Backstage Passes & Backstabbing Bastards: Memoirs of a Rock 'N' Roll Survivor

Its almost amazing how many of my favorite musicians from the Sixties and Seventies and their favorite albums Al Kooper played with and/or on. He's there on perhaps Dylan's greatest albums, including his historic role on Like a Rolling Stone, he's there on French horn with the Stones with Can't Always Get What You Want, he's there with The Who, Blood Sweat and Tears, The Blues Project, etc. Meanwhile he's also another way into understanding what happened in the late 60s/early seventies. He's also quite funny. While the book petered out for me half-way through as I have no interest in most of the groups he worked with like Skynard, the first half is so good that it gets five stars.

The back cover quotes Rolling Stone's description of Al Kooper's writing: "Vonnegut-esque!" I second that emotion. Mr. Kooper is a truly talented writer; his writing, compared to the 200+ other rock biographies and rock-related tomes I've read is, by a wide margin, the best. And even more, his sense of humor is remarkable. I haven't laughed this hard in years, not since reading Mark Twain's masterpieces or watching M*A*S*H three times in a row in a huge Chicago movie palace and then riding the El back to my dorm room and putting the Blues Project LP on the turntable. And, of course, the stories Kooper tells are the best part of the book. They have the ring of absolute truth, told by a supremely talented musician with a Zelig-like ability to materialize at the right place at the right time. Anyone who has followed American popular music over the past 50 years will love this book.Al, if you're reading this: Writing "This Diamond Ring" is nothing to be ashamed of. Back in January, 1965, when Gary Lewis & The Playboys' version hit the national charts, I was a high school sophomore living in a small Wisconsin town, and the WLS Top-40 Silver Dollar Survey was my weekly Super Bowl. Art Roberts played "This Diamond Ring" every night at 10 pm as one of the week's top three most-requested tunes. And it sounded great! For me, with just about enough coin to buy one 69-cent 45 a week at the local Goldblatt's department store, browsing the record rack involved a lot of checking the writers of the 20+ records I wanted to get my mitts on. Before tracking down "This Diamond Ring," I was sure it was the latest effort by one of my favorite pair of writers of those years: Goffin & King. "This Diamond Ring" had such a great overall "sound," I even thought Phil Spector might've been involved. So, I look at the label, and I see Brass/Kooper/Levine*! Wow. Who's that? Another great writing team to keep track of and cheer for. Gary Lewis was certainly from the "Bobby/Bobby/Bobby" school of singers, elevated by first-rate material. And so what, that's my point --- great songwriting, great production, great arrangement. A great tune that topped the Silver Dollar Survey for three weeks in the winter of 1965 --- something to be proud of!*Actually, the label said: "Kooder - Levine - Bras, produced by Snuff Garrett, arranged by Leon Russell". 3 out of 5 ain't bad, I guess.

Al Kooper's story has many chapters that seem to defy a theme. His early career is an amazing tale of unlikely success. The underdog - right place, right time, hits the big time with Dylan during a session that must have been a surreal experience. At that point I sensed this was a guy who would make the very most of his skills. While I enjoyed parts, too often this reads like a mediocre book report ("what I did last millennium").In the end I couldn't help but feel some sympathy for a guy who was immersed in the music biz; the plastic, hyper materialistic land of - at best, very conditional - at its worst, phony friendships and convenient, shaky alliances. I'd say one couldn't help but be bitter, but I did also feel used, because its clear Al wrote this book partly to do some subtle settling of scores. The second half of this book especially, feels like a series of diary entries by a scarred and insecure individual who is presenting his side of the story regarding a series of engagements/endeavors that didn't quite work out.It is worthwhile reading about his early experiences of starting the Blues Project, BS&T, working with Dylan and the Stones. But even those are too thin and there's a lot in there about Al's views, feelings and memories but not quite enough observation of the rich characters around him. Very few of us are story-tellers, Al is not the exception, and when it comes to books like this, the art of storytelling is essential.To be honest I got about 85% through but couldn't finish it just now. I wouldn't use the word "boring" but there is a point where it starts feeling very monotonous. I guess if you're one to gush at an inside look at the Lives of the [sometimes] Rich & Famous, you might enjoy it all the way through. But for me there was way too much minutiae regarding a series of transactions. Come to think of it, that might be the best way to describe my feeling about this book: too transactional and self conscious. Sorry Al, and sorry to some of the more sensitive people who read these reviews.I started by saying the book - i.e. his life story, lacked a theme, but I have to believe there is a theme in there somewhere, and it's just a matter of the author puling himself up a few thousand feet for the sake of perspective.In the end I'm still a fan of his music and think he's probably a decent guy, but I have to say I liked him better before reading this. Love the title though!

Well worth a read. Shame it is riddled with grammatical errors however this doesn't detract from the tales within. Still, not sure how hard it would have been to arrange a competent proof reader to review it and this flies in the face of the thread that runs through the book of how meticulous everything had to be when it came to his record producing. That said, i would encourage people to buy and learn about the life and times of a music legend who was there in the middle of many big moments 1960s through to the 1990s (and beyond?)

Al Cooper is an immense talent who you've hear on other people's records - even if you're not aware of it. His book is hugely entertaining - and a stark warning to anyone who thinks they would like a career in the music industry.

Read this its marvellous

Having spent many hours listening to this musical icon, with and without the company of Mike Bloomfield, it was a pleasure to read his honest story covering a lot of american rock's greatest times. Recommended.

An interesting read, Al Kooper doesn't come across as the most affable character, but shows what you can do if you've sufficient ambition and hunger for success, plus enough bluff to carry it through. He's been through the ups and downs of the rock music business, which is a tough ride, but to his credit, made it fairly unscathed. Well worth reading for anyone with illusions of the music business, should be compulsary or anyone thnking of entering the X Factor or Britain's Got Talent!