Sam Cooke

"Songs by Sam Cooke" by Sam Cooke (1957)

The very first LP album by ex-gospel sex symbol who had previously moonlighted for famed "Chess" recording label and now decided to spread his wings into pop market. Cooke sings like an angel and emulates yodels and tricks from his gospel idols, but music here is dressed in a  traditional pop gowns that were probably meant to show his maturity and respectability - "Summertime", "Ol' Man River", "Around the World" and "Danny Boy" are all on a extremely mellow, safe side and combined with album photo cover, Cooke comes on as a non-threatening, well-behaved future son-in-law which also means its all slightly predictable and boring. Only singer's magnificent voice uplift what is basically a uninspired collection - album is lead by wonderful pop single (signed here by "L.C. Cook" which is a pseudonym he used on "Chess") and apparently pop singles were his main focus, while albums were tailored for older, mature market - be that as it may, this kind of music was not meant for younger audience and it appears like it has all been calculated to break him into Las Vegas market where he might follow Nat King Cole's footsteps. 

"Encore" by Sam Cooke (1958)

Continuation of somebody's idea to turn ex-gospel sister into ballad crooner. 

Where his debut album surrounded Sam Cooke with strings and angelic chorus, here he has blasting big band around him and swings like he just came home from Sinatra school. There is nothing wrong with material ("When I Fall In Love", "Accentuate The Positive", Sinatra's own "Oh, Look At Me Now", Billie Holiday cover, 1920s chestnut "Running Wild") except that this music looks backwards when young singer should look forward - either he was surrounded with some veterans unaware that there is a world outside Las Vegas, or this is path he planned to pursue. Why else would a young black singer turn to Dinah Shore 1940s ballad "The Gipsy" instead of going for something more soulful or authentic? The only song outside of this white-bread market is mourning ballad "Today I Sing The Blues" (also done in light swing arrangement) which would be very first song young Aretha Franklin would record when she decided to leave gospel and follow her idol into pop music. The final result - as opposite to all his wonderfully contagious singles - shows young & eager singer trying to emulate Nat King Cole and playing safe with material from a previous decade. He sings like a dream, but we wish him more space and original repertoire outside of Johnny Mercer/Harold Arlen/Victor Young canon.

"Cooke's Tour" (1960)

"My goal is to someday be in the same singing league as Harry Belafonte, Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra."
This was from an interview with Sam Cooke around the time this album was recorded - clearly, he had not thought about himself as some sort of soul bad brother but as a much bigger potential, someone whose appeal might cross over to pop market, perhaps even to the movies. So his album discography shows some curious patterns - he goes lounge jazz, he goes Las Vegas, he goes traditional pop and whatever else you can think of, but its his immensely enjoyable pop singles that actually brought him fame.

This was a collection of "traveling songs" - another gimmick - it has absolutely nothing to do with Sam Cooke as soul singer, civil rights movement or Martin Luther King but works actually very well as a product tailored for mainstream audience who might be curious to hear this magnificent young singer doing something outside of the box (in other words: away from gospel). It didn't bring him any hit singles and I am not sure that it left any big marks but to me personally this might be my all-time favorite Sam Cooke album - production is first rate, everything is polished, adult and sophisticated and even though he sings songs already done by other singers, in my opinion he outshines them all. Never before he sounded so darn dreamy and seductive. Just magnificent voice singing first rate material.

"Hits Of The 50's" (1960)
Very much the same approach as "Cooke's Tour" - slightly older, mainstream pop polished to perfection, sung by that magnificent voice that yodels up to the heaven. Sam Cooke must had one of the most beautiful voices ever and when he croons "Mona Lisa" or anything here, its pure delight. Obviously this was all very buttoned up and serious, but this was his polite way to get accepted in business - where on the first two albums he doesn't really sound convincing in snappy, swinging arrangements, here he is perfectly at home in light, romantic pop. Its all very vanilla of course and nothing to do with soul music at all, but enjoyable nevertheless - its just a bit confusing to hear this and than read about Sam Cooke as "inventor of soul music" where in fact he was clearly pursuing Las Vegas. Ray Charles and James Brown were another planet.

