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Product Description
Quill & Quire
As the former frontman for the Canadian rock band Blood, Sweat & Tears, David Clayton-Thomas is no stranger to the spotlight. He has been inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and been given a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame. As if that weren’t enough, Clayton-Thomas can now add memoirist to his list of accomplishments.
Clayton-Thomas opens his book with an introduction that prepares readers for a raw and honest account of his life. What follows is a highly personal and passionate description of child abuse, prison, poverty, artistic longing, and the price of success. His rise from the depths of Canada’s prison system to centre stage is an incredible story, one he relates in a voice that is sensitive and, at times, quite funny. Readers will also be drawn into the turbulent 1960s milieu, with its tales of drug binges in artists’ enclaves and shared moments with musical legends.
While the memoir succeeds on that level, however, it fails entirely on another. Throughout the book, Clayton-Thomas takes the opportunity to settle decades-old scores with family, former business partners, and current members of BS&T. While readers should never expect a memoir to be wholly objective, many of the vitriol-laced rants in this book distract from the story and leave a bitter aftertaste. The book is also laden with contradictions, as Clayton-Thomas embraces his own life choices, then vilifies others for making similar choices.
For fans of BS&T or Clayton-Thomas’s solo work, this memoir delivers the rawness and honesty that it promises. It sheds light on the darker side of the author’s life and the inspiration behind some of his music, but for casual readers, the enjoyment of the story is mitigated by the narrative’s anger and contradictions. The story of a nuanced character battling internal conflicts can make for fascinating reading, but watching Clayton-Thomas wrestle with his demons on the page is a lot less enjoyable than listening to him sing them out.
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Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Highly Recommended,
This review is from: Blood Sweat and Tears (Hardcover)
For those of you who only know David Clayton Thomas from the Blood Sweat and Tears hits like 'You Made Me So Very Happy' there was a very different DCT prior to this who lived a rough and tumble life in Toronto Canada and he really did "pay his dues" with blood, sweat and tears. Born during the WWII bombing of Britain, and raised in the Toronto suburb of Willowdale (same place I grew up in), he ran away from home at 15 to escape a physically abusive situation. Trying to survive on the street inevitably lead to incarceration in the Ontario prison system where he learned to play guitar and perform blues ballads for the inmates. On his release he joined the Yonge Street Strip music scene with Ronnie Hawkins and later the 60s music scene in Yorkville. During this time he put out a string of great R&B/Soul hits I listened to on CHUM, the local hit radio station of that time - Boom Boom, Walk that Walk, Out of the Sunshine, ... culminating in the hard driving rock classic Brainwashed, about media manipulation during the U.S. war on Vietnam.
Determined to make it big, he moved to New York where he joined up with Blood Sweat and Tears, and rocketed into international stardom. While I was never a big fan of their big band jazz style of music, I was still riveted by the book's description of the ongoing roller-coaster ride of successes and travails they experienced, and the quest of DCT to find sanity in the midst of mayhem. This book was a real page turner for me - completely absorbing. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the music of that era.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A fantastic read,
By
This review is from: Blood Sweat and Tears (Hardcover)
I saw David Clayton-Thomas first perform when I was 19. The second BS&T album had just been released and this performance was about a month before that record rocketed onto the airwaves and up the charts. The music was so new that the crowd who clamored for more..more..more received a long jam as an encore because they had played every song they knew.
A concert I will never forget as the musicianship led by this fantastic new voice was just beyond anything I had experienced. Thus I became a fan that night and have followed David's career ever since. This book says it all. Anyone who lived though this wonderful musical era will thoroughly enjoy his story. The first part is an amazing review of his early life and reveals it all. David doesn't hold back! Then there is the interesting section of how he joined BS&T and those years of popularity. Next..on to his solo journey. I remember seeing him on a Thanksgiving night with a small band in 1983 before about 50 people. It was actually the first time I had met him. He had chosen a rough path just to get his own music out there. He was playing tunes from his Home Fires demos and a BS&T medley to appease the crowd. This part of his story is an interesting part of the book. From playing Woodstock to a crappy club in Rochester was quite the change. He then later talks about his rejoining BS&T and the many years of running his touring band. He discusses in detail about his life on the road and the many talented musicians that weaved in and out of the band. After his retirement from BS&T in 2004 he writes about the contentment he has found once again as a solo artist and now just an occasional performance at select venues. Highly recommended for anyone who enjoyed this era of music. It is well written and the story compelling, thus making the pages turn quickly.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
5.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review) 5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Book!!!,
By Rex E. Pate - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Blood Sweat and Tears (Hardcover)
I love this book!!! If you have any interest in Blood Sweat & Tears or even if you don't, it is hard not to love this book. Amazon needs to stock this title. David Clayton-Thomas had an abusive father who probably caused most of his problems in life. He spent much of his teenage years in a reformatory and was still a teenager when he began serving prison time. He developed his guitar playing and singing skills while in prison and when he got out Ronnie Hawkins helped him to get his first gig. The book is about survival and overcoming odds. It's about sex, drugs, rock music, jazz, fusion, singing, politics, Woodstock, racism, being broke, being rich, being broke again, the late 60's, the 70's, romance, love lost, death, and life. It will make you laugh and cry. It's a nostalgic look back. It's a joyous adventure. It will take you to Canada, New York City, Romania, South Africa, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. You'll spend a little time with Miles Davis, Nina Simone, Sammy Davis Jr., Cannonball Adderley and actor James Mason. You'll get to know the inside story of the band Blood Sweat & Tears but that becomes secondary to a great story about life, grit and determination. I think it would make a fascinating movie.
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