A book on the history of Television is something this world could well use, 'cause bein' one of the finest bands to emerge in the 70s their tale is still seriously under-documented. So it's just too bad that Tim Mitchell's attempt is just that, an attempt.
With no direct info from the main players Mitchell has to make do with quotes from other people's work. Sure, the general outline is there, and the author seems to know his stuff by and large, but in the end this book is in serious need of a heart and/or vision, as the text fails to ignite the kind of excitement the book's subject was able to. Besides, overlookin' the release of Little Johnny Jewel is inexcusable, and statin' that Andy Johns produced Goats Head Soup is plain ol' ignorant.
The book claims to be an "illustrated history", but all you get is a handful of gray record/CD sleeve reproductions. Did I mention the "selected discography"? If you wanna know about Television, you'll have to listen to at least a dozen versions of Marquee Moon and Little Johnny Jewel as documented on a pletora of bootlegs to get a sense of the band's mighty improvisational skills, and a guide to these recordings would have been very useful.
Like his book on Jonathan Richman, this is comes in handy, but only until the real thing comes along...
3 comments:
Andy Johns did produce Goats Head Soup. He engineered the sessions and Jimmy Miller was so out of it on smack,calling him the producer is a fair jump.
It was for his work on this record (a big favourite of Tom Verlaines) that he was chosen for Marquee Moon.
Right on J, except you are too kind by half. Mitchell is not a writer, he's a typist. Writing is styleless, insights non-existent. Pix can all be seen elsewhere. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz
steve h.
Andy Johns was not a favorite of Verlaine's; Lloyd turned Verlaine on to Johns. Verlaine originally wanted some vintage jazz producers, but Elektra said no. Read the liner notes of the Rhino MARQUEE MOON CD reissue for more information...
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