Synopses & Reviews
"Ray Robertson is an irrepressible voice, with brass balls, and a heart of gold."Jonathon Evison, author of The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving
"Ray Robertson is the Jerry Lee Lewis of North American letters."Chuck Kinder, author of Honeymooners
"Robertson has been called 'word drunk.' That's good . . . his prose is undoubtedly major-league. There's wit and wisdom in abundance, delivered in clever, punchy style."The Globe and Mail
"What nature means to Jim Harrison's books," Ray Robertson writes in the preface to the present volume, "music means to mine." Lives of the Poets (with Guitars) picks up where Samuel Johnson left off nearly 250 years ago, collecting biographical and critical portraits of rock and roll, blues, folk, and alt-country's most inimitable artists. These often irreverent essays offer a riotous, toe-tapping and original take on how each musician shaped their genre, while looking into their tumultuous lives and how these helped to shape their art.
Includes essays on Gene Clark, Ronnie Lane, The Ramones, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Townes Van Zandt, Little Richard, Alan Wilson, Willie P. Bennett, Gram Parsons, Hound Dog Taylor, Paul Siebel, Willis Alan Ramsey, and John Hartford.
Ray Robertson is the author of seven novels and two collections of non-fiction. He lives in Toronto, Ontario.
Synopsis
Illustrated, witty, thought-provoking essays examine the lives and art of 13 musicians who shaped their respective genres.
Synopsis
"The days of poets moping around castle steps wearing black capes is over. The poets of today are amplified."
-- LEONARD COHEN
Picking up where Samuel Johnson left off more than two centuries ago, Ray Robertson's Lives of the Poets (with Guitars) offers up an amplified gathering of thirteen portraits of rock & roll, blues, folk, and alt-country's most inimitable artists. Irreverent and riotous, Robertson explores the "greater or lesser heat" with which each musician shaped their genre, while offering absorbing insight into their often tumultuous lives.
Includes essays on Gene Clark, Ronnie Lane, The Ramones, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Townes Van Zandt, Little Richard, Alan Wilson, Willie P. Bennett, Gram Parsons, Hound Dog Taylor, Paul Siebel, Willis Alan Ramsey, and John Hartford.
About the Author
Ray Robertson is the author of the novels I Was There the Night He Died, Home Movies, Heroes, Moody Food, Gently Down the Stream, What Happened Later, and David, as well as two collections of non-fiction: Mental Hygiene: Essays on Writers and Writing and, most recently, Why Not? Fifteen Reasons to Live, which was short-listed for the Hilary Weston Prize for non-fiction and long-listed for the Charles Taylor Prize for non-fiction. He lives in Toronto.