Rock Is Lit

Inside ‘Rain Gray Town’: A Reading with Author Robert Greenfield

In this episode of Rock is Lit, prolific author Robert Greenfield delves into his rock novel ‘Rain Gray Town’, offering listeners an unforgettable journey through the rise and fall of a fictional rock band set against the backdrop of London and Los Angeles. Told through the voice of a band member, the story captures the chaotic world of sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll at a time when music was life itself. Greenfield reads an excerpt from the novel, reflecting on the inspiration behind the characters who lived fast, burned bright, and sometimes didn’t survive the whirlwind. A former Associate Editor of the London bureau of ‘Rolling Stone’ magazine, Robert Greenfield is the critically acclaimed author of several classic rock books, among them ‘S.T.P.: A Journey Through America with the Rolling Stones’, as well as the definitive biographies of Timothy Leary and Ahmet Ertegun. With Bill Graham, he is the co-author of ‘Bill Graham Presents: My Life Inside Rock and Out’, which won the ASCAP- Deems Taylor Award. An award-winning novelist, playwright, and screenwriter, his short fiction has appeared in ‘GQ’, ‘Esquire’, and ‘Playboy’ magazines. He lives in California. MUSIC IN THE EPISODE IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE: Rock is Lit theme music [Guitar Instrumental Beat] Sad Rock [Free Use Music] Punch Deck—“I Can’t Stop” “Eight Miles High” by The Byrds “Dear Mr. Fantasy” by Traffic “I’ll Feel A Whole Lot Better” by The Byrds “Mannish Boy” by Muddy Waters [Guitar Instrumental Beat] Sad Rock [Free Use Music] Punch Deck—“I Can’t Stop” Rock is Lit theme music LINKS: Leave a rating and comment for Rock is Lit on Goodpods: https://goodpods.com/podcasts/rock-is-lit-212451 Leave a rating and comment for Rock is Lit on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rock-is-lit/id1642987350 Robert Greenfield’s interviews, articles, and reviews on Rock’s Backpages: https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Writer/robert-greenfield Christy Alexander Hallberg’s website: https://www.christyalexanderhallberg.com/rockislit Christy Alexander Hallberg on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube: @ChristyHallberg Rock is Lit on Instagram: @rockislitpodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Broadcast on:: 04 Oct 2024
Audio Format:: other

A former Associate Editor of the London bureau of ‘Rolling Stone’ magazine, Robert Greenfield is the critically acclaimed author of several classic rock books, among them ‘S.T.P.: A Journey Through America with the Rolling Stones’, as well as the definitive biographies of Timothy Leary and Ahmet Ertegun. With Bill Graham, he is the co-author of ‘Bill Graham Presents: My Life Inside Rock and Out’, which won the ASCAP- Deems Taylor Award. An award-winning novelist, playwright, and screenwriter, his short fiction has appeared in ‘GQ’, ‘Esquire’, and ‘Playboy’ magazines. He lives in California.

MUSIC IN THE EPISODE IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE:

Rock is Lit theme music
[Guitar Instrumental Beat] Sad Rock [Free Use Music] Punch Deck—“I Can’t Stop”
“Eight Miles High” by The Byrds
“Dear Mr. Fantasy” by Traffic
“I’ll Feel A Whole Lot Better” by The Byrds
“Mannish Boy” by Muddy Waters
[Guitar Instrumental Beat] Sad Rock [Free Use Music] Punch Deck—“I Can’t Stop”
Rock is Lit theme music

LINKS:

Leave a rating and comment for Rock is Lit on Goodpods: https://goodpods.com/podcasts/rock-is-lit-212451

Leave a rating and comment for Rock is Lit on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rock-is-lit/id1642987350

Robert Greenfield’s interviews, articles, and reviews on Rock’s Backpages: https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Writer/robert-greenfield

Christy Alexander Hallberg’s website: https://www.christyalexanderhallberg.com/rockislit

Christy Alexander Hallberg on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube: @ChristyHallberg

