Ageing Hipsters,
It's high time we started lobbying our hero to sit down and write his biography.
We all know that he will be adverse to "Kiss and Tell" but hopefully, having read Keith Richards' excellent "Life", he will be motivated to put pen to paper and will realise that it can be done by focusing on the music!
No musician has played a more important part in forging our soundscape over the past forty years and it would be a complete sacrilege if it were to go undocumented by the man himself.
If you would like to motivate our hero to put his autobiography at the top of his to do list vote here and explain why.
Vote now or forever hold your peace.
Regards,
Windswept.

I found Life by KR to be an engaging read, especially the part that dealt with his world before the Stones became successful. Then it slowly became less interesting as celebrity took hold and a less than healthy life style ran rampant...

If BF would really open up about life in Newcastle after the war that could be intriguing. But Micheal Bracewell has already crafted the "official" BF story from the late 60s onward and I doubt that BF has any interest in really airing the story of what his life was like in the 1970s and beyond. He has spent a lot of money over the years compensating people via "non-disclosure agreements" to keep this story under wraps and I find it unlikely that he would to an about face and suddenly open up. Of course if the publisher's advance was big enough (I think KR got on the order of $7 or 8 million) he might change his tune. But BF couldn't pull down that kind of dough so why would he bother?

The BF Brand that attracts big corporate/private gigs revolves around a personality that is aloof and distant. You pay Big Bucks to get close to The Man of Mystery for at least a few hours, as he shakes some hands, sings some songs, chit-chats amiably with business parties, and then retreats into the night with style and grace and a nice check... Writing an AutoBio that looks behind the curtain shows the Wizard without all the sheen and artifice is counter productive.

He wouldn't let TGPT write a blog about how it came to pass that he reunited with Roxy for the 2001 tour. How benign would that have been? Thus the idea that he'd open up about his life in the 70s in any meaningful way seems impossible. At least that's how I see it...

Whilst I'd like to read a genuinely open bio, I think DCJ has nailed why it won't ever happen.

I think that there is a (dark) side to bry that he wants to keep private, being exposed only in his lyrics buried deep under layers of multiple meaning and metaphors. Just my view. I think there is absolutely no way a bio would touch any of that stuff.

I would however, be intrigued to read about his adventures "bent on a life between the lines", since it would illuminate many of his song meanings

Having met Bryan twice, I can say that he's shy. I remember
he was nervous when we were talking, maybe it was because
he was trying to figure out how he was going to ask my friend
out to dinner. She made everyone nervous. She was numbing.

I s'pose he does come across as distant & aloof. I'm kind
of shy too, and have been told the same thing. So I can
understand how some folks think that.

Those big-wigs don't really know the man.

How is it known that he has has spent a lot of money over the years compensating people via "non-disclosure agreements" to keep this story under wraps? And what's this about keeping Paul quiet about the 2001 reunion?

Can anyone explain this?

For a long time I was a regular visitor/poster on the TGPT Forum dating back to when it started circa 1999/2000. After getting the gig for the 2001 Roxy reunion tour Paul posted how he would soon provide a more detailed description of the audition process and meeting up with BF after almost 20 years, etc. etc. And then nothing ever appeared and Paul posted almost nothing of any detail or interest re the tour as it went along. Of course, the tricky thing about "non-disclosure agreements" is that you can't disclose the fact that you signed such an agreement. Sigh.

TGPT's NDA came about when the contract negotiating his legal departure from the business entity of Roxy Music was signed back in 1980. TGPT received significant compensation as part of this contract and, among other things, he agreed in turn to the NDA. You will note over the past 30 some years TGPT has never described his split from Roxy in anything other than brief, bland phrasing about "musical differences." This is not by accident or happenstance.

