As publication of my new book With The Beatles approaches on my birthday, 11 August, I was looking back on earlier
Of them all, I am probably proudest of Nick Drake. It was all done in a pre-internet age and took a lot of old-fashioned tracking people down. I'm glad to say it is still in print, celebrating its 25th anniversary. I signed a copy in Foyle's only last week! Just like a fellow Bloomsbury author who published her first title the same year as my Nick biography, we Bothe received the same advance, £2,500 from memory. But that J.K. Rowling, she never writes, she never rings…
Ditto Lonnie Donegan; so much has been written of the 1960s music scene, for me the 50s was The Lost Decade. But Lonnie was always more than just skiffle - his version of 'Ain't No More Cane On The Brazos' is for me the best white man sings the blues I've heard.
Richard Thompson, Strange Affair, The Biography was the only ever authorised book I wrote. It came out in 1996 when I think Richard was fed up being called a cult. Legend has him in a store in America and seeing lots of books about other, lesser talents, so when I rang it was a timely phone call. We had many conversations, ranging from Muswell Hill to California, East Anglia to Putney; I spoke to his Mum, sister, wives, children and many fellow musicians.
We covered Fairport, cricket, Led Zeppelin, archery and the Eagles. By all accounts he was happy with it. His own account, Beeswing was published in 2020. I trust that will be his last autobiograpical effort, otherwise I’ll have to take up the guitar…
