Mick Jagger

by Philip Norman

Overview

Author Phillip Norman, whose previous bestseller, John Lennon: The Life, was praised as a “haunting, mammoth, terrific piece of work” (New York Times Book Review) and whose classic Shout! is widely considered to be the definitive biography of the Beatles, now turns his attention to the iconic front man of the Rolling Stones, “the greatest rock ’n’ roll band in the world.” Norman’s Mick Jagger is an extraordinarily detailed and vibrantly written in-depth account of the life and half-century-long career of one of the most fascinating and complex superstars of rock music—the most comprehensive biography to date of the famously enigmatic musician. Keith Richards had his say in Life. Now it’s time to get to know intimately the other half of the duo responsible for such enduring hits as “Paint It Black,” “Sympathy for the Devil,” “Gimme Shelter,” and “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.” Mick Jagger is a must read for Stones fans, and everyone who can’t get enough of the serious memoirs and biographies of popular musicians, like Patti Smith’s Just Kids, Does the Noise in My Head Bother You? by Steven Tyler, and the Warren Zevon story, I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780061944864
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	01/23/2018
Pages:	640
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 1.50(d)

About the Author

Philip Norman is a novelist, biographer, journalist, and playwright. He is the author of the bestselling biography John Lennon: The Life and the history of The Beatles Shout!: The Beatles in Their Generation. Norman has also published biographies of Buddy Holly, the Rolling Stones, and Elton John, as well as six works of fiction and two plays, The Man That Got Away and Words of Love. He lives in London.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments xi

Prologue Sympathy for the Old Devil 1

Part 1 "The Blues is in Him"

1 India-Rubber Boy 13

2 The Kid in the Cardigan 39

3 "Very Bright, Highly Motivated Layabouts" 69

4 "Self-Esteem? He Didn't Have Any" 92

5 '"What a Cheeky Little Yob,' I Thought to Myself" 116

6 "We Spent a Lot of Time Sitting in Bed, Doing Crosswords" 143

7 "We Piss Anywhere, Man" 177

8 Secrets of the Pop Stars' Hideaway 208

9 Elusive Butterfly 242

10 "Mick Jagger and Fred Engels on Street Fighting" 267

Part 2 The Tyranny of Cool

11 "The Baby's Dead, My Lady Said" 297

12 Someday My Prince Will Come 324

13 The Balls of a Lion 356

14 "As Lethal as Last Week's Lettuce" 389

15 Friendship with Benefits 419

16 The Glamour Twins 449

17 "Old Wild Men, Waiting for Miracles" 474

18 Sweet Smell of Success 506

19 The Diary of a Nobody 523

20 Wandering Spirit 545

21 God Gave Me Everything 570

Postscript 599

Index 601

Editorial Reviews

Drawing on research he conducted for his first Stones book, as well as on numerous interviews with Jagger's friends, former girlfriends, and musicians, music critic Norman's often plodding and exhaustively detailed though admiring biography recounts Jagger's life from his middle-class youth and first encounters with the blues and early rock to his first meetings with a young Keith Richards.From there, we read of Jagger's many tumultuous relationships with women, his lackluster attempts at acting, and his raging desire to control his and the band's image. Sympathetic to Jagger, Norman digs beneath the bad-boy posturing that Stones manager Andrew Oldham stage-managed—and that Jagger embraced—very early in his career. Along the way, the author reveals an individual shaped by a conservative upbringing and maturing into a loving and beloved father, a history and literature buff, a wine connoisseur, and a stickler for etiquette. Unfortunately, in the end this is a dull set of fan notes, largely composed of much-rehashed Stones lore, especially since there are no new interviews with Jagger himself. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

Evidently, Jagger has proclaimed that he will never write a memoir, so we'll have to depend on once-removed reporting from folks like Norman, author of the best-selling John Lennon: The Life. Norman interviewed many Jagger intimates, including some who have never spoken on the record, and promises to offer a larger, more complex picture of the star. This book will be buzzing throughout 2012, the Stones' 50th-anniversary year. With a 150,000-copy first printing.

Library Journal

Unmatched as an icon, and second only to Elvis Presley as rock’s consummate sex symbol, Mick Jagger has a star-streaked life story that makes for a spicy read. Phil Norman—an author known for the definitive biography of Jagger’s old rivals, the Beatles—lays it out demonstrably, with all of the headline-baring details intact. Unlike Jagger’s colleague Keith Richards’ recent autobiography, this book—arriving just as the Rolling Stones celebrate their fiftieth year together—benefits from the literate structure of Norman’s prose, as well as from James Langton’s vibrant reading, in which his slightly Scottish brogue resonates with wry subtlety and mellifluous patterns. Each phase of Jagger’s storied career is dissected, revealing an immense ambition that has guided him throughout his path of unrivaled success and longevity. J.S.H. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine

OCTOBER 2012 - AudioFile

Unmatched as an icon, and second only to Elvis Presley as rock’s consummate sex symbol, Mick Jagger has a star-streaked life story that makes for a spicy read. Phil Norman—an author known for the definitive biography of Jagger’s old rivals, the Beatles—lays it out demonstrably, with all of the headline-baring details intact. Unlike Jagger’s colleague Keith Richards’ recent autobiography, this book—arriving just as the Rolling Stones celebrate their fiftieth year together—benefits from the literate structure of Norman’s prose, as well as from James Langton’s vibrant reading, in which his slightly Scottish brogue resonates with wry subtlety and mellifluous patterns. Each phase of Jagger’s storied career is dissected, revealing an immense ambition that has guided him throughout his path of unrivaled success and longevity. J.S.H. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine

OCTOBER 2012 - AudioFile

The second, livelier and all-around better of two major unauthorized Jagger biographies (after Christopher Andersen's Mick) out in time for the Rolling Stones' 50th year. A British novelist, music journalist and biographer, Norman (John Lennon: The Life, 2008, etc.) has made a minicareer telling the stories of the two biggest bands in rock history, the Beatles and the Stones, in several big books. (In his introduction to this mostly sympathetic life, Norman writes, plausibly, that these two bands "constitute one single, epic story.") Whereas Andersen portrayed Sir Mick as a soulless Narcissus or Faust, Norman succeeds at least partly in getting to the middle-class, suburban man behind the myth; he offers a sort of retort to Keith Richards' Life (as well as most other Jagger biographies) in shining a slightly better light on his subject. The author convincingly debunks legends like the kinky Mars bar tableau at the Redlands drug arrest in 1967 or Jagger's coldblooded dismissal of Hells Angel violence at the Altamont festival in 1969. Without shying from uncomplimentary facts about his subject's worst behaviors--mainly his treatment of the "lesser" Stones Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts and his numerous infidelities--Norman consistently provides evidence of Jagger's better side: his bouts of generosity (particularly toward friends and lovers in need), the sensitivity that frequently drives him to tears, his mutual adoration of his children by several mothers. Tellingly, the 25 years since the Stones' silver anniversary in 1982 are compressed into the last 90 pages of the 600-page narrative--even Norman seems to lose interest in Jagger apart from the Stones. Not the definitive Jagger life, but an enjoyable, entertaining biography.

Kirkus Reviews