"The Wonderful World of Sam Cooke" (1960)
That song of course changed the whole career of Sam Cooke and if I remember correctly, it seduced the whole world on two different occasions, during its first release and than many decades later when Harrison Ford danced to it in the movie. According to his biographer Peter Guralnick, upon his arrival on a tour in Bahamas Sam Cooke was welcomed as a royalty. And he deserved it, as he was wonderful artist and people still remember him as magnetic person.
Nothing else matches excitement of "Wonderful world" but it doesn't matter, the rest is usual pedestrian pop Cooke served on his albums. To be honest, it actually sounds like recording company uses the moment and simply gets every track they got to built album around successful single. Which is probably what happen. "Stealing Kisses" is a curious little ditty that I would never expect from him.

"My Kind Of Blues" (1961)
Another early 1960s album by honey-voiced gospel-turned-pop singer who oozed sensuality and seductiveness. Cooke had some serious chart action with his pop singles but his albums were curiously mismatched affairs, clearly focused on adult audience and from today's perspective sound forced & gimmicky.
He had already recorded with big bands so this is kind of same things, Las Vegas versions of blues songs, everything swings and cats are hip, singer yodels sweetly as only he knows. I love his voice but don't care for this kind of brassy swinging versions. Cooke pushes just a little bit too seriously to be accepted and though he sings like a dream, the final results are pedestrian.

"Swing Low" (1961)
Before he turned to pop music, Sam Cooke was a gospel superstar so this album was not really a surprise - as he had proved in the meantime with his delightful pop singles and all those themed albums, Sam Cooke could sing anything and this album brings a little bit of everything indeed: he does spirituals, he does Harry Belafonte, "Jeanie With The Light Brown Hair" and everything that your grandmother would probably approve of. "They Call The Wind Maria"?
"Grandfather's Clock"? Antonin Dvořák? As usual, he sings like a dream and the choice of material is maddeningly safe - "Chain Gang" stands out as the only song with a true energy, everything else is sleepy time and vanilla.

"Mr. Soul" (1962)

Thankfully here is one album without annoying, forced big band swinging standards behind the singer. This one has actually very sophisticated, cinematic arrangements by Horace Ott and songs were cherry picked ballads that might work as a concept about love affair. Its all covers and as usual Sam Cooke sings them better than original singers - his "Driftin' Blues" is excellent. The voice has a noticeable raspier tone here than previously - where earlier it was all honey, now it ripened into different sound. Still a wonderful singer.

"Twistin' The Night Away" (1962)

Sunny, happy and highly enjoyable album that finally brings singer out of adult oriented Las Vegas big band standards and into youth market. Cooke could easily sing absolutely anything and unfortunately seems he wasted a lot of time on trying to break in like some kind of black Andy Williams - here he goes for a kill with happy, dance songs and it works wonderfully. Twist was all the rage at the time and even though the concept sounds like a gimmick, the results are infectious - his familiar yodel, gospel-inpired backing vocals, everything is in place. More than half of material was composed by singer himself, who clearly enjoyed having a control of his career in his own hands. 

"Night Beat" (1963)

Where on "Mr.Soul" he recorded old Charles Brown "Driftin' Blues" (and it was highlight of the album) here he goes the whole log and does Charles Brown-inspired album. For once, Sam Cooke album actually works because he is not over-produced or buried under swinging big band, backing combo is just fine and creates late-night atmosphere, though his sunny voice is perhaps too beautiful for gritty blues. Cooke croons gently and convincingly as only he knows, it might be his finest hour in the studio. Perhaps its strange, coming from an ex-gospel singer but "Little Red Rooster" is fantastic. "Shake Rattle And Roll" rocks, although is a little out of place here.

"Ain't That Good News" (1964)

This is Sam Cooke at the very peak of his powers - he was 33 years old, had solid reputation in gospel, crossed over into pop market and had built his own business company. After seven years of playing the pop field and experimenting with different styles, things finally fell into place and now he was absolutely sure of himself and his worth. This is also a year when he got killed.

Looking back at his discography, I can't help but notice the contrast between all those brilliant, sunny pop singles and pedestrian LP albums full of ill-advised swinging covers. For this guy, leaving gospel and going pop clearly was not enough - he wanted to became all-round entertainer, like his idols Harry Belafonte, Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra, Las Vegas, Copa and ultimately Hollywood was his goal. Why not, after all, he surely had voice, looks, talent and ambition. It's just that as I plowed trough all these albums I seriously feel they were playing safe, while pop singles were wonderful. Only recently, on "Twistin' The Night Away" album he dispensed completely with moth-eaten, pre-WW2 ballads and went straight pop, which was delightful and uplifting. Here, he combines both sides - happy, dance tunes and romantic ballads and achieves balance for once, only time in his whole career. Though he did record some pretty theme-albums before ("Cooke's Tour", "Night Beat", "Twistin' The Night Away") this is perhaps the one perfect Sam Cooke album to fall in love with. 

