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Hold On to Your Dreams: Arthur Russell and the Downtown Music Scene, 1973-1992
Hold On to Your Dreams is the first biography of the musician and composer Arthur Russell, one of the most important but least known contributors to New York’s downtown music scene during the 1970s and 1980s. With the exception of a few dance recordings, including “Is It All Over My Face?” and “Go Bang! #5,” Russell’s pioneering music was largely forgotten until 2004, when the posthumous release of two albums brought new attention to the artist. This revival of interest gained momentum with the issue of additional albums and the documentary film Wild Combination. Based on interviews with more than seventy of his collaborators, family members, and friends, Hold On to Your Dreams provides vital new information about this singular, eccentric musician and his role in the boundary-breaking downtown music scene.Tim Lawrence traces Russell’s odyssey from his hometown of Oskaloosa, Iowa, to countercultural San Francisco, and eventually to New York, where he lived from 1973 until his death from AIDS-related complications in 1992. Resisting definition while dreaming of commercial success, Russell wrote and performed new wave and disco as well as quirky rock, twisted folk, voice-cello dub, and hip-hop-inflected pop. “He was way ahead of other people in understanding that the walls between concert music and popular music and avant-garde music were illusory,” comments the composer Philip Glass. “He lived in a world in which those walls weren’t there.” Lawrence follows Russell across musical genres and through such vital downtown music spaces as the Kitchen, the Loft, the Gallery, the Paradise Garage, and the Experimental Intermedia Foundation. Along the way, he captures Russell’s openness to sound, his commitment to collaboration, and his uncompromising idealism.
448 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
57 people are currently reading
1350 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
May 22, 2021
When I fell in love with Arthur Russell's music, it was difficult to explain why. "I love the pop element," but it's not pop. "The folk lyricism is top notch," but it's minimalist dance music. "His songwriting feels circular like non-western music," but I'm hearing drum-machine funk and hip-hop.
A lot of us feel an inexplicable, timeless connection to Arthur. Reading this biography made it make sense.
Unlike other musical geniuses, Arthur wasn't bound by his own identity within the artistic landscape. He wasn't driven by a need to brand himself. His creative philosophy allowed for democracy and the constant experimentation such a stance allows.
And when you listen, you FEEL this... even if you can't explain why.
A lot of us feel an inexplicable, timeless connection to Arthur. Reading this biography made it make sense.
Unlike other musical geniuses, Arthur wasn't bound by his own identity within the artistic landscape. He wasn't driven by a need to brand himself. His creative philosophy allowed for democracy and the constant experimentation such a stance allows.
And when you listen, you FEEL this... even if you can't explain why.
November 21, 2017
Really good, but in the epilogue he lets loose with the "I am reminded of Delueze and Guattari..." and "there's no reason to believe Arthur Russell ever read the works of Michel Foucault, but..." and it kind of kills the vibe. Congratulations Tim Lawrence, you played yourself!
February 24, 2013
that's us / wild combination
i love arthur russell so much
i can't really begin with how much his work has affected me, you know?
this book just reinforces that even more
emotions. ok
i love arthur russell so much
i can't really begin with how much his work has affected me, you know?
this book just reinforces that even more
emotions. ok
May 27, 2018
You'll spend more time looking up songs than reading, but this biography is superb.
November 6, 2024
The ultimate book for Arthur fans, stacked with information and history on Arthur and the music scene he was in. Sometimes a bit repetitive and dry but has so much insight and is really well written. I love this man !!!!!!
November 19, 2017
An incredibly well researched and insightful book that is absolutely essential for getting a grip on the elusive Arthur Russell.
Arthur's musical output is a bit of a tangled mess and hard to really experience in a linear or historic fashion but this book makes it easier to understand some form of chronology.
The book is written with an incredible amount of detail and without the typical conversational mode some other biographies can fall in to. It remains a serious investigation through-out.
