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Summary: GRACE SLICK ADDS TO THE HISTORY OF SAN FRANCISCO
Review: Grace Slick is a great musical figure who came out the convergence of San Francisco rock and roll of the 60's. The Airplane led the peak, for a spell, of the Haight-Ashbury sound tidal wave that included the Greatful Dead, Big Brother and the Holding Company, Quicksilver Messenger Service and Country Joe and the Fish. Acid Heads attending concerts at Avalon or Fillmore would time their trips to be peaking just as the Airplane took the stage. That is the Grace Slick many of us remember. In the book we hear about Slick's various sexual encounters with other Rock Stars and members of the Airplane and accounts of who is the best endowed. Her account of her almost first and only Lesbian encounter was especially revealing. Slick is candid at times about a lot of things and a little confusing at the same time. We also read about her life-long opulent life style and her elegant homes in St. Francis Woods -SF, Seacliff -SF, Marin County, and in Southern Cal. The account of the loss to fire of the Marin house was especially tragic and moving. Slick's account at Woodstock was well done but the Airplane did not play like they could have to be included in the Woodstock movie - they did not have a dynamic set as did Santana, Hendrix, The Who, Crosby, Stills, and Nash and others. Especially interesting is Slick's decision to retire as a rock and roll champ as age has set in - she did not like the feel of being a middle aged rock star. Fortunately she could afford to do it. If anything Slick's book will be added to the category on San Francisco History and will be of some value to scholars researching life in San Francisco in the 60's - they may find some of the things Slick talks about very interesting indeed.
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Summary: Renegade in retirement
Review: Grace Slick is the renegade in retirement. A fascinating if glossed over look at one of rock and rolls true voices.For those hoping for an indepth look into the woman and her times, this is not the book. For those interested in a light hearted chat with Grace about the same the book is fun and lively. As a fan of her music and poetry I have eagerly awaited this piece. I suppose it is hard to write about ones self with a steady eye, but Grace gives us the high lites in more ways than one. Her delirious look at her time is worth the price, and the 50's pictures are the best. In rare moments there are glimpses of heart and soul ravaged by a certain desperation, yet she is truly the person she had alsways been. No icon, just a fine singer who lived and experienced life as she wanted it to be. I hope that when she has adjusted to being 60 and really looks at her life more keenly perhaps then she will give us that real look. At this point I give the book an 87, because you can dance to it! Thanx for the peek, Grace!
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Summary: Somebody to like a lot in any case!
Review: Grace Slick was always one of the more quotable rock stars. Even well past the point where Rolling Stone would even consider giving one of her records (solo or with Jefferson Whatever...) anything remotely like a positive review, they'd still run little blurbs on her from time to time, usually with one or two "outrageous" quotes. She could be counted on for that. Funny, sarcastic, but also endearingly self-deprecating, her take on the world in general and the absurdities of rock stardom in particular were always worth a look. Once when asked about all the attention she received as the sole female member of a six-"man" band, she pooh-poohed it all by saying, "Well, if you had five cows and a pig, you'd look at the pig, right?" Well, yeah, although Grace was scarcely a pig, and I don't know about how her bandmates may have felt about being called cows, but you get the idea. Often described by people as an "ice queen"--at least by people who had never heard of Nico--Grace was actually pretty down to earth and anything but self-serious. On the other hand, her penchant for wisecracking and sheer outrageousness often detracted from her more reflective, artsy side. Her own compositions, with their often elliptical lyrics and exotic arrangements, hinted at an artistic ambition that was very real--if never fully realized. Still "rejoyce," "Two Heads" and "Hyperdrive" remain real dazzlers, suggesting that if Grace had been less given to epataying the old bourgeoisie (and ribbing the counter-culture too, much to her credit) she might have pulled off something even more remarkable than what she (with and without her various bands) actually did achieve. The book is, for the most part, a fun breezy read, the funny, quotable, outrageous Grace. No, it's not all it might have been, but it was pretty much what I expected. This is one of those odd books, where you suspect that the narrator's apparent "frankness" actually serves as a kind of defense. Don't let's dig too deep, God forbid. One can read between the lines a bit, especially in the brief early chapters that describe her childhood and adolescence, and maybe conclude that there are some conflicts there above and beyond what she's willing to reveal. And well, that's OK. Really, most of us are not THAT nosey. But the tone is an odd juxtaposition of self-disclosure and self-protectiveness. "Odd"--but not really all that surprising. Honesty--or as we said in the 60s, "righteousness"--was a counter-cultural value, but you couldn't get too "corny" about the whole thing either. I could have done without another re-hashing of the "plot to dose Nixon" co-starring Abbie Hoffman. Despite Grace's protestations to the contrary, I don't believe she ever intended to get any further than the White House gate--you don't bring Hoffman as your escort if you really want to get in and wreak a little psychedelic havoc on the President of the United States. It's a wild tale, but it was more theater and self-mythologizing than anything else. Nor do I particularly care about the Jim Morrison episode (the strawberry jam session). It seemed like a pretty meaningless encounter for both participants, but someone (co-writer Andrea Cagan, perhaps?) must have thought it merited a chapter of its own. It's disappointing that this kind of tale-telling is given more focus than on the music itself. In one revealing passage, Slick talks about her compulsion to be as well rehearsed as possible. That kind of professionalism may seem antithetical to "hippie" ideals of spontaneity and improvisation. But that was one of the little contradictions that made Slick a compelling figure to begin with. Too bad that same level of care didn't really make it into the autobiography. Now that it's available as a paperback (or as a remaindered cloth-bound edition), the book is well worth picking up--for curiousity seekers as well as fans. Enough of the quotable Grace is there. The mysterioso, orphic Grace is missing in action though. Too bad in a way.
