David A. Stewart (4) (1952–)

As others have mentioned, this book could have gone into greater depth, or a little more detail when it came to the thousands of stories Dave has to tell.

That being said, he's a hyperkinetic soul, so I can't imagine what it took for him to even get himself to a place where he could even related the stories with the level of detail he managed. And, what he managed was a fascinating glimpse into the creative mind.

His stories are crazy, interesting, and funny as hell at times. And I think his great success comes from three things. The first is, he never falls too much in love with anything he's creating. If it's not working, he tosses it and begins something else. The second is, he's open to anything, the crazier the idea, the better. And finally, you can't even say fear has ever held him back, I think it's more a case of simply not caring if he fails. Because there's so many things to create, he knows he will fail, and it's no big deal.

It's a really cool path to success.… (más)

Great book by Annie Lennox's Eurythmics partner Dave Stewart. Over the past 6 years I've only rushed out to buy two books since I already have several hundred I need to read that I already own (not counting books of theology). This was one, and the other was Stephen King's 11.22.63. Both were worth the money spent, in my opinion.
I wanted to hear his personal version of the Eurythmics experience as well as what he did with Feargal Sharkey's album which I also like a lot. Stewart describes his creative process cast with Lennox and used to great effect with others through the years (face-to-face collaboration). He speaks with pride about the breakthrough of "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" but I was more interested in his description of the genesis of "Love Is A Stranger" which may be one of the more perfect songs of the 80's along with "More Than This" by Roxy Music. There are lots of random comments that only he would know like how he and Bob Dylan went to an East LA bar to go hang out without being recognized, or that Poly-Styrene of X-Ray Specs was a Krishna as George Harrison was. Stewart lived or had Los Angeles homes, off Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, in Toluca Lake, and in Encino. He describes the change of attitude in Aretha Franlin as they recorded "Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves" once she heard Lennox put down her vocal. Apparently Aretha did not know Lennox's work prior arriving in the recording studio. Stevie Wonder and his beautiful harmonica work were done in one take on "There Must Be An Angel (Playing With My Heart)."
Like Dylan's book Chronicles, there is by necessity name dropping galore and it gets to be a bit much but Stewart covers a lot of ground quickly so the chapters don't ever bog down. If popular music interests you, you might want to read this impressive memoir from one of the more successful and still active musician-producer-artists in the world right now.
Color Photos, no index.… (más)