I only have three very slight criticisms but none really detracted too much from the overall enjoyment. One, their are so many names to keep track of, it becomes very difficult at times to remember who is who (I guess that's just testament to how much Arthur was a community driven collaborator at heart). Two, although the cold hard facts are really really well delivered it would have been nice to have even more warmth to set the scene and give a sense that Tim has an emotional attachment to Arthur's music. You don't really feel it that much but maybe that's a good thing. Three, although the chapters are in place to set some form of chronological arch or 'chapters' in Arthur's output there is often a lot of bleed, sometimes a chapter will start by talking about music Arthur was working on almost ten years prior which feels strange. It's like the chapters are like overlapping tectonic plates which can make getting an overall picture of Arthur's developments a little hard at times.
Overall an incredible book, these three 'issues' are only very minor. Looking forward to reading more by Tim in the future.
Arthur's musical output is a bit of a tangled mess and hard to really experience in a linear or historic fashion but this book makes it easier to understand some form of chronology.
The book is written with an incredible amount of detail and without the typical conversational mode some other biographies can fall in to. It remains a serious investigation through-out.
I only have three very slight criticisms but none really detracted too much from the overall enjoyment. One, their are so many names to keep track of, it becomes very difficult at times to remember who is who (I guess that's just testament to how much Arthur was a community driven collaborator at heart). Two, although the cold hard facts are really really well delivered it would have been nice to have even more warmth to set the scene and give a sense that Tim has an emotional attachment to Arthur's music. You don't really feel it that much but maybe that's a good thing. Three, although the chapters are in place to set some form of chronological arch or 'chapters' in Arthur's output there is often a lot of bleed, sometimes a chapter will start by talking about music Arthur was working on almost ten years prior which feels strange. It's like the chapters are like overlapping tectonic plates which can make getting an overall picture of Arthur's developments a little hard at times.
Overall an incredible book, these three 'issues' are only very minor. Looking forward to reading more by Tim in the future.
Read
July 21, 2010“Lawrence’s book is obsessively researched . . . [and:] his overriding thesis—that Russell’s boundary crossing was as important as the work he made—is sound, paying tribute to a man who was a connector as well as a spark.”--Michaelangelo Matos, Time Out New York
“[A:] sensitive and thorough biography. . . . In a sense, Arthur Russell was so much a part of his times that he tended to disappear into them, blending in with so many different scenes that the camouflage seemed at times to have taken over. Lawrence notes, for example, how many previous accounts of the New York downtown scene fail to notice him at all. With Hold On to Your Dreams, the outline of an outstanding and prescient artist can now be more clearly made out.”--Ken Hollings, The Wire
“Lawrence . . . is a wonderful writer, able to ruminate on music in a way that is deeply knowledgeable without ever losing the groove and the beat.”--John McLeod, Flagpole
“Lawrence's writing style mirrors Russell's musical approach, fusing divergent disciplines and catering to different audiences in a single work. Serious scholars and academics will be pleased with the depth of research, and fans will enjoy the illustrations and anecdotes of Russell's life.”--Library Journal
“I don’t have enough good things to say about Tim Lawrence's biography, which is thoroughly researched, well told, and which successfully pushes the envelope of what biographies can accomplish. One of the most impressive things that Lawrence does throughout Hold On To Your Dreams, is not only provide a sensitive and detailed rendering of Russell's life, but also the story of large and complex cultural confluences channeled by a single person.”--Thom Donovan, The Fanzine
