David Bowie: The Oral History

This book is an in depth look into the life of artist, musician and one time Goblin king David Bowie. Not just a biography by any means. This book is mostly comprised of interviews with friends, family and collaborators. A delightful look into the life of a Star Man.

This book reminds of Edie: An American Tragedy by George Plimpton and Jean Stein. It's all told through interviews with those who knew Bowie in some form or another. A beautifully laid out format for a beautiful soul who ultimately never gave himself away but gave us the many faces he became. I was struck mostly by how much Bowie was us--he took gestures, outfits, looks, attitudes from whomever he was infatuated with and went down the rabbit hole till he became a combination of what he admired at the time, all filtered through him so that each had a dash of Bowie and David Jones. He seemingly influenced all of fashion in some form or another utilizing this vehicle of persona's. Anyone who has ever been a hardcore fan with an obsessive streak can relate to the genius of his creations and his song. And that's how he hypnotized us for forty plus years. Each piece of the puzzle is beautifully illuminated by the perspective of individuals interviewed, who are allowed room to tell their own personal experience of him. He was an alchemist. He made his life a work of art leaving us all breathless. There is an almost physically painful void knowing that Bowie no longer walks this earth. What saves us is the disbelief and the reminders of what an astonishing and surprising creature and musician he was. One is left with the feeling that he's still around watching as we try to put together the pieces of the puzzle that was and is, David Bowie.

In high school, I thought David Bowie's "China Girl" was one of the greatest songs of all time. For the next three decades I went no further than his "greatest hits." But over the past few years, as I have dug deeper, I wanted to learn more about this enigmatic artist.The singular talents and charisma of David Robert Jones more than compensate for the significant flaws in "David Bowie: A Life" by Dylan Jones. I spent the first 100 pages thinking that an "oral history biography" was a disjointed and redundant biography by a lazy writer. I was also shocked that a biography of such a visually-oriented artist does not contain a single picture. This book also does not try to capture all of the essential facts of his career, so "The Complete David Bowie" remains essential. Finally, I found Dylan Jones' jaded British cultural gatekeeper pose a bit annoying at times (such as referring to Bowie as "Mockney Jones").YET, once you can keep the 180 "Dramatis Personae" straight, the interviews just get better and better. From his early childhood friends to the director for Bowie's final video, this book contains deeply insightful interviews with almost all of the key people in his life. The one exception is his personal assistant of nearly four decades, Coco Schwab. Something tells me she will take her stories to the grave. It is difficult to say whether Bowie did more line of coke or women (the most troubling interview is with a then 15-year-old groupie that he deflowered, AKA statutory rape). He also had a penchant to turn his back on friends he no longer found useful. YET, I still came away from this book wishing that I had had the chance to meet him or at least see him in concert.

I have wondered about David Bowie and who he truly is/was since I was 16.I was invited to a new girlfriends house after returning to rural Pennsylvania from exchange in France; under the guise of study and listen to music.It was then I was introduced to David's talent.The books were tossed once in her bedroom, she throws on Ziggy Stardust and is doing air guitar on top of a chair.From this point, David Bowie had my attention.I really enjoyed the format of this book of individual interviews with friends and collaborators of David Bowie; it felt genuine and a little like being a voyeur.David Bowie was always special to me and now after such a great read, he is extra special.

While enjoyable, it takes a lot of brass for Mr. Jones to say he authored a book. What we read is a large number of verbatim responses to interview questions (not provided) organized by time. Virtually nothing else. Mr. Jones is the editor of a compendium... not the author of a book.

Being a long time subscriber of Tape Op magazine I definitely would have liked to have read more about the recording, production, and, most of all, the songs themselves. Actually, that's a minor complaint of this very rich, thorough book. I rarely read biographies of any kind: I don't find people's lives all that interesting. But I do find discussions of creativity and the creative process interesting (which why I'd like to have read more about the recording). I definitely connect with Bowie's creative restlessness, how he would always be trying new ways of looking at things. I also connect with a fellow autodidact.…Then, of course, unlike with most celebrities, there's the cultural impact. His stardom means nothing to me, but as with The Beatles and a few others he was a focus for cultural change.I also appreciate how Jones left in all the conflicting points of view rather trying to smooth out the narrative into another attempted definitive biography.

