Author:Jimmy McDonough
Neil Young is one of rock and roll's most important, influential and enigmatic figures, an intensely reticent artist who has granted no writer access to his inner sanctum - until now. Shakey is the whole story of Young's incredible life and career: from his childhood in Canada to the founding of folk-rock pioneers Buffalo Springfield; the bleary conglomeration of Crazy Horse and the monstrous success of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young; to the depths of the Tonight's the Night depravity and the Geffen years; and Young's unprecedented nineties 'comeback'.
Shakey (the title refers to one of Young's many aliases) is also the compelling human story of a lonely kid for whom music was the only outlet, a driven yet tortured figure who controlled his epilepsy via 'mind over matter', an oddly passionate model train mogul who, inspired by his own son's struggle with cerebral palsy, became a major activist in the quest to help those with the condition.
This long-awaited, unprecedented story of a rock 'n' roll legend is uniquely told through the interwoven voices of McDonough - biographer, critic, historian, obsessive fan - and the ever-cantankerous (but slyly funny) Young himself.
The raw materials of the story are sensational: burning ambition, clashing egos, onstage epileptic seizures, deranged groupies, great albums, the birth and death of Sixties idealism, and, most of all, extremes of substance abuse
—— Scotland on SundaySucceeds in stripping a star of his iconography - McDonough's book excels at anecdotes of music excess from a bygone era
—— ObserverIt's hard to imagine anyone trying to better this book - It has an abundance of what Young values above all else - passion
—— Evening StandardI've been reading this biography of Neil Young called Shakey and it's changed my life, man
—— Liam Gallagher , NMEThis is the one Stone Roses book fans will want to read. Copies of this superb biography will not remain on shop shelves for long
—— The BooksellerAn era-defining, definitive biography
—— QA loving and detailed biog
—— MojoCute on the machinations of the industry and internal band politics
—— The Times, Book of the WeekBrilliant... forensically put together
—— Gordon Smart , XFMSimon Spence's Stone Roses compendium has it all - interviews with the Manc group's closest confidants, unseen photos and a timeline that stretches all the way back to the group's inception . . . The definitive word on the band
—— NME Music Book of the Year 2013He starts right at the beginning, with 25,000-year-old bone flutes ... It's a huge brief, made huger by Goodall's alertness to new thinking in scholarly circles, and his fondness for interesting asides ... a racily written, learned and often shrewdly insightful book
—— Ivan Hewett , Daily Telegraph (Review)A roller-coaster ride, which Goodall tells with verve... a racily written, learned and often shrewdly insightful book
—— Ivan Hewett , Daily TelegraphAn accessible guide to roughly 42,000 years of music in just over 300 pages … The Story of Music is a clever, engaging read
—— Stuart Kelly , Scotland on SundayHoward Goodall’s beautifully clear and compelling account is both a hymn to human endeavour and a groundbreaking map of man’s musical journey
—— Wiltshire NewsGoodall's distinguisihing gift is his ability to explain the mechanics of music instead of gliding hastily over them. He is fearless in unknotting those medieval mysteries of oranum and isorhythms, as well as chords, triads, fugues, keys, equal temperament, atonality, dodecaphony and blues
—— Fiona Maddocks , SpectatorA clear and compelling account which is a hymn to human endeavor and a groundbreaking musical journey
—— Kirkham & FyldeFascinating – as well as illuminating on how music works
—— The LadyAt his best, Goodall has a facility for lively shorthand…
—— Adam Mars-Jones , GuardianThis ambitious and all embracing history of 40, 000 years of music will have you dancing in the aisles
—— Sally Morris , Daily Mail[Rod] has warm good humour and a nice line in self-deprecation...He wears it well—and tells it even better.
—— Daily MailBy some distance the most entertaining of last year’s...rock star memoirs.
—— Uncut OnlineThis book takes readers on an adventure, that is at times deeply moving, through the life of one of the UK's greatest singers.
—— Hello! onlineRuthlessly entertaining
—— telegraph.co.uk