Product Description

Bands such as Oasis, Nirvana and The Sex Pistols have all claimed to be influenced by Mott the Hoople. Ian Hunter's revealing tour diary was first published in 1974 to coincide with the band's global success. It gives an insight into life with a rock group on the road.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #23074 in Books
• Published on: 1996-09-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 160 pages

Customer Reviews

Read and enjoy
This isn't the usual tale of sex and drugs and rock 'n' roll. Sex is singularly lacking and drugs aren't really Mott's cup of tea. What they are passionate about is rock and roll and it is this passion plus the integrity of Ian Hunter's thoughts and jottings on a 1972 US tour that make this such a good read.

With Mott just about to make it big with 'All The Young Dudes', Ian Hunter seems to have both feet still firmly on the ground and this is a warm and amusing glimpse of a band on the road.

Follow the fortunes of Ian Hunter's splitting velvet loons, his weight concerns, and the band's insatiable desire to seek out pawn shops in the quest for a vintage Gibson amp or Epiphone guitar.

A fledging rock scene is sketched, hurriedly put together concerts, no soundchecks and a gallery of 1972 rock stars ... Roxy Music, David Bowie, Jethro Tull ... A snapshot of an era when the music did the talking. Read and enjoy.

ALL THE WAY FROM MEMPHIS....
Mott the Hoople were a great band. They lacked a lot, but what they lacked they made up for in style and wit, and in Ian Hunter they had a great front man who always seemed a step ahead of the world of glam rock that shimmered around Mott. Above all Mott put out some sparkling and timeless seven-inch singles.

Hunter's diary was republished recently to rave reviews on both sides of the Atlantic, and it is easy to see why: naive, witty, humble, sussed and in control, he is as concerned for the welfare of his cat as for the future of his tour. On a constant skirmish to buy up every vintage guitar in America for pennies, rubbing shoulders with Bowie and other contemporaries, and keen to stress throughout that he is having nothing to do with groupies while on tour, this is a fantastic period piece, and at a time that the seventies are under constant review and re-review, it is as essential a read as any for someone looking to find what the period was all about.

They say that if you remember the sixties you weren't there, but if you remember the seventies then you'll remember All The Young Dudes, Honaloochie Boogie, Roll Away The Stone, and this book should be your next stop!

Star Man
There is a sweet innocence about the writing style of this book which I really enjoyed. This gets beyond the glamour of being a rock star and down to the nitty gritty. For a settled man who didn't drink excessively or have an interest in drugs it certainly shows a different side to the business of show and was more refreshing for it. Recommended.