Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
P.F. Sloan was one of the most prolific and influential geniuses to emerge from the golden age of the 60s. From his little studio at Dunhill Records, Sloan was a veritable hit-machine, writing and playing guitar for The Mamas & The Papas (that's Sloan's infectious guitar lick on 'California Dreamin'), Barry McGuire (the brilliant and controversial 'Eve Of Destruction'), Johnny Rivers (the iconic 'Secret Agent Man'), The Turtles, The Grass Roots, Herman's Hermits, The Fifth Dimension, The Searchers, and more. P.F. Sloan was everywhere. And then he disappeared. With a foreword by British singer-songwriter Rumer and an afterword by Creed Bratton, the Grass Roots guitarist turned star of The Office, What's Exactly The Matter With Me? is a revelatory memoir of an extraordinary life through the most fascinating years of American and British musical and pop culture. Beginning with a chance meeting with Elvis Presley, this is the story of a boy whose only love was music--of dreams, success, destruction, and miraculous resurrection. Along the way we encounter The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Byrds, Bob Dylan, Buffalo Springfield, The Beach Boys, and more, as well as UFOs and psychiatric hospitals. This is the dangerous ride and inspiring story of one of the greatest songwriters in popular music--and also one of the most elusive and mysterious.
Synopsis
"I have been seeking P.F. Sloan, but no one knows where he's gone" 'P.F. Sloan' by Jimmy Webb
"Absolutely none of 'em could beat ol' P.F." Lester Bangs, Rolling Stone magazine
What's Exactly The Matter With Me? is a first-person account of an extraordinary life and pilgrimage through the most fascinating years of American and English musical culture. This is a story of dreams, success, destruction, and miraculous resurrection; the incredible, heartbreaking, and ultimately inspiring story of one of the greatest songwriters in American music--and also one of the most elusive and mysterious.
P.F. Sloan was one of the most prolific and influential geniuses to emerge from the golden age of the 60s, and a pioneer of folk-rock. Between 1965 and 1967, 150 of his songs were recorded by major acts, and 45 of those made the charts. No other songwriter has ever come close to achieving so great number of hits in such a short period of time.
From his little studio at Dunhill Records, P.F. Sloan was a veritable hit-machine, writing for The Mamas & The Papas (that's Sloan's infectious guitar lick on 'California Dreamin''), Jan & Dean (the falsetto you hear on most of their hits is Sloan's), Barry McGuire (the brilliant and controversial 'Eve Of Destruction'), Johnny Rivers ('Secret Agent Man'), The Turtles, The Fifth Dimension, and many, many more.
He wrote so many songs, in fact, that Dunhill sold him as seven different acts. Unsurprisingly, he wound up exhausted and broken, thus beginning a long journey into the wilderness--a journey of UFOs and psychiatric hospitals, healing and survival, and, ultimately, redemption.