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My Damage: The Story of a Punk Rock Survivor
Keith Morris is a true punk icon. No one else embodies the sound of Southern Californian hardcore the way he does. With his waist-length dreadlocks and snarling vocals, Morris is known the world over for his take-no-prisoners approach on the stage and his integrity off of it. Over the course of his forty-year career with Black Flag, the Circle Jerks, and OFF!, he's battled diabetes, drug and alcohol addiction, and the record industry . . . and he's still going strong.
My Damage is more than a book about the highs and lows of a punk rock legend. It's a story from the perspective of someone who has shared the stage with just about every major figure in the music industry and has appeared in cult films like The Decline of Western Civilization and Repo Man . A true Hollywood tale from an L.A. native, My Damage reveals the story of Morris's streets, his scene, and his music-as only he can tell it.
My Damage is more than a book about the highs and lows of a punk rock legend. It's a story from the perspective of someone who has shared the stage with just about every major figure in the music industry and has appeared in cult films like The Decline of Western Civilization and Repo Man . A true Hollywood tale from an L.A. native, My Damage reveals the story of Morris's streets, his scene, and his music-as only he can tell it.
336 pages, Paperback
First published July 21, 2016
77 people are currently reading
1026 people want to read
About the author
Keith Morris
30 books19 followersThere is more than one author called Keith Morris. See also Keith Morris
From Wikipedia: Keith Morris is an American singer and songwriter known for his role as frontman of the hardcore punk bands Black Flag, Circle Jerks, and Off!. Born and raised in Hermosa Beach, California, he formed Black Flag at the age of 21 with guitarist Greg Ginn and performed on the band's 1979 debut EP Nervous Breakdown. Shortly after leaving Black Flag in 1979, he formed the Circle Jerks with guitarist Greg Hetson; the band released seven albums between 1980 and 1995 and are currently on hiatus. In 2009 Morris formed the supergroup Off! with guitarist Dimitri Coats, bassist Steven Shane McDonald, and drummer Mario Rubalcaba. Morris has also appeared as a guest vocalist on several albums by other artists. In 2013, Keith Morris, with other former Black Flag members Chuck Dukowski, Dez Cadena and Bill Stevenson, with the addition of Descendents member Stephen Egerton, created FLAG as an offshoot of Black Flag. As of now, they are only touring.
From Wikipedia: Keith Morris is an American singer and songwriter known for his role as frontman of the hardcore punk bands Black Flag, Circle Jerks, and Off!. Born and raised in Hermosa Beach, California, he formed Black Flag at the age of 21 with guitarist Greg Ginn and performed on the band's 1979 debut EP Nervous Breakdown. Shortly after leaving Black Flag in 1979, he formed the Circle Jerks with guitarist Greg Hetson; the band released seven albums between 1980 and 1995 and are currently on hiatus. In 2009 Morris formed the supergroup Off! with guitarist Dimitri Coats, bassist Steven Shane McDonald, and drummer Mario Rubalcaba. Morris has also appeared as a guest vocalist on several albums by other artists. In 2013, Keith Morris, with other former Black Flag members Chuck Dukowski, Dez Cadena and Bill Stevenson, with the addition of Descendents member Stephen Egerton, created FLAG as an offshoot of Black Flag. As of now, they are only touring.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 131 reviews
May 13, 2022
Black Flag, Circle Jerks, Off! My life would be much different and a whole lot less interesting without hardcore punk. Like most bios, my favorite bits of this book was the dirt, like Greg Ginn owing royalties and his "reunion" fiasco. Recommended for fans of Keith's bands and those within that family.
December 15, 2016
I don’t know why but I’ve always been a Circle Jerks guy. The band. More so than a Black Flag guy, anyway. It might be that the Circle Jerks never took themselves so seriously (not as much as Black Flag, anyway), or just because their front man Keith Morris is just such a character. In their criminally underrated live DVD (and album) on Kung Fu records, he introduces himself by saying, “I’m an asshole, I’m a coke addict, and I want to be your friend.” Turns out all those things are true. And he might not be the go-to guy in documentaries (leave that for Mike Watt who can talk your ear off like an expert), but he sure has a lot to say about punk rock. And a man who has a lot to say needs to have a book written about him.
