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Billion dollar baby: A provocative young journalist chronicles his adventures on tour as a performing member of The Alice Cooper Rock-and-Roll Band Hardcover – January 1, 1974

by Bob Greene (Author)

4.2 23 ratings

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Book by Greene, Bob

Print length

364 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Atheneum
Publication date

January 1, 1974
ISBN-10

0689106165
ISBN-13

978-0689106163
See all details

Gary Graff
176
Hardcover
41 offers from $36.29

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Atheneum; First Edition (January 1, 1974)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 364 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0689106165
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0689106163
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 7.2 ounces

Best Sellers Rank: #3,736,811 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.2 23 ratings

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MJB

Still The Best Alice Cooper Book

Reviewed in the United States on June 26, 2017

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I read this book back in the '70's. I've also read many other Alice Cooper books over the years and I've got to say this is still the most interesting, informative and realistic book of all. Real "fly on the wall" stuff, from tedious recording sessions to exhausting shows on the road, Bob Greene documents what it was like to be there. You really feel like you're exploring the unknown world of Alice Cooper and spending time with this fascinating group of rock musicians and the people around them. Essential reading.

11 people found this helpful

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Randall K Hayes

Great book!

Reviewed in the United States on June 6, 2019

Verified Purchase

Excellent!

One person found this helpful

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Yvonne Graf

Fun read!!

Reviewed in the United States on March 3, 2016

Bob Greene does a wonderful job telling his story of following around Alice and his band as they tour several cities. He gets to know Alice, his band members and several of the crew as he gets involved in the tour and even records on a song signing background vocals (a very funny passage). The best part is when he dresses up as Santa and Alice and the band get to beat him up. Of course they are supposed to not really hit him, but Bob doesn’t tell it that way. Some punches connect and he gets a little beaten up. All in the name of rock n’ roll.

I love how he makes Alice out to be a person and not this entity we see on stage. Alice was drinking heavily at this time, but still has this pleasant personality and charm he has today. So much different than his stage persona. He talks a lot about the band itself, and how they evolved, had problems, especially with Glen Buxton who because of his drug and alcohol abuse could barely stand much less play and they ended up just turning off his equipment. Most concerts didn’t even have Glen playing. Then of course the audience sometimes turned on the band and would throw bottles, and other projectiles at the band making them run for their lives. There were a few scary incidents with some almost getting seriously hurt or even killed. Again, an interesting read and much of it never known by Alice’s fan base. The book also includes some vintage pictures of Bob with the band and crew members.

It is a difficult book to find, but if you really love the 70s rock n’ roll and would like to know what it was like to be a rock star back then, try to find this book. It’s a fun, interesting read and you’ll find yourself laughing more than anything. Bob is colorful, honest and makes it feel like you are sitting on the couch talking to him about his time with this classic band. With Alice Cooper’s rejuvenated career going would be nice to see this book in general print again.

10 people found this helpful

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Privacy, Please

A Real-Life "Spinal Tap"

Reviewed in the United States on September 6, 2011

Who would have thought that one of the definitive descriptions of life on the road with a major American rock band would have been penned by Bob Greene, a reporter with almost no background in "music journalism"? It's even more ironic when you realize that this book on Alice Cooper in its heyday - a band that pushed the envelope of public taste by inventing and popularizing many elements of theatrical shock-rock that were recycled by many other metal and punk bands - was authored by the same Bob Greene who later made a name for himself writing "family values" columns and books about his kids. But then, when you read the book and get to know Alice and friends, maybe it's not that far off. Far from being constantly hard-partying, underage-girl-shagging, hotel-destroying miscreants like the Led Zeppelin portrayed in "Hammer of the Gods," the Alice Cooper band, and especially Alice himself, were a pretty well-behaved lot. Only two of the band members (plus several members of the road crew) mess around with groupies, and one of those two is with his beautiful model wife more often than not. The only major hotel destruction occurs as a way of blowing off steam at the conclusion of the tour. And Alice himself is portrayed as a quiet, constantly beer-drinking, non-drug-using, family guy who loves TV and golf, doesn't fool around on his girlfriend, and likes Nixon of all people. Of course, if you have followed Alice Cooper's career to the present day, you know that he's a great celebrity golfer, leans towards conservative politics and was an alcoholic for some years, but apparently back when this book was written, he was widely perceived as being the actual baby-killing debauched maniac he portrayed on stage.

