mojoman wrote on Jul 25^th, 2013 at 1:57pm:


LOL this is our guy writing what Gazza did!

Local rocker gives author talk in Newtonville

By Jim Morrison
Wicked Local Newton
Posted Jul 30, 2013 @ 10:26 AM
http://www.wickedlocal.com

Bill Janovitz, the lead singer and guitarist for the alternative rock band Buffalo Tom, appeared at Newtonville Books last Wednesday evening to promote his new book, “Rocks Off: 50 Tracks That Tell the Story of the Rolling Stones” (St. Martin's Press) that came out the day before.

It’s a book for Rolling Stones fans written by a Rolling Stones superfan and scholar.  Janovitz’s experience in the music business, the depth of his love for the band, and his appetite for detail were apparent both at the book signing and in “Rocks Off.” His talk was peppered with common and obscure facts about the Stones and their music and the people who influenced them.

“”Satisfaction” is heavily influenced by Chuck Berry’s “Thirty Days,”” said Janovitz, who then sang both guitar lines.

The book is essentially a compendium of 50 short stories about 50 songs that track the bands five-decade (so far) career in popular music. It’s a lot of ground to cover in 377 pages, but there is something to be learned about the band in every chapter.

Janovitz didn’t have access to current members of the band, but he did interview keyboardist Chuck Leavell, (who has recorded and toured with the Rolling Stones since the 80s), Darryl “The Munch” Jones (who took over on bass when Bill Wyman retired in the 90s), saxophonist Bobby Keys (who has recorded and toured with The Stones since the 60s), local legendary sideman Al Kooper, as well as a number of engineers and producers for the book.

In the introduction to the book, Janovitz, who has met more than his share of famous people, writes about how he got unexpectedly star-struck at a serendipitous meeting with Keith Richards in 2012.

“I got to talk to Keith (Richards) briefly at an event,” Janovitz said, “but I didn’t dare tell him I was in the midst of writing a book about him.”

Janovitz mined a website called Rock’s Back Pages which has a library of more than 20,000 published articles about pop musicians dating back to the earliest days of rock ‘n roll for the book.  His focus was more on what band members had said in past interviews than on what had been written about them.

“I wouldn’t have been able to do it as thoroughly as I did in the pre-Internet days,” said Janovitz.

The songs Janovitz chose to chronicle The Stones’ history are more than just his personal favorites.  He said that choosing songs from the last 25 years was more difficult that first 25.


Author Bill Janovitz signs a copy of his new book, "Rocks Off: 50 Tracks That Tell the Story of the Rolling Stones" at a Newtonville Books book signing