My Damage is less an autobiography and more a collection of Morris’ stories about his childhood and career. What strikes me from the get-go is how much this book reads like a Californian sketch on SNL: a lot of directions and where things are located (“down Hollywood boulevard, where you make a left and it’s right across the street from the so-and-so where X used to be”). I know the devil is in the details, but this obsession with locations is hilarious to say the least.
But My Damage is more than directions, and instead of telling a chronologic story about his life, Morris sticks to stories and anecdotes that highlight a certain time in his life: from his childhood, through Black Flag, his drug and alcohol addiction, the formation and dissolution of the Circle Jerks, his brief stint as an A & R guy, his coping with diabetes, and how OFF! got started. We even get the story behind Midget Handjob. We get plenty of these anecdotes and they are short, sweet, informative and very entertaining. Morris has met a lot of people and experienced a lot in his life and he tells us about them in a succinct, sweet, informative and very entertaining way. What helps warm you up to him is how he’s the first to take the blame where blame is due (except the Turbonegro story where it’s pretty obvious his reverting to acting like a baby caused the whole ordeal). Who knew Morris could be so damn likeable?
Say what you will about Morris’ career, but after all these years he can still front a band like the best of them and any of the OFF! records are testament to that. It’s hard to say whether My Damage is for everyone, but as a fan, it was incredibly satisfying.
My Damage is less an autobiography and more a collection of Morris’ stories about his childhood and career. What strikes me from the get-go is how much this book reads like a Californian sketch on SNL: a lot of directions and where things are located (“down Hollywood boulevard, where you make a left and it’s right across the street from the so-and-so where X used to be”). I know the devil is in the details, but this obsession with locations is hilarious to say the least.
But My Damage is more than directions, and instead of telling a chronologic story about his life, Morris sticks to stories and anecdotes that highlight a certain time in his life: from his childhood, through Black Flag, his drug and alcohol addiction, the formation and dissolution of the Circle Jerks, his brief stint as an A & R guy, his coping with diabetes, and how OFF! got started. We even get the story behind Midget Handjob. We get plenty of these anecdotes and they are short, sweet, informative and very entertaining. Morris has met a lot of people and experienced a lot in his life and he tells us about them in a succinct, sweet, informative and very entertaining way. What helps warm you up to him is how he’s the first to take the blame where blame is due (except the Turbonegro story where it’s pretty obvious his reverting to acting like a baby caused the whole ordeal). Who knew Morris could be so damn likeable?
Say what you will about Morris’ career, but after all these years he can still front a band like the best of them and any of the OFF! records are testament to that. It’s hard to say whether My Damage is for everyone, but as a fan, it was incredibly satisfying.
June 19, 2017
More interesting reading about the origins of various old hardcore punk bands and how they were all connected than Morris' actual history.
Also had to question how many times we were viewing the stories through Morris' rose tinted recollections.
Also had to question how many times we were viewing the stories through Morris' rose tinted recollections.
November 4, 2019
A great history of the early SoCal punk scene as told through the eyes of someone who lived it, played it, listened to it and probably snorted it at some point. Keith is an icon for punk rock, and he holds nothing back. His opinions, good and bad, about other people and other bands is outstanding.
September 2, 2017
I actually ended up listening to this one in audio book form and really enjoyed it! It was great listening to Keith Morris recount all of the crazy stuff from the LA punk scene when he grew up, and I didn't know half of the stuff that he told about his personal life.
Keith really dishes out some of his most personal stories and lays it in to a few people pretty hard, including himself. It's pretty interesting to see who knew who during this time and how things came to be where they are now, whether they be good or bad.
This is a good one for anyone who wants to know more about how Black Flag got started and how the punk scene unfolded after the fact. Hell, even if you're just interested in musicians autobiographies, it's an interesting read.
Keith really dishes out some of his most personal stories and lays it in to a few people pretty hard, including himself. It's pretty interesting to see who knew who during this time and how things came to be where they are now, whether they be good or bad.
This is a good one for anyone who wants to know more about how Black Flag got started and how the punk scene unfolded after the fact. Hell, even if you're just interested in musicians autobiographies, it's an interesting read.
February 26, 2024
Keith Morris is a great guy with an interesting story of surviving a lot of close-calls. Reading this was inspirational and gave a lot of insight into the music industry of the 80's and 90's, plus some origin stories for a bunch of bands including Black Flag, Circle Jerks, Off and more. There's a lot more drama in Black Flag's story than I expected, and Morris did a lot more in the music scene than I realized. A good read.
