ROCK N ROLLED A Memoir by Jack Sonni

[benducret]

I see what you both mean but I do not agree.

The who plays with who thing is most important, it has an impact on creativity, and on the music, how it lives and sounds.

DS has always been about Mark's music and nothing else, we agree, no pb. My opinion is that in the end MK was never really opened to différent influences, to giving freedom to the musicians he plays with. Or only to a strict minimum.

And you can hear it, I hear it at least in his work. It's hard to make something sound fresh when you are in total control of eveything, with influences which are basically always the same, in a very narrow range of styles. I see him being surrounded by "yes men".

I sometimes have the impression that he fell asleep a long time ago and his music too.
With a strong will to never wake up, never be shaked or questionned by
his collaborators. Even (or mostly, and that's something) production-wise.

At one point there was not a band anymore, just session men, Guy fletcher watching over the whole thing for décades, and to my ears, with all due respect for his work and for your fandom, the whole thing froze. Quite early on imo.

[2manyguitars]

I see what you both mean but I do not agree.

The who plays with who thing is most important, it has an impact on creativity, and on the music, how it lives and sounds.

DS has always been about Mark's music and nothing else, we agree, no pb. My opinion is that in the end MK was never really opened to différent influences, to giving freedom to the musicians he plays with. Or only to a strict minimum.

And you can hear it, I hear it at least in his work. It's hard to make something sound fresh when you are in total control of eveything, with influences which are basically always the same, in a very narrow range of styles. I see him being surrounded by "yes men".

I sometimes have the impression that he fell asleep a long time ago and his music too.
With a strong will to never wake up, never be shaked or questionned by
his collaborators. Even (or mostly, and that's something) production-wise.

At one point there was not a band anymore, just session men, Guy fletcher watching over the whole thing for décades, and to my ears, with all due respect for his work and for your fandom, the whole thing froze. Quite early on imo.

The thing that you're missing is that Mark is extremely unusual in that when he writes songs by the they get in front of other musicians in general he already knows how he wants it to sound (in terms of instruments/parts/etc) . DS and solo MK were really Marks journey to translate what he hears in his head to what he hears in final playback.

Now you can argue about the benefits or not of that approach, but that to some extent is what it it (no pun intended)....

[benducret]

Yes, you're right. In the end, that's how he works and creates his music, that's his vision and always has been. No right or wrong.

[vgonis]

Well, my take is different. Although previously  I have tried to explain the term "band" within purely a live setting, i guess in a lesser extend, but probably equally influential, it stands for the studio recordings.   Every album in their catalogue is quite different, even the first and second that most people consider that is in the same vein. The departure of David might not be considered as being the reason for the change in style of Making Movies, but then was it the producer Jimmy Iovine or MK deciding to change the sound by adding keyboards and making the compositions longer and more sparse? And the Love over gold album, was it just a continuation of Making movies to the extreme? And Brothers in arms, was it only MK trying  new technology?  I think that even with the strictest control of a person, the influences are always coming from outside. And many surely come from the other members of the band.  MK is the composer, so he has first and last say, but all players contribute in the overall sound, even by contributing ideas that are not used. As for the solo records, especially after Shangri-la, I only have to say that there is a different take of the world and what you create, when you reach a certain age.  I guess you see things in a more laid back way. An approach that is seen with many musicians, is going back to their roots, before the time they were successful. Maybe MK is doing just this, having no reason to prove anything to anyone, just doing things he likes, not even  hoping we will like it as well, which is the most sincere and pure way to create something.   

Jack Sonni wrote somewhere that he had learnt many things from MK but also MK got a thing or two from him. I think that having the need to  mention this is revealing more about the subject than we can ever imagine. The interaction among musicians is the magical thing we can hear when it works. And with DS it worked a lot. 

[dustyvalentino]

Well, my take is different. Although previously  I have tried to explain the term "band" within purely a live setting, i guess in a lesser extend, but probably equally influential, it stands for the studio recordings.   Every album in their catalogue is quite different, even the first and second that most people consider that is in the same vein. The departure of David might not be considered as being the reason for the change in style of Making Movies, but then was it the producer Jimmy Iovine or MK deciding to change the sound by adding keyboards and making the compositions longer and more sparse? And the Love over gold album, was it just a continuation of Making movies to the extreme? And Brothers in arms, was it only MK trying  new technology?  I think that even with the strictest control of a person, the influences are always coming from outside. And many surely come from the other members of the band.  MK is the composer, so he has first and last say, but all players contribute in the overall sound, even by contributing ideas that are not used. As for the solo records, especially after Shangri-la, I only have to say that there is a different take of the world and what you create, when you reach a certain age.  I guess you see things in a more laid back way. An approach that is seen with many musicians, is going back to their roots, before the time they were successful. Maybe MK is doing just this, having no reason to prove anything to anyone, just doing things he likes, not even  hoping we will like it as well, which is the most sincere and pure way to create something.   