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Summary: Check it out from the library
Review: Grace Slick's one hell of a character--fiercely intelligent (who else could adapt Ulysses's prose into a song?), one of the few female vocalists from the sixties, fronting one of the greatest rock bands no less...Why, then, does this book come off as fluff? It would have been much better had Slick actually written, rather than co-author, it herself. The book gives an honest, moving portrait, but the reader comes off at the end missing something. Save your money and check this one out at the library--it's a nice summer read (I ran through it in a few hours), but I doubt you'd ever want to re-read it.
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Summary: Grace Slick Feeds Our Heads with a look at her life.
Review: Grace Slick, although long retired from the Rock and Roll scene has come up at age 59 with an interesting look at her life, loves, music, and being part of the dynamic Jefferson Airplane. After 1967 the Airplane emerged out the Haight-Ashbury as the leading edge of the San Francisco Sound that included the Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Country Joe and the Fish, and Big Brother and the Holding Company. Grace was viewed as the Acid Queen by psychedelic revelers who would time their peaking to commence with the Airplane set at San Francisco's Fillmore or Avalon Ballroom's. The memoir will have some historical value as an example of life and activities in San Francisco during the 60's and 70's. Some of her memories definately will become Rock and Roll trivia items now that they are in print - some of them are x-rated for sure and not for the timid reader. I guess you will have to read the book to find out more about it.
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Summary: I was there during "Summer of Love" but missed the point
Review: Grace was in a perfect position to write "the" book on being a princess of the Haight-Ashbury. She could have strung together the key events and artistic achievements that lead to forming the movement and music that will be remembered as watershed events of the latter 20th century. After all, she was there and she was debatably the best known "star" of the early San Francisco scene. Certainly the only woman able to be a "fly on the wall" as she balled her way through most of the big name musicians of the hippy era. But she blows it with this book. Turning it into a rant on drug abuse and "were'nt I cool" memorys of AA meetings and pathetic 12 step program aquaintences among her celebrity fucks. Any of us who were there in the Haight in '66 and '67 deserve a better re-telling of the early blissfull days hangin out at the Drugstore Cafe and parties at the Deads house. Or how about the records? Grace could discuss the making of albums that changed all of us and became anthems for a generation. But she uses the sessions to describe how she stroked her own ego by dumping on one guy in the band and slinking into bed with another. The fabulous history is wasted as a backgroud for juvenile and petty mating games.
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Summary: A great story of sex, drugs & rock 'n roll!
Review: Having long been a fan of Grace Slick, I was thrilled to find that she'd written her autobiography. It's all here, from her early childhood interest in the arts to forming the band the Great Society with her then husband, Jerry Slick, to being asked by Jack Casady-bassist for Jefferson Airplane if she'd be interested in joining the band as their lead singer. She more or less said "why not" and it was the beginning of a long & illustrious career in rock. It's fun reading about all the rock stars she hung out with, particularly Jerry Garcia & The Grateful Dead, The Doors(including a one-night stand with the Lizard King himself, Jim Morrison)& other great Bay Area bands. Filled with a self-deprecating sense of humor, she writes of eventually becoming romantically involved with Airplane's resident genius, Paul Kantner, then giving birth to their daughter China. Grace writes with great humor and intelligence, and the book is a must for Jefferson Airplane/Starship fans.
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Summary: ratedXXXX
Review: I believe this rock queen was candid and sincere in sharing her travels and trips as a rock star. Some of the autobiography was funny and very honest. However, I would not want my kids to read it, it is full of sexual expletives,perverse acts and drug abuse. I hope school library's don't have it. It is probably one of the most realistic point of views I have read on the "Love/Hippie Generation". Grace Slick was an upper middle class white women who chose to live that life of sex,drugs and rock and roll. I am surprised she lived to tell about it. So many rock stars died from over use of chemicals. Grace Slick probably had a lot of influence over that generation, the continued recreationl use of drugs,adultery, immorality and poor self-esteem, not to mention the expoiltation of women, and the destruction and values of a free and safe society. Capitolism at its finest.She said, She actually took LSD into the White House to give to Richard Nixon, and her date was Abbie Hoffman. She was criminal and perverted... That was then, this is now.
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Summary: an easy book to read-couldn't put it down!
Review: I enjoyed reading this book but was kind of disappointed that it didn't go into much detail and kind of jumps around. If you've read it once though you've read it 1,000 times, if you can remember the '60s you didn't live them:) But its a fun to read autobiography
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Summary: Couldn't put it down - fascinating!
Review: I grew up during those times,loved the music and still do. It was fascinating to read about Grace's life. I'd always heard of bits and pieces and now it's great to get the whole story. Very interesting reading. I loved every page.
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