the Group itself--the heady, thrilling days when the five guys were intact--and it’s poignant when the the band realizes that far more attention is being paid to its lead singer. That this heralds the beginning of the end of their band's life is heartbreaking and that comes through. The book could have been longer. The final 20 pages cover a lot of ground, including the tragic early death of beloved guitarist Glen Buxton, the genius behind the hit “School’s Out"'s universally recognizable opening lick. Other rock memoirists would have trotted out a lot more dirt. (Peter Criss, anyone?) In taking the “high road” however, the book's conclusion--ending with the band’s triumphant reunion at their 2011 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction--feels rushed and underwritten. And there is a bit of treacle here, but I forgive it. You can feel Dunaway’s sheer elation in his compelling memoir's closing pages. And it’s well deserved.
Hodenfield is a smart co-writer and his investment in this narrative is clear. He knows enough to let Dennis’s cheery voice move things along (Dennis always seems to be the one smiling hugely in vintage photographs of the group). In contrast to other memoirs in the rock genre, this one is intentionally funny. Dennis met cut-up and future sappy crooner, Alice, then Vince Furnier in high school and starts the narrative there. Not long after, still in high school, the boys have their first band, the Ear Wigs. It’s not a particularly self-revealing memoir, but Dunaways’ recollections of how the band was assembled and strove to set itself apart in a literal and figurative desert wasteland are engaging, as are his tales once the group decamps to a hippie-era LA, grow their hair as long as possible, and attempt to make their mark through sheer outrageousness and increasingly fine musicianship. What Alice Cooper--the solo artist has been long famous for--can be traced directly back to these days; indeed, the Alice Cooper mythology was a group effort with nearly equal creative contributions. (Alice’s spider eyes happens to be a Dennis idea. Who knew?) People need to know this. Dunaway and Hodenfield must have thought so, too: the bulk of the book has to do with the Group itself--the heady, thrilling days when the five guys were intact--and it’s poignant when the the band realizes that far more attention is being paid to its lead singer. That this heralds the beginning of the end of their band's life is heartbreaking and that comes through. The book could have been longer. The final 20 pages cover a lot of ground, including the tragic early death of beloved guitarist Glen Buxton, the genius behind the hit “School’s Out"'s universally recognizable opening lick. Other rock memoirists would have trotted out a lot more dirt. (Peter Criss, anyone?) In taking the “high road” however, the book's conclusion--ending with the band’s triumphant reunion at their 2011 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction--feels rushed and underwritten. And there is a bit of treacle here, but I forgive it. You can feel Dunaway’s sheer elation in his compelling memoir's closing pages. And it’s well deserved.
April 19, 2021
I was a big Alice Cooper fan as a kid. In fact the first album I ever bought was Killer featuring Kachina the boa constrictor on the cover. I felt like his music went downhill and never recovered with Welcome to My Nightmare after he fired his original band and it was the last of his records I ever purchased and I haven’t listened to him since.
With this as a backdrop I thought I’d read Snakes! Guillotines! Electric Chairs!: My Adventures in The Alice Cooper by Dennis Dunaway the group’s original bassist who was present during what I consider the apex of the band’s creative period.
I found it to be a fun and enjoyable read! Dunaway covers the band’s formative years until his firing (an event that obviously still smarts) following the Muscle of Love album in 1973. In addition to the standard stories of the rock & roll lifestyle, Dunaway describes the group’s creative process of both writing music and their incorporation of a theatrical stage show that was cutting edge at the time. Throughout the book Dunaway pays tribute to guitarist Glen Buxton, who passed away in 1998 at the age of 50 after battling drugs and alcohol.
Dunaway continued his musical career with various projects following Cooper’s departure as a solo artist, but it’s clear he considers the early days with Alice Cooper as a special time in his life. Evidently no grudges are held, the original band still gets together occasionally to play charity events.
With this as a backdrop I thought I’d read Snakes! Guillotines! Electric Chairs!: My Adventures in The Alice Cooper by Dennis Dunaway the group’s original bassist who was present during what I consider the apex of the band’s creative period.
I found it to be a fun and enjoyable read! Dunaway covers the band’s formative years until his firing (an event that obviously still smarts) following the Muscle of Love album in 1973. In addition to the standard stories of the rock & roll lifestyle, Dunaway describes the group’s creative process of both writing music and their incorporation of a theatrical stage show that was cutting edge at the time. Throughout the book Dunaway pays tribute to guitarist Glen Buxton, who passed away in 1998 at the age of 50 after battling drugs and alcohol.
Dunaway continued his musical career with various projects following Cooper’s departure as a solo artist, but it’s clear he considers the early days with Alice Cooper as a special time in his life. Evidently no grudges are held, the original band still gets together occasionally to play charity events.
March 26, 2019
As a long-time Alice Cooper fan, I was thrilled to see this book out there. I haven't read anything on the band before and I wanted to hear Dunaway's story of their beginning and the eventual split when Alice Cooper became the person and not the band. Dunaway doesn't disappoint and he lays out in detail the origins of the band as a group of friends and goes up to their stardom. Alice Cooper has a quote on the back about Dunaway being a surrealist and I think he's right because that's how the book reads. It's a bunch of stories put together but there's not a great narrative structure. It also goes into a lot of detail, maybe too much, on the effort they all put into drinking and partying. I know it was a different time but I think the book would have been tighter without it. There's a ton of detail about how they drank and we could have used more about their personalities, as how and what they drank became their personalities in the book. On an extreme positive note, Dunaway goes into detail on several occasions on how songs were written. So many bios of musicians leave this out and that's what we fans want to know about. The story of how his poem Desert Night Storm became Desperado is worth the price of the book alone. I'd recommend this for any fan of the band or of the rock and roll lifestyle.
