Under Their Thumb: How a Nice Boy from Brooklyn Got Mixed up with the Rolling Stones (and Lived to Tell about It) [NOOK Book]

Publishers Weekly

For 17 years, German recorded the comings and goings of the Rolling Stones in his fanzine Beggars Banquet; in this surprisingly lifeless memoir, he documents his relationship with the band. German's fandom with the Stones began when he was 12. When he heard songs like "Bitch" and "Sweet Virginia," he was inexplicably hooked on the band's music, and he envied the DJs who got to play their music and the journalists who covered the band. By the time he was 16, German had decided to produce a newsletter devoted to his favorite group, printing the first 100 copies of Beggars Banquet on his Brooklyn high school's mimeograph machine in 1978. Although his classmates were unenthusiastic (they were more interested in disco and Saturday Night Fever than Exile on Main Street), the Stones and their management eventually became aware of German's efforts. By 1983, the Stones wanted to make Beggars Banquet the official fanzine of their fan club and stuffed the record sleeves of their new release, Undercover, with it. When the Stones' manager reneged on his promise of payment, German learned a hard business lesson and ended the arrangement, but he never lost his affection for the band. He chronicles his close relationships with Keith Richards and Ron Woods (with whom he coauthored a book) as well as his lukewarm relationship with Mick. Richards emerges from German's memoir as a sweet and loving guy, while Jagger appears an arrogant prima donna who has little time for his band mates or his family. (Feb.)

Library Journal

At age 16, German started writing the Rolling Stones fanzine Beggar's Banquet. After tenaciously courting the band at album parties and other appearances, he gained access to the Stones's camp, and his publication became the band's official bulletin. During the 1980s, the band spent much of their time in New York City, giving German easy accessibility, and he was eventually brought into their homes. With entertaining and relaxed prose, German recounts his relationships with Keith Richards and Ron Wood (with whom he eventually collaborated on The Works) and various lively members of the Stones's circle. German's exclusive access throughout the 1989-90 Steel Wheels tour and his backstage accounts of the modern megatour, with its own social hierarchy and myriad levels of access, will be of enormous interest to Stones fans. Colorful portraits of Richards and Wood, depicted as avuncular and open, as well as the more distant Mick Jagger, form a picture of the band in an often tumultuous and eventually wildly successful period not heavily documented by previous works. Recommended for public libraries.
—Jim Collins

Kirkus Reviews