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Smile You're Travelling (Black Coffee Blues #3)
Using his trademark wit, insight and verve, icon Henry Rollins shares journals from his gruelling world tours of 1997 and 1998, as well as a record of the fulfilment of his longstanding dream to journey through Africa. He takes us on a rollercoaster of highs and lows, frustrations and exhilaration - from roving gangs of baboons in Kenya to haggling with immigration officia...more
Paperback
Published
January 5th 2006
by Virgin Books
(first published October 2000)
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I’ve read a lot of Rollins lately and a few things have occurred to me. The main thing is, it sounds like Rollins is trying to talk himself into certain things. Mostly, this tendency relates to the idea that being alone and avoiding relationships is the better course for him. Whether that path is, in fact, better for him, he doesn’t seem convinced and reinforces it often.
Another thing I’ve noticed is that Rollins slips into what I think of as “juvenilisms.” These aren’t direct quotes, but it’s t...more
Another thing I’ve noticed is that Rollins slips into what I think of as “juvenilisms.” These aren’t direct quotes, but it’s t...more
Smile you're Travelling by Henry Rollins
It's been a while since I last read a book by
Henry Rollins and I have to say I wasn't
prepared for just how much Moaning Henry does in
this book of tour and road diaries for the
period 1997/8. Henry has a good bitch about how
many interviews he has to give and how stupid
most interviewers are, about how he hates most
of the other bands his band either supports or
are supported by. His own band is coming to its
end and the crowds are dwindling and he seem...more
It's been a while since I last read a book by
Henry Rollins and I have to say I wasn't
prepared for just how much Moaning Henry does in
this book of tour and road diaries for the
period 1997/8. Henry has a good bitch about how
many interviews he has to give and how stupid
most interviewers are, about how he hates most
of the other bands his band either supports or
are supported by. His own band is coming to its
end and the crowds are dwindling and he seem...more
Henry Rollins would probably be aghast if he ever read what I'm about to say, but here goes: I've found all of his books and spoken word performances to be both entertaining and surprisingly humorous and I usually hang on every word contained therein, but Rollins just seems so morose (OK, more morose than usual) and down on the world in this one that it makes me wonder if he needs to be shielded from all sharp instruments and have his shoelaces removed before he does some real damage to himself....more
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“Don't compare yourself to others. Compare yourself to yourself. How about that for a bold idea? Throw out the notion of referencing yourself against others. It would be so easy to compare and put yourself down. You can all too easily waste time and obscure your own potential by trying to match someone else's. I figure that the great ones thought differently and let their truths guide them no matter the cost. At the end of the day, you can't fuck with it. When you compare, you immediately ensnar...more
Henry Rollins catches a lot of shit. Punks act like he is pop punk because he is too well known, and the alterna/indie kids think he is too abrasive. They're missing out.
Rollins is one of the best thinkers in music. Smile, You're Traveling covers Henry's time in the air cashing in on frequent flyer miles. There are cool insights about baboons, love, and opening one's perspective through the experience of other cultures. This book, like his others, encourage the reader to be a better person, to...more
Rollins is one of the best thinkers in music. Smile, You're Traveling covers Henry's time in the air cashing in on frequent flyer miles. There are cool insights about baboons, love, and opening one's perspective through the experience of other cultures. This book, like his others, encourage the reader to be a better person, to...more
Ik leerde de muziek van de Rollins Band kennen tussen Hard Volume (1990) en The End Of Silence (1992), een periode die achteraf bekeken waarschijnlijk het hoogtepunt van zijn livecarriere met eigen band was (van 1981 tot 1986 maakte hij al geschiedenis met hardcorelegende Black Flag). Elk optreden was een primal scream-sessie op de psychiatersbank (een semi-officieel livealbum heette niet voor niets Electro-Convulsive Therapy). Op albums als Weight (1994) en Come In And Burn (1997) zou het samen...more
Sep 07, 2008
Kyle
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
diehard Rollins fans.
When I began reading this book, I expected much more journals from the African bush but since Hank completes that in forty pages with fifteen of those being Black Sabbath coverage I was rather disappointed.
The rest is the standard Henry Rollins fist pump of an emotional speech encouraging strength and grabbing the iron. His writings focus on loneliness on the road and how he enjoys pushing himself to his limits by staying out on the road. A paragraph he wrote on love and passion may be one of t...more
The rest is the standard Henry Rollins fist pump of an emotional speech encouraging strength and grabbing the iron. His writings focus on loneliness on the road and how he enjoys pushing himself to his limits by staying out on the road. A paragraph he wrote on love and passion may be one of t...more
One of Rollins books starts out with the disjointed journal entries of almost twenty year span of birthdays; okay, i'm mythologizing here, but seriously, the guy is bonkers.
like all musuicians, his early stuff is his best. but this book is fascinating as a diary of loneliness; the desires, and the dangers (oooooooooo!)
This book is haunted, though. Try the other one, the early one. Awww. Whatever it called.
like all musuicians, his early stuff is his best. but this book is fascinating as a diary of loneliness; the desires, and the dangers (oooooooooo!)
