I gave up trying to not laugh out loud as I listened to this entertaining, informative, and engaging memoir. Peter Hince shares the good, the bad, the drudgery, the outrageousness, and yes, the drugs, sex, and rock and roll that were part and parcel of being a rock band roadie during the 1970s and 80s. But he wasn’t a roadie for just any band; he worked for the extravaganza known as Queen.
Actually, he was =the= roadie. Hince – or Ratty, his nom de plume in the day – was the head of Queen’s crew, as well as Freddie Mercury’s and John Deacon’s roadie. He’s the skinny guy you see crouching by the Steinway, handing off the wand mike to Freddie in the Live Aid and other concert videos. That was only one part of his job, though. He recounts his experiences in this lively and often hilarious memoir that encompasses the period from 1973 when the band was a support act to Mott the Hoople to their final performance at Knebworth Park in 1986.
Hince’s gift for storytelling makes you feel as if he’s sharing his tales with you over a pint or a cup of tea. Through anecdotes, insights, and photographs (which unfortunately do not appear in the paperback edition), he reveals what it was like to be part of a finely tuned (pun intended), very professional organization that held themselves and the members of their team to exceedingly high standards. They worked hard, and they partied hard.
Besides providing a unique perspective on Queen, this book is also a coming of age memoir. Hince was an 18-year-old teenager who dreamed about going to America with a band and having an adventure. He definitely had an adventure and then some, complete with some cringe-worthy hijinks and excesses that came with the rock and roll scene of that era. Throughout his 13 years with the band, he took on increasing responsibilities and his relationships with John and Freddie deepened. He was at the top of his game as he approached the ripe old age of 30, but he also knew that being a roadie wasn't a path he wanted to continue. Instead, he hung up his all-access pass and began pursuing a career in his real passion, photography.
His respect for the band, especially Freddie, is evident throughout the book. However, Hince doesn't sanitize life with this talented and demanding group of musicians, and the extraordinary man who was Freddie Mercury. He doesn’t skirt around the egos, Freddie’s moods, and the inevitable conflicts he witnessed, but he does so thoughtfully, without maligning the band members or crew.
If you’re looking for salacious stories about Freddie and the other band members, look elsewhere, as that’s not what this book is about. But if you want to learn about the inner workings of a legendary rock band from someone who was there, and have a good time while doing so, this is your book.
Note:
I initially "read" this book by listening to it via Hoopla, offered through my public library. It's a great audiobook. Utilize your public library, lovies!
I wanted to see the photos, though, so got the Kindle version. The photos appear only in the Kindle ebook and hardcover versions (at least at this writing), and they add a lot to the story. Unfortunately, the publisher did not include them in the paperback edition, and this is not mentioned in the Amazon book description. Omitting them from the paperback version was not a decision made by the author.
- Amazon Business: Make the most of your Amazon Business account with exclusive tools and savings. Login now
- Amazon Business : For business-only pricing, quantity discounts and FREE Shipping. Register a free business account
