Memoir Monday... Rocks today!

 

From Cradle to Stage: Stories from the Mothers Who Rocked and Raised Rock Stars by Virginia Hanlon Grohl... While the Grohl family had always been musical-the family sang together on long car trips, harmonizing to Motown and David Bowie-Virginia never expected her son to become a musician, let alone a rock star. But when she saw him perform in front of thousands of screaming fans for the first time, she knew that rock stardom was meant to be for her son. And as Virginia watched her son's star rise, she often wondered about the other mothers who raised sons and daughters who became rock stars. Were they as surprised as she was about their children's fame? Did they worry about their children's livelihood and wellbeing in an industry fraught with drugs and other dangers? Did they encourage their children's passions despite the odds against success, or attempt to dissuade them from their grandiose dreams? Do they remind their kids to pack a warm coat when they go on tour? 

Virginia decided to seek out other rock star mothers to ask these questions, and so began a two-year odyssey in which she interviewed such women as Verna Griffin, Dr. Dre's mother; Marianne Stipe, Michael Stipe of REM's mother; Janis Winehouse, Amy Winehouse's mother; Patsy Noah, Adam Levine's mother; Donna Haim, mother of the Haim sisters; Hester Diamond, Mike D of The Beastie Boys' mother.

David Grohl was the drummer for Nirvana, secretly writing his own music, but not sharing it with the band. When the band disbanded after the death of Kurt Cobain, instead of joining another band as their drummer, and he had offers from a lot of great bands, he decided to form his own band, Foo Fighters. We know about David's career, but what about his Mother? How did she raise he son to be this amazing musician? And that's the interesting perspective of this book... Dave as the son and how his Mother deals with all of it... and how other Mother's deal with it all. Whether you listen to Dave's music or not, everyone has a Mother and this is her story, and the story of other Mother's, about their perspective of their rising rock star children... Published by Seal Press in 2017.

AND, if you do like the Foo Fighters, or are interested in a behind the scenes look at the life of a rock n rock band, Day Street Books just published Dave Grohl's own book of stories. Stories about life on the road called The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music. Was he inspired by his Mother to share his own stories? Who knows, but here they are full of life on the road. From Cradle to Stage by Virginia Hanlon Grohl is on my wishlist, but Dave's book might be interesting to read too. If Dave's book wasn't enough of a creative outlet for him, he has also released a music documentary called, What Drives Us, “This film is my love letter to every musician that has ever jumped in an old van with their friends and left it all behind for the simple reward of playing music..." And from the previews I saw, this looks like a great documentary.

I don't read "music" memoirs too often, or celebrity memoirs for that matter, but way back in 2008 I read Wonderful Tonight: George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Me by Patti Boyd and really enjoyed it. Was it because I'm a Beatle fan and a Clapton fan? I can only say that it was a great read and showed the hearts of the people involved.

Have I rocked Memoir Monday today?! Hope you found something interesting to crack the spine on...