Flea - Acid For the Children

 

Although I quite enjoyed seeing the Red Hot Chili Peppers when they started out playing Hollywood clubs that I was playing/hanging out in (and still thought that they were fun the last time I saw them in the 90's), I would never have imagined that they would have gotten as big as they did. Of course, the music was a bit tamed down for the masses, but they were a wild'n'energetic show, especially the the non-stop, whirling dervish psycho on the bass! I would also never have thought to read Flea's biography, but my lovely wife is more open minded than I am and bought this and I have to say, it's pretty damn good.

Flea (born Michael Balzary) is much smarter than I would have suspected (although throughout the book, he does some incredibly, stupendously, unbelievably stupid things, which I think i why I always thought he was kinda intellectually slow) and is actually a good storyteller. With chapters that are no more than a couple of pages he talks of his early years in Australia, moving to New York state and eventually ending up in Los Angeles as a young teen from a broken home, simultaneously a sensitive, bookworm loner and a bit of a fuck-up/asshole. 

He was also all over the place - into books, shoplifting, karate, skating, sports, getting high, running the streets, breaking'n'entering, various death-defying feats and a zillion other things simultaneously. Eventually, through meeting Anthony and Hillel, he learns bass (previously having been into jazz trumpet), learns to appreciate rock music and starts playing the Hollywood clubs and hanging out in the punk rock scene (although that is not what his first band was about). 

I have to give the man major props for putting his money where his mouth is and starting the Silverlake Conservatory of Music in order to help LA kids whose school budgets have been cut so that they don't get the music education that he had. Giving back to the community and to the kids is an amazing feat. (While he is more-or-less chronological in his story telling, he does fast-forward at times with a tangent related to his earlier years, which is why this came up in the middle of the book.)

Although he was certainly bright, he was also one of those wasted f'k-ups that would cause a commotion just for the helluva it throughout the scene and be a general annoyance. Flea's stories inevitably star some drug or another, to the point of being a bit grotesque - although he swears, in a believable way, that he was never an addict, he is constantly using something and it does get to be a bit much and it is fairly incredible that he is still alive today. After endless tales of the highs that he reached he does finally say that he wished he hadn't done as much damage to himself as he did, but he sure sounds like he was having fun at the time!

That said, it is kinda fun to reminisce about some of the old clubs/bars/hang-outs/rehearsal spaces/bands, etc., although I was a bit too uncool for some of the places, due to working a "regular", daytime job and being reasonably sober. I guess it just goes to show that being a druggie bum pays off sometimes! Of course, he does give some insight to his influences - Echo and the Bunnymen was a surprise! - but then he ends this tome just as the Chili Peppers come together for their first, one-song gig. He promises a sequel!

Anyway, it's a fun read and a nice snapshot of LA in the 70's and 80's. Much better than I expected!