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27
A History of the 27 Club Through the Lives of Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain, and Amy Winehouse
1 of 1 copy available
Journalists write about "the curse of the 27 Club" as if there is a supernatural reason for this series of deaths. Others invoke astrology, numerology, and conspiracy theories to explain what has become a modern mystery. In this haunting book, author Howard Sounes conducts the definitive forensic investigation into the lives and deaths of the six most iconic members of the Club, plus another forty-four music industry figures who died at 27, to discover what, apart from coincidence, this phenomenon signifies.
In a grimly fascinating journey through the dark side of the music business over six decades, Sounes uncovers a common story of excess, madness, and self-destruction. The fantasies, half-truths, and mythologies that have become associated with Jones, Hendrix, Joplin, Morrison, Cobain, and Winehouse are debunked. Instead a clear and compelling narrative emerges, one based on hard facts, that unites these lost souls in both life and death.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
November 12, 2013 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9781452697789
- File size: 359344 KB
- Duration: 12:28:37
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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The "27 Club" refers to the string of dead rock stars who all met their demise at that tender age--from legendary '60s casualties like Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, and Janis Joplin to more recent fatalities like Kurt Cobain and Amy Winehouse. And while there have been other musical artists over the years who passed away at that ill-fated age, it is these six artists Howard Sounes has chosen to showcase in this interwoven narrative. Although Todd McLaren is an astute reader, he makes the mistake of trying to imitate the vocal patterns of the book's principals, and the results are unconvincing. Otherwise, his wry delivery is well suited to this cautionary tale of success and excess, and the fine line between the two. J.S.H. (c) AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine -
September 23, 2013
The “27 Club” is a term that designates the group of popular musicians (and those associated with the music industry) who have died at the age of 27. Focusing on the key six members of this group of musicians (the appendix names a total of 50), Sounes mixes biography with investigative journalism, social science, and rock history into a work that is as engrossing as it is depressing. With Winehouse’s death being the most recent and therefore the least examined, the author rightfully spends the most time exploring her backstory and the events surrounding her death. In doing so he uncovers a host of tell-tale signs—rocky parental relationships, substance abuse, self-doubt, addiction, distrust of celebrity, suicidal/fearless behavior—that he uses to connect her life and untimely death with those of the other tortured stars that preceded her to the grave. Though he doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to sensitive information about his subjects, he does write with a care that is refreshing for a topic that could easily devolve into ambulance chasing. Sounes, a true crime writer, is especially incisive when it comes to dispatching conspiracy theories built around many of these deaths. He captures the sad truth behind a club for which a youthful death is the only entrée. (b&w photos not seen by PW)
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