Graeme Thomson

Books by Graeme Thomson

I Shot A Man In Reno
A History of Death by Murder, Suicide, Fire, Flood, Drugs, Disease and General Misadventure, as recounted in Popular Song

Ask the Emo Kid. Ask the Gangsta rap devotee. Ask the Pete Doherty disciple. Ask the self-appointed member of Generation X. Ask the Goth and the Indie kid. Ask the punk, the New York Factory follower and the Californian acid casualty. Ask the grizzled Blues fanatic and the bearded folk fan. Ask the old time country boy and every last rider on the Gospel train. Ask anyone who has ever listened closely to the music of the Beatles. Or the Stones, or the Doors or the Velvet Underground. Or the Smiths, or Tupac, or Ryan Adams, or the Verve, or U2.

Ask and they will all tell you the same thing: death and popular music have forever danced hand-in-hand in funereal waltz time. The tyrannical alliance between the pop charts and the majority of radio stations’ play lists may conspire to convince anyone listening that the world spins on its axis to the tune of Moon and June, to I Love You, You Love Me and, indeed, She Loves You; traditional matters of the Achy Breaky Heart. The rest of us know that we live in a world where red roses will one day become lilies and that death is the motor that drives the greatest and most exhilarating music of all.

“A wildly cheering history of the subject of death in popular song.”
Observer, Best Music Books of 2008

“[An] amiable potter around all the genres of the rock and pop graveyard.”
Telegraph, Best Music Books of 2008

“Better musical surveys are hard to find, and the results are positively life-affirming.”
Paste

“Its contents more than live up to the billing…. a rich and masterful read.”
The Word

“One of the most informative and fulfilling music books you’re ever likely to read. An essential volume.”
Record Collector,

“The long subtitle is a tad inaccurate. This isn’t a history; it’s a commentary. Damned good one, too, by a journalist who knows his stuff and struts it…. Enthralling from the first page, he guarantees rereaders with a penultimate chapter on Europe’s top 10 funeral songs and an appendix of his own, an annotated top 40 of death.”
Booklist

“An intriguing, intelligent analysis…. Thomson’s real strength is his understated empathy [and] it’s in making connections between death songs and a life lived that I Shot a Man in Reno really shines.”
Time Out

“Authoritative and sparkling with insight… drawing on a sharp wit and a record collection to apparently rival John Peel’s… this is ten quid well spent.”
Morning Star

“[The] long-running and continually fascinating story of deadly mayhem as narrated in song lyrics.”
Bloomsbury Review

“Thomson immerses the reader in the world of death-pop. Counter-intuitively, it’s a jolly read and his top 40 best death-themed songs - or his “DiPod” - show the author has excellent taste, too”
Sunday Herald

World Rights: Continuum

Willie Nelson: The Outlaw

Thomson follows his acclaimed biography of Elvis Costello with a thoroughly-researched and engagingly-written account of the legendary Willie Nelson.

With a face that wouldn’t look out of place carved into Mount Rushmore, Willie Nelson has done it all. A dope smoking, whisky drinking, latter-day cowboy with Native American blood, four wives and seven children: the career of the Grammy winning singer, songwriter and actor spans half a century of American music, touching base with everyone from Patsy Cline to Elvis Presley, Julio Iglesias to Kid Rock, Ryan Adams to Emmylou Harris. Former US President Jimmy Carter, Johnny Cash and Frank Sinatra became friends, while concert highlights have included Farm Aid, his annual Fourth of July picnics, Woodstock ’99 and the 9/11 memorial. Lows include his mother and father’s early desertion, penury, alcoholism, tempestuous marriages with three divorces, drug busts, bankruptcy at the hands of the IRS, as well as his son’s suicide and an attempt at taking his own life.

A compelling man whose life and music reveals and reflects something fundamental at the very heart of twentieth century America, Willie Nelson is nothing short of a legend. In biographical terms, however, the problem remains that, to date, nobody has looked hard enough behind the legend and mythology to discover what really makes Nelson tick - both as a man and a musician. This is the task that The Outlaw sets itself.

“Sharp writing, astute observation and a wry attitude .... make for a lively read and a vivid portrait of an often baffling talent. Recommended.” – Neil Spencer, Observer Music Monthly

“An excellent biography. Thomson is too shrewd a biographer to take [Nelson] at his own estimation.” – Paul Du Noyer, The Word

“A timely reminder of the stature and achievements of the 72-year-old Texan.” - Adam Sweeting, Telegraph

“A fabulous biography of one of country music’s most colourful characters.” – Tatler

Publication Date: March 2006
World Rights: Virgin Books

Complicated Shadows: The Life and Music of Elvis Costello

Complicated Shadows paints a detailed and accurate portrait of an intensely private and complex individual.

It draws on nearly 50 exclusive interviews with schoolmates, pre-fame friends, early band members, journalists as well as members of The Attractions, producers, collaborators and musicians from all stages of his life and career.

Thomson also unearths many previously unknown details about Costello’s early years and his personal life, as well as examining his entire musical output using the recollections of those who were there at the time, the majority of whom have never talked on the subject before.

“[A] cracker … meticulously researched and fluently told.” – Observer Music Monthly

“Thomson has produced ... as believable and fair a picture of the man himself as I suspect is actually possible.” – Herald

“A vital read ... Thomson here returns one of rock’s most elusive figures to flesh and blood ... Definitive.” – Uncut

“Brilliantly written . . . in the absence of Elvis Costello putting pen to paper himself, this is far and away the next best thing.” – Record Collector

World Rights: Canongate Books