Author:Nick Tosches
The dramatic and tormented life of Jerry Lee Lewis is the most fabled in rock 'n' roll history. Hellfire is a wild, riveting, and beautifully written biography that received universal acclaim on its original publication and is now an American classic.
Born in Louisiana to a family legacy of great courage and greater madness, Jerry Lee was torn throughout his life between a harsh Pentecostal God and the Devil of alcohol, drugs, and rock 'n' roll.
At twenty-one he recorded 'Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On', which propelled him to stardom. Almost immediately, news of his marriage to his thirteen-year-old cousin all but destroyed his career. Over the next twenty years, Jerry Lee, ever indomitable and ever wild, would rise again as a country star, and then lose it all again to his own inner demons.
Hellfire is a brilliant, audacious journey into the soul of a rock 'n' roll legend, and into the soul of rock 'n' roll itself.
The number one greatest music book ever
—— ObserverQuite simply the best rock and roll biography ever written
—— Rolling StoneThe best rock 'n' roll biography ever written . . . There is a novelistic intensity to this story of tragedy, triumph and love. Its portrayal of a society alien to mainstream America is riveting
—— NewsdayBrilliant . . . the best account we have of how the first rock and rollers were torn between salvation and the Devil's music
—— New StatesmanMasterfully teases out the warring impulses wrestling in [Davies’s] psyche … [Rogan is] adept at relating the social history of the 1950s and 1960s to Davies’s brooding character and lyric obsessions ... He uncovers psychological traumas everywhere and is fascinating on the bitchy rivalries between 1960s pop titans … Such tales make this ... oceanically researched biography go with a swing
—— Sunday TimesMeticulously researched, crafted with a near-obsessive passion and boasts abundant original interviews … the many fans of [Davies] have never been served this well; Rogan interviews major players and delves deep into the archives to emerge with the ultimate account of Davies’ life, times and idiosyncrasies … Rogan never loses sight of Davies’ position as a quintessentially brilliant English songwriter and pop-culture commentator, resulting in his own personal masterpiece and another benchmark for music biographies
—— Record CollectorDefinitive … impressive … Nary a character or event of even minor importance in the Davies story is left undisturbed by the author’s flair for asking the right questions of the right people (including Ray himself) and plundering archives … The wonder is that with so many facts and opinions to assemble, this tome remains so eminently readable
—— Mojo *****A terrific insight into one of Britain's greatest artists
—— ShortlistMonumental ... shining through the violence, the personality clashes, the litigation with former management, the volatile relationship with women, even a mental breakdown, are the songs
—— Daily MailRogan chooses to delve deep into the period that will most interest potential readers of this book … defiantly non-sensationalist … dogged, even-handed and punctilious in his research … scrupulously fair in his assessments of his subject’s work and character, while also conceding that, in several ways, Davies remains an enigma … a valuable account of the working life of a complicated man
—— SpectatorKinkophiles will enjoy the recreation of Sixties London and the accounts of sibling mayhem
—— TelegraphGripping and hugely readable … teems with as much detail as a 19th-century novel … whatever’s been previously written about the band is rather overwhelmed by Rogan’s book with its illuminating interviews with Ray and Dave Davies and an abundance of supplementary testimony
—— UncutThe most in-depth biography to date of the head Kink and enduring pop genius
—— ChoiceA vivid, heartfelt recreation
—— Classic RockOne of the best rock biographers of his generation
—— Irish IndependentThis richly detailed and revelatory biography presents the most frank and intimate portrait yet of Ray Davies
—— CGA MagazineRogan does an excellent job of trying to work out what makes The Kinks’ enigmatic frontman tick whilst charting the tumultuous career of a band whose idiosyncratic but brilliant hits are currently enjoying a renaissance
—— Mail on SundayThis book is a good, solid, factually based read throughout… I imagine nearing six decades of recording history to be squeezed into one book is a task beyond the scope of a lot of authors, but this has been done rather well by Johnny Rogan… Excellent and complex.
—— Reg Seward , NudgeAn engaging and very accessible history book about our modern artistic achievements that, provocatively, also debunks some of the very icons it praises.
—— Simon Copeland , The Sun