Suck and Blow: And Other Stories I'm Not Supposed to Tell

Popper is the singer and chief songwriter for a band called Blues Traveler, which made their first record in 1990. I heard them in the early 1990s and liked a combination in their music: a sort of youthful naivety, of a band virtually my own age, mixed with a style of playing slightly reminiscent of bands during the brief heyday when some people gave rock music some artistic credibility, c.1967-74, or when rock bands jammed like "abstract expressionist jazz bands of the 1950s" and the whole business of making records wasn't necessarily considered a part of a rock'n'roll swindle circus worthy of David Bowie. One might expect a brutally honest autobiography from a guy whose main fame to claim is in blowing a blues-harmonica with a steam-engine level of intensity and that is partly what one gets here, which is good. Part of the honesty lies in an admission that song writing inspiration doesn't last forever and that after a number of years, he and his band didn't feel able to write inspired songs any more, because "we've done all this before". Another part of the honesty lies in tales of how difficult it is to be a career musician, who constantly tours, so that the togetherness of the band between 1988-1997 to put up with everything as much as a family would, naturally disintegrated when the lead guitarist got married and became a father in 1997 and so was no longer a fellow "crazy guy" in the band to keep things moving along. The bassist died in 1999 because as soon as band stopped touring, he turned to drugs for distraction because he didn't know what to do with himself. Popper himself was first nearly killed in a motorcycle accident and then nearly died by the age of 30 simply from his addiction to food. Now he's fifty and feels like an old man, but he's still got a sense of humour.Why bother reading this book? Well, if you know his band, there might be some interesting stuff here, but it is more entertaining as an account of being in a band and making records. The band had a "hit" with their fourth album, although, truth be told, their first three records (none of which sold more than 50,000 copies) were the band being themselves and an original sounding band for the early 1990s. Although no more than 20 years old making their first record, Blues Traveler were signed by manager Bill Graham, a 60 year old guy who'd managed and launched the career of bands like Santana and the Allman Brothers twenty years previously, so Popper's band actually toured alongside those outfits, especially the Allmans, who befriended Popper and co. because "you remind us of how we used to be". So there's entertaining stories here of Popper, the big fat kid, being terrified of his life every time Dickey Betts walked up to him on stage, or how Gregg Allman attempted to swindle him at cards; or how Butch Trucks walked in a straight-line through a crowd of hundreds of people in order to order Popper to join his band Frogwings. All pretty intense stuff. There's also stories of how Popper launched the short-lived H.O.R.D.E. festival for rock bands in the USA, as the alternative/rival to all the "disco-boy" or punk-rock festivals (lollapalooza) that existed in the USA during the 1990s, and ultimately sold more tickets for H.O.R.D.E. before the whole thing, and Blues Traveler's career, virtually collapsed and the band stopped doing 15 minute jams in an attempt to stand-toe-to-toe with the Allman Brothers on stage.And what of it? This is just an entertaining rock autobiography that works as an entertaining distraction. Popper's personality is such that he can tell a good yarn with humour, although he is also a bit egocentric, like attempting to tell himself that "I am the greatest harmonica player in the world" (which he isn't). The sense his book gives regarding where his band came from is partly interesting. For instance, Popper, drummer Brendan Hill and guitarist Chan Kinchla actually come from privileged backgrounds (dads as barristers or university lecturers and the like), which is not what one might expect from a blues band with a punk-rock like attitude, while it was the bassist Bobby Sheehan, who died, who was the quintessential rocker, who lived for the stage and was the crazy "the Grateful Dead are reborn" hippie guy who couldn't operate unless the other three guys were just as crazy as he was. So that's that, essentially. Oh yes, and the other side of the story is that Popper, though he couldn't do anything at school, is actually an articulate well read guy so he is able to tell his story. Most rock autobiographies don't work like that, because the rockers were never sober. But Popper was, more or less. He just ate 5,000 big macs per minute, that's all. One might also read into this how even "anti-commercial rock music is commercial", so just as Gregg Allman, as the drunken rocker millionaire, was approached by Jimmy Carter in the 1970s, John Popper, the rocker millionaire, was approached by Bill Clinton in the 1990s, looked for support or celeb poses. Wherever money is, there you will find politicians and all other sorts of rock stars ready to swindle you, or perhaps that is a story that, as Popper would say, "I am not supposed to tell". Even show business people can be real people I think is the message he is trying to give us. Whether you believe him is up to you. Most likely, you'll just want to smile or occasionally laugh. For this book is entertaining enough.

The book is a wonderful read, about a gifted icon in music. Great story. You get a sense that John Popper is a loyal, gifted person.

was expecting so much more!! Lots of run-on sentences and a continuous ramble of thoughts which jump from time to time. There are tons of typos as well.

I really enjoyed John Popper's autobiography it wasn't preaching or anything like that; it was just telling stories about blue's traveler started and his life up to now even when he had his child back in November 2015. I thought this is a pretty good book especially chapter 30 about his political leanings. Who would've thought that John Popper was a republican but he had the best line "I used to be a Democrat until I started making real money". Also he tells I don't let my political views getting away of a paying gig which I thought was pretty funny .

The stories in the book were lots of fun. As an old fan of Blues Traveler, the book was a must read.

Many things I didn't know, LOTS explained!