Rock is Lit on Instagram: @rockislitpodcast

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Big shout-out to this season's incredible team, social media intern Keeley Platz, and our three production interns, Major Legullen, Tyler Elcock, and Theo Lair. This season we're shaking things up with a fresh new format. Instead of our usual author interviews, we'll be rolling out a weekly reading series, giving you a deeper dive into the world of rock novels through curated readings and literary explorations. To keep up with all things Rock is Lit, follow me on Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube at Christy Halberg. For more info, head to ChristyAlexandorHahlberg.com. Got a rock novel you'd love to see featured? Drop me a line at ChristyAlexandorHahlberg@gmail.com. I'd love to hear from you. And don't forget, if you're enjoying the show, please subscribe, leave a comment, and give us a five-star rating on your favorite podcast platform. Wyatt, the Rock is Lit mascot, and I thank you for your support. [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] This is Rock is Lit, and I'm Robert Greenfield, and that was "Eight Miles High" by The Birds, and one of the many reasons I'm happy to have played it for you is that the song contains this verse, "Rain Grey Town, known for its sound, in places, small faces unbound." Not coincidentally, Rain Grey Town also happens to be the title of the novel. I only recently published on Kindle, and you can read by "Wending Your Way Carefully Through the Kindle Store" located, I assume, on the screen of your nearest friendly computer. The verse itself was written by David Crosby. Definitely not one of my favorite people in the world of rock, but a subject I will not be addressing here today. Before I follow the careful instructions sent to me by Christi Alexander Holberg, the guiding light behind this podcast, I must confess that despite having conducted more interviews than I can count, while having written 16 books, two plays that were produced in New York and Los Angeles, countless screenplays in Hollywood, as well as what for a while, was the highest rated miniseries in the history of the NBC television network. I have never had to interview myself, and so I intend to try to introduce myself and Rain Grey Town, in what may seem like some odd, and perhaps dubious waste. Let me begin with the email blast I sent out to announce the book. Friends, having read one too many rejection letters, written by editors less than half my age, I would have happily accepted as positive reviews, have finally decided to boldly go, or have never been before, by making my new novel directly available to readers at the Kindle store on Amazon. Rain Grey Town is the completely fictional, but utterly true to life account of the rise and fall of a rock band in London and Los Angeles back in the day. Told primarily in the voice of one of the band's members, it is a funny, dramatic, and ultimately tragic novel that vividly recreates the world of rock and roll on both sides of the Atlantic when the music was all that really mattered. First and foremost, Rain Grey Town is a deep and incisive look at those who made it all happen during a time that will never come again. Here's what I can say. SCP, a journey through America with the Rolling Stones, my first-hand account of the Stones Epic Tour of America in 1972, was the first full-length book ever published about a rock tour. It's still in print, and along with my longtime friend, Gary Stromberg, we did a multi-episode podcast last year based on the book entitled Stones Churing Party, a long, hot summer with the Rolling Stones. I've also written two other books about the Stones, and please look up the titles if you're interested. I've written biographies of Jerry Garcia, Timothy Leary, Amit Erdogan, Augustus Owsley Stanley III, and Sam Shepard. I've co-written the biographies of the great rock Impressario Bill Graham, Bert Bakkerach, and the brilliant Grateful Dead lyricist and Internet pioneer, John Perry Barlow. And what I suppose must still rank is the only real job I ever had as an adult. I spent two years as the associate editor of the London Bureau of Rolling Stones magazine, and it is from my time there that much of rain-gray town comes. Back then, London was an extraordinary place for anyone who loved the music as much as I did. Both the record business and the world of the music press that followed it were really small. Everyone pretty much knew everyone else because you were constantly running into the same people night after night it shows. The level of musical talent in London, much of which never made it over to the United States, or only did so in a minor way was also beyond comprehension. Pub Rock was in full swing with bands like Ducks the Lux, Eggs Over Easy, and Charlie and the Wide Boys playing somewhere every night of the week. There were also bands like Brinsley Schwartz featuring the Great Niccolo that played just once at Filmora East in New York City, and yes, I was there, and then broke up before anyone in America ever realized how good they really were. During my time there, I got to sit on the floor at Lake Huizan, a legendary folk club on Greek Street in Soho, as John Martin, and his last name is spelled with a "Y" rather than an "I" if you have to look it up, played an extraordinary set all on his own surrounded by all sorts of electronic gizmos and reverb generators I had never seen before. I also got to stand directly in front of the stage in the middle of the afternoon as traffic performed an acoustic version of John Barleycorn at a benefit that was beyond belief, and perhaps most memorably of all, I stood right behind Pine Top Perkins and no more than three feet away from the great muddy waters, as he sang a version of Manish Boy in a small pub in Hampstead for which he had but really did not need a microphone. And while none of this is in Rain Grey Town, and the novel is not about me in any way, shape, or form, all of it directly influenced my need to write the book. Before I received the letter of rejection I mentioned before, the editor in question was delighted to learn that Rain Grey Town was quote a meta novel. Even after having looked this term