August 10, 2015
Fun, breezy first person account by bass player Dennis Dunaway of how Alice Cooper (the band) came together, rose to fame, and broke up as vocalist Alice (aka Vincent Furnier) launched a solo career. Helps fill in some of the more glaring gaps and omissions in the recent documentary film 'Super Duper Alice Cooper', and gives the entire band, as well as other important figures like managers Shep Gordon and Joe Greenberg (who was unfairly left out of Gordon's own documentary, 'Supermensch'), producer Bob Ezrin, and costume designer Cindy Smith, their due. Plenty of fun rock n roll stories, although probably not as outrageous as some might expect.
The book doesn't spend much time on early biographical material, nor does it go into much detail on life after the band broke up aside from the sad death of founding guitarist Glen Buxton, and the band's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Still, what's here is probably what most fans would want to read about, and for what it is, it's satisfying.
The book doesn't spend much time on early biographical material, nor does it go into much detail on life after the band broke up aside from the sad death of founding guitarist Glen Buxton, and the band's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Still, what's here is probably what most fans would want to read about, and for what it is, it's satisfying.
August 20, 2020
Truly essential for Cooper fans, and I can’t imagine anyone who enjoys rock bios not enjoying the ride from Phoenix high school through hell and back to become the biggest band in the world. Dunaway does an amazing job introducing the reader to each member’s personality... I never knew how much I missed Glen and what a tragedy his loss was. Better than Alice’s own “Golf Monster” and better than Michael Bruce’s “No More Mr. Nice Guy” by a mile, but it makes me want to read both again.
July 14, 2018
I’m not a fan of the band Alice Cooper and I’m certainly not a fan of Vince Furnier who burned his friends and bandmates by appropriating the name. But I like reading music biographies so now I know about snakes, guillotines, and electric chairs.
As a musician, I appreciate the author’s focus on the creation of the music rather than taking the opportunity to write a tattle-tell-all. His voice was endearing though corny, which is absolutely forgivable because he’s over 70 years old!
If you read this book, you’ve got “tasty signature guitar lines”, “cool duds”, “canoodling with girls” and “just us cooking hard like your basic rock-‘n’-roll band” to look forward to.
As a musician, I appreciate the author’s focus on the creation of the music rather than taking the opportunity to write a tattle-tell-all. His voice was endearing though corny, which is absolutely forgivable because he’s over 70 years old!
If you read this book, you’ve got “tasty signature guitar lines”, “cool duds”, “canoodling with girls” and “just us cooking hard like your basic rock-‘n’-roll band” to look forward to.
September 20, 2020
So many memories. How transgressive the IDEA of a guy named Alice was at the time. I never realized how connected the AC group was connected to what I considered "60's groups" at the time. A fun and also melancholy (at times) look back at a hugely influential group.
Supposed to have received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads, but it never arrived.
Supposed to have received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads, but it never arrived.
April 30, 2015
This was a fun read, tagging along with the creation of an historic rock group. From high school buds to rock stars you can feel the excitement of their early days and the heartache as things started to fall apart. This book adds to the Alice Cooper group mythos detailing many key moments from a different point of view. An excellent book for any classic rock fan.
September 26, 2015
Great read for any Alice Cooper band fans out there! I thought this would just be a re-hash of most stories I'd heard before, but it didn't play out like that at all. Nice to read about lots and lots of behind the scenes moments. Good times!
September 6, 2025
An excellent, informative read. At times amusing, also very dark in places.
I have to admit I never really paid attention to the individual band members of the original Alice Cooper Group. Only now am I finding out more about them, since their recent reformation.
This book captures the spirit of the era in all its wacky, promiscuous, drug-fuelled glory. It was interesting to find out how the theatrics developed, going right back to the band's early days.
I find it oddly endearing that they were called The Earwigs for a while when they were a high school band.
I have to admit I never really paid attention to the individual band members of the original Alice Cooper Group. Only now am I finding out more about them, since their recent reformation.
This book captures the spirit of the era in all its wacky, promiscuous, drug-fuelled glory. It was interesting to find out how the theatrics developed, going right back to the band's early days.
I find it oddly endearing that they were called The Earwigs for a while when they were a high school band.
August 22, 2025
Underhållande självbiografi från Alice Cooper-basisten. Många roliga anekdoter från när det begav sig under sent 60- och tidigt 70-tal. Ikoniska namn flimrar förbi (Frank Zappa, Syd Barrett, Arthur Lee, Jim Morrison, Salvador Dalí osv.) men främst en fin skildring av vänskap och en tidsepok som det aldrig kommer att sluta skrivas böcker om.
April 21, 2022
Extremely interesting. I didn't know much about the Alice Cooper Group, and am honestly someone who always associated Alice Cooper as the current iteration - the man, so this was a fascinating read for me.
May 19, 2019
I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley to read and review.
SNAKES! GUILLOTINES! ELECTRIC CHAIRS! is a book by Dennis Dunaway, bass player from the original Alice Cooper group, and friend of Vince Furnier (or Alice) and Glen Buxton going back to their high school days at Cortez High School in Phoenix.
Dennis tells a complete story of the career of the band going back to their humble beginnings, and describes how even in their earliest existence as a band they weren’t your average band, and that they went out of their way to shock and awe their audiences while having a lot of fun while doing so.
High school days behind them, they eventually are joined by both Neil Smith (who’s sister Dennis becomes involved with and eventually marries), and Michael Bruce.
Detailing the years of struggles to realize their goals and to attain acceptance, he also describes the closeness of the band and the strength they found in each other to get through the toughest times, as well as sharing in the moments where they find success and worldwide notoriety.
