The 25-year career of singer/songwriter John Wesley Harding has skyrocketed of late with the publication of no fewer than three critically acclaimed novels under his birth name, Wesley Stace. Equally amazing, the artist named for Bob Dylan’s misspelling of Texas gunfighter John Wesley Harden has just released the finest album of a career that’s seen him record at least 18 longplayers for labels ranging from high-profile majors to imprints so small the back catalog was stored in somebody’s garage between the cat box and the washing machine. Produced by old pal Scott McCaughey (Young Fresh Fellows) and fleshed out by no less than R.E.M.’s Peter Buck and the Decemberists, The Sound Of His Own Voice (Yep Roc) is a full-bore stunner with Wes (nobody calls him John) weaving his usual lyrical magic through knockout arrangements of extraordinary songs that revive the ghosts of the Kinks, David Lynch soundtrack guru Angelo Badalamenti and wall-of-sound maestro Phil Spector. For yet another career-topping milestone (gasp), JWH will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week for (yes it’s true) the second time. Read our brand new Q&A with him.
Harding: I was reviewing a really awful book about Dylan, and it reminded me how awful rock books can be: simultaneously opinionated and ill-informed, and written for schoolboys. Just after this, I got a copy of The Complete David Bowie by Nicholas Pegg. It’s everything a rock book should be.
Later, I was asked to review Starman by Paul Trynka. Having just immersed myself in Pegg’s book, I’m afraid that didn’t get a very good review either: “All Bowie books must now be measured against The Complete David Bowie. Pegg’s is not a conventional biography but an encyclopedia, dividing Bowie’s career into an alphabetical list of songs, albums, concerts, films. It is not only a pleasure to dip into, but also one of the few reference books that can be read cover to cover, since its author, miraculously, doesn’t repeat himself. Pegg is not without strong opinions but he never grinds an axe (the Achilles heel of most rock biographies, though not of Starman) and his encyclopedic structure mirrors the cut-up, mix-and-match nature of Bowie’s own career to the advantage of both, making one reconsider the very notion of a conventional rock biography.”
Pegg’s book is perfect. You can dip in, put it down, forget it, go back to it. It’s a must for all Bowie lovers, and, really, the only book you need. Hours of pleasure. And, by the way, that Station To Station boxed set, the large edition, is amazing.
Video after the jump.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvyNOg4jSRg
