Product Description

From the days of fame to the brink of super stardom, Joe Jackson recalls his early classical training when he first realized he had a talent, playing the piano in rough pubs and sleeping in freezing houses in Camberwell to the trials of setting up a band.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #299377 in Books
• Published on: 2000-10-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
When a pop star confesses, on the second page of his autobiography, that he has "philosophical bent", the heart does tend to sink. The kind of people who have spent years in that most self-deluding of industries seem unlikely to aspire to thought, let alone philosophy. But with Joe Jackson, we might be willing to make an exception. He's more of a sometime pop star, a musicians' musician, whose various eclectic incarnations over the years--from his 1979 LP Look Sharp, to the Robert Palmeresque Stepping Out and Joe Jackson's Jumpin' Jive--have all been united by a rare integrity, intelligence and musicality--even they've not always met with the success they deserve.

With A Cure for Gravity Jackson demonstrates another talent. This is the story of his life, starting with a sad-sounding childhood in "Pompey" or Portsmouth, the kind of place which sees seagulls as "shitehawks". Jackson of course moves on--to the Royal Academy of Music and the National Youth Jazz Orchestra among others--but he takes with him Pompey's resigned, sardonic take on life, which stands him in good stead through the miserable, mundane, even violent apprenticeship to pop stardom. The tale he tells here is light years away from the usual rags-to- riches banality we expect from celebrity: it¹s a beautifully observed, evocative and touchingly real account of a life sustained, through the worst of times, by an enduring, enquiring passion for music.--Alan Stewart

From the Back Cover
Joe Jackson is one of the most respected and influential pop musicians and song-writers of his generation. A Cure for Gravity, his story of a 60s childhood in Portsmouth and his discovery of his talent for music, is that rare thing, a rock memoir written entirely by its author and widely praised for its humour, intelligence and the excellence of its writing.

About the Author
Joe Jackson
Joe Jackson was born in 1954 in Burton-on-Trent. He now divides his time between New York and his home city of Portsmouth. Since achieving pop stardom in the early 1980s, he has evolved into an eclectic composer with several film scores and a symphony to his credit.

Customer Reviews

A text book for aspiring musicians
I've long been an admirer of JJ's music, but reading this book makes you view it in a completely different light. Eloquent prose and a great sense of fun combined to tell an interesting account of the trials and tribulations of a would-be performer, or should that be artist? A decision that Joe deliberates over himself. By turns laugh out loud funny (beware if reading it on the train) and philosophical, a great book by a very intelligent and very talented man.

Well told early years biog of a great musician.
Joe Jackson's great love of music is the real subject of this autobiographical account of a poor, bullied asthmatic kid finding his way through music. Joe Jackson tells the story of his early years up to the point of stardom, on the basis that what happens after has been written about hundreds of times. Joe avoids the trap of a string of sex and drugs and rock 'n' roll "war stories" in favour of a compelling narrative. His prose style reflects the best of his lyrical talent by cutting to the emotion whilst avoiding sentimentality.

Joe's burning passion for music, he thinks that it may have saved his life, and his struggle to make a living doing what he loves is told with a simple candour and good humour that makes the narrative roll along. If you want to, or have ever wanted to, play in a band: then read this book.

Joe Jackson's thumbnail sketches of the characters that peopled his early life are well drawn and he has the gusto to write comic vignettes that may cause inadvertent laughter if read in public places. He has the good sense to pick out the high and low points with the sharp observational eye that he brings to his lyrics whilst avoiding the pitfall of long rambling reminiscences of the mundane.

The prose style of the book is simple and easy to read but avoids the worst of the dictated and ghosts written styles from which so many "celebrity" memoirs suffer.

Joe Jackson is a better song writer and composer than he is a writer, but he is a better writer than most song writers, composers and assorted show biz celebrities who have been published.

If you're obsessed with music
Anybody interested in music should read this book by Joe Jackson. Its a musical autobiography, covering his life in music from his childhood up to the point where he made it as a 'popstar'. I use the quotes around popstar because Joe Jackson was always more than a popstar and if you have an interest in Classical music or Jazz you might also find this book interesting.

Jackson is interested in most forms of music, he talks about Beethoven's Eroica Symphony, the difficulties of playing solo Piano gigs, the many musicians he played with, the madness of being in a band and some of the awful gigs he did. So whether you've played in a pub band, or you play in an Orchestra there is something here that will interest you.

For the musical snobs out there, Joe Jackson studied at the Royal Academy of Music and has letters after his name (LRAM in percussion). This shouldn't be relevent but some people will avoid this book just because he is/was a pop star.

This is well written by Jackson, on occasions funny, and to anybody who who has obssessed about music in the same way as he has you will find it an absorbing read, regardless of what form of music you like.