Author: Tommy Womack
Published by: Eggman Publishing, Nashville in 1995
Length: 274 Pages
Style: One Hell of a Ride
For those of us who have ever been in a rock band that had gone from being local heroes, to being on the verge of superstardom, have ever dealt with sleazy managers, hype, the road/touring, fighting, and countless trials and tribulations of being in a band, and then out of nowhere, crash and burn; this book showcases all the excess, horrors, misgivings, as well as a lot of good times in general of being in a rock band, straight from the humorous mind of Tommy Womack.
Centered around the Bowling Green, Kentucky band Government Cheese, a band that Nashville, Tennessee adopted as one of their own (due to the fact that that Bowling Green is only an hour drive north of Nashville), being one of the prominent local bands in the mid eighties to early nineties, when Nashville's rock scene was thriving, Tommy Womack, the guitarist and occasional lead singer of the group years ago decided to write about all the trial and tribulations of, well, exactly what the title says, a rock and roll band you have never even heard of.
The fact of what makes this book so entertaining and appealing is that when reading this, you can see yourself, anyone who has ever had a dream of becoming a rock star can easily relate to this, not to mention the fact that anyone who has toured and dealt with all the bullshit can also see themselves as one of the characters in this book. Entirely true, Womack filters all the dragging nuances that might bore people out and puts all the stuff that a band might not want to let their fanbase know about, putting all egotistical connotations aside, making this book not your typical "hey this is what we did when we toured, this is how we got signed" story.
Describing everything with many sides to the point of view and a complete exclamation for everything that went well and wrong, Womack's humorous take on everything can make the biggest hell that a band might go through sound like a fucking blast, such accounts include a dealing with the "Muscles" character in Hoboken, NJ while flying posters for a gig and literally running for their lives, dealing with the New York policemen at Penn Station, brief MTV exposure, recording, and of course the misgiving of a hyped up management deal that griped the band for years and might have been the reason why most of us have never heard of them, given that, the book does have its depressing moments here and there.
All in all there are accounts a both good and bad gigs, drug usage and partying, the attempted rise to fame, the personalities of associated friends, the crash, as well as the aftermath (which ended up working out for everybody), it's all there, without any severely gross connotations and completely redundant rambling, Womack packs all the good stuff within the 274 pages of this rock and roll diary, divided with clever chapter titles, in chronological order.
Although not a metal band, they did have an edgy sound, influenced by punk and paralleled with the college rock of the eighties, not to mention the fact that the author did see AC/DC when Bon Scott was with them (described in the book), it's all about the story and its relevant to music in general.
In my case, it might be the regional stance that this book covers, but all in all after reading this, in a way it could be inspirational for some, with Womack's down to earth personality brought forth and the fact that out there some of us might have had the chance to be in a band like Government Cheese, who came from a small town, and came almost a hairs breath to major success, but the thing that anyone can admire mostly about Womack's account, is that he looks back somewhat positively, adding his humor to anything that might have been considered a remotely rough occurrence, without seemingly over exaggerating, if only we all could think like that.
In the aftermath the members had enjoyed considerable success moving on, the author himself has released several solo records in Nashville, enjoying a good following within the Americana circuit.
Rating: 10/10
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