Or, if you are reading this review after Halloween, here's a great Christmas present for that friend or relative of yours who is the raconteur in your social circle--but is running out of stories to tell.
Back to yourself: Are you looking for campfire stories to amaze your audience? Such as Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin and his interest--if not obsession--in the occult?
And what about the Beatles? The Fabs get four chapters here.
As long as we are on the subject of the Beatles, did you know that they were not the first British rock band to top the Billboard Hot 100 chart? Here's the favorite takeaway I received from Twilight Zone. That Brit band was the Tornadoes with their sci-fi drenched surf music instrumental, "Telstar," which topped the charts 14 months before "I Want to Hold Your Hand" did the same. "Telstar" was written by its producer, Joe Meek, an Englishman, who couldn't read music or play any musical instruments.
Six decades later, "Telstar" still sounds like it emerged from another world. We'll discuss Meek in more depth shortly.
There's much to learn for the curious reader, some things real, some surreal, in Syrett's Tales from the Rock 'n Roll Twight Zone.
Syrett, a radio personability and a podcaster--and the book is inspired by his podcasts--isn't a passive observer in his book.
In his passage about Jimi Hendrix and speculation that the guitar virtuoso was murdered, Syrett jumps in and asks author John Potash a question at the end of their tense telephone conversation.
"If everything you just laid out is true, who really killed Jimi Hendrix?"A pause long enough to load a rifle."The same people," he said, "who killed the sixties."Click.
So yes, much of the book is conspiratorial--but fascinating.
In black and white
If you want to glean a feel for Tales from the Rock ‘n Roll Twilight Zone, think along the lines of a film noir classic where all the main characters smoke and drink bourbon. After all, many of Syrett's tales come from the 1950s and 1960s, when, until the end of the latter decade, many movies and most television shows were filmed in black and white, and video clips of their performances are of course also in black and white.
But the book goes much further into the past, to 1938, when bluesman Robert Johnson, the founding member of the 27 Club, mysteriously died.
Did Johnson sell his soul to the devil at a crossroads on Highway 61 in Mississippi so he could master the blues?
As for the Beatles, did John Lennon also sell his soul so the Beatles could be the biggest rock band ever? And did the devil collect his due on the evening of December 8, 1980, in New York, which at Liverpool time was December 9?
Number 9...number 9.
Lennon was born on October 9.
Some of the Syrett's stories, even when suspending a lot of disbelief, such as speculation that gunfire in the cabin of the plane that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper brought down the aircraft on "the Day the Music Died," are just batshit crazy.
Mr. Crowley
Interesting, but not so crazy, is Jimmy Page's fascination with Alistair Crowley. If the name sounds, familiar, Crowley was the subject of a popular Ozzy Osbourne song, "Mr. Crowley." An Egyptologist, occultist, and a magician, Crowley donned flowing robes for his mystical ceremonies. Photographs of him dressed in that fashion look like stock images of wizards, which is a likely explanation as to why so many wizard characters in movies and television shows look like the robed Crowley.
For certain, Crowley left a mark on our culture.
Page, at the height of Led Zep's fame purchased Crowley's old home, which is--some stuff you can't make up--on the shore of Loch Ness.
A curse is said to accompany the house. In 1977, the five-year-old son of lead singer Robert Plant, Karac, died of a stomach ailment. Three years later, Zeppelin's drummer, John Bonham, died after a drinking binge. The band broke up soon afterwards.
Meek
One profoundly tragic story is that of Joe Meek. "Telstar" was a huge international hit, which should have brought him a massive financial windfall. But a plagiarism lawsuit prevented Meek from cashing in. His schizophrenia and bipolar disorder compounded his depression. At one point
Syratt tells us, Meek believed the Kray twins--the subjects of the gangster movie Legend, were pursuing him.
Meek's life ended tragically in 1967 after a murder-suicide. Three weeks later the plagiarism suit against him that led to his mental collapse was resolved in his favor.
Johnny Horton, a country artist, best known for his three-minute musical history lessons, including "The Battle of New Orleans," "Sing the Bismarck," and "North to Alaska," died tragically in an automobile accident caused by a drunk driver.
Did Horton send a coded message after his death?
Also, you find in Syrett's book are stories about Lyndyrd Skynyrd, Kurt Cobain, the Rolling Stones, and of course, the King of Rock 'n Roll, Elvis Presley.
Where to purchase
Tales from The Rock ‘n Roll Twilight Zone is an enjoyable--if slightly disturbing, albeit in a fun way--read. It is available to purchase at Amazon and many fine retailers.
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