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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Wetton fans will be left wanting more,
By A Customer
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: My own time: The authorized biography of John Wetton (Mass Market Paperback)
John Wetton has led a storied life as a progressive rock musician - his work with King Crimson is considered the high point of the band's career, and his subsequent work with UK, Asia, and his solo career has been strongly received - by fans if not always by critics. Kim Dancha's book attempts to give us a look into Wetton's life, but in the end, fans will be left wanting more. For starters, Dancha relies almost exclusively on three people for her quotes - Wetton, his then-wife Jill and musician Richard Palmer-James, Wetton's childhood friend. With Wetton's input, one would expect great insight; however, little is learned of him personally. Perhaps Wetton preferred to keep his life private; perhaps Dancha was afraid to ask. Whatever the reason, the lack of detail leaves us wondering, for example, what kind of relationship he had with his mother, which could have led to his writing the cathartic "Hold Me Now"? And what effect did his alcoholism (from which he is recovered) have on his music, his marriage, and his relationship with his bandmates? Dancha's book teases us with these topics, but doesn't follow through. The biggest disappointment, however, is the lack of input from Wetton's musical colleagues - aside from a few quotes from Palmer-James and Geoff Downes (and a quote from Bill Bruford's own autobiography), we hear from none of Wetton's former bandmates or contemporaries. How much richer this book could have been had the likes of Phil Manzanera, Carl Palmer, Robert Fripp, Steve Howe or Eddie Jobson thrown in their two cents worth. In the end, Dancha's book proves to be a good primer for those unfamiliar with Wetton's work; for those of us who consider ourselves "die hard" fans, however, we will be left wondering what might have been.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Wetton Biography Merely an Appetizer,
By Mark S. Jacobsohn "Relayer" (York, ME) - See all my reviews
This review is from: My own time: The authorized biography of John Wetton (Mass Market Paperback)
I became aware of John Wetton in the somewhat early stages of his career I guess you could say. I went to see Jethro Tull in 1979 and thought little at the time of the opening act, a band called U.K. Wow. I was totally mesmorized, and cannot recall anything about Tull that night, but I remembered everything about Wetton and U.K. I instantly became a devotee of the band, and later Asia, which at the time was the ultimate. For us Yes starved fans who also loved U.K. and ELP, it could not be better.
Having said that, I was greatly disappointed that Kim Dancha did not go into much detail about this period. The demise of U.K. must have been immensely disappointing to John, which may have affected the breakdown of Asia. However, we got no perspective. I would have loved to have heard more from the other U.K. bandmates, especially Eddie Jobson and Bill Bruford to elicit their memories and opinions. This book makes similar mistakes over and over. We learn of a genuine dislike between John and Steve Howe, but never really learn why. I remember in 1986 I was staying in a hotel that the band Krokus was at, and I ended up partying with them (strange night). This was right after Mandy Myer had fizzled out with Asia. I asked one of the band what happened, and he talked about John's struggle with the bottle. It took I think until the last twenty pages of the book before John's alchoholism even came up, and without much detail. I would have loved to have learned more about his struggles, and how that affected his music. I came away however liking and respecting this great musician even more. Listening to the prog channel on radio.aol.com makes me realize that all of the really good King Crimson music from the 70's had Wetton's prints. U.K. was amazing, even ground breaking, and then, well, Asia.... Wetton is truly one of the greats, but he deserves a better effort than this.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Nice Little Book,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: My own time: The authorized biography of John Wetton (Mass Market Paperback)
This is a book by a fan for the fans.
It gives a pretty good timeline of John's career. It is not so much a biography about John Wetton, the man. For instance, his childhood years only take up two pages of the book. And John Wetton is no Ozzy or Motley Crue, so don't expect anything like 'the Dirt' Having said all that, it gives you a pretty good idea of his musical career, I myself 'discovered' some 'new' albums on which John has worked. So if you like John Wetton (especially the Asia-years) I can recommened this book Note: it was written in 1997, so there is nothing in it about the Asia-reunion. I would have given it 3.5 stars but that is not an opion. And althought it is rare to find, don't pay to much for it !!
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