Give It Away - Red Hot Chili Peppers: The Stories Behind Every Song 
asked by wendi on November 1, 2006 5:09 AM
Red Hot Chili Peppers front man Anthony Kiedis grew up in Hollywood, hustling a living with his actor father. He eventually discovered music and fell in with Hillel Slovak, Jack Irons, and Michael "Flea" Balzary to form the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Fired up by 1970s funk, rock, ska, and soul, the band fought, split, kissed, made up, and then fought again. This collision of singular personalities and musical genius resulted in a run of albums and reputation as a formidable live act. By the end of the 1980s, though, the band was one man down, with lead guitarist Hillel Slovak dying from a drug overdose. The struggle gave rise to 1989's groundbreaking Mother's Milk album. Pre-dating Nirvana, the Red Hot Chili Peppers was the first underground band to take what critics dubbed "alternative rock" into the mainstream charts. In 1991, Blood Sugar Sex Magik compounded the Chili Peppers' success, turning its members into bona fide rock stars and plunging them headlong into a riot of drugs, sex, near-death experiences, and spiritual awakening. This book looks at the group through dozens of photographs, and examines the music and stories of one of the most original bands on the planet.
Reviews
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Give it away is a perfect book for any fan looking to learn another detail about the chili peppers. I bought it for a gift for a true chili peppers fan and they loved it. It gives short blogs about each song and is really interesting. I suggest buying it since it not really expensive.
reviewed by jan1975 on November 10, 2006 11:17 AM
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The book should be "commentary about every song" rather than "stories behind every song". The only thing worse than the "stories" behind the songs is the fact that most of the pictures have the wrong attribution (they keep referring to Cliff Martinez as Jack Irons, and one picture says "Founders - Kiedis, Flea, Slovak, Irons" yet clearly has Chad Smith and Frusciante). The only thing good about this book are the handful of great pictures.
reviewed by bulldogs on November 21, 2006 5:42 PM
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I realize that the RHCP didn't write this book, but I thought there might be a bit more personal insight regarding the who, what, when, where, and why the songs were written. The book's content consists primarily of magazine articles written about the RHCP over the years, followed by the author's own interpretations of the songs and HIS opinion of their quality.
It is well put together, and there are some great pictures, but I'm glad I didn't pay full price!
It is well put together, and there are some great pictures, but I'm glad I didn't pay full price!
reviewed by linda on November 22, 2006 10:00 AM