“[W:]hat makes this book valuable is that Russell’s shadowy ubiquity turns an ostensible biography into a first draft of that elusive comprehensive history of the downtown performing arts. Hold On to Your Dreams has to go everywhere, because that’s where Russell went. . . . [E:]ven if you didn’t know about Russell and are not yet persuaded to pursue him further, this is still a book worth reading. . . . Psychologically, Russell emerges as indeed fascinating, more fascinating than his music, as a maverick without, Lawrence notes, the feisty self-righteousness such figures often embody. . . . Russell has inspired a book that helps us understand a thrilling twenty-five years of American cultural history.”--John Rockwell, Bookforum
“[An exhaustive, often spellbinding account of the life of one of music’s true maverick enigmas. . . . While the book provides many fresh insights into the 80s downtown hotbed, Russell emerges as a strange, fragile figure, in a monumental work. Hold On To Your Dreams is a captivating record of a true original’s all-too-brief life.”--Kris Needs, Record Collector
“Thanks to Lawrence's scrupulous efforts as interviewer and historian and critic, Dreams is the most fully realized portrait of Russell-the-man that fans have yet seen. . . . Lawrence's book offers a Russell with multiple dimensions: dreamy and obsessed, yes, but also venal, petty, caring, wounded, self-doubting, generous, and funny. . . . Finishing Hold On to Your Dreams, it's hard not to fall a little in love with the fallible human who produced this otherworldly sound, and to lament his early passing all the harder.”--Jess Harvell, Baltimore City Paper
“[T]he most fascinating recount of the unfairly condemned-to-obscurity experimental musician. . . . Russell’s unprecedented genre-merging deserves this kind of exploration, and Lawrence approaches with a delicacy and direct intimacy reminiscent of the music itself.”--Oxford American
“Written with crystal clarity but never overly dry despite Lawrence's academic background, this is a gripping portrait both of a unique artist and a time of spectacular cultural flux.”--Joe Muggs, The Word
“Through meticulous attention to detail and chronology, Tim Lawrence's book manages to piece together memories, letters, and records to give a very real sense of who Arthur Russell was; while placing him firmly in the times and places he lived. . . . This book is a vital document of the man and the times he lived in. It is nothing less than justice being done.”--Bernard Keenan, The Quietus
“[A:] deservedly serious, thoughtful treatment . . . . [An:] excellent biography. . . . Lawrence's writing is up to the task of telling this narrative in a way that makes the pathos of Russell's life a deeply compelling window onto the ‘Downtown’ music scene of the 1980s and 90s. Indeed, part of what makes the book so successful is Lawrence's insight into Russell's ongoing ambivalence toward this scene, especially its fascination with the machismo of grand modernist gestures.”--Gustavus Staler, Social Text
“The passionate, revelatory anecdotes collected here follow Russell through those liminal downtown nightclubs, loft spaces, and recording studios that made his life and music possible.”--Carol Cooper, Village Voice
“Depicting with flair the short creative life of a near-forgotten musical visionary, this reverent study of an irreverent man is a sparkling fusion of serious scholarship, insightful analysis and colorful oral history.”--Richard Labonte, Q Syndicate
“It’s a mark of the success of Lawrence’s book that even though it sheds new light on Russell’s life – filling in key details about the time he spent at a San Franciscan Buddhist monastery, his occasional sessions with Bob Dylan and his close friendship with Allen Ginsberg for example – it never destroys the alluring enigma that is key to the magic of the man.”--Stuart Aitken, Flux Magazine
“Weaving threads of ethnomusicology, pop culture, race relations, bohemian celebrity culture, and the bedeviling schemes of monolithic midtown music labels, Mr. Lawrence’s breathtaking book informs and delights.”--Charlie Vázquez
“[A:]n exemplary demonstration of exactly what a biography should do. In his rigorously researched investigation of musician and composer Arthur Russell, cultural theory lecturer Tim Lawrence effortlessly explores his subject and in so doing shines fresh light on the darkened recesses of both New York's downtown music scene and the popular cultural landscape of Russell's times. And despite Russell's relative obscurity, the book leaves you in no doubt as to how influential this maverick music figure has been.”--Martin James, Times Higher Education Supplement
“Lawrence does an admirable job of explicating the scope of Russell’s activities and achievements and he does what a good biographer ought: marshals the facts, but allows the story to be told largely through the words of his subject’s family, friends, lovers and collaborators. . . . Lawrence is even better on Russell’s personal life, which, given his penchant for collaboration, often overlapped with his artistic life.”--Tim Howard, The Enthusiast
