Biography, Autobiography, Memoir discussion
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June 2019 Challenge
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Hmm. Will have to do some research as it was before my time. Maybe this book will help? The Swinging Sixties: When New Zealand Changed Forever
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Koren wrote: "May went so fast that June was here before I knew it. The challenge for June will be to read a biography, autobiography, or memoir where the primary setting is the 1960's. If you experienced the ..."
If your interested in the 60's you will want to read my autobiography 'Broken Childhood Mended Dreams' https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1999628411 thanks .. Jimmy
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The Crime of the Decade, if not the century!! I was a bit too young at the time, but while reading The Manson Women and Me: Monsters, Morality, and Murder, I wished I could have just taken off and ended up at Height-Ashbury or one of the hippie meccas at the time, although I didnt wish to be one of Manson's followers. I just wished to experience the culture of the times. I was about 12 at the time of the murders although I do remember bell bottom pants, fringed vests and I loved my brown felt floppy hat. I also remember a maroon velvet hot pants outfit I had in high school. Good times!
This is EXACTLY the book you want to read for that, Koren. I have searched high and low for a book that talks about why someone would be attracted to the Manson family and what it seemed to offer in the light of all the changes America was going through. Even Susan Atkins was silent on the subject in her Child of Satan, Child of God. Paul Watkins -- who is a terrific writer -- is finally telling me.
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The Manson Women and Me: Monsters, Morality, and Murder was also a good one for that.
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4 stars
Most girls who were teenagers in the 60's and early 70's loved the Monkees. The author of this book was the quiet, stocking-cap wearing member of the group. This autobiography is half pre-Monkees and half post-Monkees with not a lot about the Monkees show or the musical group, but actually the Monkees only lasted a couple of years, so that is understandable. Some of the 60's memories mentioned in the book that I remember: The Beatles, Elvis, Ed Sullivan, Bo Diddley, Buddy Holly, RCA records, Jimi Hendrix, Harry Nilsson, folk music, JFK assassination, Bob Dylan, Jack Nicholson in Easy Rider, Don Kirschner, The Archies.
I was sad that the years following the Monkees did not go so well for Mike. Money troubles and relationships were the dominant theme and Mike readily admits that a lot of it was his own fault. I thought it was interesting that his mother invented Liquid Paper the year I was born, so Liquid Paper is the same age I am. I had heard before that his mother made a fortune from Liquid Paper and Mike was a wealthy man because of his inheritance, but both he and his mother gave a lot of the money away to charity. I was fortunate to attend the Monkees 30th anniversary tour back in the late 90's and Mike did not tour with them at that time. I was hoping he would cover this in his book but he didnt mention it at all. He does mention that he didnt really care for the Monkees music and would have preferred to do his own music, which had more of a country music feel to it. I see that he is now touring with Mickey Dolenz. I think Peter might have been touring with them until his untimely death a few months ago.
I asked in the initial post for people to mention what they miss about the 60's or wish was still around. I think the thing I miss the most is the music, especially the folk music. This book brought back a lot of memories.
I'm going to read this one - High on Arrival by Mackenzie Phillips, daughter of the lead singer of Mamas and the Papas. I would like to read California Dreamin': The True Story of the Mamas and the Papas The Music, the Madness, the Magic that was but cant find it in my library. The Mamas and the Papas really represent what the 60s were about to me...that time when everyone thought they should be free and getting high and expressing themeslves through music. I like that they werent just a boy band or a girl band, they were both.
Well the daugher Mackenzie proabably has a lot of tales to tell how her parents getting high worked out for her.
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4 stars
This memoir by John Glenn covers his entire life, but he will best be remembered as the first American to orbit the earth in 1962. The following is my review:
John Glenn is an inspiration. He led a full life, was a hard worker, went after what he wanted, wasn't afraid of anything and had an exceptional set of values. He doesn't complain about anything and has a very positive attitude. I dont think he met a man he didnt like. The only complaint I have about this book is that sometimes the book was a little too detailed for me but, otherwise, an interesting read.
High on Arrival by Mackenzie PhillipsThe 60s
Sex, drugs and rock n'roll...with MAJOR emphasis on the drugs. Coke, heroin..Mackenzie was a full blown junkie from age 11 and rolling her fathers joints as a toddler.
