Reviews

Hard to Handle: The Life and Death of the Black Crowes--A Memoir by Steven Hyden, Steve Gorman

angus_mckeogh's review against another edition

5.0

Obviously my review of this book is to be heavily influenced by my love for the band. Someone else reading this story would likely dock it a couple of stars for writing or purely out of disinterest. Of course, I thought it was stellar. It answered so many questions I’ve always had about these guys. What happened to Marc? How much older was Ed? Did Jimmy Page really hurt his back? Are the Robinson brothers someone I’d love to meet or are they just pricks? What’s it like to have sex with Kate Hudson (as answered by Liam Gallagher of Oasis)? What happened to all their unreleased songs? It’s all answered here. Great read.

angelofmine1974's review against another edition

informative slow-paced

3.0

My review of this book can be found on my YouTube Vlog at:

https://youtu.be/s0V7i0i06dk

Enjoy!

zmull's review against another edition

4.0

There are a lot of rock bios out there and most of them are either boring or dishy and shallow. Hard To Handle by The Black Crowes' Steve Gorman (and writer Stephen Hyden, who I suspect makes all the difference here) isn't either of those things. Gorman's memoir is full of interesting characters, fun insights into the life of a rock star, and music. This a particularly good book about rock and roll and well worth a read for even casual fans of the band.

duparker's review against another edition

4.0

At times this was a bitchfest, AKA I was fired from my band and I want to dish, but more often this was just an open look at what many bands probably go through with ups and downs, creativity and emotional fall out.

The pace is good, and the bulk of the material provides a good story. The last 20 pages seem way to concise and skip forward in spades, but overall its worth the read if you like rock and roll or the band itself.

hippiechick56's review against another edition

3.0

I love The Black Crowes and actually got to see them live. It's the usual story of how some bands are so good they burst like a shooting star because of the combustibility of the personalities inside of it. They left us with some good music though.

schuster's review against another edition

informative medium-paced

5.0

This book is great. Even if you don't like The Black Crowes it's worth the read 

twerkingtobeethoven's review against another edition

4.0

Fun book. Steve seems to be a decent bloke, and I actually enjoyed the style, it's basically like this "So this is what happened that one time we were recording XYZ."

According to Gorman, the Robinson brothers were a bit dysfunctional from the very beginning, and the problems increased with the increasing fame (go figure), which turned them into utter twats with massive egos that lead to the demise of a very lucrative deal with Jimmy Page and, eventually, to the end of the band itself(*). Also, the consumption of alcohol and all sorts of...er...chemicals didn't make things any easier, HA! Of course, as you'd expect, the turmoil surrounding the Black Crowes is what makes "Hard to Handle" really interesting.

Needs to be said I'm not a die-hard fan of the band. I liked the first two records, all right, but wasn't particularly crazy about "Amorica" and "Three Snakes and One Charm". And I have honestly no clue what the following albums sound like.

Four stars.

(*) - The Black Crowes will be touring again in 2020, the only surviving members of the band being the Robinson brothers.

johnofrodrigue's review against another edition

5.0

Absolutely incredible. I put this right up there with Warren Zanes’ Petty biography as not just a great rock book, but a great book with a great story and great writing. Should be required reading in music schools, psychology classes (a semester to be had here) and team-building seminars. Reading this almost felt like being in group therapy with Steve, although I’m not sure that was his aim. The tone is matter-of-fact and conversational. The stories are out of this world. I give this my full recommendation to anybody currently in or thinking about joining a band. Especially anybody who ever in a bad break-up from one (obviously.) People in relationships and with co-workers or teammates can also take a page or two from this. Also a great read for anybody who needs affirmation that life goes on and peace is always within your reach.

lifstrand's review against another edition

5.0

A well-written, honest book by Steve Gorman about The Black Crowes. I've read quite a few musician's memoirs and I must say, so far this is one of the better ones.

vinomanscott930's review against another edition

4.0

Breaking up a band that you spent most of your adult life listening to over money and power (within the band) makes this a hard read, because you come into it with the bias towards being pissed, but I think Steve Gorman showed enough of the light side of the band to counteract the selfishness, pettiness, and ego of the Robinson Brothers. Watching, and now reading the behind the scenes details, of the absolute downward spiral the Black Crowes were on were very disheartening. I know Rich and Chris Robinson are now back together, with a new incarnation of the Black Crowes, but there will always only be the originals. True classics. The Brothers have said that the reason why other band members were not invited back to rejoin the band this time was so they wouldn't slip back into the bad habits, the backstabbing, and the overall toxic behaviors of the past. I still stand with Steve Gorman on what he had to say in this book about his time in the band, and the actions of The Brothers.