The Jam: Our Story

Rating:
Summary: Interesting to get the "other" side of the story
Review: "The Jam - A Beat Concerto" is the authorized bio of the band and a great book in its own right. However, author Paolo Hewitt was (and is) a close confidante of Paul Weller and one always wondered if Messrs Buckler and Foxton were being given completely fair and/or truthful treatment, especially the parts concerning Foxton's actions during the final days.

The other 2/3 of the Jam have resolved this problem by issuing this memoir, a mostly terse and factual book. As Weller wrote most tunes and was the political lightining rod, Buckler/Foxton stick to tales of tours, practical jokes, etc. They do address the power struggle that evolved with John Weller, their manager (and Paul's father).

Rating:
Summary: A band is A BAND, and The Jam is no exception...
Review: "The Jam - A Beat Concerto" is the authorized bio of the band and a great book in its own right. However, author Paolo Hewitt was (and is) a close confidante of Paul Weller and one always wondered if Messrs Buckler and Foxton were being given completely fair and/or truthful treatment, especially the parts concerning Foxton's actions during the final days.

The other 2/3 of the Jam have resolved this problem by issuing this memoir, a mostly terse and factual book. As Weller wrote most tunes and was the political lightining rod, Buckler/Foxton stick to tales of tours, practical jokes, etc. They do address the power struggle that evolved with John Weller, their manager (and Paul's father).

Rating:
Summary: A band is A BAND, and The Jam is no exception...
Review: The Jam has turned out to be a major influence on me. Rather than hear about the wunderkund who still sells-out halls and makes great music at his leisure, I felt more curious about the rest of the band, who were basically discarded.
The book has great anecdotes about the early days, touring, working hard, and coping with the sudden end of the band. There is no bitterness, which was good. There are also great photos (with not so great captions), and some stuff about Paul that I don't believe even Paolo Hewitt knows. I highly recommend this read for any fan of the Jam, and anyone who thinks they know what it's like to be in a successful band...Think again! If they would've made it here in the US, we would all be listening to much better music now...trust me.

Rating:
Summary: 2 stars, and that's for the fantastic photos
Review: There are plenty of fantastic photos of the Jam in this book, glossy, one to a page and feature the band and individual photos of Bruce, Rick & Paul. The writing is appalling and a wasted opportunity for Bruce (foremostly) and Rick (who keeps mum most of the time) to provide a candid, frank and interesting portrayal of the band and of Paul Weller. Much of the tone is snidely, the authors sort of creep around the subject of Paul Weller in the hope of not directly offending him, but instead serve him up with loads of indirect put-downs and patronising gibberish which in fact, has the effect of making Bruce come across as the [not so bright member] of the band - with all his fretting and tantrums - rather than Paul who comes across, (if you read between the lines) as a hard-working guy who loved his music and seemed to spend much of his waking hours writing songs (and drinking!) Sure, Paul had has faults, who doesn't, but the tone of the book only elucidates Bruce's shortcomings, not Paul's. The toilet paper anecdotes are truly beyond the pale.

The worst aspect of this book comes towards the end when, horror of horrors, Paul decides to leave the band. Bruce's subsequent reaction sort of goes to show he probably doesn't possess a great deal upstairs, and it illustrates how far out of touch the band were with each other at that point. They didn't seem to communicate much in 1982, maybe Bruce & Rick were scared of Paul? So Bruce was lost in an island of despair and fretfulness over the closing of band. He does his best to serve up the hackest reviews of the Style Council and tell his readers it wasn't the sort of stuff he was interested in, forgetting that a couple of pages earlier he'd said they (Bruce & Rick) surely could have turned their hand to anything Paul wanted to do. Go figure.

This review isn't an anti-Bruce jibe. Bruce I think (going via the sleeve notes of the Jam at the BBC CD release) has realised that things, ie, the Jam ending when they did, was in hindsight the best thing for all of them, and the band. This book could, and should have been a lot better. It's most disappointing that it lacks any real depth, analysis or candidness about Paul and the band and their songs because this would have been the opportunity to provide that. But the book reveals nothing of note about Paul and his artistry and musicality, and all it says about Bruce is that he merely regarded it as a career - no true love of music revealed there, nor does Bruce reveal in himself any true depth of character. A shame, they were a Classic band.

Some of the ... boys-in-the-motel anecdotes are amusing but that's where the book tends to level off. As said, it says more about Bruce and his shortcomings than it does about Paul. Big shame that. Anyway, the photos are great.