Jack Sonni wrote somewhere that he had learnt many things from MK but also MK got a thing or two from him. I think that having the need to  mention this is revealing more about the subject than we can ever imagine. The interaction among musicians is the magical thing we can hear when it works. And with DS it worked a lot.

Superb post!

[Chris W]

The DS tour was the most orchestral type gig I've ever worked on. Songs had pre-determined parts and you played those parts in the right moment every show. A lot of the parts had evolved over years, like aspects of Mark's solos that he played on every show, and the drums had to play something specific triggered by Mark's lick.
My impression was that Mark was the overall composer, but Guy and Allan had a major input on the orchestration and arrangements, both in the making of the records and the rehearsing of the live show. It was really the three of them with MK being the final boss.
On the McCartney tour (for example) I was left alone and largely did my own thing.

[JF]

The departure of David might not be considered as being the reason for the change in style of Making Movies, but then was it the producer Jimmy Iovine or MK deciding to change the sound by adding keyboards and making the compositions longer and more sparse?

In the Oldfield book, Ed says that the band wanted a more rocking album, more in the kind of their stage performances. They wanted more "power", because they found that their 2 first studios albums were too much "smooth" and didn't sound like they sounded on stage.
And then, Ed suggested to work with Jimmy Lovine

[MagicElliott]

The DS tour was the most orchestral type gig I've ever worked on. Songs had pre-determined parts and you played those parts in the right moment every show. A lot of the parts had evolved over years, like aspects of Mark's solos that he played on every show, and the drums had to play something specific triggered by Mark's lick.
My impression was that Mark was the overall composer, but Guy and Allan had a major input on the orchestration and arrangements, both in the making of the records and the rehearsing of the live show. It was really the three of them with MK being the final boss.
On the McCartney tour (for example) I was left alone and largely did my own thing.

It’s fascinating to hear the difference between McCartney’s tour and the DS tours. If anything I’d have thought it was the other way round. Having listened to quite a bit of Paul’s live work (the brilliant Good Evening New York City particularly comes to mind,) it’s evident that Paul performs songs exactly the same by and large as he did with the Beatles. No extended solos or longer outros-almost the same length as the album track to the second. I know there are a few exceptions (The End for example, at the end of the Abbey Road melody.)
Whereas MK’s songs live are developed from the album track.

[Chris W]

DS songs are more often developed in rehearsal, not so much improvised on the night. It's hard for everyone to improvise when there are 9 players on stage.

[Jules]

Hi,

The first parts of the introduction are available via download from  Jack's site:

http://www.jacksonni.com/

The audio download is about 22 minutes long and contains more paragraphs  than the online-print-version. Mark is mentioned in a friendly way and described as a good friend. Jack is able to put a nice "cliffhanger" at the end to let the question come up how all this rock n roll hype could vanish so fast out of his life. I am very curious about the book and about further updates. Interesting, have a look!

LE

Does anyone still has these chapters and audio to share again with everyone?

[Jules]

Wayback machine at the rescue:




ROCK N ROLLED A Memoir by Jack Sonni




Rock n Rolled
living the dream ~ surviving reality
a memoir by Jack Sonni

In December of 1984, after struggling for ten years as a musician in New York City, Jack Sonni got The Phone Call that lifted him, literally overnight, from the obscurity of working in a Manhattan guitar shop to the blinding spotlight of fame as a guitarist with Dire Straits, the biggest band in the world at the time.

As the “Brothers In Arms” album rocketed to the top of the worldwide charts fueled by the hit “Money For Nothing,” the young musician seemed poised to fulfill every rock star fantasy he’d ever dreamed, from recording a multi-platinum album in world renowned studios, touring the world and playing with his heroes – Pete Townshend, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton and Bob Dylan – to performing at Wembley Stadium in front of 80,000 people and a global television audience of 400 million for Live Aid. He became a fixture on MTV, appeared in Rolling Stone magazine and watched his love life become tabloid fodder. He went, in his own words, from “the invisible man to recognized-in-the-street, hanging-with-the-beautiful-people, open-velvet-rope famous in the blink of an eye.”

Eighteen months later, after 256 sold out shows in 25 countries, two Grammy awards, and selling 23 million copies of a ground-breaking album, the tour ended. For Jack Sonni, so did the dream.

But the story wasn’t over. By turns laugh-out-loud funny and head-shaking incredible, “Rock n Rolled” chronicles Jack’s unpremeditated survival as he ricochets from obscurity to fame and back again. His journey—before, during, and after his extraordinary fifteen minutes of fame—echoes the wide-eyed, hopeful innocence of an entire generation, dreamers who cherished hopes for something far different than the world they inherited.

