Rock’s Back Pages : Here lies the reputation of many of rock’s heroes: R.I.P. or ripped

It’s time for bookstores to start dividing their rock ‘n’ roll shelves into “good-times” sections and “bad-times” sections. Or maybe just fact and fiction.

Ger Rijff’s “Long Lonely Highway” and Mark Lewisohn’s “The Beatles: Recordings Sessions” are fun-filled examples of books that celebrate the innocence and good-times of pop music.

“Long Lonely Highway” is delightful collection of many of the first ads, articles and photos that appeared about Elvis Presley, while the Lewisohn book is a remarkable, virtual day-by-day chronicle of the Fab Four in the studio.

But Albert Goldman’s “The Lives of John Lennon,” Bob Spitz’s “Dylan--A Biography” and Dirk Vellenga’s “Elvis and the Colonel” belong across the aisle on the “bad times” shelf.

Nothing paints a darker picture this year of rock stardom than Goldman’s controversial biography, whose accuracy and integrity have been widely questioned. But the other two books also offer unattractive portraits of people allegedly trapped or intoxicated by fame.

The surprise in Vellenga’s book is that he’s not talking about Presley, but “Colonel” Tom Parker, the rock star’s manager. Presley--whose legacy was already ransacked in a previous Goldman book--is simply dismissed as a weak, insecure man who wasn’t even able to stand up to his powerful manager when the singer’s artistry was on the line.

You can make the case that unquestioning, wide-eyed portraits of rock heroes are as dishonest and damaging as the worst muckraking exercises because they promote an unhealthy idolization. But there is an obligation on those who purport their works to be definitive looks at a person’s life and, invariably, character to support the conclusions with an acceptable level of scholarship and documentation.

In between these extremes, books by David Crosby and Willie Nelson reach for a place on both shelves with autobiographies that touch on both the good times and the bad times in the artists’ careers. The most important, by far, is Crosby’s “Long Time Gone.”

Crosby is not a great rock talent, but he has been a meaningful part of two great teams: the Byrds and Graham Nash, Stephen Stills and (sometimes) Neil Young. More crucial to the success of “Long Time Gone,” however, is that Crosby’s rise and fall coincided with the rise and fall of ‘60s innocence and idealism in rock ‘n’ roll.

He writes, “I’ve always said that I picked up the guitar as a shortcut to sex and after my first joint was sure that if everyone smoked dope there’d be an end to war. I was right about the sex. I was wrong when it came to drugs. But who knew? There wasn’t any instruction book.”

Here’s a look at some of the season’s pop books--the good times and the bad.

John Lennon / Beatles:

Albert Goldman’s “The Lives of John Lennon” (Morrow: $22.95)--The defense raised against numerous charges that Goldman’s “The Lives of John Lennon” is a distorted and mean-spirited attack on the late Beatle is that offended readers are unable or unwilling to accept the truth about rock idols. But the real question isn’t whether Lennon fans will are open to criticism of their hero (they certainly heard plenty of self-criticism from Lennon himself), but whether Goldman’s portrait is accurate. It certainly doesn’t ring true. Like Goldman’s earlier Presley book, “The Lives of John Lennon” is a relentless torrent of unflattering anecdotes and careless allegations.

Mark Lewisohn’s “The Beatles Recording Sessions” (Harmony: $24.95)--This is a stand-out work on two levels. For the cultist, the book is a landmark study of the Beatles in the studio--outlining what happened and when, including a clarification of conflicting reports over unreleased Beatles tracks. For the average Beatles fan, however, the book is simply a wonderfully nostalgic journey through the band’s years in the studio.

Sample entry from Feb. 3, 1968:

“In the first ‘Lady Madonna’ session this afternoon, three takes of the basic rhythm track were recorded: piano (Paul) and drums (Ringo), the latter using brushes instead of sticks. Then, in the evening, a number of overdubs were made onto take three: Paul’s bass, John and George on fuzzed guitars (both instruments played through the same amplifier), and another drum track by Ringo. Paul also added the first of his two lead vocal recordings and John and George contributed scat backing vocals while munching Marmite flavored crisps. (The crunching was omitted from the remix!)”

