Me, the Mob, and the Music: One Helluva Ride with Tommy James and the Shondells for $11.50

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Me, the Mob, and the Music: One Helluva Ride with Tommy James and the Shondells for $18.46

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To start with I have to admit that I am a huge TJ fan and have seen TJ and his various bands at least a dozen times since 1970. I have every album to date and love TJ's music so I was really happy he wrote this book. It's a quick read and does have a nice flow, but I wanted more. Tommy isn't just another "lucky" one hit wonder or forgotten recording artist that had a few hits and was resigned to the oldies circuit. Tommy James has had an incredible career and is still writing, recording and out there on the road headlining his own tours.
Tommy James is one of the few recording artists from the 60's who could offer a great overview of the many changes in music both artistically and technically through the years. Tommy wasn't just a singer/guitar player he also wrote and produced his own records and took advantage of each new advancement of recording technology to improve the sound of his recordings. Tommy James helped pioneer new techniques in studio throughout the 60's and 70's. He went from the mono one track reel to reel recordings of the original Shondells to todays unlimited digital recording studios yet not a word in the book mentions any of this. Listen to Tommy's 1977 album "Midnight Rider". It is one of finest state-of-the-art recordings to have come out of that period. A technical masterpiece, yet there is barely a mention of it in his book.
Tommy's career went from small club column PA systems and the "in-house" PA systems of gymnasiums and theaters to the huge and elaborate systems he uses today. Tommy more than any artist still out there playing today has seen so many changes in his career I was hoping for a little more of that perspective. Maybe that's a subject he is keeping for his 2nd book. This book centers on his time with Roulette Records and that is pretty much it. His career after his first couple of solo hits is written more as a quick overview of the past 30 years of his career with hardly a mention of the great things he has done since.
Still, something is better than nothing. What there is is good. I just want more.

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