Not only it shows his brilliance as gospel-turned-pop singer (complete side A) but it also have lush ballads (side B) and totemic "A Change Is Gonna Come" which might be quintessential Sam Cooke song. I must admit that sheer beauty of his voice (that combination of honey and rasp he controlled so effortlessly) still has intoxicating effect even now, half a century after his death. He must have been one of the greatest singers of 20th century.

"Sam Cooke at the Copa" (1964)

Hm, one step forward, two steps back.

Playing "Copa" was a big deal for Sam Cooke, not only because it meant breaking the racial barriers and establishing name in show business, but also because he tried and badly failed in the same place several years previously. Back than, he did not have confidence, stage pattern and command of audience attention but not he was ready. Peter Guralnick describes everything in his book but while he paints the circumstances, rehearsals and media attention, he hardly touches on music, which bothers me.

You see, I love Sam Cooke pop singles. I even enjoy his gospel recordings with Soul Stirrers very much. But I never cared for all those countless swinging albums full of worn-out standards and boy he recorded a lots of those. I surely know my way around traditional American songbook so this is not a problem, problem is that people like Dean Martin, Nat King Cole and such already perfected this so I kind of don't think its necessary to have wonderful, soulful singer like Sam Cooke clicking fingers and swinging like Bobby Darin. Here for his famous "Copa" engagements he almost completely ignores his pop singles (except for a beautiful medley, which is highlight of the concert) and focuses on - guess what - American standards that he was doing all these years on albums. So the repertoire was consciously selected to appeal to this particular audience and obviously Cooke was proving himself. But it has a way too much of ring-a-dong for me and almost no soul music at all.

"One Night Stand! Sam Cooke Live At The Harlem Square Club" (1963)

By far superior live album by Sam Cooke, where he plays not to ring-a-dong white patrons but to his own black audience and its all hot, sweaty and exciting just as it should have been. Where in "Copa" he was crooning them covers and ballads, here he performs his own hit songs and hoarse as he might sound, he whips them into frenzy - you can clearly hear screams from public. I actually love sweetness and smoothness of Sam Cooke's voice so this live performance might be a little too hoarse for me, however he works heard and clearly enjoys himself. Stands up with the best live recordings of its time. 

"Shake" (1965)

Post-humously released compilation of odds and ends: there are more focused compilations around, so this one is not really essential. It combines cheerful, pop sides with some slightly older material ("I'm In The Mood For Love", "You're Nobody 'til Somebody Loves You", "Comes Love") from his attempts to break into supper club market. Remembered today for his glowing pop singles, Sam Cooke actually spent a lot of time trying to be black Sinatra and had long list of albums full of standards & big bands behind him. Harry Belafonte's "I'm Just a Country Boy" is breathtakingly beautiful, version included here is different than the one previously done on 1961. "Swing Low" album. As compilations go, this one is little all over the place, since it tries to cover all the corners of his music in 33 minutes - besides gospel, Cooke tried many different music genres so today we would probably select differently but however this was still right after his murder so it was good just to have his name still up on charts. 

Paul McCartney continued

"Band On The Run" by Paul McCartney & Wings (1973)

By far the most enjoyable and fully created album that I have heard from McCartney so far.

Apparently it took him four solo studio albums (and those were very hit-and-miss affairs that nobody else would be allowed) to reach this point when everything finally fell into place and result is not just a vanity project but actually consistent collection that is joy to hear. Every single song is great, production finally professional and McCartney sounds inspired - I don't believe in "Wings" for a second, because this is all about singer himself and all the attention is focused on him. The overall sound of the album is pleasant, melodic early 1970s pop and even though she dips his toes into rock, we know he is just pretending - from a point of view of a radio DJ this must have been gift from Heaven because each and every song is extremely memorable (even with occasional slight lyrics). 

