Anthony DeCurtis Talks Rock and Roll
June 16, 2008
Creative types will find plenty of fodder for inspiration in Anthony DeCurtis’s brimming hodgepodge, In Other Words: Artists Talk About Life and Work. Longtime a contributing editor of Rolling Stone, he’s compiled some favourite interviews here, showcasing a diverse range of talent that includes Bono, Lucinda Williams, Elton John, Woody Allen, Eminem, and Michael Stipe. Topics range from what it’s like to work with Dylan to religion in music to how a song is crafted from beginning to end. And while the cast is star-studded, it’s nice to talk with artists about their work and not who they slept with or how many calories they ate at lunch- this is Rolling Stone, after all, not Us Weekly.
Getting to know the artists- in their own words- means missing the usually intuitive and in-depth interpretive journalism the Rolling Stone is famous for. But there’s much to be said for listening directly, not funneling our ideas through another’s lens, however astute they might be. It also makes this book supremely readable- you can hook up for a few minutes with your favourite songwriter, and then flip around to see what Bono said about recording with Johnny Cash. Musicians and writers will likely find it worth sticking around to read the bits that focus on artists they aren’t necessarily familiar with or fond of: it turns out that I found Marilyn Manson a rather interesting guy with some parallel experiences to my own!
In Other Words: Artists Talk about Life and Work
Anthony DeCurtis
Hal Leonard Books, 2005