Dunaway writes this account in way that makes it a very enjoyable read, and unlike other books written by members of bands (especially bands that experience a breakup), he accents the positive while not shying away from the fallout of success, especially in terms of his description of Glen Buxton’s difficult battle with drugs and alcohol; yet also making clear his importance both in terms of his role in the band as well as his friendship and humor with sarcasm that was an important part of what he brought to the table to deal with struggles and hardships the band faced along the way.
Dennis could’ve gone down the road followed by others, especially in describing the way the original band was replaced after “Billion Dollar Babies” and before “Welcome To My Nightmare” with a band that included Steve Hunter and Dick Wagner (two of my favorite guitarists) without resentment (albeit disappointment), and focused on giving an account of that period of the band’s history that is an important part of the story of the band’s existence.
I really liked this book, and having been born and raised in the Detroit area, then moving to the Phoenix area & staying in Arizona for the entire 80’s, it was great to be a part of both places that consider Alice Cooper (the original band) to belong to them as hometown heroes (first song I learned on guitar was “Be My Lover” in my youth).
One memory I have is of a classmate related to Neil Smith who brought a picture of him visiting his family to class back when I was in Jr. High in MI., and then meeting Alice in Scottsdale AZ while he was shopping with his wife, and how patient he was and making time for everyone that approached him. Sadly, one friend knew Glen and wanted to introduce me to him, but never could arrange a time when he was in a good place, which pretty much fits with the author’s account of that period of time.
Recommended for all interested in the original Alice Cooper band, it is also an interesting read regarding not only the history of the band itself, but the times and changes within the music industry in that period of time, and the people they experienced within it.
4 stars.
SNAKES! GUILLOTINES! ELECTRIC CHAIRS! is a book by Dennis Dunaway, bass player from the original Alice Cooper group, and friend of Vince Furnier (or Alice) and Glen Buxton going back to their high school days at Cortez High School in Phoenix.
Dennis tells a complete story of the career of the band going back to their humble beginnings, and describes how even in their earliest existence as a band they weren’t your average band, and that they went out of their way to shock and awe their audiences while having a lot of fun while doing so.
High school days behind them, they eventually are joined by both Neil Smith (who’s sister Dennis becomes involved with and eventually marries), and Michael Bruce.
Detailing the years of struggles to realize their goals and to attain acceptance, he also describes the closeness of the band and the strength they found in each other to get through the toughest times, as well as sharing in the moments where they find success and worldwide notoriety.
Dunaway writes this account in way that makes it a very enjoyable read, and unlike other books written by members of bands (especially bands that experience a breakup), he accents the positive while not shying away from the fallout of success, especially in terms of his description of Glen Buxton’s difficult battle with drugs and alcohol; yet also making clear his importance both in terms of his role in the band as well as his friendship and humor with sarcasm that was an important part of what he brought to the table to deal with struggles and hardships the band faced along the way.
Dennis could’ve gone down the road followed by others, especially in describing the way the original band was replaced after “Billion Dollar Babies” and before “Welcome To My Nightmare” with a band that included Steve Hunter and Dick Wagner (two of my favorite guitarists) without resentment (albeit disappointment), and focused on giving an account of that period of the band’s history that is an important part of the story of the band’s existence.
I really liked this book, and having been born and raised in the Detroit area, then moving to the Phoenix area & staying in Arizona for the entire 80’s, it was great to be a part of both places that consider Alice Cooper (the original band) to belong to them as hometown heroes (first song I learned on guitar was “Be My Lover” in my youth).
One memory I have is of a classmate related to Neil Smith who brought a picture of him visiting his family to class back when I was in Jr. High in MI., and then meeting Alice in Scottsdale AZ while he was shopping with his wife, and how patient he was and making time for everyone that approached him. Sadly, one friend knew Glen and wanted to introduce me to him, but never could arrange a time when he was in a good place, which pretty much fits with the author’s account of that period of time.
Recommended for all interested in the original Alice Cooper band, it is also an interesting read regarding not only the history of the band itself, but the times and changes within the music industry in that period of time, and the people they experienced within it.
4 stars.
January 26, 2018
Geez. Maybe I'm too old and too moral to be reading stories from my old rock music favs. This is significantly better than the debauchery infested "Me, Alice" from the early days, but I didn't enjoy this very much either. When I started reading it, it seemed to be focused on the music much more than the lifestyles and while it was more so than the aforementioned book, it still had plenty of gross shenanigans from hippie lives. I suppose this is to be expected. There is actually a lot about the music, and Dennis deals with most every song in their releases.
There were a number of insights I didn't know about, for example the deal on G.B. and Alice's coke addiction I wasn't even aware of.
But, too much unnecessary info. Did I really need to know Dennis painted a picture of his wiener when they lived in Michigan? I think not.
Towards the end, when everybody's old and the book comes to a tone of a grand finale, there's a lot of discussion on getting into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. B.F.D. on that! Means nothing to this life long rock music fan who's in his 50s because it's just opinion, which seems to be common knowledge to be very controversial at that. No, the only "rock hall of fame' that matters to me is MY opinion, and the Alice Cooper group, and Alice Cooper solo have already been in that for decades! I'm just amazed how so many rock musicians act like getting inducted there is like reaching heaven itself. It's bullshit.
This book is not a landfill, however, as there's great plenty to learn if, like me, you liked the original band the most. The best parts for me was how that was "dissolved" which was not pretty. It is good to have a member of the band give the true account of things and I can say I believe everything Dennis claims in this book.