This is one of the very few albums that I enjoy listening from start to finish. Some say this is just McCartney showing off mastery of the craft but I have no problem with it - I don't expect pop music to be life-affirming and there is a beauty and power in intentional simplicity. 

"Venus And Mars" by Paul McCartney & Wings (1975)

Big seller for McCartney and his fictional band - I say "fictional" because it was all about him anyway - but it all honesty, I a not convinced either though I gave it repeated listening just to finally came to conclusion that production and cellophane shines more than material itself. Just like on "Red Rose Speedway" I found it is all a storm in a teapot - lots of ideas, lots of snippets and finally I don't remember a single thing. McCartney knows his way around melodies and is eager to prove himself, but when it comes down to it, it just doesn't make coherent statement or collection of memorable songs. If pressed to chose something from this album, only "Listen To What The Man Said" has a completely finished frame, the rest is unfortunately weak and lifeless. 

"Wings At The Speed Of Sound" by Paul McCartney & Wings (1976)

Golden period for McCartney though I have my doubts when it comes to his solo work - the more I listen, the more I am prone to conclusion that he lived off old fame and had just occasional spark of inspiration spread very thinly over his solo discography. This is double album full of his usual tricks & gimmicks (instrumental "Walking In The Park With Eloise" could have been something from "The Muppet Show") and while McCartney roams everywhere from country to blues to rock and back, I can only hear a musician who clearly lacks the focus and simply hits every direction in hope one of them will pay off. The worst offender is "Cook Of The House" wasted on Linda McCartney's vocals and though melody is fine, she simply had no audible personality whatsoever - husband's backing vocals are far superior to her lead. "Silly Love Songs" kind of encapsulates his whole worldview - basically, he is sunny, goofy family guy pretending to be a rock star.

"Wings Over America" (1976)

Paul McCartney and his fictional band at the top of the world - and in a unexpectedly sentimental way I feel good for him, since he obviously followed his muse and deserved this success. It is perhaps a overlong live album and it does not bring too many surprises or different versions of already familiar music - what you hear here is basically what he had already recorded except that live versions are more bombastic, louder and don't have so many little details like on official albums. Still, it is fun and it has contagious energy + McCartney playfully looks back on some songs he composed in 1960s ("Lady Madonna", "The Long And Winding Road", "Blackbird", "Yesterday") which apparently was a sacrilege back than but to me sounds completely natural because he wrote them, after all, and had all the rights in the world to sing them. I am surprised how many of these songs I know by heart already so even though all this live bravado seemed a bit pointless initially, I see it now as a loving "thank you" to fans. 

"London Town" (1978) 

Critics sneered as usual because music is so pretty but I found it darn irresistible.

Its McCartney going folk and its conscious step towards simple melodies, acoustic sound and memorable refrains. Denny Laine gets more space and even two solo spots (where we immediately miss Paul), there are literary hundreds of sweet, dreamy hooks and for the first time synthesizers creeps in but it doesn't bother me because McCartney comes as so natural and relaxed that final result is kind of warm and fuzzy feeling. At this point he had long left other three ex-colleagues far behind in the dust and he was by far the most successful of them all. At the same time McCartney released that single which in fact fits quite nicely with the rest of this folk-pop album. Ah yes, the finale "Morse Moose And The Grey Goose" is a brilliant madness, kind of disco-rock.

Either I am going mad or this is actually one of his best albums.

"Back To The Egg" (1979)

Not as half as bad as critics claimed back than, it signals arrival of two new band members and their presence prompted now veteran singer to keep up with younger musicians in a sense of trying to sound current. Because he is one of the best pop composers in the business, he can easily throw something like punk-rock "Spin It On" out of his hat but even with all that bravado, you get a sense he is perhaps trying too much. As usual there are tons of ideas in there somewhere and only rarely they come up as finished ("Arrow Through Me"), there is also a well-publicized all-star instrumental ("Rockestra Theme") that today sound like a TV serial theme, a pretty jazzy ballad "Baby's Request" and quite a lot of filler. Not one of his best works and it does feel unfocused. 