“Tim Lawrence is ideally suited to tell Arthur Russell’s story. He knows the pople, music and places that comprised the creative world o lower Manhattan in the ‘70s and ‘80s. He has a good eye for details, his prose is blessedly free of trendy theoretical jargon, and the book is solidly researched. . . . Even for those previously unfamiliar with Russell’s music Hold On to Your Dreams will provide a fascinating look at the unique downtown cultural environment at that time. . . . Hold On to Your Dreams is certainly a worth addition to the legacy of this authentic, uncompromising and important sound experimentalist.”--Alan Waters, Signal to Noise
“[A:] sensitive and thorough biography. . . . In a sense, Arthur Russell was so much a part of his times that he tended to disappear into them, blending in with so many different scenes that the camouflage seemed at times to have taken over. Lawrence notes, for example, how many previous accounts of the New York downtown scene fail to notice him at all. With Hold On to Your Dreams, the outline of an outstanding and prescient artist can now be more clearly made out.”--Ken Hollings, The Wire
“Lawrence . . . is a wonderful writer, able to ruminate on music in a way that is deeply knowledgeable without ever losing the groove and the beat.”--John McLeod, Flagpole
“Lawrence's writing style mirrors Russell's musical approach, fusing divergent disciplines and catering to different audiences in a single work. Serious scholars and academics will be pleased with the depth of research, and fans will enjoy the illustrations and anecdotes of Russell's life.”--Library Journal
“I don’t have enough good things to say about Tim Lawrence's biography, which is thoroughly researched, well told, and which successfully pushes the envelope of what biographies can accomplish. One of the most impressive things that Lawrence does throughout Hold On To Your Dreams, is not only provide a sensitive and detailed rendering of Russell's life, but also the story of large and complex cultural confluences channeled by a single person.”--Thom Donovan, The Fanzine
“[W:]hat makes this book valuable is that Russell’s shadowy ubiquity turns an ostensible biography into a first draft of that elusive comprehensive history of the downtown performing arts. Hold On to Your Dreams has to go everywhere, because that’s where Russell went. . . . [E:]ven if you didn’t know about Russell and are not yet persuaded to pursue him further, this is still a book worth reading. . . . Psychologically, Russell emerges as indeed fascinating, more fascinating than his music, as a maverick without, Lawrence notes, the feisty self-righteousness such figures often embody. . . . Russell has inspired a book that helps us understand a thrilling twenty-five years of American cultural history.”--John Rockwell, Bookforum
“[An exhaustive, often spellbinding account of the life of one of music’s true maverick enigmas. . . . While the book provides many fresh insights into the 80s downtown hotbed, Russell emerges as a strange, fragile figure, in a monumental work. Hold On To Your Dreams is a captivating record of a true original’s all-too-brief life.”--Kris Needs, Record Collector
“Thanks to Lawrence's scrupulous efforts as interviewer and historian and critic, Dreams is the most fully realized portrait of Russell-the-man that fans have yet seen. . . . Lawrence's book offers a Russell with multiple dimensions: dreamy and obsessed, yes, but also venal, petty, caring, wounded, self-doubting, generous, and funny. . . . Finishing Hold On to Your Dreams, it's hard not to fall a little in love with the fallible human who produced this otherworldly sound, and to lament his early passing all the harder.”--Jess Harvell, Baltimore City Paper
“[T]he most fascinating recount of the unfairly condemned-to-obscurity experimental musician. . . . Russell’s unprecedented genre-merging deserves this kind of exploration, and Lawrence approaches with a delicacy and direct intimacy reminiscent of the music itself.”--Oxford American
“Written with crystal clarity but never overly dry despite Lawrence's academic background, this is a gripping portrait both of a unique artist and a time of spectacular cultural flux.”--Joe Muggs, The Word
“Through meticulous attention to detail and chronology, Tim Lawrence's book manages to piece together memories, letters, and records to give a very real sense of who Arthur Russell was; while placing him firmly in the times and places he lived. . . . This book is a vital document of the man and the times he lived in. It is nothing less than justice being done.”--Bernard Keenan, The Quietus