Most of this book involves Greene recounting, in a dry, reporterly style, recording some vocals for an upcoming album and then going on tour with the original Alice Cooper band. The book has been widely criticized because Greene portrayed the band members mostly as being disgruntled with the amount of attention Alice the frontman was getting (except for Glen Buxton who is portrayed as a barely functional waste case), and Alice as being unhappy and seemingly trapped in his role as perverse freak. Evidence does suggest that Greene played up the rift in the band to some extent, and Alice certainly gets the bulk of the page space in the book as well compared to the members of the band. On the other hand, band life is one of those "three sides to every story" deals, and Greene's side may well be one of the three. For another perspective, fans can read band member Mike Bruce's book. In any event, a great deal of Greene's book barely involves the band, and rather consists of Greene's interviews with and observations about others including the band's manager, the tour manager and his comely assistant, the road crew, the magician/ stunt guy, Alice's bodyguard, recording engineers, band wives, and various random groupies. The inclusiveness and the fact that Greene allows people to speak in their own words by including long direct interview quotes gives the book a documentary, "you-are-there" feel. The feeling of a documentary, rather than a feature or mood piece, is enhanced by the fact that Greene doesn't analyze, critique or otherwise wax poetic over the music of the band, unlike a Lester Bangs or similar "rock journalist".

This book is a great time capsule of what touring with a band was like in the 70s and likely still is, to some extent, today. It's interesting that at this time the Alice Cooper band was considered a major U.S. concert draw with an album headed for Number One, and Alice had appeared on the covers of general circulation U.S. magazines, yet they still had to play B-grade markets like Toledo, Ohio (where they are very nearly forced back onto the stage after a life-threatening riot breaks out) and Utica, NY in the middle of winter. While on the road, the band runs into situations that are funny to read about now, but probably weren't so funny at the time. For example, the limos carrying the band to a show get stuck in a dead end lane with no turnaround in the parking lot of the venue, blocked in by arriving fans, minutes before the band is due onstage. In another episode, the band is scheduled to fly to Florida early for some time in the sun before an outdoor show, only to find (when their much-delayed flight finally arrives) that a cold snap is happening and they all need long underwear just to be outside. And so it goes.

I first read this book in the late 70s because the local library had a copy and I read pretty much every book on rock out of sheer boredom then. I was not an Alice Cooper fan although I thought some of his hit songs were pretty good. The book is very well-written, fast-paced and an engaging read. Years later when I saw the "Spinal Tap" movie, this book was one that immediately came to mind, even though the band was not English. I highly recommend the book for anybody interested in 70s rock or the mechanics of touring.

6 people found this helpful

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Larry Gill

One Of These Days Alice...

Reviewed in the United States on June 7, 2011

Being an Alice fan since about 1969, I read the book back in 1976 when I was 21. I had the chance to meet Alice in 1971 at a club here in Buffalo before he was well known. I saw the band 5 times, 2 of them during the tour described in the bookl Toronoto and Buffalo dates. I found it both amusing and appalling, the inside view of the rock world from the eyes of Bob Greene. It seemed to be going a little to Bob's head, he mentioned doing his own lp sevaral times in the book. Reading quotes from each band member and road crew was interesting though, seeing how ruthless the business is and how it corrupts otherwise moral folks. As successful as the band was, they seemed to feel they were short-changed because all the recognition went to Alice, and they (the back-up) felt they were pushed aside. Much unhappiness resulted.
I knew much of their music by heart, so I found myself at home with much of the accounts. Of course in the decades that followed my reading of the book, my outlook on life has changed I do not hold this business in such high esteem as many who have read the book will attest.

7 people found this helpful

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Billion dollar baby: A provocative young journalist chronicles his adventures on tour as a performing member of The Alice Cooper Rock-and-Roll Band Hardcover – January 1, 1974

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