Take a Walk on the Dark Side: Rock and Roll Myths, Legends, and Curses (Paperback)

by R. Gary Patterson (Author) "WHISPERS FROM THE CROWD followed him throughout every roadhouse in Mississippi..." (more)
Key Phrases: backward mask, backward track, occult references, Robert Johnson, Led Zeppelin, Buddy Holly (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
This enjoyably lurid slice of rock history extensively updates and expands the author's earlier Hellhounds on Their Trail: Tales from the Rock N Roll Graveyard. His book focuses on the "bizarre and unexplainable," anything smacking of death and often the satanic. Starting with the legend that bluesman Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil in exchange for his remarkable musicianship, Patterson details similar rumors about Led Zeppelin and its leader Jimmy Page's fascination with occult guru Aleister Crowley; the Rolling Stones' flirtation with witchcraft enthusiast and filmmaker Kenneth Anger; and the so-called satanic "back-masking" found on many recordings when played backwards. Much of this has been reported in various rock biographies, but Patterson's book is a complete recounting of details related to each event, such as Elvis Presley and Robert Johnson dying on the same day in the same month, 39 years apart. Patterson also expands on the "curse" of bad luck following anyone associated with Buddy Holly after his death in a plane crash and the similar string of tragic events suffered by the Allman Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd. At one point, he posits that the lyrics in Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon seem to perfectly match the action in the first part of The Wizard of Oz.
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Product Description

Take a Walk on the Dark Side is the ultimate book for today's rock and roll fan: a fascinating compendium of facts, fictions, prophecies, premonitions, coincidences, hoaxes, doomsday scenarios, and other urban legends about some of the world's most beloved and mysterious pop icons.

Updating, revising, and expanding on material from his cult classic Hellhounds on Their Trail, Patterson offers up a delectable feast of strange and occasionally frightening rock and roll tales, featuring the ironies associated with the tragic deaths of many rock icons, unsolved murders, and other tales from the "fell clutch of circumstance."

Beginning with the fateful place where it all started -- a deserted country crossroads just outside Clarksdale, Mississippi, where Robert Johnson made his deal with the devil -- through the Buddy Holly curse (rock and roll's first great tragedy) and beyond, this incredible volume uncovers some of rock and roll's most celebrated murders, twists of fate, and decades-long streaks of bad luck that defy rational explanation. Inside you'll find:

Facts about Jimmy Page and the Zeppelin Curse.

Chilling quirks of fate in the fatalities in the Allman Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Facts about Jimmy Page and the Zeppelin curse

Chilling quirks of fate surrounding the deaths of musicians in the Allman Brothers Band and Lynyrd Skynyrd

A provocative look at "The Club," membership in which requires an untimely death at age twenty-seven and whose inductees include Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix, and Janis Joplin

Cryptic messages in song lyrics that have proved eerily prophetic

Carefully researched, wildly enjoyable, and often harrowing, Take a Walk on the Dark Side takes the reader on a mysterious ride through rock and roll history.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Fireside (July 6, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743244230
• ISBN-13: 978-0743244237
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #188,441 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating and well-researched, August 1, 2004

By	Shirley Pena (Central California, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

After listening to author Patterson on Coast To Coast A.M.,
I was sufficiently intrigued to get this book. And I am SO GLAD that I did!

This book is really a standout from other Rock bios I'd previously read, primarily due to the SUPERB investigative skills of Patterson! He literally leaves no stone unturned
in uncovering intriguing and often frightening "connections" in the deaths of noted Rock icons-connections that defy simple explanation or coincidence.

Patterson combines fascinating and well researched information with his uncanny abilities as a "born storyteller". Unlike so many other books of this genre, I found myself enthralled by his literary style:warm, engaging and GENUINELY affecting. His sincere love of the music(and respect for the artists who create it)comes shining through in each paragraph!

BE WARNED:once you pick this book up, you WON'T want to put it down til it's over! It's like a TERRIFIC mystery novel, but-as the saying goes-truth REALLY IS stranger than fiction!

17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A bit of a stretch ... but interesting all the same., September 10, 2004

By	BDH (Massachusetts USA) - See all my reviews

R. Gary Patterson's book, "Take A Walk On The Dark Side - Rock And Roll Myths, Legends, And Curses", interested me enough just from viewing the title. I've always been interested in myths, legends, and the occult anyway.

