Jump to content

NEW BOOK: What You Want Is in the Limo


Recommended Posts

NEW BOOK
What You Want Is in the Limo: On the Road with Led Zeppelin, Alice Cooper, and the Who in 1973, the Year the Sixties Died and the Modern Rock Star Was Born by Michael Walker
An epic joyride through three history-making tours in 1973 that defined rock and roll superstardom—the money, the access, the excess—forevermore.
The Who’s Quadrophenia. Led Zeppelin’s Houses of the Holy. Alice Cooper’s Billion Dollar Babies. These three unprecedented tours—and the albums that inspired them—were the most ambitious of these artists’ careers, and they forever changed the landscape of rock and roll: the economics, the privileges, and the very essence of the concert experience. On these juggernauts, rock gods—and their entourages—were born, along with unimaginable overindulgence and the legendary flameouts. Tour buses were traded for private jets, arenas replaced theaters, and performances transmogrified into over-the-top, operatic spectacles. As the sixties ended and the seventies began, an altogether more cynical era took hold: peace, love, and understanding gave way to sex, drugs, and rock and roll.
But the decade didn’t become the seventies, acclaimed journalist Michael Walker writes, until 1973, a historic and mind-bogglingly prolific year for rock and roll that saw the release of countless classic albums, from The Dark Side of the Moon to Goat’s Head Soup; Goodbye Yellow Brick Road; Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.; and The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle. Aerosmith, Queen, and Lynyrd Skynyrd released their debut albums. The Roxy and CBGB opened their doors. Every major act of the era—from Fleetwood Mac to Black Sabbath—was on the road that summer, but of them all, Walker writes, it was The Who, Led Zeppelin, and Alice Cooper who emerged as the game changers.
Walker revisits each of these three tours in memorable, all-access detail: he goes backstage, onto the jets, and into the limos, where every conceivable wish could be granted. He wedges himself into the sweaty throng of teenage fans (Walker himself was one of them) who suddenly were an economic force to be reckoned with, and he vividly describes how a decade’s worth of decadence was squeezed into twelve heart-pounding, backbreaking, and rule-defying months that redefined, for our modern times, the business of superstardom.
Praise for Michael Walker’s Laurel Canyon
“Hilarious and true and bittersweet—Michael Walker catches the mood in the air, and gets it right.”—Cameron Crowe
“A strong addition to the era’s literature . . . exhaustively researched and richly anecdotal.”—Salon
“A winding, inviting . . . portrait of a bohemian quarter that played a prominent role in the foundation of rock music.”—The New York Times Book Review
“Essential reading for music fans.”—TimeOut New York
---
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you for putting this here. I had heard of this book and was surprised no one had mentioned it here yet. I am also curious to his insights about the '73 tour, but the review says he takes heavily from other things too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

NEW BOOK
What You Want Is in the Limo: On the Road with Led Zeppelin, Alice Cooper, and the Who in 1973, the Year the Sixties Died and the Modern Rock Star Was Born by Michael Walker
An epic joyride through three history-making tours in 1973 that defined rock and roll superstardom—the money, the access, the excess—forevermore.
The Who’s Quadrophenia. Led Zeppelin’s Houses of the Holy. Alice Cooper’s Billion Dollar Babies. These three unprecedented tours—and the albums that inspired them—were the most ambitious of these artists’ careers, and they forever changed the landscape of rock and roll: the economics, the privileges, and the very essence of the concert experience. On these juggernauts, rock gods—and their entourages—were born, along with unimaginable overindulgence and the legendary flameouts. Tour buses were traded for private jets, arenas replaced theaters, and performances transmogrified into over-the-top, operatic spectacles. As the sixties ended and the seventies began, an altogether more cynical era took hold: peace, love, and understanding gave way to sex, drugs, and rock and roll.
But the decade didn’t become the seventies, acclaimed journalist Michael Walker writes, until 1973, a historic and mind-bogglingly prolific year for rock and roll that saw the release of countless classic albums, from The Dark Side of the Moon to Goat’s Head Soup; Goodbye Yellow Brick Road; Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.; and The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle. Aerosmith, Queen, and Lynyrd Skynyrd released their debut albums. The Roxy and CBGB opened their doors. Every major act of the era—from Fleetwood Mac to Black Sabbath—was on the road that summer, but of them all, Walker writes, it was The Who, Led Zeppelin, and Alice Cooper who emerged as the game changers.
Walker revisits each of these three tours in memorable, all-access detail: he goes backstage, onto the jets, and into the limos, where every conceivable wish could be granted. He wedges himself into the sweaty throng of teenage fans (Walker himself was one of them) who suddenly were an economic force to be reckoned with, and he vividly describes how a decade’s worth of decadence was squeezed into twelve heart-pounding, backbreaking, and rule-defying months that redefined, for our modern times, the business of superstardom.
Praise for Michael Walker’s Laurel Canyon
“Hilarious and true and bittersweet—Michael Walker catches the mood in the air, and gets it right.”—Cameron Crowe
“A strong addition to the era’s literature . . . exhaustively researched and richly anecdotal.”—Salon
“A winding, inviting . . . portrait of a bohemian quarter that played a prominent role in the foundation of rock music.”—The New York Times Book Review
“Essential reading for music fans.”—TimeOut New York
---

