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Ian Hunter: Reflections of a rock star

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ian hunter put out this book which is essentially same as "diary of a rock 'n' roll star", one was a regular size paperback and the other an oversize paperback-the oversize one had more/better photos, the text was the same-i agree w/ rvw of the other book on this site-see that for details

Although Ian Hunter was never a really big star, rising to fame in England with Mott the Hoople, he did run with some of the biggest names of the time. Bowie, Keith Moon, Frank Zappa, John Sebastian.

His diary chronicles his tour of America and some of the amusing events that Rock Stars always manage to fit in between shows and traveling. Being a relative unknown in the US to all but his fans, Hunter has commentary on life in the US and his very English outlook on the way he(and his wife) were treated, in the press and by people they met. A good read.

(From the back cover)

In these eye-opening pages you'll meet the groupies, the muscle-men, the hangers-on and the fans. You'll find out how the music business really works: how an album is made and a tour comes together. You'll also meet the behind-the-scenes businessmen, the managers and the promoters, as well as the stars who are Ian's personal friends - glamrock superstar David Bowie, demon drummer Keith Moon, the inscrutable Frank Zappa, and many more.

The author takes us further still: crowd hysteria turns nasty... the grinding exhaustion of traveling between gigs... personal anecdotes - like how he trespassed behind the guarded walls of Elvis's home... his passion for pawn shops and rare guitars... the hassle of keeping constantly slim (well, who wants a pot-bellied superstar?).

I had an original copy of this book years ago. Many, MANY years ago, and at some point, it got lost in a move. It was well read, and kept safely between my copy of "The Bach Reader" and Edward Jablonski's "Gerswhin". I love all kinds of music, (as long as it's good), as well as the people who make it. In an age of overblown biographies, (made from overblown egos), this book is short, sweet, and has a charm of it's own. It was written a we bit earlier than when I began going to shows..... just a wee bit, (it was written at the end of 1972.... I went to my first real rock concert a few years later in 1977). Ahhhhh, but all that 70s music.... I still love it, and this book really evokes a time. In fact, it is an interesting read from the point of just how much things have changed, not musically, but in general. The description of airlines, (many now defunct) and airports is but a foggy memory.... oh how the times have changed. And despite it being written by a rock and roll artist, there is an innocence..... sure, there were parties and such, but there is a certain non-jadedness to it, and spontaneity... about everything that makes it a very entertaining read. Sometimes he shares a bit too much, (how all the travel wreaks havoc on one's bowels, and how his wife "takes the smell like a trooper".... uhm, ahem. Okay, yes, that is probably very true, but did your wife REALLY want that in the book? Perhaps not, but that said, the two of them are still married, this many years later, and for that matter, Ian Hunter is still rocking. If you ever should look up his website, check out The Horse's Mouth, where fans, or anyone with a question, can sent it to the man himself, (yes, he does read them.... all of them), and look for your name with the answer when it is posted once or twice a month. His answers are written very much in the same vein as the book, which makes for very entertaining reading, and you get the real impression that Ian Hunter is the genuine article. It's a might long way since the day when this book was written, but it is still relevant and quite a little gem. Now that I have it in my hands again, it is never leaving me, and is once again sitting next to "The Bach Reader" (Another musician with lots of long curls and attitude.... oh yes, and talent).