"Thrillington" (1971)

Eccentric and weird in a typical British way (kind of Monthy Python parody, really) this is all-instrumental, easy-listening version of "Ram" album and it truly sounds as McCartney wanted to please his father and relatives with orchestrated variations of his pop/rock music. You really must be a passionate fan or at least very familiar with original studio album to enjoy this - I listen with fascination, not because its great or enlightening but because it shows what McCartney could have been if he only decided to go that route. (Come to think of it, Ringo Starr went in that easy-listening direction and his solo career effectively ended.) Its really a vanity project that luckily never saw a sequels and I am honestly not sure to what audience this was supposed to appeal, except to a occasional weirdo like me who might listen this seriously. A novelty.

"McCartney II" (1980)

Remember that cute little solo debut from ten years ago, where McCartney played all instruments and went to top of the charts on the strength of basically charm & half-baked ideas? Well, this is very much the same, except that this time around McCartney had discovered synthesizers - again he tops the charts, again he plays all the instruments and serves more filler than finished ideas. Surely he could write hit songs in his sleep but it seems this time around he was more interested in experimenting with different distorted sounds synthesizers can do  - it must have been horror for record company executives who would prefer another "Mull of Kintyre" but you don't tell McCartney what to do and frankly, he shows genuine joy while fiddling with his new toys, cooking some funny sounds, witty instrumentals and generally making weird noise all around. Besides funky "Coming up" and humorous "Temporary Secretary" there is also a quite beautiful ballad "Waterfalls" - either you accept this eccentric artistic statement or you not, and I find it extremely interesting and refreshing that artist of such stature still shows enough curiosity to play around with new ideas instead of repeating himself. Once you wrap your head around the idea that this is not a chart-busting mega-seller but a playful DIY synthesizers half-instrumental album, it is actually fascinating. 

"Tug Of War" (1982)

No more Wings and this is full-fledged McCartney solo album. I actually really liked his previous, charmingly weird synthesizers-album because it was so unexpected and funny, but here he returns to standard pop formula and is instantly awarded with multi-million sales, great reviews and claims that this is "return to form". Which just shows that guy knew exactly what he wanted - I almost wish he stuck to experimental sound, but he is in the business of selling records and this time he came with carefully crafted, highly polished pop product. It might be one of his best works, actually - hard to find a fault here, one dreamy melody follows another, George Martin adds sophisticated touch here and there, we have surprise guests appearing and "Ebony and Ivory" for all its simplicity and sentimentality was a world-wide smash. Carefully tucked among dance songs in a tender "Here Today" and it does sound truly heartfelt.

"Pipes Of Peace" (1983)

Another multi-platinum album worldwide. I am aware of reviews back than and criticisms of McCartney alleged sugary sentimentality but honestly, I had listened this album forever (it was my very first Paul McCartney album, yes I was 1980s child) and hear nothing unusual or strange here: it was a perfectly produced (for its time), highly polished pop album, graced with one if the biggest hits of the decade ("Say Say Say") and if you think McCartney is sentimental, well, he always was. If there's one thing about this album is that it closely resembles "Tug Of War" and its not coincidence because most of the material was recorded simultaneously. Now why would "Tug Of War" be celebrated as wonderful return to form and this one criticized as dull and uninspired is beyond me - I find it happy, charming, witty, full of ridiculously pretty melodies and I can sing along to it forever. After all these years I still love and know every word of "The Other Me", "Keep Undercover", "Average Person" and almost everything except appearances of Michael Jackson whom I never liked and who was obviously a gimmick to bust the sales. McCartney got himself a star duet but Jackson returned home with interesting idea to invest into song rights. 

"Give My Regards To Broadstreet" (1984)

Soundtrack to apparently very unsuccessful movie that cooled McCartney from movie ambitions once for all. Music sold very well (album was nr.1 in UK) and it was all re-recordings of his famous work up to that point - from every corner, going back to 1960s Beatles music, 1970s Wings and recent 1980s solo hits - with few new songs thrown in.  It has charm, specially if you want to hear McCartney singing "Yesterday" or "Here, There and Everywhere" in a new, spare arrangement. George Martin is on hand with his recognizable classical touch, giving sophistication to what is basically empty, vanity project. Tucked away at the very end of soundtrack is interesting 1940s style orchestrated instrumental (kind of Glenn Miller) which was meant to be ironic, but in fact is quite beautiful. 