“[A:] deservedly serious, thoughtful treatment . . . . [An:] excellent biography. . . . Lawrence's writing is up to the task of telling this narrative in a way that makes the pathos of Russell's life a deeply compelling window onto the ‘Downtown’ music scene of the 1980s and 90s. Indeed, part of what makes the book so successful is Lawrence's insight into Russell's ongoing ambivalence toward this scene, especially its fascination with the machismo of grand modernist gestures.”--Gustavus Staler, Social Text
“The passionate, revelatory anecdotes collected here follow Russell through those liminal downtown nightclubs, loft spaces, and recording studios that made his life and music possible.”--Carol Cooper, Village Voice
“Depicting with flair the short creative life of a near-forgotten musical visionary, this reverent study of an irreverent man is a sparkling fusion of serious scholarship, insightful analysis and colorful oral history.”--Richard Labonte, Q Syndicate
“It’s a mark of the success of Lawrence’s book that even though it sheds new light on Russell’s life – filling in key details about the time he spent at a San Franciscan Buddhist monastery, his occasional sessions with Bob Dylan and his close friendship with Allen Ginsberg for example – it never destroys the alluring enigma that is key to the magic of the man.”--Stuart Aitken, Flux Magazine
“Weaving threads of ethnomusicology, pop culture, race relations, bohemian celebrity culture, and the bedeviling schemes of monolithic midtown music labels, Mr. Lawrence’s breathtaking book informs and delights.”--Charlie Vázquez
“[A:]n exemplary demonstration of exactly what a biography should do. In his rigorously researched investigation of musician and composer Arthur Russell, cultural theory lecturer Tim Lawrence effortlessly explores his subject and in so doing shines fresh light on the darkened recesses of both New York's downtown music scene and the popular cultural landscape of Russell's times. And despite Russell's relative obscurity, the book leaves you in no doubt as to how influential this maverick music figure has been.”--Martin James, Times Higher Education Supplement
“Lawrence does an admirable job of explicating the scope of Russell’s activities and achievements and he does what a good biographer ought: marshals the facts, but allows the story to be told largely through the words of his subject’s family, friends, lovers and collaborators. . . . Lawrence is even better on Russell’s personal life, which, given his penchant for collaboration, often overlapped with his artistic life.”--Tim Howard, The Enthusiast
“Tim Lawrence is ideally suited to tell Arthur Russell’s story. He knows the pople, music and places that comprised the creative world o lower Manhattan in the ‘70s and ‘80s. He has a good eye for details, his prose is blessedly free of trendy theoretical jargon, and the book is solidly researched. . . . Even for those previously unfamiliar with Russell’s music Hold On to Your Dreams will provide a fascinating look at the unique downtown cultural environment at that time. . . . Hold On to Your Dreams is certainly a worth addition to the legacy of this authentic, uncompromising and important sound experimentalist.”--Alan Waters, Signal to Noise
November 26, 2021
Incredibly well researched and written bio on Arthur’s life and music, as well as the avant-garde/minimalism/new wave/disco/folk scenes of the 70’s and 80’s NYC and how he weaved it all together. True genius that was way ahead of his time
July 12, 2018
This is an excellently researched and enthralling profile of one of my favourite musicians and composers. I took my time reading it so I could listen to the music referenced inside as I went along and discovered a lot of new artists and bands.
A must read for any Arthur Russell fan. Lawrence goes into depth about many aspects of Russell's life; from his various musical projects, collaborations and recordings to the more personal, ideological and private sides of his character. Even in the more probing sections it never feels voyeuristic and does well to create a broad portrait through interviews with friends, family and collaborators. After reading this, I felt I could begin to understand some of the motivations and philosophies held by this bubblegum buddhist pop composer singer-songwriter mutant disco polymath.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who appreciates Arthur Russell's diverse musical output or wishes to gain more knowledge about some of the fringe and underground musical movements happening in the NYC Downtown scene during this era.
