Tell the Truth Until They Bleed: Coming Clean in the Dirty World of Blues and Rock 'n' Roll [Paperback]

Josh Alan Friedman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2008

A wild insider's ride with one of music's most notorious journalists. Here are 15 music profiles, guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat. Leiber & Stoller, the white fathers of R&B and rock and roll, who possess what is perhaps the last great untold story of the music biz. They created the American songbook of the '50s and '60s, led by Elvis, the Coasters, and the Drifters. Doc Pomus, the only white blues singer in America making records in the 1940s. Half of the hit songwriting team of Pomus-Shuman during the Brill Building era, Doc had the biggest heart in the music business. A sad, comic-tragic romance with the Ronettes' Ronnie Spector, dubbed an "oldie" once she left her teens.

Product Details

• Paperback: 262 pages
• Publisher: Hal Leonard Corp (March 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0879309326
• ISBN-13: 978-0879309329
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #144,058 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

In 1987, writer-guitarist Josh Alan Friedman sold his soul to the devil at the crossroads (the Crossroads of the World--Broadway & 42nd Street) and moved to Texas. He'd just written TALES OF TIMES SQUARE (Feral House), a cult classic. An Expanded Edition with new chapters was recently released, while the still-unfinished movie of TALES has played 35 film festivals.

Josh's latest book is BLACK CRACKER (Wyatt Doyle Books), the story of his tumultuous childhood as the only white boy at Long Island's last segregated school.

In 2008, Josh released TELL THE TRUTH UNTIL THEY BLEED: COMING CLEAN IN THE DIRTY WORLD OF BLUES AND ROCK 'N' ROLL (Backbeat Books). Before that: WHEN SEX WAS DIRTY (Feral House); I, GOLDSTEIN: MY SCREWED LIFE (with Al Goldstein); and NOW DIG THIS: THE UNSPEAKABLE WRITINGS OF TERRY SOUTHERN (co-editor).

Josh also set off satirical fires and lawsuits as writer-half of the Friedman Bros, the most feared cartooning duo of the late '70s and '80s. Two anthologies remain in print, featuring the art of Josh's brother, Drew Friedman: WARTS AND ALL (Fantagraphics), and ANY SIMILARITY TO PERSONS LIVING OR DEAD IS PURELY COINCIDENTAL (Fantagraphics).

On the music front, as "Josh Alan," he barnstormed the state of Texas for 20 years, rocking whole arenas with his Guild D-40. Copping three Dallas Observer Music Awards for Best Acoustic Act, he released four albums: FAMOUS & POOR, THE WORST!, BLACKS 'N' JEWS (the title of which became a documentary on Josh's life) and JOSH ALAN BAND.

Josh shares new work and selections from his archives - articles, photos, music and video - on his website, www.BlackCrackerOnline.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Well written story of 60' Rock & Roll business, June 9, 2008

By 

Vilis Stomers "vasto" (West Virginia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Tell the Truth Until They Bleed: Coming Clean in the Dirty World of Blues and Rock 'n' Roll (Paperback)

I learned of this book when listening to an interview with the author on the late night AM radio "Joey Reynolds Show" from WOR 710. As someone who came of age in the 60's and enjoyed a modicum of success in the music business, I found most of the book fascinating. The last few chapters cover more obscure artists which held little interest for me. Even though there is no reference to the cover, I assume it's a photo of Frankie Lymon. The title and cover picture gives no indication of the book's contents and I would have passed it by if I saw it in a bookstore. Overall, it's an interesting read and I recommend it to readers who are interested in learning about how the music business operated some 40 years ago. I'm glad I bought the book!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Neither a hagiograhy nor hatchet job, September 28, 2010

By 

George C. (Ketchum, ID USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tell the Truth Until They Bleed: Coming Clean in the Dirty World of Blues and Rock 'n' Roll (Paperback)

Ignore Spike's typo-riddled review below - this is beautiful piece of reportage that lives up to its title. An unvarnished look at the music business back when it was peopled by talents, not self-deluded "superstars" completely indebted to their auto-tuners... It probably goes without saying that it had an equal number of hustlers and thieves (sometimes in the body of one person). Recommended.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars NOT FOR FRAIDY CAT MUSIC FANS.. THIS IS SERIOUS DIRT!!!, July 8, 2010

By 

MIKE EDISON - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tell the Truth Until They Bleed: Coming Clean in the Dirty World of Blues and Rock 'n' Roll (Paperback)

Josh ALan Friedman is best known for plumbing the depths of NY city sleaze culture with Tales of Times Square (also recommended) but here he digs into a dark subculture of blues, R&B and roots rock with equal glee. THe Lieber and Stoller story is worth the price alone -- you dont know these guys like he does -- and then it is down the rabit hole with robbers and junkies and fallen bluesmen, Jewish record hustlers and black men riding the keen edge between high-art and urban casualty. The portraits in this book are flawless. And the writing stinks of the very thing it promises to cover -- the dirty world of blues and rocknroll. If you are a fan of the above, you need this book. HIGHLY recommended.