Mick Jagger

While reading a book is not the same as meeting someone, as in, meeting your heroes, as in, don't meet your heroes because you'll be disappointed, I learned a lot about Mick Jagger, and yes, he did disappointment me as a fellow human being.The book is well written. It flows from one chapter to the next, one scene to the next very well. It also kept me up a few nights way past my bedtime, which for me is a sign that a book was good enough that I lost track of time and/or didn't care that I should have been asleep a couple of hours ago.The author has an annoying way of spelling out phonetically how Mick Jagger speaks. I guess he was intrigued by the array of accents Jagger spoke in, depending on who he was addressing. A couple of times, okay, but it was too many times, and sometimes, I really could not make out the quote the author was trying to spell out. There were a few sections, especially in the beginning, that seemed to go into too much detail, and some that didn't give enough detail--like how did Jagger and Keith Richards meet, aside from living close to each other? How did they become music buddies before The Rolling Stones existed, when they were just kids? I don't think there's much in the book about this, and I was interested in knowing a little more about that.Those are about the only things I can really criticize about the book. Other than that, I think it's well written. Bonus for American English speakers: if you take the time to look up the meanings of the words you don't know (easy with Kindle), you'll enlarge your vocabulary. None of those words seemed to be included in a disingenuous way; they served the author's purpose well and never came off as pseudo-intellectual.Now, for the story itself. I myself have never considered myself a Stones fan. I like some of their songs, but they were a little before my time, and even though I know lots of people who really adore them, that was never me. Like, yes, but I was never really that much into them. I have only owned two albums by them, and one was a gift that I never really got into. I am, however, always interested in knowing more about successful musicians, especially of the classic rock era, and one night a couple of weeks ago, I found myself on the Keith Richards side of YouTube watching interviews. That guy is so entertaining. He's funny and interesting and seems like a very happy person after all these years. So I started out with his memoir, Life.Well, I like listening to Richards giving interviews, but the book is written in the same stream-of-consciousness way that he talks, and it was too hard for me to read. I kept losing interest.So then I wound up downloading this, hoping for more about all of the Stones, not only Mick Jagger. There is not a whole lot about the other musicians, and I'd have liked to know more about Charlie Watts, Bill Wyman, Ron Wood, Richards, and even Brian Jones. That's not really a relevant criticism of the book, since it only purports to be a biography of Jagger, but I do wish there had been more.One of Jagger's "secrets" to his legendary performance to this day is that he got off the partying bandwagon before he really got out of hand like too many other musicians of that era ( and later generations too). To my knowledge, he was never into heroin. There are not many incidents of his being drunk in the book. Ditto cocaine, though I'm sure like most musicians of that era--I mean the 70s--he did some. He just stopped before he did permanent damage to his body and did as his father, the gym teacher, had taught him as boy: got into exercise. By the end of the book (2011), his exercise routine is described as: running, biking, yoga, pilates, and weight training. That'll do it. The man has a physique and the stamina of a man half his age. Amazing.What disappointed me is how he seems just plain mean, greedy and manipulative--what he did to Marsha Hunt, the black woman from the musical Hair who inspired the song Brown Sugar is just plain rotten to the core. Read the book to find out how he treated her. (And. my god, the song, the song .... and Tina Turner did duets with them of that song???)Later, he actually tricked Jerry Hall into believing they were married, knowing that the marriage was not legal in the country where they did it. Jerry Hall found this out after she could take no more of his philandering ways and filed for divorce. Surprise, surprise: as Jerry found out, she was never legally married to the man and therefore, was not entitled to alimony. That had to have been a very bitter pill to swallow, especially after all the running around he did that finally pushed her hand to leave him. And it seems that Jagger paid her off not to publish her own memoirs, so that no one will ever really know. So he had the money to buy her off like that, but gave her a mediocre settlement that she described as "very, very generous" when she got her non-divorce. Later, she finds she needs money, which is what leads her to write her memoirs--then he had more money for her. This is not an honorable man.He was cheap with child support with all of his children and I just can't overlook that. It's one of the greediest things a man can do when it comes to his children. And what he did to Marsha Hunt and her daughter, Karis, is just beyond the pale. So the relationships did not work out: Okay, fine, but those are his children. And Marsha Hunt's daughter, Jagger's oldest child, got the worst deal of all. I can't fathom how the guy could do such a thing.Bianca does not come off as a very interesting character at all in the book. Whether that is the case in real life, I don't know. I don't know much about her, and this book didn't make me curious about her in any way. I would like to know more about Marianne Faithfull, because she does come off as interesting in this book. Tragic, but interesting.Then there is Bill Wyman who actually made more money with his restaurants after he left the band than he did as a member of the band. Ron Wood was on salary, also not making the money he should have. Allegedly, Charlie Watts was also not paid commensurately. How much money does one man needs? (Or two, I guess, Richards and Jagger being the two who paid themselves the lion's share.) Greed is always a turn off for me, and this just grossed me out.The book is interesting, and Jagger is a really interesting person. I'm glad I read this, but I think I'll forever regard him as a miserly person who cared more about keeping more and more money for himself than doing the right and good thing when it came to people who should have a mattered more: his children and his band mates.There is plenty about the early influences, the black blues artists who were the biggest inspiration, and I found those parts just great. There was not very much about the Beatles, though it seems Jagger and Lennon were fairly good friends.There are also stories about Mick and the movie industry. I don't think he was destined to be a star of the big screen, but he seems to have been well liked by the people he did work with in the couple of films he did. The guy is a real chameleon--can be incredibly rotten and demanding but also shy and kind.There are also some stories about how their early experiences being shafted by their record company and a couple of managers. Oh, they got even with their first record company that had ripped them off badly. I won't go into detail--you'll have to read it yourself and laugh as hard as I did.So I liked this book quite a bit. Jagger--maybe not so much. Still, the music is good, and Jagger is a very interesting person. He might be a cheapskate, but he's super talented, hard working and at this point, just plain amazing, and this book does a good job (I think--I wasn't there) describing Mick Jagger the person.Good book. I'm glad I read it.