Getting into it, I found that much of the content was quite far-fetched, a real stretch of the imagination to say the least. Nevertheless, it was entertaining all the same.

It didn't take long for me to notice the book's problems. The professionalism commonly displayed by reputable publishers was lacking profusely. It appeared throughout that they didn't bother taking the time to edit, for errors in the text were plentiful. Inaccuracies don't always bother me, though, as grammatical mistakes are often imperceptible within a good read. However, the style of the book was annoying in places. The author often repeated information as if it were never written before. In other words, instead of throwing in something like: `as I had mentioned earlier', or, `referring back to', the author merely reiterated throughout.

I did find the subject matter on the Buddy Holly curse, Robert Johnson, The Allman Brothers Band, Aleister Crowley, and Jimmy Page and Led Zeppelin to be quite interesting, even though I knew most of it already. You'd have to have recently climbed out from beneath a rock and heard your first rock and roll song to find these stories unfamiliar. However, the information on numerology, especially that of John Lennon and the number 9, is fascinating. But most of the crazy legends and curses can be taken with a grain of salt, because the author often gives the impression he had way too much time on his hands. The endless section on Jim Morrison could be abbreviated, as it seems the whole concept of the book is forgotten and overshadowed by what turns into a Morrison biography.

I often thought the author attempted to convince the reader of the legitimacy, or even the existence, of much of the content, even though the opposite was implied. But when telling the tale of the phallic symbol found on early covers (keep in mind I'm talking about the VHS *cover* here, not the actual film) of Disney's `The Little Mermaid', he denounced the finding as untrue, a figment of imagination. I've seen a few old VHS covers of 'The Little Mermaid', and I know he's wrong; the symbol is there in plain sight (not on newer covers of the same). It's kind of ironic that after so much hyperbole he then criticizes something that's actually true. (In fact, in Snope's website, the cover's phallic symbol is there for anyone to view.) Though this isn't much, and it has nothing to do with the book's musical content, the moral of the story is that one shouldn't believe in a myth, legend, or curse, until one knows for a fact it's true. The rest makes for fine fiction. This book is proof of that.

All things considered, I love reading about rock and roll and its hype. Consider the content to be all in good fun, because that's what it is.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Good Concept, weak material, poor writing, too much imagination, January 16, 2007

By	K. Isabelle "kdisabelle" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I did not purchase this book on Amazon, but at the local bookstore and just by reading the cover notes. So I did not read any reviews before buying. I wish I did though. The book really is not that deep at all, the writer sticks to some main bands and almost everything written requires a huge stretch of imagination - and I am not really into that.

Lots of factual problems and poor writing.

Bottom line is the book contains - 33% Fact, 33% Rumor, and 33% complete rubbish made up by the author. The remaining 1% is the paper the book is printed on (for the mathmaticians out there)

Couple of examples below.

I'm a big fan of Cheap Trick and they are mentioned in the book as being an Ohio band (Wow!). If such a simple fact is missed, how can I NOT think most everything else I am reading is garbage? I think most people know Cheap Trick are from the Chicago area (Rockford to be exact). And if anyone did not know that fact it is pretty damn easy to find out as they flaunt it everywhere and the information can be found on practically any article or written piece on the band (their latest CD is even called "Rockford" - but after the book was written, however it still shows that Cheap Trick is ROCKFORD!). Also the writer mentions a rumor that Cheap Trick got their name from a ouji board - There are many possible stories behind how they got their name, but never heard that one and not sure any fan of the band has either. Trick is probably the farthest band away from occult type activities and given the author's scope in the book it seems so illogical to even slip that one in there. It is so out of place given the bands he is writing about in that section.

The Janice Joplin story said the band was worried that Janice did not show up to recording sessions the next morning so went to her hotel room to check on her. However, in the next sentence she was pronounced dead at 1:40am. Wow, the next morning starts early for those guys! I don't believe it, I can't believe that Janice Joplin had a scheduled recording session to start between 12:01am and the time she was pronounced dead at 1:40am. A lot needs to fit into that window of time.

There are countless other examples. Cool concept, but just not put together well at all. 2 dimly lit stars.