I didnt like reading about the sex or drugs. It just went on and on, oh btw her Dad John Phillips was a rock star and she slept with him, then blocked it out with drugs, got sober for a while then went on tour as the New Mamas and the Papas. I didnt know they reformed. And then relapsed again. She was a celebrity brat, I had seen the movie American Grafitti where she played one of the girls and thought it was the most boring movie ever. I remember it all consisted of a bunch of teens and boy racer types crashing drive ins and making mayhem. She was also in a sit com called One day at a Time, and got fired twice, and then got busted for cocaine at an airport. She had a son and got sober and relapsed yet again. Now she is sober...and this book is the result.
Harrowing stuff. The sixties? This memoir of what she remembers of growing up then and being a wild child, the only highlight being she at least learned how to sing in four part harmony. I dont think I will think of the Mamas and the Papas in the same way again. Great music but.. what a selfish monster her dad was! She was basically raised by wolves.. her parents split and she was pretty much left to fend for herself. File under dysfunctional families/hippie parents of the sixties and their love children.
I was not around in the 60s but cant really think of what I would have wished to experience thats not around today. I am not a fan of the mini skirt fashion. The creative music scene might have been cool except it seemed it was all really influenced by drugs by the 60s. You can still hear it ad nauseum on oldies radio stations, so its like it hasnt really left. I know cos my dad will only listen to oldies music and had it on all the time at home. He always maintained though that anything after 1964 was rubbish. Im not sure what changed in 1964 though. Have to think about that one. The Monkees seemed like the manufactured boy band of the day...we still have them, current incarnation being One Direction.
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I was in elementary school in the 60's so maybe I am too young to know, but I dont think there was a lot of sex and drugs in rural America. I wasn't really exposed to it in the 70's either. Life was simpler but started changing in the late 60's with the assassinations and Viet Nam War escalating. Your dad sounds like he is about my age. I love the music of the 60's and 70's and my favorite is folk. I love the Mama's and Papa's so I think I will skip this book. I think I'd rather keep my musical heroes on a pedestal.
Koren wrote: "Selina wrote: "I was not around in the 60s but cant really think of what I would have wished to experience thats not around today. I am not a fan of the mini skirt fashion. The creative music scene..."Yea its not an easy read but kudos for Mackenzie for telling her story. Her dad wrote his own memoir called Papa John: An Autobiography by John Phillips. Apparently Mackenzie is now really good friends with Owen Wilson, Cass Elliots daughter. And Chynna Phillips is now a born again christian and singing songs about Jesus.
I do rememember when Wilson Phillips was popular in the early 90s. But I dont recall hearing anything about the New Mamas and Papas. Might have to you tube them.
I'm now reading My Life, My Love, My Legacy by Coretta Scott KingIt could be classed as a memoir about the 60s because a lot of the civil rights movements, marches etc happened in that era in America. It really began in 1957 though and kind of ended in 1968 when Martin Luther King was assassinated.
While many of the priveliged young white population in America were getting high and stoned, the downtrodden black population were being mobilised and standing up/marching/sitting in for their rights.
I think some of the things they went through were horrendous, bombings, death threats, abuse, etc and when you compare what they had to go through to be treated fairly to what was happening with white population who seem solely concerned about (where to find their next drugs, the latest bands, living like hippies) I'm just like what. They are living in totally different worlds.
Just want to add Mackenzie Phillips story was more 70s and 80s but she was a child of the 60s. Well she was born in 1959. The Mamas and the Papas were recording and performing 1965-1968. She does remember being around them at the time they were hanging out and songwriting, but mostly she was left to her own devices while they were on drugs. She would steal her dad's drugs and try them herself. She would have only been 6-9 years old at the time.
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The Mama's and the Papa's and Martin Luther King, Jr are definitely 60's icons, representing totally different aspects of the era. The Mama's and Papa's represent the hippies, free love and drugs becoming more prominent, and MLK representing the fight for racial equality.
Koren wrote: "John Glenn: A Memoir by John Glenn 4 stars
This memoir by John Glenn covers his entire life, but he will best be remembered as the first Amer..."
Koren the next bio on my to read list is Neil Armstrong: A Life of Flight and seems fitting for the end of the 60s era he was the first man on the moon in 1969. In school all the classes are studying space as their inquiry topic this term. He is one of the key figures and it will be interesting to read about his life story.
Have you seen the movie Hidden Figures about the female mostly black mathematicians NASA employed to work out the space trajectories. It was based on a book but I haven't read it. See Hidden Figures
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4 stars
This memoir by John Glenn covers his entire life, but he will best be remembered as ..."
