Rock 'n' Roll Love Stories: True tales of the passion and drama behind the stage acts

Love Stories

by Gill Paul

The music world has seen some of the most iconic partnerships of all time the reader feels almost on a first-name acquaintance with many of them: Sonny and Cher, Mick and Marianne, Elvis and Priscilla, Ike and Tina...Rock n Roll Love Stories looks at 14 of the best, taking us from the 1950s all the way up to the early 2000s. Along the way we see behind the public face of a whole range of relationships, from the straightforwardly romantic to the messily divided, and from the famous (and infamous) to the relatively unknown. All are engaging, full of contemporary detail, and come imbued with the energy and the spirit of the music world over the last half century.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction

192 pages, Hardcover

First published September 22, 2014

About the author

Gill Paul is the international bestselling author of thirteen novels, many of them reevaluating extraordinary twentieth-century women whom she believes have been marginalized or misjudged. Her novels have reached the top of the USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Toronto Globe & Mail charts, and have been translated into twenty-three languages.
Her latest novel, Scandalous Women (2024), is about trailblazing authors Jackie Collins and Jacqueline Susann battling their way to the top in the misogynous boys' club of 1960s publishing. A Beautiful Rival (2023) is about the infamous feud between beauty tycoons Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein. Jackie and Maria (2020) was longlisted for the Historical Writers’ Association Gold Crown. The Collector’s Daughter (2021) was named a Times ‘historical novel of the month’ and The Manhattan Girls (2022), was reviewed in The Sun as a “sweeping, evocative tale” and in The Book List as “Witty, emotional and intelligent”.
Gill also writes historical non-fiction, including A History of Medicine in 50 Objects and a series of Love Stories. Published around the world, this series includes Royal Love Stories, World War I Love Stories and Titanic Love Stories.
Gill lives in London where she swims year round in a wild pond, and speaks at libraries and literary festivals on topics ranging from Tutankhamun to the Romanovs.

Reviews

[rené lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting overview of some notorious couples in rock 'n' roll history. It's not at all lovely or sweet, so don't think you'll sit and swoon over this book. The majority of it was rather a bummer, but it was still fascinating.

[Heather ~*dread mushrooms*~ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up at a library book sale not too long ago. It was an interesting, quick read. Several notable male musicians are super assholes with shocking—though unsurprising—behavior toward women. Some of the book was depressing because of that, but overall I enjoyed the short sections on each couple.

[Lindsey McLemore · Rating 2 out of 5]

This reads both like a book written for children, but also a book written by children. It’s like a storybook, but with a lot of talk about tits.

[MKF · Rating 1 out of 5]

Apparently in this book rock and roll is anybody who is a famous musician who may or may not sing rock music. Cash and June is country and gospel music. Sonny and Cher is pop music. Tina and Ike is more R&B than rock music. They and a few others may have had loose ties to early rock music but they aren't people you think of when you think of rock music and musicians
Mentioning Turner brings up another problem which is including stories involving abuse in a book of love stories. It's not just abuse though it's drugs and drinking and other unhealthy relationships with unhappy endings. For some reason the author chose to fill this book with these stories and few stories about loving and lasting relationships. It seems like the author wants to prove that rock stars are bad people who do bad things and shouldn't be looked up too and idolized. I agree for many of these and other singers because they're bad people so why include them in a book that is dedicated to love?

[Sharon Falduto · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a nice morsel sized book of photos and stories of some of the "great" love stories of rock and rollers...I mean, I'm not sure I would have put Sid and Nancy on the cover, myself. Anyway, I enjoyed this read, it was quick and informative. they could have done with a few more couples; Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley? Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale? Maybe someone who is still happily together and not dead?

[Anna Welsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Got this book of 1960s tea for free somewhere in wyoming

[Susannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fascinating and succinctly written account of some of the most famous and infamous relationships in music history. It is interesting to finally get clarification on some of those romances I had only read snippets about before, such as the infamous love triangle between George Harrison, Pattie Boyd and Eric Clapton, inspiring no fewer than three classic rock songs.
Unfortunately a lot of the romances chronicled are not all that romantic: Bob Dylan seems to have used Joan Baez, Ike Turner was abusive towards Tina, and nearly every single male rock star, despite being madly in love, seems to have cheated on his significant other. Some led to tragedy, such as Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen, and Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love. Addictions to drugs played a large part in the breakdown of a lot of these relationships. Still, others were sweet, such as James Taylor and Carly Simon, Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson, and Debbie Harry and Chris Stein. A fascinating read for anyone who likes rock 'n' roll and biographies.

[Mimo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading about different stories that had to do with Rock Culture. I noticed a pattern as to how most, but not all women in these tales were seen as the bad guy. I can't expect less from that era since many were seen as groupies or home wreckers.

I do feel that the author was more sympathetic to these women than I am. Personally I do not like Courtney love, Nancy or Ono; I think these women were destructive to their partners and yes being sexist is wrong and we should not blame the victim. But these women have to still be held accountable for influencing others in ways that we wouldn't be okay with if a man did. That is what equality truly is.