"Press To Play" (1986)

Is this a total commercial disaster or a misunderstood adventurous stretch from an artist who wanted to expand? Though it does surprise at first, upon repeated listening you get sense that McCartney wanted to consciously move away from "silly pop songs" and his recent work. If anything, it has more in common with experimental album "McCartney II" but apparently this is not what mainstream music wanted or expected from him - it is very interesting and accomplished from point of a view of a musician (dialogue bits, excellent playing and list of special star appearances) unfortunately it did non translate into chart success and it kind of damaged his status a bit. I wouldn't go so far to claim his muse deserted him - its just a little harder to crack the appeal of this one, where previously his melodies were instantly likable, this sounds a bit strained and labored.

"Neanderthal" by John Darton (1996)

This is a little something I found on my very first day on this ship, when I searched around for library - they are two, one for passengers and one for the crew. Passenger's library did not attract me at all because it was lined up with heavy hardbacks (probably for purpose to avoid people taking them home) while crew library - forgotten in some gloomy, dark spot - was all about paperback novels probably left behind. Tons of romance and love stories, occasional SF and some thrillers, I guess. I took this one because I love everything about Neanderthals and ancient human history, but deep inside I knew it will be just another silly paperback that is usually sold at the airports to kill time during the flight - I was right. 

It was entertaining and it held my attention, but at the end it turned out just as I expected, fluffy read. 

I guess this could probably be used as a basis for a adventure movie, because its very cinematic - two professors (lovers long ago, how conveniently) are sent in a deserted wilderness to found out whereabouts of third professor who had disappeared while searching for signs of Bigfoot, Yeti or possibly surviving Neanderthals. What is maddening is that this fluffy little bite could have been so much more if only author was just a little bit more ambitious - he clearly knows his way around the subject, because he mentions enough names to assure you he is fascinated with it. For whatever reasons, it all ends up boxed into typical thriller-adventure cliché (with unavoidable explosion & fire at the end) which really makes the whole story pointless and very lightweight. Somewhere deep inside there is a interesting message and a little bit of sadness - at least this is how personally I feel it - about our long lost relative. And surely, if we happen to find a surviving one, we would probably poke, pinch and stuck needles in him before we turn him into circus attraction. Not long ago I have visited a Neanderthal museum in Krapina, Croatia so this is all a very real, serious issue with me. I refuse to think they were in any way inferior to us.

"Madonna - Blonde Ambition" by Mark Bego (1991)

Another celebrity biography by Mark Bego and this one is surprisingly interesting, in spite of author's reservations about subject's likability - he often mentions her cold calculations, ambitions and the way she uses people to get the spotlight, but on the other hand he is fascinated with her fame, success and long career that shows no sign of slowing down. Even though he does his usual listing of recording dates, movies and seemingly every TV interview she ever gave, somehow this book ends up being more interesting than his other work simply because this time the story itself is much more unusual.

I was there in the early 1980s and I remember - Cindy Lauper was the first and we all assumed Madonna was just a cheap, gum-chewing copy who wouldn't last. To our biggest surprise, Lauper fizzled away and Madonna was the one who continued to grow, change and metamorphosed into perhaps the most famous (notorious?) female pop star of the 20 century. Back than I didn't like her - from the start there was something bratty, snooty and vulgar about her and though her music was ubiquitous, I never wanted to buy any of her records - didn't have to, since it was overplayed everywhere anyway. You couldn't open the radio without hearing her voice. It wasn't until much later, when she started doing ballads and did lovely "Secret" that I genuinely lifted my eyebrows in surprise, but at that point her public image was already so strong that I never took her to heart as some other artists. In this book, Mark Bego traces her career to a very early days of bumming around New York and eating leftovers from garbage cans to sudden rise to fame/notoriety and the way she exploited media ever since. Grudgingly I must admit that she succeeded on every level - even though her movies fall into Elvis Presley category, "Evita" was quite acceptable - from what I have seen, she is still very successful and presides over business company so good for her. She happens to be somebody I kept away for decades and never regretted it - her particular shtick somehow eludes me and I am still not convinced, but millions of people worship her so who am I to say. However, the book turns out captivating reading and I gulped it very fast. I think that now for some time I might rest from Mark Bego and celebrity biographies.

"Cher: If you believe" by Mark Bego (2001)

Yes, dear reader, I like to read biographies. It came as a surprise when I faced my list of "the books that I had read" and found so many celebrity biographies - it embarrassed me for a while and I kept this under a check for some time, but recently I decided to allow myself this guilty pleasure because frankly, I am really working so hard and lacking anything that makes me happy - places that I sail trough are mostly monotonous + its one hard working week after another, so I said to myself "you only live once, you might as well give yourself a pleasure of reading as many trashy biographies as you want". That Stephen King traumatised me so much that I went to completely opposite direction and treated myself with biographies of Aretha Franklin, Bette Midler, Julie Andrews and now Cher. So what. I will read serious classics another time.

