Includes bonus PDF. Read by the author and John Lee.
Contents:
Once upon a time in the West End -- What's it all about, BT? -- The ballad of Reg and Bern -- Turning left at Greenland -- First bite -- Close encounter of the literary kid -- Nous Avons des Canards dans le Hall -- Straight time -- Ralphie and the Dali -- The Bajan Chronicles -- Showdown at the Gilded Grape -- John Lennon's not so lost weekend -- Weird scenes from the old world -- Rocky Mountain high for real -- The days of wine and noses -- The little white wonder -- The ragtop leaves on Friday -- Bad day in Montserrat -- Overdone down under -- In-between -- Don't fence me in -- Welcome to the reckoning -- Epilogue.
Summary:
This is the memoir music fans have been waiting for. Half of one of the greatest creative partnerships in popular music, Bernie Taupin is the man who wrote the lyrics for Elton John, who conceived the ideas that spawned countless hits and sold millions and millions of records. Together, they were a duo, a unit, an immovable object. Their extraordinary half-century-and-counting creative relationship has been chronicled in biopics (like 2019's Rocketman) and even John's own autobiography, Me. But Taupin, a famously private person, has kept his own account of their adventures close to his chest, until now. Written with honesty and candor, this memoir allows the reader to witness events unfolding from Taupin's singular perspective -- sometimes front and center, sometimes from the edge, yet always described vibrantly, with an infectious energy that only a vivid songwriter's prose could offer. From his childhood in the East Midlands of England, where his imagination was sparked and forever informed by the distinctly American mythopoetics of country music and cowboy culture, to the glittering, star-studded fishbowl of '70s and '80s Beverly Hills, this is simultaneously a Tom JonesƯ-like picaresque journey across a landscape of unforgettable characters, as well as a striking, first-hand account of a creative era like no other and one man's experience at the core of it.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.