Rate this book

Cornflakes With John Lennon: And Other Tales From A Rock 'n' Roll Life (2000)

by Robert Hilburn(Favorite Author)

3.85 of 5 Votes: 1

languge

English

genre

review 1: This is a pretty remarkable collection of essays and stories from a music critic who has befriended Dylan, Cash, Springsteen, and U2 over the years. He's interviewed Janis, Elvis, Cobain, and Jack White. He enjoyed lunch with Stevie Wonder and shared Cornflakes and Hershey Bars with John Lennon. He takes us through his career by presenting the landmarks that interviews, encounters, and friendships with the royalty of rock allowed him. We learn how he earned the trust of guarded artists like Dylan, and why musicians such as George Harrison and Garth Brooks put him on their "no interview" list. He makes you feel like you really know guys like Kris, Waylon, and Willie. He invites us inside the music and the lives of these artists, and if he ever sounds like he's braggin... moreg, well…he may be, though for someone who intimately knew so many of the music industry's titans, he almost sounds modest about it. What he never appears to have done is cave in to egos. He would tell artists to their face why he felt a certain way about their songs, albums, or career. He hurt Michael Jackson's feelings (which apparently didn't take much) by praising Prince in front of him. Likewise, Hilburn had Prince so shaken up by a routine interview process, Prince cancelled all remaining interviews with journalists for that week and flew home to MN. It's a fascinating look at how close music journalists can get to their subjects, how much their writing means to their subjects, and how much trust an artist will provide a writer when they present themselves as knowledgable and earnest. This is a book well worth reading if you like any of the artists mentioned above, or just good music journalism.
review 2: Robert Hilburn writes about his life as a rock and roll writer and the stars he wrote about and in some instances became friends with. Lennon is a touchstone here, as are a couple of others who are sort of woven throughout, their spirits hanging over even pieces about Kurt Cobain for example, which is what makes this book special, the way he weaves them all together. My favorite story is one about Lennon, the one with JL hiding not drugs but chocolate from Yoko, since she wouldn't let him eat it. ;) (And how being a war baby, the way he ate his cornflakes...). less

Download links for: Cornflakes with John Lennon: And Other Tales from a Rock 'n' Roll Life

Advertising