The emphasis is clear: Alice Cooper was a GROUP, a BAND, not a person! Reading this makes this abundantly clear in an intelligent way. I think if they never would have called Vince Alice, things may have been different. But then, so would they have been if they credited songs differently, not have managers rule them, etc. But, such is life. Everyone's is likely full of mistakes and regrets, so bands are no different.
You have to be a die hard Alice Cooper fan to want to read this. If you are, it's worth a read. Personally, just like "Me, Alice" it could have been so much better if the sex and drugs had been eliminated or at least minimized and just focused on the rock and roll.
There were a number of insights I didn't know about, for example the deal on G.B. and Alice's coke addiction I wasn't even aware of.
But, too much unnecessary info. Did I really need to know Dennis painted a picture of his wiener when they lived in Michigan? I think not.
Towards the end, when everybody's old and the book comes to a tone of a grand finale, there's a lot of discussion on getting into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. B.F.D. on that! Means nothing to this life long rock music fan who's in his 50s because it's just opinion, which seems to be common knowledge to be very controversial at that. No, the only "rock hall of fame' that matters to me is MY opinion, and the Alice Cooper group, and Alice Cooper solo have already been in that for decades! I'm just amazed how so many rock musicians act like getting inducted there is like reaching heaven itself. It's bullshit.
This book is not a landfill, however, as there's great plenty to learn if, like me, you liked the original band the most. The best parts for me was how that was "dissolved" which was not pretty. It is good to have a member of the band give the true account of things and I can say I believe everything Dennis claims in this book.
The emphasis is clear: Alice Cooper was a GROUP, a BAND, not a person! Reading this makes this abundantly clear in an intelligent way. I think if they never would have called Vince Alice, things may have been different. But then, so would they have been if they credited songs differently, not have managers rule them, etc. But, such is life. Everyone's is likely full of mistakes and regrets, so bands are no different.
You have to be a die hard Alice Cooper fan to want to read this. If you are, it's worth a read. Personally, just like "Me, Alice" it could have been so much better if the sex and drugs had been eliminated or at least minimized and just focused on the rock and roll.
September 25, 2018
I'm just lukewarm on this memoir of the rise and fall of the Alice Cooper band, yet told through the eyes of only the original bass player. And maybe that one sentence is the crux of the problem I had with this: it felt very skewed. There are many mentions of his prolific contributions to songs (whether or not he had received credit) as well as his ideas for the live shows and while he does credit his band-mates for their ideas, there's still this feel in reading that his share of creativity was greater, just not recognized. With a memoir focusing almost entirely on a band, versus a musician's own memoir, I would prefer to hear different voices and different points of view. Alice Cooper the man (versus the band) doesn't figure heavily in the book at all (he's always there, but it feels like he's in the background); it's almost written to the point that it's a surprise that he would even be able to break away with the Alice Cooper persona and name. However, in its favor, the book does set the stage of the late 60s and early 70s quite well; it's easy to picture the band just trying to make it in the various areas of the country even though it's not particularly clear why they're moving around so much.
If this were solely the memoir of the bassist Dennis Dunaway, I'd recommend it a bit more, but to tell the story of the Alice Cooper band, it needed more than one member's interpretation.
ARC provided by NetGalley
If this were solely the memoir of the bassist Dennis Dunaway, I'd recommend it a bit more, but to tell the story of the Alice Cooper band, it needed more than one member's interpretation.
ARC provided by NetGalley
September 22, 2015
I won this book through Goodreads First Reads.
As someone who wasn't even born yet when the group Alice Cooper was coming about but have heard the hits all my life this book was quite an interesting read. I have to admit I'd always known Alice Cooper to be the man and not the band so it was nice to learn of how it all came about and the early days of the band that were known for the Shock Rock music scene and just how Vince became Alice.
The book starts off with the guys being just a bunch of regular high schoolers (if you can really picture Alice Cooper in high school) and takes you through all the early days. There's mention of the sex and drugs etc through the years but it's not overly covered. More of the shows, the struggles, and then onto the fame and the split of the group. Interesting reading how some of the most famous props and shows came about and then what happened to all the original members since those days.
There's also a lot of mention of other bands and artists that the group met and were popular or upcoming in the same time frame. A good read for rock fans.
For more reviews please visit https://carriesbookreviews.wordpress....
As someone who wasn't even born yet when the group Alice Cooper was coming about but have heard the hits all my life this book was quite an interesting read. I have to admit I'd always known Alice Cooper to be the man and not the band so it was nice to learn of how it all came about and the early days of the band that were known for the Shock Rock music scene and just how Vince became Alice.
The book starts off with the guys being just a bunch of regular high schoolers (if you can really picture Alice Cooper in high school) and takes you through all the early days. There's mention of the sex and drugs etc through the years but it's not overly covered. More of the shows, the struggles, and then onto the fame and the split of the group. Interesting reading how some of the most famous props and shows came about and then what happened to all the original members since those days.
There's also a lot of mention of other bands and artists that the group met and were popular or upcoming in the same time frame. A good read for rock fans.
For more reviews please visit https://carriesbookreviews.wordpress....
February 10, 2022
Seriously one of the best music books I’ve ever read. Dunaway does a great job of laying down the rise and fall of Alice Cooper (the band) along with fascinating insight into Alice Cooper (the man) and the rock world of the 60s and 70s. Highly recommend this one.
November 25, 2018
A fun and entertaining history of the Alice Cooper band as told by the bass player. Makes a nice addition/companion to NO MORE MR. NICE GUY by Cooper guitarist Michael Bruce.
January 15, 2021
I’ve been a huge fan of the Alice Cooper Group since their first album Pretties For You came out back in the day. I’ve read Michael Bruce’s book and when I heard about Dennis’s book, Snakes! Guillotines! Electric Chairs! My Adventures In The Alice Cooper Group, I couldn’t wait to read it. The thing is, I wasn’t aware it had come out so long ago! Since I discovered Dennis’s Facebook page, I became aware of this autobiography and as a devoted fan, I had to check it out.
