A Cure for Gravity

Download or read book A Cure for Gravity written by Joe Jackson and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 318 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this accomplished autobiography, Jackson describes his early days, long before he became a household name. In describing his childhood in Portsmouth and the early classical training in music that changed his life, he manages to convey both the excitement and liberation he felt as a youth when he realised he was musically gifted and the take he has on it with the benefit of hindsight, now that he is older and wiser. Jackson brings this time to life, writing about doomed bands, personality clashes between band members and playing the piano in rough pubs, driving a decrepit van for hundreds of miles to play in front of a handful of people. But this is no gig-by-gig list of events or songs, it's a simply a wealth of good stories of tough or discouraging nights, as well as the fulfilling ones. Always in the forefront is his conviction that, whatever it brings, music is his life. An excellent raconteur, he also has a dry, understated sense of humour. His portrayal of his own insecurity and shyness just emphasises how personal and revealing A Cure For Gravity is. Forming an effective spine to the book is Jackson's personal musical philosophy, which basically comes down to: play what you enjoy; listen to what you enjoy; popularity is neither a dirty word nor a musical goal; a little musical education could do people a lot of good. The book ends at the moment when he gets a record deal and is on the brink of making a name for himself. This couldn't be further from a glitzy pop star book; this is about the days before fame, when he slept in freezing houses in Camberwell and didn't know if he would ever make any money. This is a real, personal memoir that shows us Jackson the man rather than Jackson the star -- and a testimony to the power of his conviction that music could save his life.