Bob Dylan:

Bob Spitz’s “Dylan--A Biography” (McGraw-Hill, $19.95)--This is the second hefty (500-page) biography of rock’s greatest songwriter and most important post-’50s figure in less than two years, and it duplicates some of the strengths and many of the weaknesses of its predecessor. As with Robert Shelton’s “No Direction Home: The Life and Music of Bob Dylan” (Beech Tree, $17.95), Spitz’s book is convincing when talking about Dylan’s small-town Minnesota beginnings and early Greenwich Village days. But Spitz too runs into trouble piecing together Dylan’s post-’60s life.

The problem--given Dylan’s fierce desire for privacy, and his frequent changes of personal and professional direction--is finding sources who have been close to Dylan for a lengthy period of time. The task becomes increasingly difficult the closer you get to the present. Because people closest to him refuse to talk, a biographer has to rely on people who have long since lost touch with Dylan--people who probably only know a piece of the story and sometimes have scores to settle. You get an idea of the difficulty of Spitz’s challenge when you realize that he was only able to find enough about Dylan’s last nine years to fill 20 pages of the 550 page book.

Michael Gray and John Bauldie’s “All Across the Telegraph: A Bob Dylan Handbook” (Futura paperback, published in England, approximately $10 for import copies in the U.S.)--A lively “best of “ collection from the Telegraph, a British magazine “by and for Dylan enthusiasts.” The nearly 300 pages in no way pull the veil from this enigmatic figure, but they are stocked with all sorts of intriguing bits and pieces--from interviews with people who have worked with Dylan (film makers D.A. Pennebaker and Howard Alk) to critical essays. Among questions examined: Was young Dylan really a pianist in Bobby Vee’s band? And just who was Mr. Jones in “Ballad of a Thin Man”?

Elvis / The Colonel

Dirk Vellenga’s “Elvis and the Colonel” (Delacorte, $17.95)--This is a thin (just 188 pages), frightfully uneven look at the colorful and controversial manager of rock’s greatest star. Written with Mick Farren, “Elvis and the Colonel” is most valuable and convincing when exploring the Dutch background of Parker, who claimed to be a West Virginia native, but was actually born Andreas van Kuijk in Breda, Holland. According to Vellenga, van Kuijk entered the U.S. illegally, joined the Army using false identification, and then spent some time as a carnival promoter before entering the management field where he latched onto Elvis.

Though they became one of the most successful teams in show business history, Vellenga presents Parker as a short-sighted, insensitive businessman so driven by his own greed that he often acted against Presley’s best interests. Aside from the Dutch research and court papers growing out of an investigation of Parker’s handling of Presley’s affairs, however, Vellenga doesn’t document his sweeping conclusions.

“Long Lonely Highway” (Pierian Press, $19.95)--One of the earliest entries is this look at how the media first saw Elvis is a six-paragraph story in the Memphis Commercial Appeal in 1954 that describes Elvis (two years before “Heartbreak Hotel” and national stardom) as “our home-grown hillbilly singer.”

Three years later, journalists in Vancouver, B.C., bitterly criticized Presley following a concert that apparently turned into a near riot. Typical of the attitude many adults had about rock in the ‘50s, “music critic” Dr. Ida Halpern wrote, “(The performance) had not even the quality of a true obscenity; merely an artificial and unhealthy exploitation of the enthusiasm of youth’s body and mind.” (Available through Pierian Press, Box 1808, Ann Arbor, Mich. 48106)

Also Available:

David Crosby and Carl Gottlieb’s “Long Time Gone” (Doubleday, $18.95)--The good idea here is having Crosby’s tale told from different points of view. Besides his own account, screenwriter Gottlieb, a long-time friend, adds to the story and uses additional perspective in the form of lengthy quotes from friends, associates and observers--many of whom are quite harsh on Crosby. The bad idea is to let everyone talk too long. At nearly 500 pages, “Long Time Gone” is too long a time by a third.

The best passages, however, provide a compelling look at how quickly--and completely--one can become victimized by his own ego, wealth and celebrity status.

Willie Nelson’s “Willie” (Simon & Schuster: $19.95)--Like Crosby, Nelson is remarkably candid (especially in the handling of his shortcomings as a husband) and he recalls some hilarious anecdotes about his life on the country music circuit, but he and co-writer Bud Shrake didn’t set their sights high enough. Instead of the definitive look at the sociologically rich world of country music, they have simply given us a celebrity biography.

“The Lost Writings of Jim Morrison: Wilderness, Volume 1” (Villard: $12.95)--Given the intensity of the Doors’ following, there are surely Morrison fans who have been waiting years for these poems and other writings to be collected, but most of us will just stick with the records.