up, I still have no idea what it actually means. Nonetheless, I am now going to read what I believe the meta aspect may be, and if not, your guess is probably just as good if not even better than mine. [Music] Even if I say so myself, as stories go, this is an odd one. After having been ordered by my landlord to remove everything I had been storing for years, in a small bathroom down the hall from my office so it could be repainted. I opened up a cardboard box that smelled of mold. Only to find the typed manuscript, Mick Brookings had sent me more years ago than I now care to count. Although I had met Mick during my stint as a correspondent and then associate editor of the London Bureau of Rolling Stone magazine, we were never particularly close. Like virtually all of those in the fairly small and entirely self-enclosed world that was the music scene in London back then, I would often see him backstage at the Roundhouse, or in some pub where a band known in America had yet heard of was playing. Despite the fact I had no idea who he was, Mick seemed to know everyone who mattered at these venues, and they almost definitely knew him as well. First time we ever talked to one another was when I literally bumped into him one Saturday morning in front of a barrow covered with old jewelry in the crowded street market on Portabella Road. After I had boldly introduced myself to him, as only an American in London would have ever done back then, we began one on his part soon became a very knowledgeable conversation about which of the pieces before us were valuable and which were nothing but junk. The next time I saw him, Mick seemed delighted to learn. I was not just completely obsessed with English football, but also shared his long-standing disdain for Chelsea, as well as all those who supported the club so fervently. And while they did not play 8 Miles High, the song from which Mick chose the title of his memoir, I did see the birds perform at the Lincoln Festival. As I had not yet met Mick by then, I have no idea whether he was also hanging out backstage at that day, or where in their career his band may have been. For me, the highlight of the day was sitting beneath the branches of a great oak tree as I interviewed Dion Dimucci, one of my great idols from my teenage year. Before I could even ask him a question, Dion leaned forward, and in an accent that came straight from Delmont Avenue in the Bronx, said, "Hey, what's with the beard, huh? Be that as it may. Have no idea why Mick decided to send me his manuscript many years later." By then, I was far removed from the music scene in London and living in California. And while I must have gotten back to him at some point, I no longer remember my response. What I most likely told him was that he would stand a far better chance of getting it published in England than in America. While this never happened, I also have no idea, but it may well have been because of how strict the libel laws in England still were back then. Now that Mick himself, like so many of those he wrote about are no longer with us, I felt the least I could do for them all was offer up what he had put down on paper. Like many musicians, Mick was awful when it came to spelling, and so those are the only corrections I have made in the text. As I believe his voice still comes right off the page, I would urge readers to look up any British expressions they may not understand. What I can say for certain, they said Mick Brookens was a truly lovely fellow, as well as the kind of completely authentic character. I would never have met if I had not been lucky enough to be living in London then, and so, without further ado, here he is in all his glory. Crimson flames cut through my ears, falling high and mighty trapped. Countless fire and flaming rope, using ideas as my mask. We'll meet our legends soon, said I, proud, neat, heated, proud. I've got so much older than I'm younger than that now. Okay, so here's a deal. None of that is true. Well, some of it is, because real fiction is so often based on fact. Mick, the narrator of the novel, a gifted bass player and a true working-class hero, who narrates it all in a first-person voice that is all his own, did first appear in the section of a far larger and much more sprawling novel about the record business that was never published. While I did store it for years in the bathroom down the hall, what happened when I had to clean that room out so it could be repainted, was that I took one quick look at it and realized the voice itself was so powerful that I needed to go back and work with it again. The reason I did not read from the rest of the book is that, while I could have done so in an English action, it would have never been the one I have heard Mick Brookins speak in in my head for years, and thereby I would have done a great disservice to us both. And yes, while I do know that Mick Brookins is not real, he and I have now been together for quite a while. And so if any of you would like to meet him, I encourage you to read Rain Grey Town. And of course, as every writer does, I really do hope you enjoy it. [MUSIC] [MUSIC] Thanks for tuning in, listeners. If you enjoyed the show, please subscribe and leave a rating and comment on Good Pods and Apple Podcasts, links in the show notes. Wyatt, the Rock Is Lit mascot and I really appreciate your support. [SOUND] Until next time, keep rockin' and readin' and gettin' lit. Rock is lit. [MUSIC] The Kimmy Kato Show featured on Pantheon Podcasts. The Kimmy Kato Show is a weekly exploration of Japanese pop culture in all its facets. Kimmy and Jeremiah as hosts delve into various aspects of Japanese culture, including music, food, fashion and film, offering listeners a comprehensive and entertaining look at what makes Japanese pop culture unique and intriguing. It is your invitation to Japan. Hey, everybody. I'm Dan. I'm Doug. We're the band. Hi, I'm Takato Miyakeu, walking full center of global space. Hello, I'm sincere from Dusenke. Hi, guys. This is Masatakomi. This is Chris Hart. Hi, I'm Suggizo. You are listening to Kimmy Kato Show. Thank you. Kimmy Kato Show is brought to you by Evolve Entertainment Network, Pantheon Podcast, and Radio Candy Media. [music] [BLANK_AUDIO]