Tony Visconti: The Autobiography: Bowie, Bolan and the Brooklyn Boy Kindle Edition

Finally got around to reading this book. I was mostly interested in Bowie but enjoyed getting to know Visconti better. He's had an amazing life. He's a very normal, flawed human and I appreciated his honesty. He didn't attempt to be the big hero. He kept it real. He is also a talented producer and he's had some interesting experiences. I enjoyed reading about many incidents or situations I knew from other books that I could now see through Visconti"s eyes. I would recommend it to any Bowie fans. Tony Visconti and Bowie created some amazing stuff. It's god to hear his view of it all.

I really enjoyed the history and stories of Tony's work with Bowie and other international stars but I really appreciate the biography of the man and where he has come from to where he is now (including, not in the book unfortunately, his recent tour with Holy Holy, the Man Who Fell To Earth Tour but maybe he will write a journal of that tour soon). Some of the most interesting "bits" in the book are the insights into creating and recording various albums for Bowie and Marc Bolan and the methods he (Tony) came up with to make the now classic recordings unlike anything that has ever been put to tape. This includes studio experiments and coaching/mentoring his cohorts in creating these classic albums. Enough said. Buy the book and enjoy an exciting ride from Brooklyn to London and beyond for the past 40 years.

As far the writing goes, I'd say that this is the best of the producer bios from the golden era of the 60s - 80's. . I've read the George Martin, Geoff Emmerick, Ken Scott, Phil Ramone books. (Probably more, that I'm forgetting!) While Visconti doesn't have Beatles (my favorites) stories like Martin and Emmerick, he does have lots of other stories involving David Bowie, Marc Bolan, Moody Blues and many others. I wasn't totally aware of just how many other artists he worked with throughout his career. I found him to be very honest and straightforward in his approach. If he criticizes some people, he also criticizes himself just as readily. This was a really good read.

Easy going dude writing his memoir of his rock & roll life. If you like David Bowie (if you don't you are just wrong) read this, he gives a very human view of thier friendship. Sadly, it was written before David passed so it doesn't get to the point where he produced David's last record.With all the time they spent together I really want that as a book end so to speak.It didn't have the flow that God writers have but that is my sole complaint.

Visconti arrived in London during the Summer of Love and went on to become one of the most successful record producers in history. Sadly, he paid a heavy price in terms of family life and three failed marriages. He does a good job of chronicling it all - good and bad.

Great read. If you love 60’s & 70’s music—this is a must-read. So many fascinating backstories about how the records were actually made! I would totally read again! My only complaint is that this will be challenging to do, since I bought a cheap copy from a discount seller that fell apart & separated at the binding & I had to use a rubber band to keep pages in tact when storing.

Being a huge Bowie fan, this book gives you a whole different look into his music, his persona and it is written by a good friend of his. Unlike a lot of books about famous people, Tony Visconti was there at the beginning and sadly for us fans, he was there at the end as well..I recommend this book to anyone that is a fan of Bowie...

A fascinating autobiography from a man whose name I had read many times but about who I knew very little. The last twenty years is rushed and feels like an outline and the line about wanting a new Bowie album is sad and dates the book but an enjoyable read

I bought this book, as I suspect many have, because I'm a Bowie fan, and was interested in reading his view of working with David, and producing some of his finest albums. That was all very interesting of course, but it was great to read about his time with Bolan and TRex, and many of the other stars, and unknowns (to me) that he has worked with as producer, arranger, sound engineer, or musician over the years. His writing is amusing in parts, open and honest, especially when describing his own mistakes and how he has sometimes let people down (including his wives), and candid about his lifestyle and his feelings towards the people he has worked with. It's a very readable book. The only sad thing for me is that it stops around 2006; it would have been great to read about his work with Bowie in his last few years.

Well it soon became apparent, when reading this book, that Tony Visconti is much more than a producer. With his amazing ability to quickly arrange instruments, score strings, and recognise chords, (something maybe even Todd "the god" Rundgren might not have the aural skills for!), I'm seriously wondering if he could be "the best"?!?!In fact, it raised a serious question about a particular interest of mine. For years we heard about David Bowie being a genius (and he is of course), knowing "so much about music". The we learned that it was in fact Mick Ronson who should take a lot of the credit. Now this book had made me pause again, wondering how much Tony Visconti is responsible for the incomparable sound and atmosphere of Bowie's classic albums? Will we ever know?!Whichever way you look at it, Visconti is VERY intelligent, and a genius in his own right. Whilst I don't care for many of the other artists he's worked with over the years, his contribution to Bowie's and Bolan's careers is immeasurable.The book pitches the "technical side" absolutely perfectly. It lets you know a producer does more than tiwiddle a few knobs, and gives you an idea as to the kind of problems faced, but without blinding you with science.He is very candid about his own drug participation, although I did wonder at times is he was playing it down a little. Either way, I'm not going to judge him on that, because (as he says) it was a recreational thing which he refused to let impinge on his work duties. (Unlike the majority of the artists he was producing!)He does not "slag" anyone off for the sake of it. Any criticisms are well-founded and explained. True, Marc Bolan is no longer here to defend himself, but I have heard so many reports from other sources over the years, that it's all credible. In any event, I don't think anbody could ever deny Bolan was more into "being a star" than being a musical trailblazer!The book is littered with odd, almost trivial facts about all kinds of facts and incidents (musical and non-musical), but they are just downright interesting! He has an excellent grasp of what the reader, music fan or not, might not know but appreciate knowing. Likewise, it was great to hear his take on things he found strange about the UK, things which we take for granted. In fact, as his "adopted home" he actually thanks Britain at the end of the book, which I thought was a nice touch.The only thing that marred the book, for me, was reading about his forays into some New Age Group Awareness codswallop (similar to E.S.T.), and how he tried to involve others in it. I think he's come to his senses a little since that escapade, but it was enough to make me think he (maybe) wasn't as intelligent as I'd thought. Whatever, he' s still streets ahead of Joe Public though!

I will be honest and state that I knew all about Tony Visconti's Marc Bolan and David Bowie connections, along with the fact that he produced the most recent Damned album but, will admit to not knowing much else about him. Thoroughly enjoyed this and admit to having no idea that he married Mary Hopkin. He has worked with a diverse number of music acts and was the obvious choice to work with Bowie in his later years. Would love to see a revised and updated version of this published.Ray Smillie

An incredibly addictive read for anyone who loves music. Visconti has worked and played with the best of them - David Bowie, Mark Bolan, Joe Cocker, Thin Lizzy, Morrisey...and the list goes on. Great stories from recording sessions, social gatherings and moments in music history. He's no saint, but in the world of rock n' roll, who is?! A really enjoyable book.

Tony Visconti's book was a better than average read and he certainly hit some musical high points on his arrival in London. However, more on the anarchic and super talented original Move line up would not have gone amiss. Their interactions in the studio and more were glossed over. I would have liked to have read about the aborted Ace Kefford solo album recording unearthed by Rob Caiger during The Move remastering excavations/excursions of a few years ago. It seemed odd that Denny Cordell favoured Procul Harum, over The Move and Visconti's autobiography certainly gives them more space.The later Bowie and Bolan stuff makes for interesting reading; depressing to read was Bolan's atypical descent into coke crazed egomania and its inevitable outcomes. More interesting as the same happened to Bowie and that he was able to pull out of that same descent. The background to the Berlin trilogy recordings were of great interest...