I'll be interested to read your review of Neil Armstrong. The recent movie about him painted him as somewhat of a jerk, especially to his wife and kids.
Yes, I just saw the movie Hidden Figures last week and I read the book about a year ago. I usually like the book better but in this case I liked the movie better. They are pretty much the same so you can watch the movie and be done in a couple of hours instead of several days for the book. Interesting story that I was not aware of before now. Being mathematically challenged myself I cannot fathom how anyone can be that smart with numbers.
My Life with Charles Manson, Paul Watkins with Guillermo Soledad5 enthusiastic stars!
I wish I could give this one ten stars. It answered so many of my questions about how the Manson Family worked, how it drew people in and kept them with Charlie. It also told us much more about the Family members and the people around them. Thank you, Paul, for clearing so much of this up for me. The story is very much in the context of the cultural changes going on in the 1960s, explaining why a totally successful class president and French horn player getting excellent grades would drop out of school and start hitching rides to random places. He goes deeply into what it was like to be drawn in by the Family, rise to become Charlie's adjutant, then leave the Family and be deprogrammed, then get drawn back in and actually step back into his old role as Manson's right-hand man, then leave...again! I say this about a lot of books I like, but -- no fooling -- READ. THIS. BOOK.
Fishface wrote: "My Life with Charles Manson, Paul Watkins with Guillermo Soledad5 enthusiastic stars! I wish I could give this one ten stars. It answered so many of my questions about how the Manson Family worked, how it drew people in and kept them with Charlie. It also told us much more about the Family members and the people around them. Thank you, Paul, for clearing so much of this up for me. The story is very much in the context of the cultural changes going on in the 1960s, explaining why a totally successful class president and French horn player getting excellent grades would drop out of school and start hitching rides to random places. He goes deeply into what it was like to be drawn in by the Family, rise to become Charlie's adjutant, then leave the Family and be deprogrammed, then get drawn back in and actually step back into his old role as Manson's right-hand man, then leave...again! I say this about a lot of books I like, but -- no fooling -- READ. THIS. BOOK."
Based on your enthusiastic review, I immediately tried to buy this online ... cheapest one I found was $103.99 USD! Wowsers. Too rich for my blood, but I'll keep my eyes open for a copy. Thanks for the info. :)
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5 enthusiastic stars! I wish I could give this one ten stars. It answered so many of my questions abo..."
Amazon has it for $299. Fishface, I think you've got a little gold mine there.
One thing to have experienced in the 1960s --I think I would have liked to have been in the crowd to hear Martin Luther King Jr's 'I have a dream' speech in 1963.
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I think I would have liked to have been in the crowd to hear Martin Luther King Jr's 'I have a dream' speech in 1963."
I think I would have liked that, too.
Neil Armstrong: A Life of Flight by Jay BarbareeI mostly skimmed this one. There was lots of detail about all the flights and missions test pilot Neil Armstrong went on but I wanted to find more about the man himself, all I found out was he went on a lot of flights!
I didnt get any detail about his childhood or family, just that he was from a small town in Ohio but it does mention he got married and had three children, one daughter sadly died of a brain tumour when she was two. But mostly the guy was all about science and flying. His wife divorced him probably because he spent all his time up in the air.
He was a good pilot, very private, and modest, didnt like to talk about himself and never liked the adulation he received for being the first man on the moon.
But other than that, I cant say he was an interesting personality unless you totally fascinated with flying. He later became a professor of aeronautics at a university.
The detail about the moon landing was kinda interesting, but I think this book fails to capture the excitment it must have been for everyone back in 1969 which is nearly 50 years ago today. It does talk about the Russians being first in space and makes it seem like there was a big space race but to me it just seems like a boys pissing contest, who can get there the fastest. When on the moon all they did was plant a flag, gather some moon rocks, and look at earth from space. The president called. Then it was over. I thought maybe there would be some epiphanies. But it seemed pretty prosaic! After Challenger blew up, nobody went to the moon again.
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I mostly skimmed this one. There was lots of detail about all the flights and missions test pilot Neil Armstrong went on but I wante..."
I saw a movie about Neil Armstrong about a year ago. In the movie he was portrayed as being kind of a jerk to his wife and family. He was not very nice to her and didnt really spend time with his family at all and after the death of their daughter it got worse. Sometimes he was a jerk to the people he worked with. Did they talk about this in the book?
