Tag Archives: reviews

Another 5 Star Review: “‘True Love Scars’ adolescent narrator burns the pyre of hippie idealism”

Pixilated Cheap Hooch logo.

This was a great weekend for True Love Scars, my rock ‘n’ roll novel.

First Andrew Phillips, ex-Editor-in-Chief of Mog and a former editor at Flavorpill, posted this excellent five star review at Goodreads:

True Love Scars’ adolescent narrator burns the pyre of hippie idealism as a revelation to the dark face of its excess. His coming of age is not without its grand revelations, but, can any summer be one of love when the price of admission is friends, family, and sanity?

Any piece by Michael Goldberg has a post-beat, hippie-savant poetry all its own, but this is a rare work, a passionate, immersive experience in the sound, attitude and language of an era.

Then on Sunday afternoon I was interviewed on the very cool Cheap Hooch radio program on San Francisco’s underground Radio Valencia station by DJ Holly.

Cheap Hooch, which airs every Sunday from 4 to 6 pm, features a laid-back fluid crew led by DJ Holly. She plays the coolest obscure Punk, Garage, Trash, Soul, Rockabilly and Primitive Rock n’ Roll. To get a feel for the show, stream it here.

Here is a huge list of Cheap Hooch shows you can stream or download.

Soon the show I was on (October 5, 2014) will be available to stream and I’ll do a post with the link.

Finally, I’ve been meaning to post this cool review of True Love Scars by Days Of The Crazy-Wild follower John Dunne:

Just finished the novel and, apart from minor reservations about the protracted sex scene with Michael’s (NOT MIKE’S!) friends and the sisters, I devoured every page. I feel that, in a novel already fairly steeped in sex, that scene was gratuitous. That’s the bad news out of the way.

Otherwise, I was moved to laughter and, occasionally, something near tears by the narrator’s misguided antics. I loved all the music allusions and, rather childishly, felt proud of myself for ‘getting’ them all. It’s great to read someone unafraid to write in great depth about something he clearly loves, in this case, music. This is extra welcome in a literary world that too often panders to publishers’ demands and readers’ expectations.

As a Dylan fan – my wife would say nutcase – the references, both obvious and oblique, added another layer of enjoyment and satisfaction. If you have any interest in Dylan at all, read this book. If you haven’t, read it anyway. I loved it nearly as much as Angelina, my all-time favourite Dylan song.

[There’s info about True Love Scars here.]

— A Days Of The Crazy-Wild blog post —

Video: Neil Young Performs Acoustic Show in Los Angeles, March 29, 2014

Photo by Brian van der Brug via the Los Angeles Times.

Last night Neil Young performed at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles Times reviewed the show:

It wasn’t a big leap to wonder during Saturday’s opening night of Neil Young’s four-night run of solo acoustic concerts in Hollywood whether Jesus, if he returned to address a modern-day audience, would have to contend with a steady stream of shouts from the back for “Sermon on the Mount!” “Water into wine!” and “Free Bird!”
Young fielded a similar barrage of requests (“Cinnamon Girl!” “Down By the River!”) and comments (“You’re the man!”) from the sold-out crowd at the Dolby Theatre good-naturedly.

At one point he tacitly acknowledged the tone of almost spiritual pilgrimage in the air by shaking the water out of a harmonica onto folks sitting in the first few rows, a rock ’n’ roll priest anointing his flock. He even shifted into request mode himself after another outburst from fans, mock shouting “The Beatles!” “The Rolling Stoooooones!” “Free Bird!”

Read the full review here.

Check out the review in the Hollywood Reporter here.

(Watch videos from the March 30, 2014 show in this post.)

Below I’ve got a full take of “Goin’ Back” that sounds awesome, and then fragments of some other songs. Hopefully more complete songs will surface soon.

“Goin’ Back”:

“From Hank to Hendrix” fragment:

“If You Could Read My Mind” fragment:

“Mr. Soul” fragment:

“After the Gold Rush” fragment:

Here’s the setlist for the March 29, 2014 show.

-– A Days of the Crazy-Wild blog post: sounds, visuals and/or news –