My first ever introduction to Cher was some time in early 1980s - strange that for a celebrity famous for her looks, I have actually heard her voice first and it was on a Meat Loaf duet "Dead ringer for love". I had no idea what she looked like but her voice was great, full of attitude and passion. This was just before she became famous again, trough movies and later trough music again - I vaguely remember her voice from my childhood but it was in 1980s when I thought she was fascinating and really liked her. I followed more or less everything about her and know her discography, films and had even read her own book. To be honest, I didn't expect Mark Bego will unearth anything new that I have not read elsewhere - her story is well-known and it is a career that had so many ups and downs that just reading about it induces vertigo.

Bego focuses his attention to very detailed description of Cher's discography, movies, lovers and public image but as usual, he refrains from any conclusions  of what motivates her to continue decade after decade - is she a beautiful survivor or simply attention seeking media manipulator? For a person always quick to point that she was never taken seriously, it must be noted that her fame was mostly based on revealing & outrageous outfits and singles tailored for pop market. Which, when looking back at decades of public undressing, shows career that was neither mature or dignified - she succeeded in crossing over from music to TV and movies, but kept fanning the flames with showing off tattoos on her backside. When it comes down to it, Cher comes across as someone who simultaneously provokes and complains about why people are provoked. Maybe I see it slightly differently now from perspective of accumulated years & experience, where earlier I thought she was fascinating, now I started to think well, she never truly went the serious artist route in the first place - her main weapon trough the years were glitzy TV shows, Las Vegas, gowns and hairstyles - thanks to faithful audience and cult following she continued to work ever since early 1960s but this biography never even dares to question what is her reason to continue or is it constant pursue for another hit all there is for her? She must have gained some financial security long ago so I doubt she is in dire need - at this point Cher is pushing 70 and still stripping on Las Vegas stage, however this book provides no answers, it mainly lists her public appearances and outfits.

"Home: A Memoir of My Early Years" by Julie Andrews (2008)

What a surprise - not unlike Charlie Chaplin's own book that showed how beloved comedian actually rose from tragical childhood full of misery, poverty and sadness, sunny and cheerful Julie Andrews actually started in grey, impoverished and food-rationed Britain with divorced parents and alcoholism around her. Judging from her lighthearted public image, everybody would expect that she had always bounced trough the clouds and flower fields, where in fact at the very early age she was the main bread winner of the family and kept the rent paid with her concert performances while still only a teenager.

The book is written exquisitely - as expected, Andrews has a classy, stylish touch and simply glosses over negative things, trying bravely to describe only pretty gardens, flowers and happy moments but every now and than we are reminded that this was simply a frame of mind and not a reality. Reality was a poverty, exhaustion, cruel stepfather, sad and lonely stepbrothers and alcoholic mother who would often embarrass her in public. It is just amazing how she blossomed into star of musical theatre in spite of all this shortcomings and no one could even guess there was such a sadness underneath her poise. Somewhere along the line Andrews braced herself and worked really hard - nothing was ever given to her and she describes every step of her early life & career for what it was - constant rehearsals, concerts, performances and more rehearsals. Far from living glamorous life, when she appeared on Broadway her diet was canned food. Between the lines we sense how strong she became and that her whole outlook was the matter of choice, Andrews is not the one to mop around and feel self-pity - no matter what circumstances, she would laugh at herself and whistle away. It is really difficult (almost impossible) to separate her public image and private personality because in a way she reflected it all in her subsequent movie work - apparently she IS that kind of a person who would always look on the bright side of life and serve a spoonful of sugar. There are certain moments truly heartbreaking (specially when she talks about her beloved father and what did he mean to her) but she balances it all with a excitement from her theatre work experiences. Just wonderful. 