Koren wrote: "...cheapest one I found was $103.99 USD!"I could only afford my copy by using all my Xmas gift cards at once. I think it was $175 or so.
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I could only afford my copy by using all my Xmas gift cards at once. I think it was $175 or so."
You must have really wanted that book!
Koren wrote: "Selina wrote: "Neil Armstrong: A Life of Flight by Jay BarbareeI mostly skimmed this one. There was lots of detail about all the flights and missions test pilot Neil Armstrong went..."
No it just went on and on about the different flights he took and made out like Neil was the hero in every one of them, because Jay was like his best bud..a space journalist reporter. I think Jay liked to think of himself as someone who tells a good story that nobody else has, but personally I found it a bit boring! It would be like me telling you a drove my car here and there and I drove it well and never had an accident, and how many miles I did. YAWN.
One thing I recall is that Jay wrote that Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were not friends. I think he regarded everyone as just colleagues and never took the time to develop deeper relationships, it seems he was very private and unemotional. Very scientific minded and precise, and that can be offputting for many people that type of personality. It got him into space, but also makes it seem like he was more robot than man...! NASA picked him because he was young and had a good safety record mostly. It wasnt really that he was a genius at all, he just did what he was told and you had to be good at following instructions and have all the technical expertise to be a pilot I suppose.
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4 stars
I really did not know who these people were before I started reading this book. It was a free with Prime book. Patty writes about her great love affair with photographer Robert Mapplethorp in the 60's. They never married and gradually just grew apart but she never lost her love for him. They lived in New York and mostly lived on love until their work started to take off. Patty got into music and Robert into photography. They lived at the Chelsea Hotel, a hot spot for many artistic talents of the day. Robert died from aids in the 1980's.
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4 stars
Burt Bacharach wrote some of the most popular music of the 60's and 70's. At first I didnt think I was going to like this book. In the beginning, it seemed like it was one sexual conquest after another. After he got past that I really enjoyed it. If you are not familiar with his music you may not like this book because after he tells about his early years he has a story to tell about most of his more popular songs. He is not always a very nice or likeable person, having cheated on his first three wives, one of which was Angie Dickenson. His third wife was Carol Bayer Sager, a songwriter in her own right. After the third marriage he seems to have settled down quite a bit. This book is full of nostalgia for those long lost days of the 60's and 70's.
Just a few of his more popular songs:
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
Only Love Can Break A Heart
Wishin' and Hopin'
Blue On Blue
Close To You
Walk On By
Alfie
The Look Of Love
I Say A Little Prayer
One Less Bell To Answer
Do You Know The Way To San Jose
This Guy's In Love With You
I'll Never Fall Again In Love Again
Arthur's Theme
Some other 60s memoirs and bios that I had read, maybe you have read them too? A Natural Woman: A Memoir by Carole King
Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon - and the Journey of a Generation by sheila weller
And this article about Laurel Canyon, the creative hub at the time
https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/ph...
And just come across The Encyclopedia of Sixties Cool: A Celebration of the Grooviest People, Events, and Artifacts of the 1960s
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A Natural Woman: A Memoir by Carole King
[book:Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simo..."
I have read the Carole King and Carly Simon bios. Both were excellent.
Koren wrote: "Selina wrote: "Some other 60s memoirs and bios that I had read, maybe you have read them too? A Natural Woman: A Memoir by Carole King
[book:Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitch..."
They made a Broadway musical about Carole King's life, called 'Beautiful'. I don't know if it will be movie, but it would be interesting if it was. I find some of her lifestyle really hard to handle esp when she hooked up with her fourth abusive husband. Keeping up with all her children from all the different partners is also confusing. But a lot of creative arty people are like that I found. They just don't put much stock into conventional ways of living. I guess it makes great art?
Koren wrote: "You must have really wanted that book!"I've had my eye on it for years.
Biography, Autobiography, Memoir
Books mentioned in this topic
A Natural Woman: A Memoir (other topics)A Natural Woman: A Memoir (other topics)
The Encyclopedia of Sixties Cool: A Celebration of the Grooviest People, Events, and Artifacts of the 1960s (other topics)
A Natural Woman: A Memoir (other topics)
Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon - and the Journey of a Generation (other topics)
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The challenge for June will be to read a biography, autobiography, or memoir where the primary setting is the 1960's. If you experienced the 60's tell about something you miss or just something interesting you experienced. If you were not alive in the 60's tell about something you wish you could have experienced or something you wish we still had today.