March 11, 2019
This is an excellent memoir. If you are a fan of any of Keith's bands you will enjoy this one. There are so many good stories about the early LA punk scene and about his life in general.
October 15, 2016
Very good memoir from punk singer who gives it his all
Really cool look back on Keith Morris' life as told by Keith. He doesn't hold much back on himself and tastefully addresses some of the not-so-good people from his past (I.e., Ginn). Very easy read, lots of good stories and a look back at one of punk's great frontmen and lyricists.
Really cool look back on Keith Morris' life as told by Keith. He doesn't hold much back on himself and tastefully addresses some of the not-so-good people from his past (I.e., Ginn). Very easy read, lots of good stories and a look back at one of punk's great frontmen and lyricists.
May 25, 2020
I was going to give this four stars, but after reading the David Goggins biography, I feel like all the other bios I've read need a downgrade, possibly with the exceptions of Anne Frank and Malcolm X. That being said, I've never not gotten entertainment out of a rock star biography (debatable whether Morris is a "rock star"), so I knew this was a safe bet for road-trip audio book. Since I'm a musician and a huge fan of music, these types of books are easily relatable. Specifically to Morris, I love his work with Black Flag and Circle Jerks, I saw his band, OFF!, at Punk Rock Bowling in Las Vegas, and I've watched interviews with him that made him sound like an interesting guy to read about, which he is. Most rock star bios are predictable. They start with childhood, then go chronologically through their career. (I'm familiar with his catalog, so I knew it would be Nervous Breakdown, then Group Sex, then Golden Shower, and so on.) Then it talks about them getting old and mellowing out, unless they're part of the "27 club," in which they never mellow out. Rock star bios are great, and this one was great, but after having read a few, I can see the homogeneity. I'll keep reading them though, because it gives me my fix. Maybe Paul Stanley's next.
May 16, 2017
Keith Morris' memoirs gives us an insightful look into the early days of punk rock in L.A. from the perspective of a guy on the outside of the music industry breaking in. From starting Black Flag with Greg Ginn and Circle Jerks to Off! and a few "failed" bands in between, this is a detailed account of the DIY ethos happening in Southern California. It's a quick and easy read and definitely worth it.
January 28, 2020
Keith, thanks for writing this book and sharing your personal life with us. It’s a great memoir, but also reads like a great LA book in the vein of Richard Lange or Dan Fante. Looking forward to seeing the Circle Jerks this spring.
February 27, 2022
While I enjoyed reading this book, it has far too many anecdotes and not enough stories. Reading about people doing drugs is boring, but Morris cleans up by 1988. This is, of course, after his most classic music output is over, but interesting stuff still happened to him then.
April 7, 2020
Entertaining look at the early days of L.A. punk. Lots of great brief stories that include so many of the familiar names from the L.A. scene. I give Morris credit for being able to recognize what a fuck up he was and how he’s willing to poke fun at himself. I’m also surprised he isn’t dead and it seems like he’s surprised as well.
January 11, 2022
An interesting book detailing early California punk rock, covering lots of ground I was quite unaware of. Having been a long-time Circle Jerks fan, I became aware of this autobiography when listening to an interview with Keith Morris. The book comes across as reasonably balanced and matter of fact. A number of gaps in my knowledge regarding bands such as Bad Religion and OFF! managed to get filled out. It's no groundbreaking piece, but a fun read and useful for fans of punk rock.
October 20, 2016
Alright I am sitting on a flight home to Indiana Circle Jerks rocking on my headphones and I just closed My Damage as my flight reading. I almost never write a review this quick after reading a book. I was lucky enough to see Jim and Keith do a reading and Q and A in San Diego so they really got me excited to read this book, but I was sold as soon as I heard the book announced - Black Flag and the Circle Jerks were one of the early west coast hardcore bands and I have listened to Keith Morris bands for decades. It is simple way that first short Circle Jerks record Group Sex is a undeniable masterpiece and to me Deny Everything is one of my favorite punk songs ever, ever.
Some of it I can’t relate to because songs like Wasted don’t mean much to someone who has been straight edge for over 25 years since he was pretty young. All you have to do is read my last two books Punk Rock Ghost Story and Amazing Punk Stories to realize that I love old school punk I grew-up with far more than the shit kids create today. I love the old scene, and the history of it. The concept of Punk ghosts I explored in my book are very a thing in My Damage.
