Gallagher, Marriott, Derringer, Trower: Their Lives and Music [Paperback]

Dan Muise (Author), Rick Derringer (Author), Robin Trower (Author), Rory Gallagher (Author), Steve Marriott (Author)

Book Description

Series: Rock Chronicles | Publication Date: April 1, 2002

Rory Gallagher, Steve Marriott, Rick Derringer and Robin Trower are guitar legends. The glue behind legendary barn-busting, hard-touring outfits like Taste, The Small Faces, Procol Harum and Humble Pie, and later realizing their full potentials as solo artists, this is the first biography - group or otherwise - of four players whose dedication to music and screaming virtuosity has been inspirational to a generation of fans and admirers. Gallagher, Marriott, Derringer & Trower is a candid look at the lives of four men who combined have sold more than 60,000,000 albums. Each has a unique musical story to tell, from roots in American rhythm and blues and rock 'n' roll to the joys and perils of life on the road, as well as the pitfalls of fame and the music business. What makes their stories unique is their intense dedication to their art and the fact that the careers of these trailblazing guitarists have never been thoroughly covered in print. This is not a linear, album-by-album study. Rather, it is an in-depth conversation with the artists themselves and those closest to them, including band members, management, record executives, road managers, crew, producers, studio engineers, family and friends: fully authorized, revealing and straight from the source. Features fantastic photographs throughout, many never before seen. Dan Muise has spent his entire 25-year career in the music business covering radio, band management, production and record company promotion. He lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Hal Leonard; 1 edition (April 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0634029568
• ISBN-13: 978-0634029561
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #700,264 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An interesting romp and a good read, October 17, 2004

By 

Up The Stairs (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Gallagher, Marriott, Derringer, Trower: Their Lives and Music (Paperback)

Having listened to all of these musicians at one time or another throughout my life, I found this book fun, entertaining, and interesting. Using interviews with actual players on the scene, Muise gives some good insight into each of the musicians. The only real problems I had with the book were a lack of pictures, as well as missing dialogue from Marriott and Gallaher, both of whom were dead at the time of writing. While Muise did include some dialogue from Gallagher and just a tiny bit from Marriot, I felt as though he could have dug up some other interiews and included some other material to beef it up and round out the portraits.

Steve Marriot was one of the greatest of all singer/guitarists to emerge out of the sixties, and he was sorely overlooked by the media during his tenure. Had he been given more deserved attention I can only wonder what he might have become. While Peter Frampton was truly a key ingredient of Humble Pie, it was Marriot who made that band sizzle. I would say, however, that the band was never as good after Frampton left. I would have really liked to have read what Marriot would have had to say about that, and that is what was really missing from the book. We never really get to find out what how Frampton's departure impacted Steve Marriot; we only learned that through the eyes of others, whose perception may or may not have been accurate.

Of all of the musicians featured, I was very disappointed in the attitude of Rick Derringer. He seems to think that he was denied super star status. I listened to all of the major players of the day, and most of the minor ones, and Derringer was easily a minor leaguer, and he ought to be grateful for the fame he achieved. He really came off as a whiner. I really liked much of what he did in the 60s and 70s, but I don't think he was ever a big leaguer; and it should be remembered that there is a reason why there was a top tier of guitarists and singers. For example, he never, ever reached the singing ability of Steve Marriot or the guitarmanship of Rory Gallagher or Robin Trower.

Robin Trower's career, as depicted in Muise's book, was really disappointing. He seems to have mishandled it at every step. Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects was the rationalization of one of his manager, Derek Sutton. Talk about a self absorbed, self serving idiot. It's no wonder musicians get screwed by managers. Reading about Sutton truly made me want to read a good book about rock managers. What a dolt. And the treatment of Jimmy Dewar was just incredible. This was all very interesting. Trower seems to be surrounded by some kind of emotional protective shield, because if I had his behavior, I'd be ashamed.

I really liked this book, and I'd recommend it to anyone with any familiarity of these musicians. I will warn you, however, that reading it will send you to the used record store trying to dig up some of the gems about which they discuss.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Read this book!, May 29, 2002

By 

John Ganjamie (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gallagher, Marriott, Derringer, Trower: Their Lives and Music (Paperback)

My primary reason for buying this book was my interest in Rory Gallagher. I run a webpage about Rory that includes over 150 articles about Rory. ...

Dan has done an outstanding job of pulling it all together and brings us up close & personal with Rory through the eyes of many of the people closest to him through his life & career.

Dan went to great lengths to follow up on quotes from one person with verification from other people.This section will stir your emotions with a great look at the happpiness and sadness in Rory's life and career and his untimely passing in 1995.

Most striking about the other sections is the common thread of musicians being taken to the cleaners by managers or short changed by record companies.Some excellent insight into the live of 3 other performers I knew far less about.

An easy,interesting read done in an interview style....HIGHLY recommended!!

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Read!, September 18, 2002

By 

db (Salem, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gallagher, Marriott, Derringer, Trower: Their Lives and Music (Paperback)

The Gallagher story alone was worth the price of admission. After that I still couldn't put it down. If you are a fan of only one of these great rockers buy this book. You'll love the whole thing. I was a longtime fan of three of them. Then found myself collecting Humble Pie discs!!! Now it's four. Dan Muise did a fantastic job! He let's people speak for themselves. The result is a portrait collection of some of rock and roll's most interesting, influential and unsung heros. It's just a great piece of business. - db