Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The most honest rock'n'roll book ever written?, September 6, 1998
By A Customer
"Diary" stands head-and-shoulders above every other rock music book for several reasons. It's not ghost-written, and you can tell -- the rhythms of speech will be familiar to fans of Ian Hunter and Mott the Hoople. It's remarkably free of false glamour -- it's full of cancelled shows, travel hassels, hangovers, digestion problems -- as well as the magic moments that make rock'n'roll worthwhile. It also doesn't seem to have been edited very much, which gives it a very loose, conversational feel -- you're sitting with Ian at the bar, both of you more than half drunk, and he's just telling you about the tour, y'know? And advice to touring musicians that's still good today in the bargain. There's no ghost of political correctness informing the writing, though (the book was originally published in '74) and while i thought it was a blast, i suppose some people might be offended.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Reflections on "Reflections", October 18, 2007
When this Book was published in 1976 it was Titled: "Reflections of a Rock Star." It cost a Whopping $3.99 and was printed by Flash Books. I was offered $120.00 for my copy by a Bookseller in San Francicso in 1998 and I promptly turned him down.
This 104 Page Book, documents Mott The Hoople's, First Tour of America as Headliners. It begins in England, on Tuesday Nov 21 and runs through to Dec 24 on the Plane that returned the band back to the UK.
Out of Several hundred Books I have read on Rock N' Roll, this would easily be in my Top-Ten of the Best Books on this Subject. Ian writes an honest account of the Tour, the Good as well as the Bad. A night in LA with Keith Moon & Frank Zappa. Hitting the pawn Shops for Guitars. Ian's, famous attempt to see Elvis (by Sneaking past the gates, all the way to the back door) and being told that Elvis was too tired to entertain guests by his Maid.
The Gigs [Good & Bad) are discussed, as are Bad Hotels/Motels. Too many hours in Airports (Mick Ralphs, had a Horrible fear of Flying}. And rare insight on Mott and many other Bands of this: "The All The Young Dudes" Tour. This is a rare peek into Their World, from their point-of-View.
Lot's of great photos are contained herein, and it's a great read with fantastic visuals. If I had One Wish, it would be that this Book SHOULD be longer, or the First of Many Volumes by Ian Hunter.
This is one of the finest Books on Rock ever. I have no plans to sell my Copy....FIVE STARS !!!
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Read and enjoy, May 3, 2001
This isn't the usual tale of sex and drugs and rock `n' roll. Sex is singularly lacking and drugs aren't really Mott's cup of tea. What they are passionate about is rock and roll and it is this passion plus the integrity of Ian Hunter's thoughts and jottings on a 1972 US tour that make this such a good read. With Mott just about to make it big with `All The Young Dudes', this is a warm and amusing glimpse of a band on the road. Follow the fortunes of Ian Hunter's splitting velvet loons, his weight concerns, and the band's insatiable desire to seek out pawn shops in the quest for a vintage Gibson amp or Epiphone guitar. A fledging rock scene is sketched, hurriedly put together concerts, no soundchecks and a gallery of 1972 rock stars ... Roxy Music, David Bowie, Jethro Tull ... A snapshot of an era when the music did the talking. Read and enjoy.
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by Campbell Devine
~ Ian Hunter
~ Mott the Hoople
~ Mott the Hoople
~ Mott the Hoople