BF is hardly alone in including "non-disclosure agreements" in personal services contracts and it is standard for many celebrities (and businesses in general) who seek to maintain some level of control over the Media's access to their private life. BF values his privacy and NDAs are a means of insuring that people he works with do not undermine that privacy. That said. it is clear that BF pays the members of his touring band a very good wage for their services and they are treated very well as employees. When you work for BF you go in with eyes wide open as to the terms of the relationship. Fair enough. If you don't like it you don't sign the contract...

My post was drafted in the context of the question: Will BF ever write an AutoBio along the lines of KRischard's Life? I think not and I think BF has worked hard over the years to maintain control over what gets publicly disseminated about his personal life (both now and in the past). IMHO something VERY dramatic would have to transpire to prompt to bare his soul in a truly "tell all" book. I just don't see it happening.

Excellent post DCJ,

To me, Bryan has bared his soul with his writing. As a
song-writer myself, it's not easy to site down and write
about your innermost feeling and emotions, especially
about love.

It's gut-wrenching and tears are shed. Imagine doing
that over a period of 40 years? It's quite draining and
the only way to release it is to get out and sing. That's
why Bryan keeps playing live.

In fact, there was a recent scientific study that artists
(singers, dancers, actors, etc.) have the same brain
composition as addicts. They have to continue to create.

So we'll continue to hear more music from the man who
drives the hammer.

Fellow Luminaries,

Many interesting points albeit, I don't think that all in life is about squeezing the last dollar out of the corporate circuit and non disclosure agreements.

The beauty of Keith Richards "Life" was the fact that it was truly autobiographical and focused mostly on the music before it segwayed into a chemistry lesson. With Keith this was inevitably going to be the case given the portion of his life he devoted to Afghanistan's favourite crop. That said, first and foremost it was about the music as was Ronnie Wood's epistle. With Ronnie you felt the music and his description of different musical relationships was really quite incredible.

Clapton's book was, on the other hand, written very much from the "born again" perspective and finished up being a crushing bore.

Even more disappointing was Jools Holland's book. Personally, I love the guy and his music but the book was a huge missed opportunity.

The point in all of this is that a good biography can tell the truth in a respectful way and can focus almost exclusively on the music. I'm sure that the average Ferryista isn't a hard core "The Only Way Is Essex" viewer and what they really want to hear is the story of the man who has made twenty of the most innovative and exciting albums to hit the airwaves. Doubtless it could also be sumptuously illustrated.

I'm sure it will happen one day - lives as culturally significant as his should not go undocumented. Personally I hope he does it himself and not with Micheal Bracewell. Although I think Bracewell has written some interesting stuff about Roxy it needs another brush and Ferry could do worse than hooking up with the guy who ghosted Keith's - after all it was the biggest selling biography in the year it was published!

Regards to all,
Windswept

Dear Ageing Hipsters and Fellow Luminaries (Windswept, forgive the plagiarism, but i adore your salutations)

This is a really good thread...fascinating.

Maybe one day....

Hey, I would love it if BF wrote an AutoBio that was even half as good as the first third of Keith Richards' Life. BF definitely has an interesting story to tell of his life journey, but unfortunately I don't think he ever will transcribe it on paper (or WORD file!).

Insightful and revealing AutoBios are not so typical of the genre, especially among people in music/show biz. Most of the time they are slapped-together rehashes of old stories and anecdotes that are simply designed to meet the terms of of a publishing contract. I remember in the 60 Minutes interview of Miles Davis back in the late 80s, the interviewer (I think it was Morley Safer) started quoting from Miles' "autobiography" and asking questions about it. And Miles just looked at him with disdain and said something to the effect of "Man, do you think I ever even read that book?"

KR definitely had a ghost writer to help him out, but he put a lot of time and energy into Life and it showed. Overall it was a very good book. But its honesty got him into trouble with Mick J and a planned Stones album/tour got put waaaaay back on the back-burner as a result.

Writing an honest, insightful book about your life story might well anger a lot of people. I think BF has a clear sense of that reality and it is a good reason why he will never go down that road. But who knows what the future might bring...