Customer Reviews

Black Monk Time

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Incredible. Everything you've ever wanted from a band that time forgot, but never get. Really well written, with the ring of truth and a great sense of humor. Some great cold war stuff too. Maybe this is what Johnny Rotten was refering to when he talked about going under the Berlin Wall. Such a strange, interesting story, that now I've read the book, listened to the CDs over and over, even saw one of the guys walking around NYC with a baseball cap on and still have a hard time believing all this really happened. But right there in the book is a photo of a tonsured Dave Day comparing notes with a spit-curled Bill Haley; and there's even a German poster advertising, in clockwise order, an album from The Who, Hums of The Loving Spoonful, Fresh Cream, and lo and behold, black monk time.

Unromantic, exhausting, frightening, unrelenting, damn funny and the whole thing rings true...just like The Monks music. Wanna know what rock'n'roll in the 60s was really like? Read this. Eddie Shaw's writes this book as if he were telling you the story of his life with The Monks while sitting with you at a bar over the course of a beer soaked evening (which is how this story should be told!). His intimate and engaging style rivets you from one moment to the next and makes you feel as though he's telling you secrets he's never told anybody.

On top of everything else, the love story between Eddie and his wife is nothing short of inspiring and beautiful.

The Monks are the greatest American rock'n'roll that unfortunately never got to play in America. Thankfully, this book is here to keep the legacy alive.

It's Monk Time!

Eddie Shaw's book, BLACK MONK TIME, is an in-depth look at the mutation of a standard 60s rock n roll group into the first punk band. As bassist for the Monks, he is able to give readers an inside look at the dynamics of a working rock n roll group. His prose really starts to catch fire, appropriately enough, when the band begins to undergo radical changes; both musically and satorially. Fans of the Velvet Underground to the Sex Pistols should give both the book and the Monks sole album (entitled BLACK MONK TIME also) a whirl.

After reading this book and listening to the CD of the same name, readers/listeners will say "The Velvet who?" This is rock and roll at its strangest, most twisted and rebellious. Mr. Shaw's story borders on the fantastic, but it really happened! Five GIs shaving their heads and dressing in black and pumping out punk music a decade before the Sex Pistols, the Clash et al. Who woulda thunk it? This is truly an essential addition to any rock musicologists library.

After reading Eddie Shaw's "Black Monk Time' and listening to the Polydor releases of the Monks music, I am amazed that I have not heard of this band and its works until 2010. I'm 56 years old and I feel I have made a great discovery. This is an important part of the Mersey Beat scene that I had never encountered before. I loved the glimpses of Bill Haley & the comets, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Manfred Mann, Tony Sheridan, the Troggs and the Kinks. The Monks imaginative uses of distortion, feedback and chord changes probably influence the pioneering Hendrix and their music anticipated the Punk Rock explosion by at least one decade. This is also a fun read for any American who had ever been stationed in Germany as a soldier.

Mr. Shaw's book gives an excellent insight. Looking forward to more of his books. Looking forward to also seeing his books on the big screen