"Bette Midler - Still Divine" by Mark Bego (2002)

Aretha's biography by Mark Bego was so interesting, light, breezy, well written and entertaining that I decided to continue with Mark Bego's work - I love celebrity biographies, specially about female performers (whom I always found more interesting that men, for some reason) and Bego writes well, with just right mix of fascination, affection and curiosity. Best of all, he is not evil biographer but seems a genuinely thrilled with stars and so far I have not encountered anything close to Kitty Kelley who is determined to expose flaws with her subjects - Bego always does his research job seriously but is respectful.

My very first introduction to Bette Midler was trough soundtrack of her movie "The Rose" - we are talking about early 1980s - back than I thought she was some bargain-basement version of Streisand and not even near her as a either singer or actress. With time I came to realize that they are in fact completely different artists - if Streisand was a modern-day Fanny Brice, Midler was modern-day Sophie Tucker. Both were jewish girls who started in music and moved to movies, but where Streisand in her heydays was probably the best singer in the world, Midler was actually outrageous stand-up comedienne with a decidedly vulgar shtick who could also occasionally sing. Yes, she recorded tons of albums and some of them even sold very well, though she was never considered truly great singer. Her main weapon were live concerts where she dazzled as a bawdy entertainer supported by mainly gay audience who particularly loved her offbeat, campy humor. 

Bego's biography comes across as affectionate and written from a fan's point of view - he meticulously lists every step of Midler's surprisingly long and successful career, from her very early Broadway steps onwards, trough each single, album and movie she ever made. Its clear that he loves his subject and his contagious enthusiasm sent me to her music, though I don't always agree with him and still find Midler only a mediocre singer when compared to some other, more original voices. As much as I like her and find her funny, she always seemed a bit victim of her own campy image - in the movies she was over-the-top cartoon, in the music likewise. That her ballads occasionally present a softer, sentimental side of her just points that maybe a sensitive performer is buried somewhere under all those layers of vulgarity and bawdiness. I guess that privately Midler just might be completely different person that what people expect from her. She comes across as extremely likable and author has nothing bad to say about her - occasional nervous exhaustion and stress is all he hints at, which is natural coming from someone who juggles several projects simultaneously. I really only know her from movies and albums so all this details about public appearances, awards and gowns don't really seem very important in light of what counts finally - however, book is extremely detailed (updated in fact, from 1987 version) and probably a enjoyable experience for her fans. Since Midler continued strong even after the date of this book, it could easily be updated again as she doesn't show any signs of slowing down. 

"In the Devil's Garden" by Stewart Lee Allen (2002)

Strange but for once the book about food did not made me run to the fridge, in fact it had quite opposite effect and literary killed any notion of appetite.

The subject is fascinating - food as taboo trough the history - with all different and colourful anecdotes Bill Bryson usually throws out of his sleeve but this author is not Bryson and he kind of enjoys more in gleefully presenting oddities and nastiness about what people considered delicacies at various points trough centuries. The sheer volume of noted bibliography shows that Allen took his obsession very seriously - there are countless stories about societies being suspicious of new unknown objects, adamant of what is proper to cook, how to prepare the meals and even with whom its supposed to dine with. The unfortunate Spanish lady Beatriz Lopez who got burned on a stake (while church chorus sang along to drown out her screams) because she used oil (gasp) in her cooking is just one example of how ridiculously fussy and unforgiving our ancestors were - after reading this, I feel guilty about poring olive oil on my salad and lucky that Spanish inquisition can't see me (I'm sure they would have found thousand and one reason to burn me anyway). Today we take it for granted that we can enjoy fruit & meat & products from all over the world, but according to this book people were darn serious about it and often mixed everything up with religion, so God help you if you took a wrong bite.

Though not really as exciting as I hoped it would be, the book still kept my attention to the end and somewhere along the lines pointed at two interesting ideas. This is something that has been mention only in passing but I remember thinking about it:

- could it be that Israel's "Sons of Abraham" and Indian "Brahmins" share same primordial roots somewhere in a forgotten history?

- the idea of Eden not as a specific place but a time when all living beings on Earth were vegetarian and lived in harmony. Once the climate changed and vegetation became rare, survival depended on proteins and first blood was shared - killing not to protect the territory but to feed changed inhabitants of Earth forever and effectively started the whole chain reaction that led to humans becoming hunters (and inventing a whole bunch of things in order to get that meat). I kind of started to think that the whole Eve/Apple idea was lost in translation and that perhaps its all about meat and killing, more than anything else - perhaps story of Eden is idea of vegetarian world that once was and no killing was necessary.