If you are not familiar with Keith Morris or his music – he was the singer of two bands who were largely responsible for kick starting the punk on the west coast in the late 70’s and early 80’s. While Morris did not have a easy exit from his first band, we should all be glad it happened because we got his second band the circle Jerks.
It is easy to forget that these icons of crazy insane music were human beings with struggles. Kudos to Morris and his co-author Jim Ruland for dragging some pretty gut-wrenching and brutally honest stories. The book doesn’t disappoint. If you were looking for Morris to shit on Henry Rollins…no he will tell you some pretty harsh stories about his former Black Flag bandmate Greg Ginn.
Tales of backstages, piles of cocaine, drug deaths of friends, disasterous tours, the story behind albums and ins and outs of band drama are all there. For me the coolest moments of the book came from intense details of early venues, punk houses and day to day life of the old punk scene in LA. Stories of now famous members of Fear, Flag and Chili Peppers long before they were stars when they were getting beat up outside VFW halls they rented by the LAPD.
This is Keith Morris raw and he deserves credit for telling his story, and maybe it’s my bias because Jim is local but want to give co-author Jim Ruland a lot of credit. Most reviews will not focus on him. Jim did a wonderful job of putting the stories into a structure and making the book a super easy fast paced read. Morris himself spoke very serious praises of his co-author.
My Damage is a must read for anyone interested in the history of punk rock or takes the music seriously. This a punk history lesson that the young bucks growing up with the internet need to read, but the scene when the struggles were real.
Some of it I can’t relate to because songs like Wasted don’t mean much to someone who has been straight edge for over 25 years since he was pretty young. All you have to do is read my last two books Punk Rock Ghost Story and Amazing Punk Stories to realize that I love old school punk I grew-up with far more than the shit kids create today. I love the old scene, and the history of it. The concept of Punk ghosts I explored in my book are very a thing in My Damage.
If you are not familiar with Keith Morris or his music – he was the singer of two bands who were largely responsible for kick starting the punk on the west coast in the late 70’s and early 80’s. While Morris did not have a easy exit from his first band, we should all be glad it happened because we got his second band the circle Jerks.
It is easy to forget that these icons of crazy insane music were human beings with struggles. Kudos to Morris and his co-author Jim Ruland for dragging some pretty gut-wrenching and brutally honest stories. The book doesn’t disappoint. If you were looking for Morris to shit on Henry Rollins…no he will tell you some pretty harsh stories about his former Black Flag bandmate Greg Ginn.
Tales of backstages, piles of cocaine, drug deaths of friends, disasterous tours, the story behind albums and ins and outs of band drama are all there. For me the coolest moments of the book came from intense details of early venues, punk houses and day to day life of the old punk scene in LA. Stories of now famous members of Fear, Flag and Chili Peppers long before they were stars when they were getting beat up outside VFW halls they rented by the LAPD.
This is Keith Morris raw and he deserves credit for telling his story, and maybe it’s my bias because Jim is local but want to give co-author Jim Ruland a lot of credit. Most reviews will not focus on him. Jim did a wonderful job of putting the stories into a structure and making the book a super easy fast paced read. Morris himself spoke very serious praises of his co-author.
My Damage is a must read for anyone interested in the history of punk rock or takes the music seriously. This a punk history lesson that the young bucks growing up with the internet need to read, but the scene when the struggles were real.
September 30, 2016
Only a couple of months ago I was jammed into Small’s Bar in Hamtramck to see another electrifying show by Flag which brings back the early version of Black Flag. The vocalist for Flag (along with Dez Cadena) is Keith Morris, whose rock & roll resume includes Black Flag, the Circle Jerks and Off! I was more than happy to see that Keith Morris has written his autobiography, aptly titled “My Damage”.
It is a fun book to read –the style is straight and to the point – he doesn’t pull any punches and freely admits to his mistakes. Black Flag was an extremely influential band that is remembered now mostly for Henry Rollins, who was the “fourth” vocalist as is pointed out in the book several times. The animosity between original guitar player Greg Ginn and the Keith Morris is discussed, but it is made clear that Morris left the band of his own accord and was much happier with the Circle Jerks.
