Reviews matching “9781553652007”
 It Ain't Easy“Myers never met Baldry, although he’d seen him up close when they were both doing [a TV show] a couple years back. His publisher suggested Baldry might make a good biographical study, and when Myers started looking into his life, he was hooked. …[He] wound up talking to a who’s who of British musicians from the 60’s… and emerged with an engaging story of one of music’s great storytellers, a portrait of a blues legend who never quite received the acclaim he deserved. Not that Long John Baldry would ever complain about it – he was too busy enjoying life.” The Vancouver Sun, Sep 15, 2007 Read more >> |
It Ain't Easy“Paul Myers makes a credible case for the six-foot-seven bluesman as a seminal force in English pop music in It Ain’t Easy…” The Toronto Star, Sep 23, 2007 Read more >> |
It Ain't Easy“Paul Myers entered not knowing Long John Baldry and left full of respect. ‘I didn’t go into this as a fan,’ stresses Myers… ‘I knew three things, but they were good things. I knew Elton John had written “Someone Saved My Life Tonight” about him. I knew he discovered Rod Steward. I knew he was a gay man in the macho world of blues.’ …He was a misfit who, ironically, attracted people to him. It Ain’t Easy gives him his due.” The Province, Sep 23, 2007 Read more >> |
It Ain't Easy“A new biography of British blues man Long John Baldry finally gives credit where credit is due… It Ain’t Easy tells the story of the charismatic musician’s roller-coaster ride through the ‘60s and ‘70s, when Baldry helped launch the careers and inspire would-be superstars including Rod Stewart, Eric Clapton and Elton John. …Through interviews with music legends… Myers traces the crazed life that led a six-foot-seven-inch gay British white man to fall in love with the blues and mentor some of the era’s greatest musicians while weathering a rocky road with the charts himself.” Canadian Press, Oct 2, 2007 Read more >> |
It Ain't Easy“Paul Myers didn’t set out to write a biography of Long John Baldry. …[he] eventually took on the task… because the more he learned about the man who launched the careers of rock behemoths Elton John and Rod Stewart, the more he wanted to find out.” The Georgia Straight, Oct 7, 2007 Read more >> |
It Ain't Easy“It’s a wild ride filled with sometimes fascinating, and sometimes touching anecdotes. Myers manages to capture them all on both sides of the Atlantic. And there’s plenty in the book that even the most studied Baldry fan will find enlightening. Little is known in North America about Baldry’s pop period. In the UK, however, even less is known of his rep as a blues performer. Myers brings the two worlds together nicely.” Hamilton Spectator, Oct 9, 2007 Read more >> |
It Ain't Easy"[Long John Baldry's] story is told briskly and well in journalist and musician Paul Myers’s It Ain’t Easy… The biography is likely to be definitive. The important voices are here: friends, family, famous protégés. It’s an affectionate account, part glimpse into a vibrant music scene, part life story of a talented but troubled man.” Globe and Mail, Oct 20, 2007 Read more >> |
It Ain't Easy“As the book’s title suggests, Baldry’s story is a bittersweet tale, equal parts success and failure. …But no one who heard Baldry’s bass voice growl on “Don’t Try to Lay No Boggie Woogie on the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll”… would ever deny his genius. Leader Post, Oct 20, 2007 Read more >> |
It Ain't Easy“Musician and journalist Paul Myers draws on intimate anecdotes from Baldry's legendary friends, lovers, and professional acquaintances to reveal the man behind the mythic persona. … Myers' biography celebrates the wild life of Long John Baldry and, as a history of blues, it gives new insight into a cornerstone of rock-and-roll.” The Ledge, Nov 2, 2007 Read more >> |
It Ain't Easy“It Ain’t Easy is a highly readable account of Baldry’s life and his involvement in the British Blues boom that would culminate in the English rock ‘n’ roll invasion of the 1960’s. Myers’ prose is brisk, and at times witty, but never at the expense of his narrative. He deftly handles issues of Baldry’s sexuality and self-destructive tendencies with honesty, without descending into lurid excess. Easy also benefits from Myers’ original interviews with an impressive list of Baldry’s associates and contemporaries.” J.B. Spins.com, Nov 4, 2007 Read more >> |