A must read for any Arthur Russell fan. Lawrence goes into depth about many aspects of Russell's life; from his various musical projects, collaborations and recordings to the more personal, ideological and private sides of his character. Even in the more probing sections it never feels voyeuristic and does well to create a broad portrait through interviews with friends, family and collaborators. After reading this, I felt I could begin to understand some of the motivations and philosophies held by this bubblegum buddhist pop composer singer-songwriter mutant disco polymath.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who appreciates Arthur Russell's diverse musical output or wishes to gain more knowledge about some of the fringe and underground musical movements happening in the NYC Downtown scene during this era.
December 7, 2016
arthur russell is cool
June 8, 2022
sooooo frustrating. so bland in some places but with intriguing moments. if you don't also like downtowners like rhys chatham, philip glass, and all the kitchen people, then you'll hate this cuz entire sections go by with no mention of arthur at all. and yet we get less than 10 pages on world of echo?? many of his contemporaries have blasted this book and i can see why, but giving the author some credit, lee was very hard to pin down musically and this ahem unintelligibility has been a non transfer to the page it seems. there are probably less than 2 full paragraphs from the man himself. and we don't read an interview from him until page 255??? i wanted to love this. finished with a nice coda, but impossible to recommend.
December 7, 2022
A great albeit straightforward account of the life and times of Arthur Russell. It paints a vivid and loving picture of him as an uncompromising, visionary artist. What left me a bit cold in the end was the premise of the title, and the framing of his life as an attempt on 'making it' or getting outside recognition for his work. I would like to believe that his buddhist outlook on life and indeed his uncompromised way of working suggests that the promise of traditional success was not a driving force for him, as much as getting to the core of pure expression was. I think this viewpoint hinders the understanding of his art, which feels at it's best like a window to his consciousness, or more accurately, a universal consciousness.
November 15, 2024
(3.5)
academics shouldn't be allowed to write about anything, least of all a bygone downtown music scene. this was alright but a little dry. should've been a friend or fellow member of the scene writing this up, someone who'd bring a little more heart and soul to it. appreciate knowing more about arthur though for sure. hope you got reincarnated as a killer whale arthur.
academics shouldn't be allowed to write about anything, least of all a bygone downtown music scene. this was alright but a little dry. should've been a friend or fellow member of the scene writing this up, someone who'd bring a little more heart and soul to it. appreciate knowing more about arthur though for sure. hope you got reincarnated as a killer whale arthur.
July 7, 2020
We're so lucky to have this deep record of Arthur's life to accompany the music. Listen to all available songs, then read this book and you will have a new best friend in Arthur Russell. You're gonna weep.
July 27, 2024
I did cry!
A really good chronicling of Arthur's life. This biography really put into perspective the impact he had on the world around him, and it's bitter sweet how he is getting more attention now than ever.
A really good chronicling of Arthur's life. This biography really put into perspective the impact he had on the world around him, and it's bitter sweet how he is getting more attention now than ever.
February 26, 2025
10/5 — if you want my review of this book, let's meet up for a drink. Special thanks to my friends, family and boyfriend for listening to my babbling while reading this book. That experience would have only been comparable to completing a rigorous olympic event of patience and endurance.
December 28, 2020
An impeccably well-researched and written biography of an idiosyncratic and brilliant musical mind.
March 11, 2021
Hold on to Your Dreams is not only a loving tribute to one of my favorite musicians of all time but also a diligently researched book about different subcultures of New York in the 197os and 8os.
Read
January 15, 2023look, it’s too easy to like arthur russell now. if i was around back then, i probably wouldnt have liked him either. 💁🏼♀️
February 10, 2024
i learned a lot about his life. but the biggest takeaway is that he was a huge hater. i love it. his heart was pure af but it didn’t stop him from being the #1 hater. i love him for that.
August 20, 2018
A brilliant biography and a fascinating portrait of 70s & 80s gay & underground NY
April 6, 2022
The long-awaited final book in the "reading all the shit I bought from Piccadilly Records last year" series, and it was a doozy!