There are no amazing revelations here – it’s really feels like Keith Morris is sitting across the table from you and telling you his life story. He is a punk rock survivor and his enthusiasm for rock & roll has not been tempered over all these years. He has health issues with diabetes, but the excitement of being in Flag and Off! just jumps off the pages. Keith Morris is his own man and points out numerous times that his tastes in music vary greatly and he doesn’t really care what people think. He gets to meet Eddie Vedder and tells him that he doesn’t care for anything that Pearl Jam has done after their first album. In many ways he’s very lucky – surviving various car and van wrecks and almost dying in Norway after slipping into a diabetic coma. At the end I’m grateful for all the great music that Keith Morris has created and for sharing his life with us in this awesome memoir.
It is a fun book to read –the style is straight and to the point – he doesn’t pull any punches and freely admits to his mistakes. Black Flag was an extremely influential band that is remembered now mostly for Henry Rollins, who was the “fourth” vocalist as is pointed out in the book several times. The animosity between original guitar player Greg Ginn and the Keith Morris is discussed, but it is made clear that Morris left the band of his own accord and was much happier with the Circle Jerks.
There are no amazing revelations here – it’s really feels like Keith Morris is sitting across the table from you and telling you his life story. He is a punk rock survivor and his enthusiasm for rock & roll has not been tempered over all these years. He has health issues with diabetes, but the excitement of being in Flag and Off! just jumps off the pages. Keith Morris is his own man and points out numerous times that his tastes in music vary greatly and he doesn’t really care what people think. He gets to meet Eddie Vedder and tells him that he doesn’t care for anything that Pearl Jam has done after their first album. In many ways he’s very lucky – surviving various car and van wrecks and almost dying in Norway after slipping into a diabetic coma. At the end I’m grateful for all the great music that Keith Morris has created and for sharing his life with us in this awesome memoir.
November 25, 2016
I would give this memoir 3.5 stars if I were able to on the Goodreads scale. As a fan of Keith who came into his work late, mostly by getting into OFF!, it was fascinating to learn more about the early LA punk scene. Everything that occurred at that point was way before my time, and Keith demonstrated the eclecticism of the bands and venues around that era that have made it continually influential. I would have liked to see some more depth in certain areas, particularly the bizarre friction with Greg Ginn. In particular I would like to know what Keith thought about the weird recent incarnation of Black Flag and "What The...," which was so odd that I am sure Keith has some funny and insightful observations about it. The writing is quite colloquial, which is perhaps to be expected in a memoir that is filtered through a ghostwriter, but the end result was less satisfying than, for example, the Larry Livermore memoir that I picked up a little while back, How to Ruin a Record Label: The Story of Lookout Records. There were also some miscellaneous things about this first edition of the book that will hopefully be corrected in the paperback. Keith's first name is misspelled on the spine ("Kieth"), and there are several typos throughout. Overall a nice read for punk fans.
December 8, 2016
Humble, self-effacing, and familiar yet interesting enough for a punk trivia nerd like me. It's remarkable how similar it read to Ozzy Osbourne's 'I am Ozzy.' One thing about Keith Morris is that he seems to be incapable of describing music except in terms of other music. Like Band X sounds like Nirvana meets Cheap Trick. Or this band sounds like the Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Butthole Surfers. There's not a lot of snark in this at all but there is not exactly a lot of love for either Greg Ginn or Henry Rollins.
November 12, 2016
Casual, fun and extremely endearing
As this book progresses, one wishes they not only could see every great (and not so great) performance Keith Morris participated in or witnessed, but you'd want to do it while hanging out with Keith himself. Very casually written, but very fun. Keith is a sweet heart of the streets.
As this book progresses, one wishes they not only could see every great (and not so great) performance Keith Morris participated in or witnessed, but you'd want to do it while hanging out with Keith himself. Very casually written, but very fun. Keith is a sweet heart of the streets.
November 28, 2016
Not the most interesting of the punk history books. Kinda of surprised he can remember anything with the amount of drugs and drink he has done. But it was good enough to hold my attention and a fast read when I needed one.
December 26, 2016
There are some good stories of Black Flag, Circle Jerks and Keith's other bands in this book but at times it was tough to read. I felt like his stories would bounce around a bit and not be complete. Still a good history of Keith's bands though and some good punk history lessons. Good but not great.
