Customer Reviews

CADILLAC'S COMIN'

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I don't know much about the music industry, but I grew up in the '50s and '60s. This book captures the essence of being a teenager and young adult in middle-class America during those decades. It effectively illustrates the cultural tension between the structured values inherited from our depression era families and the exciting opportunities offered by relative prosperity, mobility and mass communications. It conveys this message while being most entertaining with all the essential elements: pace, color, sex, surprises and gut-level rock and roll.

CADILLAC'S COMIN' is Mike Dennis' love letter to rock'n'roll, that's what it is.
Memphis, 1958, and rockabilly piano stomper Ike Thacker is on the verge of the big-time. A sort of cross between Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis and Gene Vincent, Ike has just released his hit single "Cadillac's Comin'" and the world is opening up to him. Until a horrible and tragic accident derails everything...
The story picks up in the eighties, with a wanna-be musician whose life spirals out of control when he gets involved with the wrong people and finds himself immersed in the world of the Dixie Mafia. Ike Thacker, now an old, largely forgotten has-been, appears in a peripheral role.
I found the second part of CADILLAC'S COMIN' just a little bit weaker than the first, even though the actual crime story happens there--I just got so wrapped up in Ike's career, and the wonderful atmosphere Dennis created. It felt very historically accurate, with appearances by real-life characters like Sam Phillips and Gene Vincent. Still, Dennis does a great job of weaving the two stories together so that by the end everything comes together nicely. I'd recommend this one, especially if, like me, you have a soft spot for roots music.

I really liked this book. I love the blues and stories of the blues trail etc., so this was a great read for me. A little hard to follow at times but if you hang in there you'll enjoy it. I don't pay much for my Kindle books so I give them a few chapters and if I can't get into it I just move on.

I hope you enjoy it too.

Cadillac's Comin' by Mike Dennis follows the life and career of a young, enthusiastic musician on his ominous path to stardom during the turbulent 1950's. Will his passionate free spirit withstand the all-consuming power of the industry giants or will he spiral out of control? Intriguing characters emerge and an unexpected twist is introduced midway through the book. It is a fast and lively read with an inside look at the music industry as an added bonus.

Just finished Cadillac's Comin' and it made me feel the pain and the joy of making music in the South in the 50's and the 80's. I really believed in Ike Thacker...