audiobook William Blake: Seen in My Visions: A Descriptive Catalogue of Pictures (Artist's Writings) by William Blake in Arts-Photography

Review

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. A must for Big Star fans.By MattIf youre a Big Star fan; let alone a fan of Radio City; this book has some great info on the recording of this album and some interesting interviews of band members; founder of Ardent studio and mentor of Big Star - John Fry; execs and studio musicians of Stax Records; Chris Bells brother; and various other people that can help paint a picture of the time and place of one of my favorite albums of all time. Bruce Eaton spends some time reminiscing of his introduction to this album and Big Star; and towards the end of the book; he talks about his music career a little; and about when he and one of his band members got to perform with the late and missed Alex Chilton. Those are unfortunately my least favorite parts; but it does give some nice context from a fellow Big Star fan and what it was like to live a partial dream of meeting one of your biggest influences. The interviews are great; and info on songs of this album broken down nicely; but much like the mythos of Big Star; its often ambiguous and lost in time. I enjoyed learning that some of the songs were recorded with Alex and some studio musicians under different band name before they brought back Andy and Jody to form a post #1 Record incarnation of Big Star; and the guitar sound of the song Daisy Glaze always alluded me; but info from this book pointed out that a Mando Guitar was used on it; an instrument I never knew even existed.All in all; if you love this band and this album in particular; its worth a read.16 of 16 people found the following review helpful. Second edition has typos corrected.By B.O.E.Hi Everyone...Im the author of the book. Thanks for all of your comments and kind words. Yep; those typos were pretty annoying and its still sort of mystifying as to how they got there. But youll be glad to know that the second printing is typo-free. The second printing is noted as being done in 2011 and that the book hs been printed and bounded in the United States (first printing was 2009 and done in Canada). Many thanks to David Barker at Continuum for all his effort and care in getting this done and to David Foss (senior editor at the Harvard U. Press) who was generous with his time and expertise in providing input. For those of you whove read the book; some of the audio of the interviews with Alex Chilton will be heard in the forthcoming Big Star documentary Nothing Can Hurt Me. Really looking forward to the film...9 of 9 people found the following review helpful. A revelatory look at a classic albumBy John KenyonI came to Eatons book after having just read Rob Jovanovics book about Big Star; and feared Id be skipping long passages of repeated anecdotes and such. Instead I found a rich look at a great album that includes a lot of previously unearthed information and analysis. With no slight to the earlier book; Eaton simply gets more detail about this album; and the result is a great read. Perhaps most interesting is the information drawn from conversations with Big Star leader Alex Chilton. Eaton has a personal connection there; but he uses it to illuminate and amplify. A late section about Eaton performing with Chilton could have come off self-serving and indulgent. Instead; he takes care to keep the focus where it belongs: On Chilton.One criticism: The text is a bit sloppy in places. There are enough missing or duplicated words to be noticeable and occasionally took me out of the zone. I was surprised; as I expect better from this series.Overall; this is among the best 33 1/3 books Ive read. The proof: It made me appreciate a favorite album all the more; discovering things I hadnt on my own over hundreds of listens.