The Thrill of It All: The Story of Bryan Ferry & Roxy Music [Paperback]

David Buckley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2005

Roxy Music, one of the first and best art-rock bands of the 1970s, is chronicled in this account of decadent glam-rock excess.

Included are accounts of Ferry's affair with supermodel Jerry Hall and its public end when she left him for Mick Jagger, the band's various splits and regroupings, and the recent reunion in 2001 for a sold-out greatest hits tour.

Years of research and interviews with all the major participants, including Ferry himself, have resulted in a definitive history of a band that changed popular music forever.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The history of Ferry and the influential English glam rock group Roxy Music, like that of many innovative rock bands, is one of charismatic musical exploration fraught with problems: revolving-door musicians, financial arguments and futile attempts to break into the American market. (Roxy Music had only one major U.S. hit, 1975's "Love Is the Drug.") At the center of both the iconoclasm and conflict stands Ferry, the group's founder, lead singer, primary songwriter and image dictator. While Buckley (David Bowie) clearly loves the music and admires Ferry's creative skill, he also points out the musician's flaws: an inability to deal with direct confrontations, micromanaging recording sessions, and being less than generous with the press. This book isn't just for hard-core Ferry fans—Buckley explores the history of 1970s British rock using Roxy Music as a core, explaining how innovative original Roxy member Brian Eno's sound-altering experiments were; how Ferry chose to market the group like a product, rather than depend on concert touring; and how infatuated British youth became with Roxy's nouveau glam rock concept that image/style was just as important as the music. This is a thorough if unevenly presented history alternately page-turning, tedious and gossipy. Photos. (June)
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Review

"[Buckley] draws on his own interviews and an impressive amount of research to paint vivid portraits of the key players." —Chicago Sun-Times

"This is the best Ferry/Roxy read yet." —Library Journal

"Buckley succeeds in painting a remarkably sympathetic portrait of a decadent musician." —The New York Times Book Review

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Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Chicago Review Press; 1st North American Ed edition (March 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1556525745
• ISBN-13: 978-1556525742
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,379,784 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Assertive Views and Strong Research Make This Book Fun, September 5, 2005

By 

John F. Jebb (Newark, Delaware United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Thrill of It All: The Story of Bryan Ferry & Roxy Music (Paperback)

This in-depth, enjoyable book took me back to the college days when my roommate converted me to being a life-long Roxy Music fan.

No mere recorder of events, author Buckley is a man with attitudes, and his views give this fun narrative its spark. He offers a coherent thesis of Roxy front man Bryan Ferry as a talented and innovative artist who remains dissatisfied and melancholy despite his talent and success. Buckley offers other controversial views: that none of Ferry's solo work matches his work with Roxy, that Roxy inaugurated "the true beginning of rock-as-art," that Ferry's cover improves on Dylan's song "A Hard Rain's A Gonna Fall" (I disagree, but the debate is fun).

Buckley is also a master researcher. He appends an 11-page bibliography, which seems to include every press mention of Roxy and Ferry. Thus Buckley can reference in detail critical responses to the albums and tours. And Buckley willingly hands over big block quotations to some key figures, such as early Roxy guitarist David O'List and post-Eno keyboard man Eddie Jobson, who offer multiple and contrary versions of the carreer.

However, except for a 1999 interview (when Buckley was researching David Bowie), Buckley could not speak with Ferry. So he has to rely on Ferry's published interviews. And Buckley was unable to get many insights from Roxy mainstays Phil Manzanera and Andy MacKay. So while Buckley does a good job on the Eno-Roxy break-up, he cannot offer much insight on relationships among the bandsmen. What accounts for the striking long-term loyalty among Ferry, Mackay, and Manzanera, loyalty which survived the Eno crisis (Mackay had brought in Eno)? What accounts for drummer Paul Thompson's changing status with the band? Because these musicians are so reticent with writers, Buckley has to remain on the outside.

Someday, perhaps Ferry and Mackay and Manzanera will open up with a writer and allow an in-depth biography of the band. But even if they do, Buckley's book should remain a valuable resource in the history of rock.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars oh mother of pearl I wouldn't trade you ...., January 28, 2006

By 

P. Ambrose (Brooklyn NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Thrill of It All: The Story of Bryan Ferry & Roxy Music (Paperback)

I am not through with the book yet (I am up to THE BRIDE STRIPPED BARE): this is very thorough and SLANTED - but that's okay. I purchased the entire Roxy/Bryan remasters and Buckley's harsh assessment of some of Ferry's solo work has made me play his solo recordings OVER and OVER and they only get better and better. He is a CRITIC so he is CRITICIZING - and a gushing book over the brilliance of Bryan would probably not work; I believe this author - being of course, very British, had his view which is what makes the reading so enjoyable. However as he states over and over - that Roxy/Bryan were too smart for the U.S, audience is so apparent I can almost shed Bryan's tears. If you have had the luck to see them live (especially their recent "reunion" tour of @ 3 years ago that was so amazing I can still lose my voice just thinking of the screaming) - you know the genius of these men (and their darling Roxy Tottsies).

A treasure.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential Reading for Roxy Fans, Old and New, September 3, 2005

By 

Chris DeLuca (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Thrill of It All: The Story of Bryan Ferry & Roxy Music (Paperback)

I first learned of the existence of this book from a passing reference in a Sunday New York Times Book Review magazine; it was given a left-handed compliment (something to the effect that should you want to know all the minute details of the band's history, it could be found in this book). That's pretty much the sum of it - this is a great book about one of the greatest (and most under-rated) bands in music history. However, the author does not ignore the members' flaws and shortcomings; this is a very objective look at a band who was responsible for its limited commercial success. However, Roxy's influence on contemporary music can not be denied, far ahead of its time.