Written with wit and brio rivaling Antony Bourdain’s bestseller, “Kitchen Confidential,” guitarist Jack Sonni’s “Rock n Rolled” is neither a tired tell-all detailing the escapades of a rocker bad boy nor a woe-is-me-blame-fest searching for villains at the helm of his fall from grace. It is an unflinching examination of a man whose dreams propel him past the brink of reality and then leave him stranded, and how he ultimately finds his way home.



Introduction – chapter 1

SO LET ME ASK YOU THIS

“What was it like?”

The question is inevitable. Whenever anyone finds out I played guitar for Dire Straits during the time it was the biggest band in the world, they have to ask. Not that I mind, really. I know I managed to to live a portion of my life doing what millions can only dream about. Being in a famous rock band, touring the world, performing on stage in front of thousands and thousands of screaming fans. The parties, the VIP treatment, the groupies. It always comes around to the sex. Both men and women want to know.

What was it like?

Being a rock star.

Surreal comes close. Like a dream come true, which in reality, it was for me. Which made it all the more unreal. So much of what happened was so extraordinary, so pinch-me-I-must-be-dreaming unbelievable, that I went through most of it as a removed observer, separated from the moment. As if I was watching a movie, viewing my life through the lens of a camera while standing just a little to the left and about three feet behind myself. Or someone who looked an awful lot like me. I see the photos or videos or concert footage now and I wonder who that is on stage. In the long red coat and wraparound shades. Or white suit, long scarf wrapped around his head and dancing barefoot.

I am the eggman. I am the walrus.

I am the rock star.

Goo goo ga joob.

Introduction – chapter 2

ONCE UPON A TIME

July 13, 1985

It is a warm, sunny Saturday; rare even for summer in London. I step out of the faux Hard Rock Cafe that has been erected backstage at Wembley Stadium as a VIP bar, raise my face to the sky, close my eyes and listen. The sound hangs in the air, like surf crashing on a not too distant beach. The deep rumbling, rising and falling and rising again is the great whooshing white noise of 72,000 people. Cheering. Applauding. Screaming. Losing their collective minds. U2 has just finished their set which Bono spent dancing with a female fan he pulled from the audience. The crowd loved it. The large screens flanking the stage have switched the broadcast feed to JFK Stadium in Philadelphia for The Beach Boys set. A billion and a half viewers are watching on televisions around the world.

I slip my sunglasses on—these funky mountain climbing goggles I found in Paris, with super dark lenses and white leather on the sides that block out all light—and make my way toward the stage to meet the rest of the band. Weaving through the open air backstage area, I pass, seated at tables and gathered in clusters of twos and threes, famous face after famous face. Paul McCartney, Freddy Mercury. Faces I have only ever seen in magazines or on television or on a concert stage from no closer than twenty rows from the front. David Gilmour. Bryan Ferry. Faces who turn and nod and mouth their good lucks in my direction. Phil Collins. Bob Geldof. Faces that seem to think I belong here. That I am a face like them.

My shades keep anyone from seeing the wild dance of incredulity my eyes are surely doing behind the black-out lenses. You know, that pupil pinwheeling that says I have done way too much acid and Holy shit, you cannot fucking believe the things I am seeing right now! Not that I’m doing any hallucinogens. There’s no need with reality like this.

Seven months ago I was working in a guitar shop in New York City. Right now, I’m less than ten minutes way from performing in front of the largest audience gathered for a rock concert in history.

My life has become an unending string of Alice-Through-The-Looking-Glass moments.

A few minutes ago, back inside the Hard Rock, I was killing time watching the live television broadcast when Pete Townshend walked into the room. Believe it or not, seeing him, while certainly a rush for me, wasn’t so unreal. That particular where’d-gravity-go moment happened earlier this month when I arrived for an afternoon sound check to find the legendary rock star, who was joining Straits for that evening’s show,  in the dressing room. Playing pinball. Seriously. The guy who wrote “Pinball Wizard” playing pinball. It’s too ridiculous to make up.

But the real mind-fuck is that when Townshend stepped into the Hard Rock trailing Roger Daltry and Kenny Jones, he glanced around and after seeing me…..(continued)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hear what happens with Pete now and get the free audio download of the complete Intro chapters below. Please leave your comments here or send an email to jack@jacksonni.com. And passing the link on to your friends is greatly appreciated.

Be well, hug them while you can &, as always, let it rock!

jack

The audio was in a flash thing that I can't recover from wayback machine, if anyone can, please check it:

https://web.archive.org/web/20100915043036/http://www.jacksonni.com/read_listen/

[TJ]

I wish his family would publish this.