Despite my built-in bias, I must say that this book is by far, the best autobiography I’ve ever read by anyone. Considering that I’ve read a few in my time, and some good ones, that says a lot.
The writing was outstanding with quality prose throughout. No major typos or grammatical errors, plus unlike some I’ve read, he didn’t repeat himself over and over again. The story was laid out in a logical and chronological order which made reading it a breeze. The major point being that the writing didn’t get in the way of the story.
As for the story, Dennis has a way of telling it like it is. He’s blunt, funny, profane, and despite having every reason to be bitter, he never goes there except in very small doses. This is not a diatribe about how he lost out on the big dream. It’s as much a love letter to the great times he had with his four best friends for a very exciting time when the band were struggling right up to their inevitable implosion.
I found I was able to relate to so much of the story, not only being just a few years shy in age of the members of the band, but also being a failed musician myself and having had experienced many of the trials and tribulations they did. The big difference is that they kept going and grabbed their golden ring, and I never did.
This is a man that tells a fascinating tale of a bunch of high school buddies who formed a band and through a bunch of freaky ideas, created a movement that resonated and shook the world of music and theater and spawned countless imitators. This effort ended up creating a monster that turned around and bit most of the musicians right back, but for a while it was a glory ride.
I was particularly touched with his tribute to the late great Glen Buxton, one of my top guitar heroes. The eccentricities and demons that at once made him such a unique guitar player yet also destroyed him, showed how it also ate away at the other band members, and Dennis in particular. This book is as much a loving tribute to his deceased bandmate as the rest of the band.
I couldn’t have asked for a more fascinating and absorbing autobiography and felt I was living it as I read it. In a way I was. Things Dennis said sparked memories for me, especially from the early days when I first bought Pretties For You, then Easy Action (one of my top ten albums of all time), then saw them in mid 1970 right after the album came out. That show at the Swing Auditorium in San Bernardino in California was one of the freakiest and best concerts I’ve ever seen, and I can still vividly recall most details, 50 years later. It was the only time I ever got to see them live, but I have treasured that performance all my life.
This book is killer, and if you’re a fan, you can’t pass it up. Highly recommended.
Despite my built-in bias, I must say that this book is by far, the best autobiography I’ve ever read by anyone. Considering that I’ve read a few in my time, and some good ones, that says a lot.
The writing was outstanding with quality prose throughout. No major typos or grammatical errors, plus unlike some I’ve read, he didn’t repeat himself over and over again. The story was laid out in a logical and chronological order which made reading it a breeze. The major point being that the writing didn’t get in the way of the story.
As for the story, Dennis has a way of telling it like it is. He’s blunt, funny, profane, and despite having every reason to be bitter, he never goes there except in very small doses. This is not a diatribe about how he lost out on the big dream. It’s as much a love letter to the great times he had with his four best friends for a very exciting time when the band were struggling right up to their inevitable implosion.
I found I was able to relate to so much of the story, not only being just a few years shy in age of the members of the band, but also being a failed musician myself and having had experienced many of the trials and tribulations they did. The big difference is that they kept going and grabbed their golden ring, and I never did.
This is a man that tells a fascinating tale of a bunch of high school buddies who formed a band and through a bunch of freaky ideas, created a movement that resonated and shook the world of music and theater and spawned countless imitators. This effort ended up creating a monster that turned around and bit most of the musicians right back, but for a while it was a glory ride.
I was particularly touched with his tribute to the late great Glen Buxton, one of my top guitar heroes. The eccentricities and demons that at once made him such a unique guitar player yet also destroyed him, showed how it also ate away at the other band members, and Dennis in particular. This book is as much a loving tribute to his deceased bandmate as the rest of the band.
I couldn’t have asked for a more fascinating and absorbing autobiography and felt I was living it as I read it. In a way I was. Things Dennis said sparked memories for me, especially from the early days when I first bought Pretties For You, then Easy Action (one of my top ten albums of all time), then saw them in mid 1970 right after the album came out. That show at the Swing Auditorium in San Bernardino in California was one of the freakiest and best concerts I’ve ever seen, and I can still vividly recall most details, 50 years later. It was the only time I ever got to see them live, but I have treasured that performance all my life.
This book is killer, and if you’re a fan, you can’t pass it up. Highly recommended.
February 5, 2019
Any time one individual purports to tell a story involving a group of people, particularly an extended story, there will be some question as to the accuracy of what is said. In the prologue to 'Snakes! Guillotines! Electric Chairs...' Dennis Dunaway states that "I'm here to tell you about it as I remember it." Okay, fair enough.
This book follows Dennis, his friend Vince, and several others on a 10-year journey that took them from sharing a bag of tacos in the back of a station wagon in Phoenix, Arizona all the way to Sao Paulo, Brazil where, in 1974, the band known as Alice Cooper played to a crowd of 185,000 (their last concert before breaking up).
Somewhere along the way fact mixed with fiction, rumors became legends, and Vince morphed into a character named "Alice" who, a little farther along the way, went from band member to solo artist.
One of the most fascinating aspects of Alice Cooper (the band - not the man) was the way they seemed to be around so many famous musicians at a time when those musicians were still very approachable. Being at the forefront of the changing music scene with resident stays in both Los Angeles and later Detroit meant they mixed with both '60s icons and emerging superstars of the '70s.
From a young Wayne Newton giving them advice on how to stand for their first TV appearance (when they were still known as The Earwigs) to Elton John "raving" about their costumes after attending their performance at The Hollywood Bowl.