A "doozy" here means it was long and it was slow to get through but it was also really, really good. Quite how Tim Lawrence made what was effectively a long list of names, dates, venues and songs so vivid and engaging is beyond me. Another push towards Arthur Russell, too (a journey started for me by MRC yeeeaaaars ago - hi Martha!)
Also - queer icon!!!
A "doozy" here means it was long and it was slow to get through but it was also really, really good. Quite how Tim Lawrence made what was effectively a long list of names, dates, venues and songs so vivid and engaging is beyond me. Another push towards Arthur Russell, too (a journey started for me by MRC yeeeaaaars ago - hi Martha!)
Also - queer icon!!!
January 10, 2011
The bio facts in/of themselves are awesomely curious: Born under a full moon, a first-day Gemini (as cuspy as they get). Buddhist from Iowa. Minimalist cello-player/disco-dancer/pop-lover/folky. Escaped hippie San Francisco for whatever Capital-D downtown NYC was evolving into. That his music is one of late 20th century America's most unique and under-utilized pleasures for me, was the primary reason I decided to read this book. (That, and the supreme confidence in author Tim Lawrence.) And all this was handled with panache.
But here's the thing, Arthur's story is not just his, it's New York's at a particular time and headspace; a story of how art is not made by linear genius, but by a collective consciousness that feeds upon the contributions of many. (Eno's dubbed the idea, Scenius!) In his search to capture the moment, and then neurotically choose which moment to spotlight (or, often, an inability to do so), Arthur unconsciously proved the impossibility of perfection. Such choices create the narratives of lives - not making them, created multiple threads and a harder lives.
It's a 20th century tale, with many beautiful sounds, an incredibly diverse cast, and a central tenet that pursuing the sublime in the fleeting can be heart-breaking even when the results are transcendent.
But here's the thing, Arthur's story is not just his, it's New York's at a particular time and headspace; a story of how art is not made by linear genius, but by a collective consciousness that feeds upon the contributions of many. (Eno's dubbed the idea, Scenius!) In his search to capture the moment, and then neurotically choose which moment to spotlight (or, often, an inability to do so), Arthur unconsciously proved the impossibility of perfection. Such choices create the narratives of lives - not making them, created multiple threads and a harder lives.
It's a 20th century tale, with many beautiful sounds, an incredibly diverse cast, and a central tenet that pursuing the sublime in the fleeting can be heart-breaking even when the results are transcendent.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 3, 2015
When I read "most important but least known" about someone, my gut reaction is "why?" All too often, it's because they weren't the most important, hence the least known. In the case of Russell, that seems to be true.
Russell (according to this book) was always on the verge of The Big Break: almost had a contract with Columbia, almost became the fourth Talking Head, almost... almost... The reason always appears to be that he was good, but not quite what was wanted, or a little too not-quite-a-good-fit for the others. Hence the "least known" part.
As for "most important", it depends on your definition, I suppose. If you count as important those who know a lot of people, can drop a lot of names, and Were There When, Russell qualifies. Did he ultimately have a huge influence on the careers of the others whose lives he touched? That's debatable.
Tim Lawrence has certainly done his research, but at times I felt he was dropping names to impress upon the reader exactly How Important Russell Was (which, if it were true, wouldn't then lead to pages of non-Russell material). It's also a bad sign when people are introduced and reintroduced in each chapter, almost as though the author assumes we won't be able to keep track of, or care about, them from before.
Russell (according to this book) was always on the verge of The Big Break: almost had a contract with Columbia, almost became the fourth Talking Head, almost... almost... The reason always appears to be that he was good, but not quite what was wanted, or a little too not-quite-a-good-fit for the others. Hence the "least known" part.
As for "most important", it depends on your definition, I suppose. If you count as important those who know a lot of people, can drop a lot of names, and Were There When, Russell qualifies. Did he ultimately have a huge influence on the careers of the others whose lives he touched? That's debatable.
Tim Lawrence has certainly done his research, but at times I felt he was dropping names to impress upon the reader exactly How Important Russell Was (which, if it were true, wouldn't then lead to pages of non-Russell material). It's also a bad sign when people are introduced and reintroduced in each chapter, almost as though the author assumes we won't be able to keep track of, or care about, them from before.