August 30, 2016
Great companion to the John Doe book. Quick read with some laugh out loud stories.
September 26, 2016
It's not a great book and it's not even all that well written, but damn was it a fun read for someone (me) who loved so much of the music Keith Morris made.
November 25, 2024
My Damage: The Story of a Punk Rock Survivor is the autobiography of punk rock oddball Keith Morris. As a foundational front man of the punk rock scene of California, he has been a part of the most seminal bands including Black Flag and the Circle Jerks. In additional he has formed other side projects that are worth discovering such as the short lived 2000's band Midget Handjob, and the very well received 2010's hardcore band Off! Survival is fitting in describing Morris' travels through high and lows as he may have experienced some of the more harsher events than his peers. After battling alcoholism, homelessness and complications due to adult onset diabetes it is impressive to see that he is still so fired up. Aside from the riveting stories of concert brawls and evading the police we are granted the access of knowing some of his personal adversities such as relationships with his family and partners. Most notably is his difficult relationship with his father that ultimately was able to be recovered before his father's passing. Morris is not all tooth and nail with a knapsack full of jokes, we get to see his strong work ethics off the stage and behind the curtain as an A&R representative for Virgin Records and managed many underground bands. Take him as you will, after all is said and done Morris is a critical component to the punk rock scene as a whole and should be honored for his contributions over the decade.
As my fascination with punk rock grew the names Circle Jerks and Keith Morris kept appearing in my headlights. Therefore I knew adding this autobiography to my collection was essential. The author Jim Ruland succeeds yet again in capturing the essence of the individual and putting them to words on pages. Dialing in the often chaotic stories of a seasoned partier can be challenging. With this book these parts of Morris' life added to the chronology of events and added a unique quality of the on-again, off-again success of being a pioneer. I appreciated the view into his troubled relationship with his father because it adds a highly relatable humanistic quality. The struggle with homelessness after failures in the music industry was saddening. I was always rooting for Morris to come out on top but in those lower, darker moments my hope for him was only felt stronger. Overall he is a gentlemen at heart and although he either gets himself into trouble or just happens to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, he never means harm to anyone. There is a firm sense of a desire for the punk scene to be celebratory that Morris delivers in his stage presence and sometimes lyrics that is uplifting. In a way his rings like a bell calling for injustices in society to be resolved, but also for achievements in unity to be admired. A sum of this autobiography could described as rooting for the underdog. With that please add it to your collection as soon as you get the opportunity.
As my fascination with punk rock grew the names Circle Jerks and Keith Morris kept appearing in my headlights. Therefore I knew adding this autobiography to my collection was essential. The author Jim Ruland succeeds yet again in capturing the essence of the individual and putting them to words on pages. Dialing in the often chaotic stories of a seasoned partier can be challenging. With this book these parts of Morris' life added to the chronology of events and added a unique quality of the on-again, off-again success of being a pioneer. I appreciated the view into his troubled relationship with his father because it adds a highly relatable humanistic quality. The struggle with homelessness after failures in the music industry was saddening. I was always rooting for Morris to come out on top but in those lower, darker moments my hope for him was only felt stronger. Overall he is a gentlemen at heart and although he either gets himself into trouble or just happens to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, he never means harm to anyone. There is a firm sense of a desire for the punk scene to be celebratory that Morris delivers in his stage presence and sometimes lyrics that is uplifting. In a way his rings like a bell calling for injustices in society to be resolved, but also for achievements in unity to be admired. A sum of this autobiography could described as rooting for the underdog. With that please add it to your collection as soon as you get the opportunity.
January 10, 2018
The first time I heard Black Flag it was 1983. On my way to school, I fell in step behind a guy who would turn out to be one of only a handful of punks who went to Willowbrook. Jeff had already adopted the combat boots, safety pin earring, dyed-blonde Mohawk, ripped jeans and attitude and it was just the dawn of our freshmen year. On his shoulder perched a boom box, an object which, by the way, should be enshrined in museums as a testament to how important music is to people—that you’d willingly carry around a mini oil tanker full of D batteries just so you could blast some tuneage is astonishing in retrospect. What was emanating from the boom box was some odd, drilling noises. It was a sort of continuous buzz punctuated by an alien sort of singing that was angry, otherworldly and yet very human. It seemed almost insectile. Later I would learn that Jeff was listening to his favorite band, Black Flag and the singer responsible for this brave, new vocalization so unlike anything I’d heard before, was Keith Morris.