At one time or another they partied or shared the stage with The Yardbirds, The Byrds, Led Zeppelin, Frank Zappa, Steppenwolf, Aretha Franklin and even John Lennon (who commandeered a feather pillow they used in their act and refused to return it).
While Dennis Dunaway does address some of the better known rumors there are still some things that get a little bit glossed over... The story behind the breakup seems a bit sanitized and incomplete. There is a slight edge of bitterness that flares up from time to time throughout the book but it seldom lasts long, if anything there is more an impression of melancholy over lost friends and roads not taken.
I found 'Snakes! Guillotines! Electric Chairs: My Adventures in the Alice Cooper Group' to be an interesting and enjoyable read.
***Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and the authors for providing me with a complimentary digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This book follows Dennis, his friend Vince, and several others on a 10-year journey that took them from sharing a bag of tacos in the back of a station wagon in Phoenix, Arizona all the way to Sao Paulo, Brazil where, in 1974, the band known as Alice Cooper played to a crowd of 185,000 (their last concert before breaking up).
Somewhere along the way fact mixed with fiction, rumors became legends, and Vince morphed into a character named "Alice" who, a little farther along the way, went from band member to solo artist.
One of the most fascinating aspects of Alice Cooper (the band - not the man) was the way they seemed to be around so many famous musicians at a time when those musicians were still very approachable. Being at the forefront of the changing music scene with resident stays in both Los Angeles and later Detroit meant they mixed with both '60s icons and emerging superstars of the '70s.
From a young Wayne Newton giving them advice on how to stand for their first TV appearance (when they were still known as The Earwigs) to Elton John "raving" about their costumes after attending their performance at The Hollywood Bowl.
At one time or another they partied or shared the stage with The Yardbirds, The Byrds, Led Zeppelin, Frank Zappa, Steppenwolf, Aretha Franklin and even John Lennon (who commandeered a feather pillow they used in their act and refused to return it).
While Dennis Dunaway does address some of the better known rumors there are still some things that get a little bit glossed over... The story behind the breakup seems a bit sanitized and incomplete. There is a slight edge of bitterness that flares up from time to time throughout the book but it seldom lasts long, if anything there is more an impression of melancholy over lost friends and roads not taken.
I found 'Snakes! Guillotines! Electric Chairs: My Adventures in the Alice Cooper Group' to be an interesting and enjoyable read.
***Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and the authors for providing me with a complimentary digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
January 26, 2019
This is a good workmanlike chronicle of the beginnings (and the end, as bassist/author Dunaway experienced it) of the very outrageous Alice Cooper (the band, as opposed to the lead singer who was sly enough to legally take possession of the name) during the late 60s and early 70s.
Hard won success came to a high school band that any parent could hate with impunity, until the youth culture began its metamorphosis in answer to those magnificent and tumultuous times.
Follow Alice Cooper's journey on the road to success and then watch as fame, drugs, alcohol, and mistrust destroy the group's dynamic and leave them in the wake of the continued success of the front man (Vincent Furnier) who surprised his mates and legally acquired the band name for his own, deserting his mates for a career in Big Time Showbiz. Alice became a fixture on television, bigger than ever, appearing on many talk shows and even Hollywood Squares. He was known for golfing with his new buddy, Groucho Marx. He was everywhere and very successful, while his band mates watched from a distance, wondering what the Hell happened. It's an old rock and roll story, but well told here by the now-disillusioned bass player who saw the group's time in the sun quickly get spirited away with the legal finagling of their management and the record company. Their fans generally had no knowledge of most of this turmoil.
The best part of the book is the early struggle for paying gigs and glorious fame. "Alice Cooper" was a talented, yet lucky band, that came into their own with their singular style of offensive rock'n'roll on-stage theatrics, that included electric chairs, hangman's nooses, murdered chickens, a gigantic wraparound python, gallons of sticky stage blood, demented lyrics, all with the panache of a band of 'brothers' who learned their craft on the road and in the historic music venues of a changing America. They became an excellent and successful hard-working band, a household name, and their approach to the music (including a run of excellent albums and many hit songs) and its theatrics are what makes this an enjoyable visit to those times.
Hard won success came to a high school band that any parent could hate with impunity, until the youth culture began its metamorphosis in answer to those magnificent and tumultuous times.
Follow Alice Cooper's journey on the road to success and then watch as fame, drugs, alcohol, and mistrust destroy the group's dynamic and leave them in the wake of the continued success of the front man (Vincent Furnier) who surprised his mates and legally acquired the band name for his own, deserting his mates for a career in Big Time Showbiz. Alice became a fixture on television, bigger than ever, appearing on many talk shows and even Hollywood Squares. He was known for golfing with his new buddy, Groucho Marx. He was everywhere and very successful, while his band mates watched from a distance, wondering what the Hell happened. It's an old rock and roll story, but well told here by the now-disillusioned bass player who saw the group's time in the sun quickly get spirited away with the legal finagling of their management and the record company. Their fans generally had no knowledge of most of this turmoil.
The best part of the book is the early struggle for paying gigs and glorious fame. "Alice Cooper" was a talented, yet lucky band, that came into their own with their singular style of offensive rock'n'roll on-stage theatrics, that included electric chairs, hangman's nooses, murdered chickens, a gigantic wraparound python, gallons of sticky stage blood, demented lyrics, all with the panache of a band of 'brothers' who learned their craft on the road and in the historic music venues of a changing America. They became an excellent and successful hard-working band, a household name, and their approach to the music (including a run of excellent albums and many hit songs) and its theatrics are what makes this an enjoyable visit to those times.
