Another book which isn't new but was recently recommended to me by our drummer Scott who is a huge fan of all things Lannegan so.........
This is the classic story of a kid who was destined to fail. Except he didn't. Well not completely.
Schooldays seemed to be a mixture of violence, drugs, sport, the odd sexual encounter and......that's all really. Replace the sport part with music and you've got the theme of Mark's adult life mapped out already.
There's a few surprises in his story - for me anyway as I never really follow 'rock stars' lives. I'd always assumed he must have been pretty comfortable financially but the exact opposite is/was the reality (I think he's got his shit together now and a healthy bank balance to go with it). His rabid drug habit kicked all that in to touch resulting in being homeless and broke for sustained periods of his life.
Having never been a big Screaming Trees fan (although Sweet Oblivion is glorious) I was amazed to read about the animosity (hatred?) which existed in the band - more specifically Mark hated Gary Lee Conner as did Gary's brother Van. Sibling rivalry taken to the next level with fistfights and bloodshed being only a small part of it and often taking place in front of the fans onstage at shows. How they even started a band together never mind achieve worldwide acclaim and remain as a unit for 15(?) years is a complete miracle. So the Trees kicked off in the mid 80's not far from Seattle which had its own well documented scene bubbling under (insert band names here). The band eventually based themselves in the city which led to forming ties with other key bands from the 'grunge' scene. Mark in particular became great friends with the likes of Kurt Cobain and Layne Staley (*spoiler alert* - they both die in the end......) sharing houses, needles and god knows what else with these guys. He actually came very close to being the person who discovered Cobain's body but that's another story and is fully documented in the book.
World tours, major festivals, major label record deals, TV appearances, sex, violence, wasted opportunities - it's all here. As is an all encompassing lifelong drug addiction which sucked all the glamour and wealth out of what should have been a true rock star life style and the best years of anybody's lives. Far too much detail of shooting dope, scoring dope, getting ripped off by dodgy dealers, rehab, almost dying etc. I think well over half of the book narrates the life of a junkie and while it's obviously a massive part of the Lannegan story I'd rather read more about the music and less about the finer points (excuse the pun) of injecting heroin or smoking crack.
The well documented feud with Oasis singer Liam Gallagher during an Oasis/Screaming Trees tour gets an outing here which is pretty hilarious and is welcome relief from the grim tales which fill the surrounding pages. I won't go into any details to spoil the plot for anyone although I think pretty much everyone knows about this already.
An interesting but difficult read which I'm sure Lannegan fans will appreciate but maybe not for the casual observer. It's a bit like Motley Crue's 'The Dirt' but without the fun side of it all and won't make any kid desperate to become a rock star any time soon. How Lannegan didn't end up like Cobain/Staley etc is a miracle and credit must be given to the guy for managing to 'function' through such a wretched addiction. I'm not sure if he's clean nowadays but he's still making great solo records and also some interesting collaborations so who knows......
One for the fans - 7/10
-Phil Hey
Comments