It took a bit of time before I fully warmed up to punk, but when I did, the hook set hard and Black Flag was without a doubt, ruler and king of the punk sound I loved the most. Though I ended up liking all of the Flag vocalists in their own way, Morris was the first one I heard and the one that stands tallest. If it’s true that the first one through the wall is the bloodiest, this autobiography is supporting evidence. As the title suggests, Keith has had more than his share of damage, and not all of it was self-inflicted.
Apart from the fascinating stories about Morris’s upbringing, and his trials with drugs and alcohol, you get a full view of what it was like to be a punk rock pioneer. What I liked most about this memoir was that Morris comes across as a very personable, down-to-earth guy. I’ve found that I usually regret reading the autobiographies of musicians—the authors often end up seeming like vapid, assholish, drug-fried children. Not so here. K.M.’s got his wits and his charm and of a lot of good stories to tell. Ruland, his co-author, seems to have let Keith’s voice shine through the narrative while keeping what has to be a complex, hard to recall/reconstruct past, coherent and engaging.
It took a bit of time before I fully warmed up to punk, but when I did, the hook set hard and Black Flag was without a doubt, ruler and king of the punk sound I loved the most. Though I ended up liking all of the Flag vocalists in their own way, Morris was the first one I heard and the one that stands tallest. If it’s true that the first one through the wall is the bloodiest, this autobiography is supporting evidence. As the title suggests, Keith has had more than his share of damage, and not all of it was self-inflicted.
Apart from the fascinating stories about Morris’s upbringing, and his trials with drugs and alcohol, you get a full view of what it was like to be a punk rock pioneer. What I liked most about this memoir was that Morris comes across as a very personable, down-to-earth guy. I’ve found that I usually regret reading the autobiographies of musicians—the authors often end up seeming like vapid, assholish, drug-fried children. Not so here. K.M.’s got his wits and his charm and of a lot of good stories to tell. Ruland, his co-author, seems to have let Keith’s voice shine through the narrative while keeping what has to be a complex, hard to recall/reconstruct past, coherent and engaging.
July 16, 2023
I'm not great at rating things so take my review with a grain of salt. I agree with others that some portions dragged and others could use a little more meat. I think that's fair to say.
Otherwise, I am grateful to have seen the Circle Jerks and OFF play in 2022/2023. As you read you'll find that Keith is living life and is not out for fame or money other than to sustain living. Being a big Red Hot Chili Pepper fan, it always interests me how they intertwined with the LA pink scene in the 80s. Kieth even covered when Anthony Kiedes went missing one night.Now today, everyone my age knows them as the big rock stars.
On the Black Flag note, I saw them recently with Mike Vallely as the singer. As with Henry Rollins Broken Summers, you'll hear all about Greg Ginn and his ways. It's unfortunate the way things went but it's safe to say that the music that was produced through the years are staples in the punk rock scene of LA. Both Rollins and Morris attest to that in their books.
If you listen and have interest in that scene or just in general of early punk music then this is a great read!
Otherwise, I am grateful to have seen the Circle Jerks and OFF play in 2022/2023. As you read you'll find that Keith is living life and is not out for fame or money other than to sustain living. Being a big Red Hot Chili Pepper fan, it always interests me how they intertwined with the LA pink scene in the 80s. Kieth even covered when Anthony Kiedes went missing one night.Now today, everyone my age knows them as the big rock stars.
On the Black Flag note, I saw them recently with Mike Vallely as the singer. As with Henry Rollins Broken Summers, you'll hear all about Greg Ginn and his ways. It's unfortunate the way things went but it's safe to say that the music that was produced through the years are staples in the punk rock scene of LA. Both Rollins and Morris attest to that in their books.
If you listen and have interest in that scene or just in general of early punk music then this is a great read!
November 27, 2024
This is as real as it gets. Keith Morris' autobiography is the most authentic punk bio I've read, and then some. What makes his memoirs better than most is the elongated time span through decades of sublime to ridiculous forms of youth culture.
The motley trends shift from the SST years to the pastel Eighties when clubs were more popular than the bands (unfortunately), to selfless attempts at managing other bands to fronting a sublime jazz-poetry combo, to well, returning to punk with his band OFF!