NEW BOOK
What You Want Is in the Limo: On the Road with Led Zeppelin, Alice Cooper, and the Who in 1973, the Year the Sixties Died and the Modern Rock Star Was Born by Michael Walker
An epic joyride through three history-making tours in 1973 that defined rock and roll superstardom—the money, the access, the excess—forevermore.
The Who’s Quadrophenia. Led Zeppelin’s Houses of the Holy. Alice Cooper’s Billion Dollar Babies. These three unprecedented tours—and the albums that inspired them—were the most ambitious of these artists’ careers, and they forever changed the landscape of rock and roll: the economics, the privileges, and the very essence of the concert experience. On these juggernauts, rock gods—and their entourages—were born, along with unimaginable overindulgence and the legendary flameouts. Tour buses were traded for private jets, arenas replaced theaters, and performances transmogrified into over-the-top, operatic spectacles. As the sixties ended and the seventies began, an altogether more cynical era took hold: peace, love, and understanding gave way to sex, drugs, and rock and roll.
But the decade didn’t become the seventies, acclaimed journalist Michael Walker writes, until 1973, a historic and mind-bogglingly prolific year for rock and roll that saw the release of countless classic albums, from The Dark Side of the Moon to Goat’s Head Soup; Goodbye Yellow Brick Road; Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.; and The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle. Aerosmith, Queen, and Lynyrd Skynyrd released their debut albums. The Roxy and CBGB opened their doors. Every major act of the era—from Fleetwood Mac to Black Sabbath—was on the road that summer, but of them all, Walker writes, it was The Who, Led Zeppelin, and Alice Cooper who emerged as the game changers.
Walker revisits each of these three tours in memorable, all-access detail: he goes backstage, onto the jets, and into the limos, where every conceivable wish could be granted. He wedges himself into the sweaty throng of teenage fans (Walker himself was one of them) who suddenly were an economic force to be reckoned with, and he vividly describes how a decade’s worth of decadence was squeezed into twelve heart-pounding, backbreaking, and rule-defying months that redefined, for our modern times, the business of superstardom.
Praise for Michael Walker’s Laurel Canyon
“Hilarious and true and bittersweet—Michael Walker catches the mood in the air, and gets it right.”—Cameron Crowe
“A strong addition to the era’s literature . . . exhaustively researched and richly anecdotal.”—Salon
“A winding, inviting . . . portrait of a bohemian quarter that played a prominent role in the foundation of rock music.”—The New York Times Book Review
“Essential reading for music fans.”—TimeOut New York
---

Thanks so much,the 70's,in my opinion best decade ever for true rock music

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

I am reading this now. A quick read, most of the Zeppelin information is a rehash, but certainly not everything is (for me). The Who and Alice Cooper bits are interesting too.

The Stones and Beatles have been mentioned several times as well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am reading this now. A quick read, most of the Zeppelin information is a rehash, but certainly not everything is (for me). The Who and Alice Cooper bits are interesting too.

The Stones and Beatles have been mentioned several times as well.

Does he have any insights or new information on the Led Zeppelin robbery? Also, does he spend any time on the physical and mental toll those lengthy American tours had on the musicians?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Does he have any insights or new information on the Led Zeppelin robbery? Also, does he spend any time on the physical and mental toll those lengthy American tours had on the musicians?

Sorry for taking so long to answer this, and I still cannot answer the first question, but the answer to the second one is yes indeed. I'm having a difficult time getting through the book, not because it's not a good read (it is).

I'll give a more detailed response when I've finished. Cheers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Does he have any insights or new information on the Led Zeppelin robbery? Also, does he spend any time on the physical and mental toll those lengthy American tours had on the musicians?

A grand total of three sentences was spent on the robbery in New York.

Of the handful of Zeppelin related books I've read, this was not my favorite, but not least favorite. Not much new Zeppelin info, but I learned quite a bit about Alice Cooper and The Who.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...