I’m a big Bowie fan, with the records, the T-shirts and a seeming desire to watch every documentary ever made about the man and his work. The first Christmas present my now wife ever bought me was tickets to the V&A exhibition, while for a long time I sang STARMAN every day to my tiny baby daughter. It’s a long story, but even at four weeks old I knew that she loved it too. As such I’m not quite impartial when it comes to this book. Indeed, I’m incredibly bias towards liking it.For a Bowie fan, this oral history is a fantastically deep and immersive experience. Hearing the thoughts and recollections of Bowie himself, as well as those who knew him and sometimes even fans, it’s his story from his childhood right through to his too early death. Probably there are other books that are better for the man’s music, but it is a truly comprehensive guide to his life.But as much as I enjoyed it, as much as I raced through it, there are undoubted flaws. His family for instance, remain distant figures within the text. Yes, we do hear a lot about his late brother who hangs like Banquo’s ghost over him, but his parents remain forever distant. Mentioned frequently, but unknown. Perhaps for his mother that’s understandable as she does seem an emotionally cold presence in her son’s life, but his dad is both portrayed as someone he was close to and – curiously – someone he wasn’t. (To quote some song or other, it’s confusing sometimes.) Undoubtedly, it’s more a problem with the form than anything else: as people’s memories and perceptions differ, and an oral history can’t help but reflect that. But it does make for a frustrating read.(It’s a much more minor point: but his relationship with Paul McCartney seems to throughout the book go from lows to highs without any understanding as to why and how. It’s the tiniest of sub-plots I know, I don’t think thumb waving Macca and The Thin White Duke were natural musical bedfellows, but I found myself tantalised nonetheless)Much like Bowie himself, it’s a book that’s sometimes pretentious, but more often than not is willing to puncture its own pomposity. It reveals a man who is intellectually curious, open to new ideas and generous with those he loved. It also conjures up a man who was capricious, bitchy, easily tired of the people around him and at times quite unpleasant. Even if it’s author clearly adores the man, it’s far from a hagiography.I’m a Bowie fan of old and absolutely adored it. To be fair the only people likely to read this are Bowie fans too and I think you’ll adore it also.

I'm an enormous Bowie fan so when books like this come out I am on one hand excited to read it but on the other nervous that it wouldn't do him justice. This one is fantastic, beautifully written and laid out. The fact its mostly laid out in an interview style with people who know him makes it a great book to dip in and out of when you've only a minute or two spare. I am off course reading the conventional way, front to back but also now and again dip in at random points while I'm waiting for my toast or brewing tea etc!

This is a tour de force by Dylan Jones - he has done a fantastic job of contacting a wide range of people who knew or met Mr Bowie and explaining stuff that remained hazy before.He sheds new light on the Beckenham years 1969-1973. It never made sense to me before how Ziggy Stardust and Hunky Dory could be created in a staight laced suburbia. But he shows what an pleasant idyll it was - so much so that I paid it a visit - its still a nice place.He also brings alive the 1992-2010 era when he kept a relatively low profile. It turns out he was out meeting loads of artists he admired, wowing them with his presence and generally having the time of his life.My main quibbles are the Bono quotes and Dylan Jones' love of the Station to Station album. Bono takes up several pages of the book, but manages to say almost nothing of interest. While the enormous space given to the turgid, cocaine addled 'Station to Station' album (only two good tracks), while making only single line references to many other albums shows Jones failing to supress his trendier-than-thou tendencies, from his background on ID magazine - ie "I am so hip I don't even think Bowie's most famous albums are his best".

A very enlightening view into the world of David Jones and his many faceted alter ego David Bowie. In general the book is a chronologically ordered series of quotes made by wives, friends, colleagues, business associates, collaborators and contemporary artists all lending their anecdotal experiences of 'The man who fell to Earth'. As there are very many contributors, I felt a sense of authenticity that can often seem to be lacking when a story is told through just one set of eyes so to speak. From my point of view I found it to be a very enjoyable read.

This was a thoroughly insightful recount of DB rise to fame (a tiny little bit too insightful in some parts) and the highs and lows throughout his career. My earliest memories of Bowie were from the early 80s and, I will admit, I didn't really like him. Turns out this is a period in is career when most thought he was selling out, so maybe I wasn't being too harsh on him. Since his death I have read a few autobiographies and this was without doubt the most enjoyable, probably because it is a 'warts n all' account, turns out he wasn't such a saint in real life after all.