What makes his book more courageous than most are his confessions of drug and alcohol-fuel debauchery rendering him as some hellbound Hollywood jester, the climax reaching a diabetic attack causing a near-fatal car crash auspiciously located on the corner of Sunset and Vine (actually Sunset & Cahuenga, but Vine was two blocks away).
The only thing preventing Morris' confessional from being a punk Hollywood Babylon is his refusal to dish gossip, a classy move given he probably knows where all the bodies are buried, which arms ate the most heroin, etc. Kudos to the man who always gets away with it, a talent in itself.
The motley trends shift from the SST years to the pastel Eighties when clubs were more popular than the bands (unfortunately), to selfless attempts at managing other bands to fronting a sublime jazz-poetry combo, to well, returning to punk with his band OFF!
What makes his book more courageous than most are his confessions of drug and alcohol-fuel debauchery rendering him as some hellbound Hollywood jester, the climax reaching a diabetic attack causing a near-fatal car crash auspiciously located on the corner of Sunset and Vine (actually Sunset & Cahuenga, but Vine was two blocks away).
The only thing preventing Morris' confessional from being a punk Hollywood Babylon is his refusal to dish gossip, a classy move given he probably knows where all the bodies are buried, which arms ate the most heroin, etc. Kudos to the man who always gets away with it, a talent in itself.
January 24, 2023
I wanted to read this for a while because I’m a huge fan of Keith Morris. Whether it’s the first Black Flag EP, CJ, or OFF!, Keith’s music has had an immeasurable impact on my life, so I was going to get to it at some point. However, when I realized it was co-written with Jim Ruland, I knew it was going to be great. Ruland co-wrote Do What You Want with Bad Religion and Corporate Rock Sucks about SST Records. He is the punk-rock-history whisperer.
What’s so remarkable in Keith’s story is that he’s still here and still making great music. Keith Morris is the Keith Richards of punk rock. He is a survivor. A blurb on the back of the book from Viggo Mortensen (you know, Aragon) describes the book as being like “Neal Cassady’s The First Third read aloud by William Burroughs for his own enjoyment,” which is to say it’s delightful and twisted. Keith’s life and career have been a roller coaster, but like a roller coaster that’s on fire, and yet he emerged from it still kicking and still vital. I loved this book.
What’s so remarkable in Keith’s story is that he’s still here and still making great music. Keith Morris is the Keith Richards of punk rock. He is a survivor. A blurb on the back of the book from Viggo Mortensen (you know, Aragon) describes the book as being like “Neal Cassady’s The First Third read aloud by William Burroughs for his own enjoyment,” which is to say it’s delightful and twisted. Keith’s life and career have been a roller coaster, but like a roller coaster that’s on fire, and yet he emerged from it still kicking and still vital. I loved this book.
November 12, 2025
I'd never noticed in person that Keith was small in stature. But his size, combined with his deep need to constantly indulge in drugs and drink, takes up a big portion of this memoir. I was interested in his perspective on the early days of Black Flag and the Hollywood scene. Hard to imagine the guy at the door at the Masque berated him for not being dressed the way people on the scene were supposed to. Also interesting was his stint as unofficial manager of the Hangmen and the Nymphs. Some of the names he drops had big nostalgia value for me: 01 Gallery, punk rock goddess Michelle Gerber Bell, Charlie Hutchinson (PopDefect) and Cathay de Grande. He makes negative comments about some of the crew, but does not dwell excessively on them. He really disliked Fleetwood Mac. I expect this book will interest any readers who lived through this era in LA or who are interested in the LA punk scene for other reasons.
October 19, 2017
This was one of the best rock icon memoirs that I've ever read and one of the few I'll definitely read again. The book's first chapter got off to a slow start but after that it quickly kicked into gear and I was bummed when I reached the end. From Keith's adventures as a founding member of the fathers of hardcore punk, Black Flag, to his later career lowlights and highlights with the Circle Jerks and OFF!, Morris pulls no punches and never tries to use his story to pump his own ego, unlike a Steven Tyler book that I read in the past. He also details his battles with addiction and his ups and downs with diabetes.
P.S. Keith is the only man who gets a free pass on having a combover. His has dreads, and he helped create hardcore punk. 'Nuff said!
P.S. Keith is the only man who gets a free pass on having a combover. His has dreads, and he helped create hardcore punk. 'Nuff said!
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