The author did not mention anything about how some fans speculate that Courtney was more responsible to Kurts tragic death than what is let on. No mention of how some believe she was somehow involved is stated.

And that part of history and their love story is still talked about by fans till this day. Saying that Sid may have killed Nancy was mentioned and even how his friends didn't think so were in the book. But why not with Kurt? I believe that is sus.

None the less I think this is a good book, but I found that it may be bias in small details on print. Overall great gift for that romance junkie. Ha,get it. No? Okay I'll leave..

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a very interesting read: it highlights a lot of trivia that even a die-hard music fan might not be aware of (well, trivia and abuse). For instance, I had no idea that Nancy (Spungen) had a diagnosis of schizophrenia. And I also had no clue about how badly Bob Dylan treated Joan Baez.

But the issue here is the fact that the story-telling feels slightly impersonal - and it's not really what I enjoy, even in a biography of sorts. I know this is meant to be a journalistic, objective style - but would it hurt to make it more subjective if these stories clearly have heroes and villains?

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really appreciated how well a reader could feel what the relationship may have been like. It felt well-researched and I was especially pleased to see a female writer bringing the women in the book into such focus. Most of the women in the relationships mentioned worked twice as hard for half the credit, and I think this book did a great job in having their stories told.

[Samantha Osborne · Rating 4 out of 5]

some great stories about rock and roll couples the only problem i had with this is there is a couple of typos in this a few but not a lot

[Anette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mehed on tropid, eriti Bob Dylan ja Ike Turner - muud järeldust ma sellest raamatust teha ei oska. Päris meelelahutuslik ja põnevate detailidega lugemine. Võiks olla paremini toimetatud - vigu on kole palju.

[wrkatreading · Rating 1 out of 5]

👎

This book is all information I already knew. Any google search could find the info. I wish I didn’t spend the money

[Patricia · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was somewhat interesting but a lot of it was already pretty common knowledge. The book I had read had so many grammar issues and typos that it got a bit distracting.

[Kadi Paju · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sisu on huvitav, aga tõlge nii primitiivne, et muudab raamatu lugemise võimatuks.

[Mary Garcia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tragic, messy, beautiful, or ill-advised, each of these couples had one thing in common: they were never boring.

The perfect fix for my obsession with disastrous rock stars.

[Marca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Raamatu sissejuhatus on üks parimaid kokkuvõtteid rock'n'rolli ajaloost ja mentaliteedist, mida olen lugema juhtunud. Lood ise on samuti enamjaolt huvitavad ning ilmselt leidub igaühe jaoks seal ka midagi uut, sest kõigi lugudega on raske varasemalt kursis olla. Lisaks armastuslugudele on muidki põnevaid fakte teema kohta. Rõõmsalt romantilised on siiski vähesed neist lugudest, paljudest kumab läbi ebaõiglus rockimaailmas kui meeste poolt domineeritud alal, kus naisi, kes samade mängureeglite järgi mängivad, koheldakse hoopis julmemalt kui samasugust elu elavaid mehi. Marianne Faithfull ja Yoko Ono kõigepealt, Courtney Love nende järel. Kartsin, et raamat on väga pealiskaudne, õnneks mitte, vägagi sümpaatne lugemine.

[Katelyn Annyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

I couldn't put this book down ,and that is not only due to my love for rock 'n' roll through the ages. This book presents fourteen different famous "rock 'n' roll" couple's through the 1960s-1990s, with a large variety and diversity of couples, ranging from Johnny Cash and June Carter to Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen. This book gave me intriguing details and facts that I had never heard about notorious couples that I though I knew almost everything about. Even with couple's I had no prior knowledge of or knew very little about, I was still sucked right into their love story and was interested. The layout of this book made the reading experience even more enjoyable and a very fast read. The consistent aesthetic of this book was eye catching and complementary with everything being in the color scheme of pink, black and white. The introduction was also very interesting since it gives a basis of what rock 'n' roll originated from and how it progressed through the ages. Overall, I loved every bit of this book.

[Manda Jacobs · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book of course because of the pop-culture aspect, although I have to admit there were a few members of the different couples featured that I was unfamiliar with. It would be cool to see some more current up-and-comers be a part of this, but I have to admit these people are admittedly what most would refer to as some of the classics. I think the younger generation will still find the information fascinating (although somewhat outdated). Interesting to see how some of their relationships played out and also find out a little bit more about some of the most famous rock and rollers of the 70s, 80s and beyond.

[Carolyn James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sid and Nancy are such a fascinating, strange couple that I'm always drawn when I come across literature about them. When I saw this book, I literally judged it by the cover and picked it up. If you are a fan of rock and roll history this is an awesome book to have around. I learned a lot about several well known musicians and the impact they made as they got famous, as well as the personal demons that all too often became their downfall. Very cool if you enjoy non-fiction.

[Dee Mcgee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy read short and sweet

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit all over the place to be honest, but still enjoyable.

[Amanda Peterson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining read, liked the stories of Johnny&June,George&Patti, and Kurt&Courtney, as well as Sid&Nancy.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short but fascinating read.

[Bonni Sweet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad book. Some of the people very fascinating. A couple of them seen to have the same.stuff written about them over and over again.