Opening with Oldham a drunken, coked-up mess in 1995, he moves to his birth to a mother whose husband (the legality of their marriage was in question, apparently) died in the war and whose family were either dead or excommunicated. His childhood rambles with moves, various schools, a couple of step-dads (again, not "legitimate" - his mom had an affair with a married man, who nonetheless helped to raise Andrew, among others) and, eventually, discovering rock'n'roll. Oddly, he says that from the start he was interested in the behind-the-scenes people - producers and managers - as much as the stars themselves. Friends and family help tell the story and they are all quite frank (although not explicit) regarding the homosexuality at the boarding school(s) he was sent to and about Andrew's unique personality. He was obsessed by film and clothes and fell in with the early Mod scene. I find it fascinating that everyone that he was obsessed with - film makers, clothes designers, what-have-you - were all in the phone book and he would simply drop by their house and they would invite him in for tea! Through this method (essentially) he becomes employed by Mary Quant and begins moving in the epicenter for fashion for the 60's - Swingin' London!
Always on the move and always looking for something new, Andrew sauntered over to PR for musical acts, one of which appeared on TV with the Beatles, which led to Andrew meeting Brian Epstein and starting his rise to fame and, of course, his life with the Rolling Stones. The book concentrates on Andrew's work in PR and production more so than the artists and labels that he worked for and, for me anyway, gets a bit bogged down with name-dropping businessmen and producers. Yes, this is about Andrew and not necessarily the Rolling Stones (although the two are forever entwined), but tales of his manic/depressive episodes and "hard man" assistants are a bit more tiresome than his descriptions of the exciting music, art, TV and fashion scene that was unfolding.
I see that he has a sequel, as this book ends abruptly about the time of the Stones' first album, so I will have to search that out to see if he elaborates more on the artists and his highly important label, Immediate Records.
<< Home