Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Road Tales/Rode Tails is the first book in a powerful series based upon the life experiences of Armond Blackwater, "sideman to the falling stars" as he calls himself in typical self-derisive billing. The backdrop is the turbulent period of 1953 to 1968.
Rode Tails plays on a double entendre for a fitting subtitle to a story that is rife with sexual situations that won't disappoint those expecting sex, drugs, and Rock & Roll, but it contains more... much more.
This is not a run-of-the-mill "rock star" memoir. It is the story of coming of age during the crazy 1960's at a time when Rock itself was just growing up. Indeed, both Armond and Rock & Roll enter adolescence together. The parallel is a subtext that describes the tormented life of an American teenager trying to make sense of a strange world during very "Strange Days". With the odds stacked against him, Armond overcomes a myriad of challenges such as relocation from tropical paradise to frozen tundra, a mother suffering severe mental illness, blatant racism against Native Americans, and the typical torment inflicted by "peers" in the corridors of public education.
Music becomes Armond's escape, his "only friend" as his idol Jim Morrison described it. His world splits between the torture of the "child warehouse" and the acceptance and comfort he finds in the entertainment world.
Armond and his band opened for a cavalcade of many of the stars of the day and he doesn't mince words when describing those encounters.
"The Who breezed past us all without a word back to their secure private dressing room that was off limits to the rest of us"...
"Eric Burden shook my hand limply and said something to me as he left. Again, I had no idea what he had said to me. He may have invited me to have tea with the Queen for all I knew. Or, it may just have been the sound he made whenever he crapped his pants. He did smell funny."
I gained a richer, deeper appreciation of the 60's through Armond's crystalline descriptions of places and times. Also, I am starting to understand how my own parents got so freaky.
My favorite storyline in the book is Armond's romance with Patty O'Leary, a fiery Irish girl with dreams of becoming a writer. An unlikely couple as ever there has been, Patty and Armond complement each other and cling to each other as turbid events erupt around them. I quickly felt as if I'd known Patty forever - a testament to a true wordsmith. Armond succinctly sums up the experience of fumbling teenagers who learn the ins and outs of love, lust, and commitment together.
This is the best book I've read in quite some time; original, raw, real, unapologetic, and unabashed with humor and poignancy woven together with great care and love. In fact, I'm going to read it again because I know that I missed many subtleties during my first read.
Jillian Williams - Reporter
Beachhead Gazette
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An unexpectedly candid inside look into the formative years of "sideman to the falling stars" Armond Blackwater.
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