February 24, 2022
Rock star biographies are a dime a dozen - and most aren't worth the dime. They are for hardcore fans only and are full of omissions, finger-pointing, and lame stories from years past. But the Alice Cooper Group always were originals. They were a band who had no one called Alice among their ranks - then they got an Alice - then they were a solo act that never officially broke up. Only in rock and roll could this happen. Add in their theatrics on stage, their hard-driving garage rock, strange attire, and F-U attitude and you have a story that needed to be told. This book does a good job at that. Written by a founding member and the band's bass player all these tales are detailed and revealing. Dennis Dunaway proclaims that he is a keen journalist, and has been jotting down events in his life since before the band began. It all pays off here. There are more than just tour stories here. the Alice Cooper Band has a unique place in history regardless of their musical output. They were on the Sunset Strip when the Doors and Byrds and Buffalo Springfield were just beginning. They were also in Detroit when Iggy and Stooges were tearing it up with the MC5 and then in NYC when KISS and the Dolls were starting to make waves. They knew most of them and there are stories about all of them in this book. It's like reading a Rock-N-Roll history of all the cool bands from the late sixties to the punk movement. Thank heaven for journals. Dennis Dunaway narrates the book and does a good job. I could hear the joy in his voice as he narrated these tales which were not as dark as I would have expected from a band that pranced with snakes and decapitated their lead singer on stage. There is quite a lot of myth-busting as well, including the truth about the chicken that was torn apart, how the band got their name and why they favored the gory stuff on stage. Add in groupies, Frank Zappa, and crazy parties and we have a true original. A Rock and Roll autobiography that is enjoyable, informative, and entertaining.
April 19, 2020
Dennis Dunnaway who was the bassist in the Alice Cooper band describes the beginnings of first him meeting Vince Furnier who would later become the frontman and then the person we all know as Alice Cooper. Going back to there high school days and when they formed a band added members and then came up with the original guys who would play on their albums, at least the first seven. I had come across them in 71 when I was just 11 from an older friend thinking that it was their first record, I found out later it was the second. I had listened to them throughout the ’70s and beyond even when he went solo.
Here though you get a look at the actually beginnings from high school through their time in southern California where they were part of the Topanga Canyon scene in the late ’60s with Morrison of the Doors, Hendrix, Joplin playing at Whiskey a-go-go. That they were part of that scene was amazing what time in the mid to late sixties to be around that crowd.
You get to see the first person that really changed the music scene in performers with creating a character and becoming that character. Long before any of the other ones who have become famous. also how they came up with the stage props from guillotines, electronic chair, adding a snake when someone threw their boa snake on stage during one of their concerts. Behind their writing the songs that would become hits as well. I found this to be a very good book and interesting as well. I received this book from Netgalley.com I gave it 5 stars. Follow us at www.1rad-readerreviews.com
Here though you get a look at the actually beginnings from high school through their time in southern California where they were part of the Topanga Canyon scene in the late ’60s with Morrison of the Doors, Hendrix, Joplin playing at Whiskey a-go-go. That they were part of that scene was amazing what time in the mid to late sixties to be around that crowd.
You get to see the first person that really changed the music scene in performers with creating a character and becoming that character. Long before any of the other ones who have become famous. also how they came up with the stage props from guillotines, electronic chair, adding a snake when someone threw their boa snake on stage during one of their concerts. Behind their writing the songs that would become hits as well. I found this to be a very good book and interesting as well. I received this book from Netgalley.com I gave it 5 stars. Follow us at www.1rad-readerreviews.com
August 25, 2022
I've been an Alice Cooper fan since high school and was excited to read this memoir from one of the original members. Outside the man who would embody the name and mythos, I knew nothing about the group and their rise to fame.
This is a treat for any fans of rock 'n' roll with plenty of familiar references. Albeit brief, there are mentions and interactions with such legends as The Doors, Pink Floyd, The Yardbirds, Frank Zappa, Jimi Hendrix, and many more during the initial struggle for stardom out on the west coast. This band, and this author in particular, helped pioneer theatrical rock that would inspire generations of talent.
My only real issues were with the style and formatting. The stories are fun and engaging, but like the band itself, the writing is chaotic and bounces all over the place. There are many asides, repetitions, futuristic jumps, and an all around hodgepodge of memories and feelings captured on the pages. While it's a bit of a mess, it's endearing in its own right.
Dennis Dunaway isn't afraid to shy away from the nitty gritty or his personal side of the story. While always maintaining a carefree and even jovial attitude on the pages, it's clear he's still preoccupied by the way events transpired leading to the ambiguous disbanding of the group as it morphed into the individual, leaving the rest behind.
Despite some cohesion issues, any fans of Alice Cooper, particularly the original group of five, should dive in and enjoy the ride with all its ups and downs.
This is a treat for any fans of rock 'n' roll with plenty of familiar references. Albeit brief, there are mentions and interactions with such legends as The Doors, Pink Floyd, The Yardbirds, Frank Zappa, Jimi Hendrix, and many more during the initial struggle for stardom out on the west coast. This band, and this author in particular, helped pioneer theatrical rock that would inspire generations of talent.
My only real issues were with the style and formatting. The stories are fun and engaging, but like the band itself, the writing is chaotic and bounces all over the place. There are many asides, repetitions, futuristic jumps, and an all around hodgepodge of memories and feelings captured on the pages. While it's a bit of a mess, it's endearing in its own right.
Dennis Dunaway isn't afraid to shy away from the nitty gritty or his personal side of the story. While always maintaining a carefree and even jovial attitude on the pages, it's clear he's still preoccupied by the way events transpired leading to the ambiguous disbanding of the group as it morphed into the individual, leaving the rest behind.