Sometimes customer reviewers let their personal biases get in the way of their reviews. That seems to be the case with several of the reviews about this book. One's personal opinion about Mick Jagger, or one's preference for another of the Stones doesn't mean this is a bad book. I also do not understand the comment made in several reviews that Keith Richards' book was better. I've read both books, and I say his book was different, not better. An autobiography filled with one's personal thoughts, feelings, impressions, etc. is going to be much different from a biography written by somebody else. The two books approach the Stones from entirely different angles, and I say just read both of them. If you want to compare this book to another book, compare it to Christopher Anderson's Jagger biography. This book beats that tabloid-ish, inaccurate disaster by a mile.Regarding the biases some reviewers thought this author has..... I don't think he is a Mick Jagger apologist. He has some positive things to say about Jagger, and just as many negative things. I didn't feel he was unfair to any of the other stones either. He tries to present a fair picture of each person. There were no villains in the book and no saints. I didn't get the impression he was on anybody's "side."There were a lot of references to the Beatles. As I read it I thought, "I'll bet this guy has also written a book about the Beatles," and, yes he has. It's not a major flaw though.I'd recommend this book to anybody who wants to read an overview of the Stones career. Even though it's called a biography of Mick Jagger, it's really a history of the whole band, with an emphasis on Jagger. It does blow away some rock myths--such as the myth that the police waited until George Harrison left Redlands before raiding the house in order to portect the Beatles reputation. Also the explanation about the set up at Altamont was good. Most people do think that was a Stones concert, not a multi-group event, and most people do think it was the Stones who gave the security task to the Hell's Angels.All in all this is a balanced look at the topic. I would certainly consider reading other books by this author.

I love the wit! I found myself laughing out loud through many of the passages, having to put it down, and then picking it up again only to repeat the process.

