Guitar

Earl Slick, Jeff Slate

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Paperback

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English

Penguin Books Ltd
20 February 2025

Rock & Pop music; Individual composers & musicians, bands & groups; Guitar; Autobiography: arts & entertainment; Music industry

A rock 'n' roll tell all from David Bowie's sideman Earl Slick

You might not have heard of Earl Slick, but you've heard him play guitar.

In 1974 I got a call from a British guy called David Bowie. I wasn't really that familiar with his work, but I thought, what the hell?

I'm sitting like a jerk for a couple minutes and then in walks this spooky-ass looking guy with bright red hair and no eyebrows. He was dressed the way an English rock star might think a Harlem pimp would dress. Whoa. David was definitely the strangest cat I'd ever seen, and I'd been around some off-the-wall characters. He had his guitar with him and I had a jacket with a bottle of brandy inside one pocket and my vial in the other. We drank, played for a while...and that's where it all started.

That fateful day launched Earl Slick's career as rock and roll's gun for hire. Most famous for being Bowie's sideman, Slick has played with everyone from John Lennon to Eric Clapton, and with bands from The Cure to the New York Dolls.

A fly on the wall for the last 50 years of rock and roll history, Earl Slick is the most famous guitarist you've never heard of. And he's got the stories to prove it.

'Mean ass blues for a skinny ass white guy' - Buddy Guy

By: Earl Slick, Jeff Slate
Imprint: Penguin Books Ltd
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 198mm, Width: 129mm, Spine: 35mm
Weight: 500g
ISBN: 9781405939713
ISBN 10: 1405939710
Pages: 272
Publication Date: 20 February 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Earl Slick (Author) Earl Slick was born Frank Madeloni in Brooklyn in 1951. He made his name as David Bowie's lead guitarist and went on to become one of rock's most sought after guitar players. He presented the 2017 BBC documentary Rock N Roll Guns for Hire- The Story of the Sideman. Guitar is his first book. He lives in upstate New York. Jeff Slate (Author) Jeff Slate is a songwriter and music journalist whose work has appeared in The New Yorker, Esquire, Rolling Stone and other publications. He is the co-author of The Authorized Roy Orbison and has written liner notes for The Beatles, Bob Dylan and The Rolling Stones. His latest album, The Last Day of Summer, features Earl Slick.

Reviews for Guitar

Touching . . . poignant * Sunday Express * Guitar, gives an unvarnished account of the weird and unpredictable life of a musical mercenary * Telegraph *