Despite some cohesion issues, any fans of Alice Cooper, particularly the original group of five, should dive in and enjoy the ride with all its ups and downs.
September 3, 2018
Rarely does a book earn 5 stars. Keep reading to learn why this book does.
This book includes what most rock-n-roll autobiographies omit: How the music was conceived, written and recorded. The chapter that describes how Bob Ezrin and the band developed the "Love It To Death" album is priceless. This chapter details the songs plus each musician's playing style, their instruments, Ezrin's recording techniques and album's track sequence decisions. The band also discusses songwriting credits during this time. The reader gets a front row seat to what these guys were thinking about and doing during each song.
The second thing this book does well is humanize the Alice Cooper band with terrific and funny dialogue. The conversations among the band members is hysterical, especially in the early years and when they started breaking nationally. The guys in the band went to high school together. They behaved like teenagers well into their twenties. Dunaway quotes his band mates' nuanced and subtle humor perfectly. The relationships were deep and their sarcastic humor, which focused on tearing each other down, is what high school boys do. The book captures this very well.
Overall, a nice slice of early rock-n-roll history. Highly recommended.
This book includes what most rock-n-roll autobiographies omit: How the music was conceived, written and recorded. The chapter that describes how Bob Ezrin and the band developed the "Love It To Death" album is priceless. This chapter details the songs plus each musician's playing style, their instruments, Ezrin's recording techniques and album's track sequence decisions. The band also discusses songwriting credits during this time. The reader gets a front row seat to what these guys were thinking about and doing during each song.
The second thing this book does well is humanize the Alice Cooper band with terrific and funny dialogue. The conversations among the band members is hysterical, especially in the early years and when they started breaking nationally. The guys in the band went to high school together. They behaved like teenagers well into their twenties. Dunaway quotes his band mates' nuanced and subtle humor perfectly. The relationships were deep and their sarcastic humor, which focused on tearing each other down, is what high school boys do. The book captures this very well.
Overall, a nice slice of early rock-n-roll history. Highly recommended.
September 30, 2018
Firstly, thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for the chance to read 'Snakes! guillotines! Electric Chairs!' The following is my honest review.
To start off I am a fan of the Alice Cooper group. As a child in the eighties, I remember my parents sharing the albums on cassette tape with me and my brother very fondly. However, I didn't know a lot of the personal details of the band before reading this book.
I have to say, it was a lot of fun reading this book. When reading Dennis Dunaway describe certain performances, such as in movies or other televised events, I would take a break. I could go on youtube and many times watch it before continuing the book. It really made the stories come alive for me.
I highly recommend this book to Alice Cooper fans new or old, and rock autobiography fans.
To start off I am a fan of the Alice Cooper group. As a child in the eighties, I remember my parents sharing the albums on cassette tape with me and my brother very fondly. However, I didn't know a lot of the personal details of the band before reading this book.
I have to say, it was a lot of fun reading this book. When reading Dennis Dunaway describe certain performances, such as in movies or other televised events, I would take a break. I could go on youtube and many times watch it before continuing the book. It really made the stories come alive for me.
I highly recommend this book to Alice Cooper fans new or old, and rock autobiography fans.
May 8, 2021
This was the book that made it with me on our family trip to the mountains of Asheville, NC.
I’ve devoured the entire thing in three days. If I could time travel anywhere it would be the Summer of Love, 1969, when these guys came from Phoenix to invade San Francisco and Laurel Canyon.
Bonus: The truth about the “chicken incident” has finally been revealed. I knew it all along!
Thank you, Dennis Dunaway. You were the heart and soul of that group and remain one of the best bass players in history. I now must create a musical playlist of the book featuring The Yardbirds, Gene Vincent, The Stooges, et. al. and relive the entire thing!
I’ve devoured the entire thing in three days. If I could time travel anywhere it would be the Summer of Love, 1969, when these guys came from Phoenix to invade San Francisco and Laurel Canyon.
Bonus: The truth about the “chicken incident” has finally been revealed. I knew it all along!
Thank you, Dennis Dunaway. You were the heart and soul of that group and remain one of the best bass players in history. I now must create a musical playlist of the book featuring The Yardbirds, Gene Vincent, The Stooges, et. al. and relive the entire thing!
January 11, 2023
Well that broke my heart *insert emoji with tear drop* .... ah I know things did kinda work out in the end and it seems like all the members are close and on good terms with each other.
I'm gonna be 'that' person and say that Dennis's book offers a much in depth look into the early days of the Alice Cooper band, as opposed to Alice Cooper's book (which I still love) but the difference between the two is Alice's book covers a much larger time frame so often it feels as if certain eras get rushed past a little bit, whereas Dennis's book is much more intensely focused on just the band. This book is just as important and learning about the roots/origins of the Alice Cooper band.
I'm gonna be 'that' person and say that Dennis's book offers a much in depth look into the early days of the Alice Cooper band, as opposed to Alice Cooper's book (which I still love) but the difference between the two is Alice's book covers a much larger time frame so often it feels as if certain eras get rushed past a little bit, whereas Dennis's book is much more intensely focused on just the band. This book is just as important and learning about the roots/origins of the Alice Cooper band.
April 27, 2021
Easy read, gets right to the point. Lots of info on the early Spiders/NAzz era, which is cool. Occasionally the "rock n Roll" antics get in the way of the story telling because i think the author feel sit needs to be there. Cool sstories about the Doors and Pink Floyd. Especially about the Yardbirds in Arizona in the 60's. Definitely gets bitter at the end about VInce/Alice taking the name. The sentence, "Alice Cooper was a group," occurs pretty constantly the last 60 or so pages. Still recommended for fans or rock book fans.
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