Rock Author Jim Sullivan Takes You Backstage and Beyond

Rock author Jim Sullivan - a 2023 inductee into the New England Music Hall of Fame - spent 26 years writing for the Boston Globe and two decades more writing for countless national publications. He has interviewed and reviewed countless musicians, many of them multiple times.

In 2023, Trouser Press Books published two volumes of his music writing, Backstage and Beyond, which contained some of his best conversations with rock artists.

Those two books have now been combined into one eBook with eleven new chapters. The 71 chapters feature an eclectic collection of artists, spanning generations and styles, including Jerry Lee Lewis, Ian Hunter, David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, Nico, Brian Eno, Bryan Ferry, King Crimson, Peter Gabriel, Jethro Tull, Ginger Baker, Ringo Starr, Warren Zevon, Pete Townshend, Puff Daddy and so many more.

https://youtu.be/cUcE030aL8w

Let's say Johnny Rotten, certainly John Lydin at various points. We did get on well, but he has a persona and it can be abrasive and ascerbic. So there was sort of getting over a hump, certainly to be able to converse with him.

That was in the early days. I think later we established ourselves pretty well and that was fine.

Morrissey would be one as well. Not an easy man to talk to and both antagonistic and defensive at times.

I thought maybe he would be a little difficult to get through the veneer at first. He was. It was an interesting assignment. I spent the day with him as he went from radio station to radio station in Boston doing his shtick, which is the same shtick at every station, which is repeat the name of the album a hundred times and his spiel.

But what I did was I rode in the van or the window, whatever it was, with his entourage. And he turned it on and off. I mean, when he was on camera or on air, and when he was off, silence.

And my job in some ways was to kind of penetrate the silence and get things from him that were not just
radioable quotes, you know, and radioable selling points. I did, I think, to some extent.

There's some tough stuff in there. I mean, we know where Puff Daddy's at now with things that have been alleged. Pretty serious stuff. There are hints of that in my chapter too. He was under some fire for various, again, potential alleged crimes then too. And we get into that.

It's kind of an outlier chapter in a way. I don't deal a lot with hip hop, but this was just so fascinating. In a way, I just felt I had to include it. And I'm glad I did.

I think, with him and Ray Davies of the Kinks, I think we're the two deepest, longest relationships I had,
interviews stretched over a number of years.

And with Zevon, you're right. And I talked to a number of people who were his friends and collaborators,

The writer Carl Haise, for instance, who had a very good take on the latter part of Warren's life, which was not too pretty at all. I saw him in many different phases.

First time I saw him, he was performing and drunk at the Berkeley Performance Center in Boston.

And the next time I met him a couple of years later, I reminded him of that performance. He didn't remember it. And I said, we met backstage briefly and went, yeah, I was drunk, you know, I don't know.
And so I met him in mostly pretty much his recovery phase.

He was extremely candid, extremely bright, and funny, and very good analysis of his own work and others.

Actually, one of the funniest bits is just this really quick exchange we had. We were having lunch at Muso and Frank in LA and, you know, sat down to order and I ordered a beer.

And then after ordering the beer, I realized, oh, Jesus, he's a recovering alcoholic. Maybe you're not supposed to drink alcohol in front of the recovering alcoholic.

And I said, oh, geez, Warren, should I not have done that? He goes, yeah, Jim, you ordering a beer is really gonna make me start drinking.

Life on the road has to be so interesting for each band.  I thought we’d take a look at 5 Bands That Would Have The Best Tour Stories.  Sure, sometimes things probably get a little dull.  And yes, after a while you’re just waiting for your tour to end.  But there are also probably some insane moments that occur as well.

I decided to ask DHA listeners who they thought would have the best stories about life on the road.  I posed the Question Of The Day recently on the DHA Facebook page.  I usually post it at around 4 pm.  Then at 5 pm the set rocks based on the responses given to me for the question of the day. Now, I might have a few answers in mind, but with the knowledgeable and diverse listening audience we have, I get some really interesting answers to use!

Think about some of the old Behind The Music episodes you’ve seen.  How about Def Leppard?  Remember when they brought up how the band members would simply point to a girl and tell their entourage and then during a solo they’d go down and get intimate with a fan of their choosing?

Or how about all the drama in the Netflix movie The Dirt about Motley Crue?  There are probably some seriously crazy stories that the Motley boys could tell you that you wouldn’t even believe.  Life on the road can be pretty intense for some with drugs, groupies, and parties.  Then again, others might just hang on the tour bus and sleep.

I guess it all depends. But those wild and crazy stories are the ones we want to hear.  They’re what’s really exciting to us non-rockstars who given the chance to talk with our favorite band would be hanging on every word they said.

These guys have been touring since before some of us were born. They've done some wild things for sure. It'd be interesting to hear some of their most epic adventures! https://youtu.be/loNey3n6uuE?si=n8R_jWXA-BgEGWoA

These have took partying to a whole new level!  They stick together for a long while and if you've read their biography you know they have some awesome stories to tell! https://youtu.be/d2XdmyBtCRQ?si=2g6ERHcpNFNjqrsV

Sully and company have had a very busy life on the road.  with their wild and loyal fanbase they are sure to have some awesome stories to tell.  It'd be a fun dinner discussion for sure!

The Women, the alcohol and all the backstage parties must have been epic! Heck, I'd even just like to talk about equipment with the band!

Touring the world playing extra long gigs.  Meeting everyone in the music biz and hearing some wild stories from Dave?  I'm in!!