Lives of the Poets (with Guitars) : Thirteen Outsiders Who Changed Modern Music

Canadian novelist Ray Robertson discusses the lives and careers of thirteen musicians he admires.

“The days of poets moping around castle steps wearing black capes is over. The poets of today are amplified.”
— LEONARD COHEN

Picking up where Samuel Johnson left off more than two centuries ago, Ray Robertson’s Lives of the Poets (with Guitars) offers up an amplified gathering of thirteen portraits of rock & roll, blues, folk, and alt-country’s most inimitable artists. Irreverent and riotous, Robertson explores the “greater or lesser heat” with which each musician shaped their genre, while offering absorbing insight into their often tumultuous lives.

Includes essays on Gene Clark, Ronnie Lane, The Ramones, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Townes Van Zandt, Little Richard, Alan Wilson, Willie P. Bennett, Gram Parsons, Hound Dog Taylor, Paul Siebel, Willis Alan Ramsey, and John Hartford.

#x93;The days of poets moping around castle steps wearing black capes is over. The poets of today are amplified." -- LEONARD COHEN Picking up where Samuel Johnson left off more than two centuries ago, Ray Robertson's Lives of the Poets (with Guitars) offers up an amplified gathering of thirteen portraits of rock roll, blues, folk, and alt-country's most inimitable artists. Irreverent and riotous, Robertson explores the #x93;greater or lesser heat" with which each musician shaped their genre, while offering absorbing insight into their often tumultuous lives. Includes essays on Gene Clark, Ronnie Lane, The Ramones, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Townes Van Zandt, Little Richard, Alan Wilson, Willie P. Bennett, Gram Parsons, Hound Dog Taylor, Paul Siebel, Willis Alan Ramsey, and John Hartford "What nature means to Jim Harrison's books," Ray Robertson writes in the preface to the present volume, "music means to mine." Lives of the Poets With Guitars picks up where Samuel Johnson left off nearly 250 years ago, collecting biographical and critical portraits of rock & roll, blues, folk, and alt-country's most inimitable artists. These often-irreverent essays offer a riotous, toe-tapping, and original take on how each musician shaped their genre, while exploring how their often tumultuous lives helped shape their art. Includes essays on Gene Clark, Ronnie Lane, The Ramones, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Townes Van Zandt, Little Richard, Alan Wilson, Willie P. Bennett, Gram Parsons, Hound Dog Taylor, Paul Siebel, Willis Alan Ramsey, and John Hartford. Illustrated, witty, thought-provoking essays examine the lives and art of thirteen musicians who shaped their respective genres.