This book is haunted, though. Try the other one, the early one. Awww. Whatever it called.
This book ruled me for the simple fact that I love Henry rollins. I have been a fan of everything he has done. The fact that this book leads up to the creation of my favorite album they put out is special to read to me. I enjoy hearing about his travel and his rants about things that bother him. It's a fun read in a funny way, we are basically reading a journal.
If you ever wanted to know what its like to be in a band and what touring whilst dealing with the brutal machine that is the music industry is like....then this is a book for you. Rollins' intelligent and honest depiction of life on the road is ernest, true and amusing. It is also surprising how endeering the tattooed man mountain of agression can be through words, especially when dealing with the repetition of life and enduring fools.
Smile, You're Traveling (Black Coffee Blues Part 3) by Henry Rollins (2000)
Henry Rollins is quite a character. I found most of the reading filled with lovely sarcasm and anger towards the mediocre world entertaining, but halfway down the book the story just begins to repeat itself, and becomes almost a depressing description of his loneliness and sort of fragile mental state.
Interesting to read in the sense that it does offer a peek to the mind of a brilliant artist/writer/stand-up guy, who is very perceptive and has strong opinions about absolutely everything. But it...more
Interesting to read in the sense that it does offer a peek to the mind of a brilliant artist/writer/stand-up guy, who is very perceptive and has strong opinions about absolutely everything. But it...more
i go back and forth with rollins. he's got this sage like advice that you will take with you to the darkest corners of your road. the iron will of a war hero. but sometimes these same things can wear on you a little bit, and some of his stuff comes across a little heavy handed. i do see a lot of some of his hangups that he has of himself in myself, though, so when i feel he's being overboard about things that i myself have done, i get down to shake off the hypocrisy.
A must read. Amazing.
Nov 28, 2008
Miranda
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Miranda by:
friend - Todd
Really good read. I love his insight!
Sep 18, 2007
CJ
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
nonfiction,
personal_essay
Sometimes, Henry Rollins can be really whiny. He often will go on for pages about how people are weak and stupid and only out to drain the life from you and leave you to die and how HE is above all these things. You will want to skip these bits, for they are annoying. Instead, focuse on the parts about his trip to Africa, and his skewering of the tourist culture. Read the funny parts--they're much better.
One of my favs. Hank leads my dream life, and in this book he gets to rock out with Black Sabbath, and visits Madagascar and Russia. Plus he's extremely angry in this one, which is always really funny.
I actually got to catch his Provoked Tour in Chicago (Oct. '07) and he signed the copy for me! He told me a story about the picture on the back and how it was the first book that had pictures that he took in it.
I love Mr. Rollins' work. I would reccomend this to anyone, really.
I love Mr. Rollins' work. I would reccomend this to anyone, really.
This was ok. It was kind of cool to read about Rollins' travels around the world to exotic places and see them through his eyes, but it became very redundant half way through. I skipped a bunch of entries just to get through with it.
I kept thinking of a shot game involving repetition of the word "weak" in this book. Rollins is funny and smart, but here his writing reads like a depressive's journal...it isn't that great. He was still learning to write here.
Easily my favorite Rollins book to date. Perhaps I'm jaded because I like Rollins, but it would be difficult to argue that he doesn't have a way with words. Love him or hate him (he won't care), you'll still enjoy this book.
Ahhh, Henry, Henry, Henry. next paycheck, this book is mine.
Not much to say that will bring any insight to this one. If you're a Rollins fan, you know what you're in for. If not, then you probably won't dig it...
I liked the first half when he wrote about his vacation travels, but the 2nd half when he was on tour he was just a whiner
1 like · like · see review
A great read - tour diaries of Henry Rollins....and you get a really good idea of his life and his view on life.
Henry's description of Africa, and his other travels makes you want to grab your backpack and head out.
My boy Brett gave me this autographed copy of one of Henry's best books.
Hank is one of my favorites. Really excellent travel writings
baboon ass... need i say more?!
F'in entertaining for sure.
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Henry Rollins (born Henry Lawrence Garfield; often referred to simply as Rollins) is an American singer-songwriter, spoken word artist, author, actor and publisher.
After joining the short-lived Washington, D.C. band State of Alert in 1980, Rollins fronted the Californian hardcore punk band Black Flag from 1981 until 1986. Following the band's breakup, Rollins soon established the record label and...more
More about Henry Rollins...
After joining the short-lived Washington, D.C. band State of Alert in 1980, Rollins fronted the Californian hardcore punk band Black Flag from 1981 until 1986. Following the band's breakup, Rollins soon established the record label and...more
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“Girls aren't beautiful, they're pretty. Beautiful is too heavy a word to assign to a girl. Women are beautiful because their faces show that they know they have lost something and picked up something else.”
—
364 people liked it
“I watched her perform on the Grammys and she totally sucked. The song 'All I Want to Do is Have Some Fun' sucks and when she walked out of that place with all those Grammies I knew I was going to give mine away. I did. If they're giving them away for crap, I don't want one in my place. What an insult to real music and musicians everywhere.”
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