“I loved writing, I loved chronicling life and every moment I was cogent, sober, or blitzed, I was forever feeding off my surroundings, making copious notes as ammunition for future compositions. . . . The thing is good, bad, or indifferent I never stopped writing, it was as addictive as any drug.”
This is the memoir music fans have been waiting for. Half of one of the greatest creative partnerships in popular music, Bernie Taupin is the man who wrote the lyrics for Elton John, who conceived the ideas that spawned countless hits, and sold millions and millions of records. Together, they were a duo, a unit, an immovable object. Their extraordinary, half-century-and-counting creative relationship has been chronicled in biopics (like 2019's Rocketman) and even John's own autobiography, Me. But Taupin, a famously private person, has kept his own account of their adventures close to his chest, until now.
Written with honesty and candor, Scattershot allows the reader to witness events unfolding from Taupin's singular perspective, sometimes front and center, sometimes from the edge, yet always described vibrantly, with an infectious energy that only a vivid songwriter's prose could offer. From his childhood in the East Midlands of England whose imagination was sparked and forever informed by the distinctly American mythopoetics of country music and cowboy culture, to the glittering, star-studded fishbowl of ’70s and ’80s Beverly Hills, Scattershot is simultaneously a Tom Jones-like picaresque journey across a landscape of unforgettable characters, as well as a striking, first-hand account of a creative era like no other and one man’s experience at the core of it.
An exciting, multi-decade whirlwind told in a non-linear yet grounded narrative, Scattershot whizzes around the world as we ride shotgun with Bernie on his extraordinary life. We visit Los Angeles with him and Elton on the cusp of global fame. We spend time with him in Australia almost in residency at an infamous rock 'n' roll hotel in an endless blizzard of drugs. And we spend late, late night hours with John Lennon, with Bob Marley, and hanging with Frank Sinatra. And beyond the world of popular music, we witness memorable encounters with writers like Graham Greene, painters like Andy Warhol and Salvador Dali, and scores of notable misfits, miscreants, eccentrics, and geniuses, known and unknown. Even if they're not famous in their own right, they are stars on the page, and we discover how they inspired the indelible lyrics to songs such as “Tiny Dancer,” “Candle in the Wind,” “Bennie and The Jets,” and so many more.
Unique and utterly compelling, Scattershot will transport the reader across the decades and around the globe, along the way meeting some of the greatest creative minds of the 20th century, and into the vivid imaginings of one of music's most legendary lyricists.
What I thought about Scattershot
The music of Elton John and the words of Bernie Taupin were my lifeline
during adolescence and I heard the same from my friends when I told them
I was reading this memoir. Their music spawned an interest in
songwriting and its process in me, so when I saw this title, I couldn't
wait to read it. I though it would touch upon the songwriting aspects of
this dynamic duo. Sadly (for me) it wasn't about that at all.
This
is more of a personal tale and an acknowledgement of influences. I did
like learning about his deep interest and love for Americana and the
American west. This was interesting and I could see these influences
thinking back to these early albums (which I do own and may need to give
a re-listen to after reading this book). I also found his discussion of
his art refreshing and was compelled to google some images.
But
far too often the book became a copious list of celebrity name dropping
with some adjective, simile and metaphor laden words that pushed me to
skim through these sections. Honestly, I lost track of all of the people
he partied with, worked with, and even married, so that part of the
book was less interesting to me, aside from the discussion of how some
of these folks influenced his lyrics. It was a bit jarring to read those
lyrics I loved were written in ten minutes in some cases, but there
were few, if any details about their songwriting in this memoir and that
was a disappointment.
That being said, I did slog through to
the end on this one, gobbling up the little bits and pieces of what
interested me and skimming over the pages that didn't. It was clear
there is a deep loving relationship between BT and EJ, Their songs will
always be timeless to me, and best of all, this memoir didn't change
that for me.
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