Being slightly younger than Mick and having lived around the corner from him in London I have a considerable affinity with this brilliantly written bio on one of the most influential artists of post WWII Britain. I cannot think that MJ could be offended by this book which I get the impression Philip Norman has written based not on tabloid gossip but considerable knowledge of his subject coupled with detailed research. It is a complete Who's Who of the musical world which I found riveting but it is the author's fabulous sense of humour that gives so much joy. He's serious when required but then there are priceless one-liners that left me in stitches; unfortunate though Keith Richard's life threatening accident was in Fiji, Philip Norman brings it to the reader's attention so suddenly and succinctly that you are left in no doubt that it was spectacularly clumsy for KR to have been in the palm tree at all.Whilst I have never met MJ nor, to my eternal sadness ever even been to a Stones concert, I have come away from this book feeling as though I know the bloke. That he has survived intact seven decades is nothing short of a miracle - this book nearly did me in just reading it - when all around him others have fallen off the 'sex, drugs and rock 'n roll' roundabout is a testament to the ultimate man that he is.Father of 7, grandfather and lover of - sorry, lost count - MJ comes out of this book alive and well. All I found difficult was keeping up with the names, which litter the pages but unless you are doing your Phd on MJ, this will not dilute your enjoyment of this book. A tour de force that I hope MJ thinks does him justice.

Great book loads of interesting facts

A book about an arrogant, controlling rapacious sex predator. And it's boring.

Jagger must have had a gremlin looking over his shoulder all those years. The gremlin's name was Philip Norman. This is such a detailed record, it's difficult to believe Norman wasn't there. Jagger seems a difficult person to like and his treatment of the women in his life is disgraceful. How he demands paternity tests and tries to wriggle out of the 'marriage that wasn't' in Bali to poor old Jerry Hall. He's got seven children - it's a wonder there aren't more. I love the Stones music and have always been aware of tensions within the band, and it's fascinating to read the background to these. It took me ages to read all 600 pages of this book but it's the sort of book you can put down and come back to. Reading it brings back all the excitement, buzz and scandals of the 60s: the Redlands drug bust, the 'Mars bar' incident, Altamount etc. It's all there, and more.But do I know what makes Mick tick? No. He is an astute and savvy business man, maltreater and user of women, superb showman, rude, arrogant, stingy and generous, charming when he chooses to be and with surprising moments of vulnerability. It dwells a lot on the women in his life: Chrissie, Marianne, Bianca, Jerry, Angelina Jolie (and many more). The way he deals with his relationships (with both men and women)say a lot about the character of the man. It must be difficult to be in his skin. If you read no other biography of Mick Jagger, read this one. It won't leave you wanting.

This is a very well written book. Philip Norman is a master craftsman of the art of biography. He does his research properly, analyses his material in sufficient depth, presents it in cracking narrative style and as a result has given us an accurate, if not always entirely flattering, portrait of a modern day icon. The illustrations are also well chosen. This is manifestly NOT just another gossipy book about the Rolling Stones and very much a book about Jagger the complex man as well as Jagger the rock legend. It shows him as a key creative in relation to the Stones body of work, and also as an equally sharp cookie on the business front. The wild side is there, no doubt, but despite the somewhat vivid lifestyle and myriad relationships, his credentials are solidly middle class. It is highly recommended: not just for people who grew up with Stones music as part of the soundtrack of their lives, but for anyone interested in modern social and cultural history. Jumping Jack Flash has been the subject of other books, but none as thorough and readable as this one.

This is a very well-balanced account of the life of Mick and the Rolling Stones. I was hooked from Page One although I am not a particularly big fan of the band.The author's hilariously dry humour is evident on almost every page and his research skills are second to none. He can recall great details about the RS including birthdays, wedding anniversaries, the date of their first public appearance, etc. I think the acid test for a biography is whether or not it would appeal to readers who are not fans. In this case Philip Norman passes the test with flying colours. It is readable right from the start and PN spares no blushes -he tells us that Keith Richards' mother often had to clean up their flat and she insisted on changing his daughters' name from Dandelion to Angela -but that is "bye the bye" as we say here in Scotland. I am a writer myself but I confess that I could not have done such a good job. My only complaint is that Norman seems to idolise Mick and appears to be a huge fan. Apart from that -I take my hat off to him. Well done Philip !