In which Harry Nilsson biographer Alyn Shipton reflects on the man with the voice of an angel and the thirst of a medium-sized nation. We were a bit late with this but Alyn Shipton’s book Nilsson:The Life Of A Singer-Songwriter is such an absorbing account of a life packed with incident it’s better late than never.
In which David Hepworth (little one on the left) instructs Mark Ellen (lanky one on the right) in the theory behind his best-selling book “1971: Never A Dull Moment”.
In which friend of Word In Your Ear and Essex correspondent Zoe Howe talks about the Doctor Feelgood frontman, subject of her new book Lee Brilleaux: Rock’n’Roll Gentleman.
In which Word contributor and biographer of George Harrison Graeme Thomson talks about the short but action-packed passage of Phil Lynott, the subject of his authorised biography Cowboy Song.
Jon Savage has written celebrated histories of Punk Rock and the Teenager. Now he turns his attention to 1966, the year when pop went fuzzy at the edges, when psychedelic drugs, protest about Vietnam and anxiety about nuclear war helped inspire some of the greatest pop music ever made, by everyone from Bob Dylan to the Stones to Norma Tanega. He talked to David Hepworth about it in front of an audience at The Islington.
Howard Sounes has already written revelatory biographies of Bob Dylan and Paul McCartney. Most recently he’s turned his attention to Lou Reed. In Notes from the Velvet Underground he recounts the extraordinary life and career of one of rock’s most memorably irascible characters, someone who occasionally pulled a gun on even close friends and allies. He talked to David Hepworth about it in front of an audience at the Islington.
Elvis Costello joins us to talk about his blockbusting memoir “Unfaithful Music And Disappearing Ink“. The conversation takes in such vital issues as: growing up in a house full of acetates and publishers demos, the reason The Attractions ran on to the stage in 1977, Nick Kent’s tackle on display in the garden of the pub opposite Island Records, playing support to the Natural Acoustic Band in 1971, listening to the radio in the 60s, what he learned from Burt Bacharach and why the White House is the ideal place to play “Penny Lane”. Cheers, Elvis.
David Hepworth and Mark Ellen talk bout Tracey Thorn’s Naked At The Albert Hall: The Inside Story Of Singing and John Seabrook’s The Song Machine: Inside The Hit Factory via the miracle of Skype. To get your name on the mailing list for future Word events, sign up at the Word In Your Ear website.
David Cavanagh, the author of Good Night and Good Riddance: How Thirty-Five Years Of John Peel Help Shape Modern Britain, and Trevor Dann, WIYE’s go-to guy on all matters radio, talk about John Peel: his radio style, his complicated personality, his contribution to the national heritage and where he would be broadcasting today if he were still around.
Chris Salewicz joined us to talk about Dead Gods: The 27 Club which deals with the rock stars who never got past their twenty-seventh birthday. His list includes: Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Brian Jones, Kurt Cobain, Amy Winehouse and others. What they all had in common was a family background not as happy as you would like and a sub-conscious fear of dealing with adult life.