[i]Redemption Song: The Ballad of Joe Strummer[/i]

Just recently I bought the Joe Strummer biography Redemption Song: The Ballad of Joe Strummer by Chris Salewicz. I really like it so far. I really like the fact that it was written by one of Joe's actual friends who happened to be a journalist, and it wasn't just written by some guy who never knew Joe personally and just did a bunch of research and interviews and then wrote the book. Chris Salewicz is almost like a primary source, you know what I mean?

Anyway, what do you guys think of the book? What did you like? What did you dislike? What were some of your favorite parts? Discuss them here!

I haven't got round to reading it yet
I bought the book but I've got so many others on the go.
Should really get round to it...

I read it last summer and really enjoyed it. I liked how it really showed him as being human, and not some big rock star. And I agree with knockout, I'm glad it was written by someone who was actually a friend of his.

I though RS was necessary to music writings in general. It is a perfect example of how you should write a book about someone who is a legendry musician. You can't have too much hero-worship in it; I think you need to show that the person was human and had faults, but also had the drive to put all of themself out there despite their inhibitions. As previously stated, it was definitely a positive that a friend of his wrote it because he clearly was going to get straight into the heart of his friend, good and bad; another journalist may have only written about his triumphs. I don't believe that triumphs transfer into character, which is why RS was good. It made me think of Joe Strummer in a different light, as opposed to maybe what I wanted him to be. I've read a lot of artist biographies and this is probably one of the best. It really made me think. I hope I conveyed my thoughts in a good way and this is understandable. :/ lol.

I thought it was great and objective which is amazing since it was written by his friend.