My Damage

August 15, 2016
As the lead singer and cofounder of the Circle Jerks and Black Flag, Morris was at the epicenter of the west coast punk movement from the beginning. Unfortunately, he was obliterated on booze and drugs for most of that time. Luckily, he's got a great memory, and he shares his recollections in this engaging autobiography. Following in the footsteps of his father ("a hard-living... take-no-shit-off-of-anybody kind of guy"), Morris was drinking and drugging from an early age and getting into mischief. Black Flag played anywhere and everywhere, including oil refineries, keg parties, and a prom, before things took off. Morris puts the reader in the passenger seat as he details the wild and woolly early days of punk rock with plenty of debauchery and hijinks accompanied by police brutality and rampant drug use. Morris takes full responsibility for his bad decisions as well as his eventual commitment to stay clean and live a healthier life following a diagnosis of diabetes. Fans of punk rock will get the most out of the book, and those interested in the music industry in general will also appreciate Morris' candor as he details the machinations and manipulations he's encountered over the yearsâup to the present day, as he's still recording and touringâin this roller coaster of a book.