Lollipop Lounge
Genya Ravan
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Buy *Lollipop Lounge: Memoirs Of A Rock And Roll Refugee* online

Lollipop Lounge: Memoirs Of A Rock And Roll Refugee
Genya Ravan
Billboard Books
Hardcover
304 pages
August 2004
rated 4 of 5 possible stars

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There are a lot of these types of books out there - tell-alls, behind-the-scenes, groupies with gossip - but this is real. This is told by a singer who lived the life and truly understood what it was all about. Genya Ravan was a wild and wonderful singer who combined a sort of do-wop, R&B, blues and rock style into a vocal presentation all her own. This is a book of her rise to fame and of all the falls along the way.

In Lollipop Lounge, she talks about touring with the Rolling Stones, the Yardbirds, the Kinks, and the Hollies, and fronting her own jazz/rock/fusion outfit, Ten Wheel Drive. She survived those tours, as well as a terrible bout with cancer, and the stories she sharies here are full of humor and compassion and a deep understanding that the real miracle of her life - is her life.

In Lollipop Lounge, she talks about touring with the Rolling Stones, the Yardbirds, the Kinks, and the Hollies, and fronting her own jazz/rock/fusion outfit, Ten Wheel Drive. She survived those tours, as well as a terrible bout with cancer, and the stories she sharies here are full of humor and compassion and a deep understanding that the real miracle of her life - is her life. But the tales are remarkable. Here, she documents her first meeting with guitar virtuoso, Jeff Beck:

"He (Jeff) said, 'My guitar got stolen ... my favorite guitar.' I could hardly understand him between his crying and his heavy English accent. Then he added: 'And my wife has left me.'"
I handed him a tissue, and he started to calm down. "What's your name?" I asked.
"Jeff Beck."
"What band are you with?"
"The Yardbirds."
"Oh, yeah, the Yardbirds,' I said. "Look, you'll get another guitar."
He sobbed louder. "Never!" He spat out the word. "Not like this guitar."
"Maybe your wife will have a change of heart and come back to you on day."
"This guitar was special."
Humor. Sympathy. The deep, penetrating wisdom of a Polish Jew/rock singer. A tremendous book. Get it and understand what the '60s were really like.



© 2005 by Steven Rosen for curledup.com.

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