February 10, 2010
Library Journal Review:
Lawrence (music culture: theory & production, Univ. of East London; Love Saves the Day: A History of American Dance Music Culture, 1970-1979) brings to life this advocate of avant-garde pop music, one of the forgotten innovators of the New York dance scene. Arthur Russell's journey from Oskaloosa, IA, to New York reveals the musical, mystical, and artistic influences that formulated his pioneering sound. Allen Ginsberg, Philip Glass, and David Byrne are a few of the notable artists with whom Russell collaborated. He died at 40, but his prolific body of work is awaiting discovery by a new generation of fans--the 2004 release of two of his albums along with the 2008 documentary Wild Combination have revived interest. VERDICT Lawrence's writing style mirrors Russell's musical approach, fusing divergent disciplines and catering to different audiences in a single work. Serious scholars and academics will be pleased with the depth of research, and fans will enjoy the illustrations and anecdotes of Russell's life.
Lawrence (music culture: theory & production, Univ. of East London; Love Saves the Day: A History of American Dance Music Culture, 1970-1979) brings to life this advocate of avant-garde pop music, one of the forgotten innovators of the New York dance scene. Arthur Russell's journey from Oskaloosa, IA, to New York reveals the musical, mystical, and artistic influences that formulated his pioneering sound. Allen Ginsberg, Philip Glass, and David Byrne are a few of the notable artists with whom Russell collaborated. He died at 40, but his prolific body of work is awaiting discovery by a new generation of fans--the 2004 release of two of his albums along with the 2008 documentary Wild Combination have revived interest. VERDICT Lawrence's writing style mirrors Russell's musical approach, fusing divergent disciplines and catering to different audiences in a single work. Serious scholars and academics will be pleased with the depth of research, and fans will enjoy the illustrations and anecdotes of Russell's life.
November 6, 2015
Seriously best biography I've ever read. Tim Lawrence provides so many great contextual details, especially through interviews - no detail is too small for the author to include. At first I found some of the editorial comments about what Arthur Russell might have been thinking or feeling a little annoying or over-analyzed, but eventually I found the meticulously researched book that delves into a musician's passion as well as linking it to the broader music scene and the political and cultural context was really irresistible as well as inspiring and makes me feel like I found a missing puzzle piece. I really couldn't put this book down, which is very different from most biographies I've found. Although there is no climax I felt totally fulfilled.
February 10, 2014
To write a biography of Arthur Russell is no small feat. Although incredibly productive during his life, Arthur Russell never reached the commercial success he expected and instead faded into obscurity. He navigated so many musical genres and scenes that even his contemporaries often didn't appreciate the diversity of his talent, and Lawrence neglects none of Russell's directions or projects. This is an incredibly in depth biography, both personally and musically. Highly recommended reading for anyone interested in the history of dance music, modern composition, or New York in the late 70's and early 90's.
September 21, 2010
I love music biographies, good ones and rotten ones alike. (Mediocre ones I can do without.) Tim Lawrence's loving overview of this underrated genius is definitely in the former category. Arthur had a very mercurial aesthetic and unconventional life, and Tim does an excellent job of capturing it via an impressive number of detailed interviews. Highly recommended - but be careful, if you're not already a big Arthur Russell fan, you'll vanish down the rabbit hole of his discography quickly after reading this!
October 27, 2009
Exactly what I was hoping it would be -- a comprehensive account of Arthur Russell's life -- and much more: a great deal of the book involved describing the downtown music scene, and I learned more about Phillip Glass, Steve Reich, Terry Riley, and La Monte Young than I expected to. Really fantastic work.
June 11, 2010
This book has been on my nightstand for a while, and a cross-country plane trip finally afforded me the solid time to finish it. The more I learn about and hear Arthur Russell the more in love I am with him and his music. I'm also a big fan of Tim Lawrence's writing and his style and his comprehensiveness. Great photos, beautiful design, fantastic book!
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