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silver_linings72's review against another edition
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
mbkarapcik's review against another edition
4.0
I didn't really give much thought to reading Thanks a Lot, Mr. Kibblewhite by Roger Daltrey. I love the Who's music and think Roger is an amazing front man with a powerful voice, but I was always more interested in Pete Townsend or Keith Moon. After reading this book, though, the guy in the band you really want to hang out with is Roger.
This autobiography takes you from Roger's birth to present day. He covers all the trials and tribulations of his childhood in post-war England where he grew up with modest means and not sure what he would do in his life. The title refers to a teacher that Roger had who never thought he'd make something of himself. Boy, was he wrong.
The conversational, honest style of Roger's writing is part of the appeal of this book. Yes, he's an incredibly famous rock star, yes, he's been a Hollywood actor, but he's also a father, a husband, a brother, a son, a bandmate, a friend, and a regular guy. He's refreshing because he truly has no airs about his status. After the Who officially broke up in the 1980s, he ends up tending to duties around his home in the country, including running his kids to school and working around the house. I wouldn't be surprised if he took out the garbage.
All Roger wanted was his own plot of land and peace of mind. He refers to a sensory memory of his childhood where he spends a day lakeside in the country and feels most like himself in this place. It's really all he's been striving for all these years. And you're happy when he's rewarded with his own home.
If you're thinking it was a rock star palace, you couldn't be further from the truth. Any time he came back from a grueling tour that sometimes made the Who barely enough money, he worked to bring the dilapidated home and land he bought into something to be proud of. He stripped the beams multiple times and dug out lakes, so he and his pals as well as eventually the public could fish in a serene setting.
Of course, he also discusses all the rock star excess you want to hear about although most of it was from the other members of the band. Roger may have dabbled in drugs on occasion, but it wasn't a lifestyle. He never found it to be the answer to his problems even when he dealt with major bouts of insomnia. He wasn't a teetotaler, but he didn't need it to feel good about himself or to have some fun.
Anyway, this book is a quick read. Sometimes, he skips around different decades, which could be slightly confusing, but he gives you enough to whet your appetite. It's written in an engaging style, almost as if you're hanging out in an English pub with Roger while he regales you with tales about his life and that of his bandmates. It's worth a read if you've ever been even a little bit of a Who fan.
This autobiography takes you from Roger's birth to present day. He covers all the trials and tribulations of his childhood in post-war England where he grew up with modest means and not sure what he would do in his life. The title refers to a teacher that Roger had who never thought he'd make something of himself. Boy, was he wrong.
The conversational, honest style of Roger's writing is part of the appeal of this book. Yes, he's an incredibly famous rock star, yes, he's been a Hollywood actor, but he's also a father, a husband, a brother, a son, a bandmate, a friend, and a regular guy. He's refreshing because he truly has no airs about his status. After the Who officially broke up in the 1980s, he ends up tending to duties around his home in the country, including running his kids to school and working around the house. I wouldn't be surprised if he took out the garbage.
All Roger wanted was his own plot of land and peace of mind. He refers to a sensory memory of his childhood where he spends a day lakeside in the country and feels most like himself in this place. It's really all he's been striving for all these years. And you're happy when he's rewarded with his own home.
If you're thinking it was a rock star palace, you couldn't be further from the truth. Any time he came back from a grueling tour that sometimes made the Who barely enough money, he worked to bring the dilapidated home and land he bought into something to be proud of. He stripped the beams multiple times and dug out lakes, so he and his pals as well as eventually the public could fish in a serene setting.
Of course, he also discusses all the rock star excess you want to hear about although most of it was from the other members of the band. Roger may have dabbled in drugs on occasion, but it wasn't a lifestyle. He never found it to be the answer to his problems even when he dealt with major bouts of insomnia. He wasn't a teetotaler, but he didn't need it to feel good about himself or to have some fun.
Anyway, this book is a quick read. Sometimes, he skips around different decades, which could be slightly confusing, but he gives you enough to whet your appetite. It's written in an engaging style, almost as if you're hanging out in an English pub with Roger while he regales you with tales about his life and that of his bandmates. It's worth a read if you've ever been even a little bit of a Who fan.
lubel80's review against another edition
1.0
Ugh, what a self-serving dick. I didn't believe a word of this.
massimo73's review against another edition
3.0
This is really funny! How did I not know Daltrey was funny?
cmellors's review against another edition
emotional
funny
informative
medium-paced
4.25
Roger Daltrey was brilliant narrating. Hereing his change in tone and laughter as he retold his story was a refreshing change.
cimorene1558's review against another edition
3.0
Could be subtitled: the adventures of an ordinary bloke. I don't mean that rudely at all, I'm ordinary myself, but it's a change from most other rock star biographies, which are usually not full of early bedtimes and stable marriages, which this one kind of is. Lots of other people's drugs and craziness, but not his own.
stripe_la's review against another edition
5.0
100 PERCENT one of my favourite autobiographies. Roger Daltrey has had such an interesting life, his outlook is beautiful and his storytelling is wonderful
gregcagle's review against another edition
4.0
I am a lone Who fan and have read many books about and by the band, including Pete's autobio. Daltrey remembers a surprising amount of stuff. I guess it should be no surprise that he leaves out some things, then. He freely admits he was an asshole a lot in the early days, and the ongoing conflict with Pete is clearly described. Often it's in the form of "well, I know what you must have read, but this is what *I* remember." At this late date a lot of events have been mythologized to where it probably doesn't matter who said what when. All that being said it seems like after Pete takes control of the band, all of Roger's self description characterizes him as being the adult in the room - the only one who doesn't do drugs, the one who figured out Stamp and Lambert were stealing from them. Etc. The one who actually stayed with his wife for a long time. Etc. Etc. All in all it's a good read and a lot of fun but just keep in mind the unreliable narrator.
martewin's review against another edition
4.0
"We knew each other. We followed each other. We communicated with each other through the music. And something that gets missed in all the war stories about the Who... We respected each other."
I love this band quite a lot, so when I heard that this book was coming out, I got really excited. If you're a fan of the Who you'd know from the beginning that this was going to be a completely different book from Pete's. Of course, you know, Pete wrote the songs so he has a certain way with words. Despite this, I didn't enjoy his book as I thought I would, it was so long and at some point to me it felt like a chore reading it (at the time I wasn't working and I remember sitting down and thinking, okay, now I won't get up until I read 50 pages).
This book was the opposite: you can tell already by the page count how different these two people are.
And that's one of the reasons why I love this band so much: Pete and Roger (and John and Keith before) were all people that got on each other's nerves a lot, but despite this, they loved each other a lot and stuck with each other 'til the end. And when I read Pete's book, at times I felt that he didn't pay enough respect to the other members of the Who: yes of course, he wrote pretty much all the songs but without /that/ band performing them, where would Pete be now?
In this book, however, Roger doesn't hide the negative sides of all the other guys in the band but also acknowledge how important everyone else was. (Roger was the one starting the band, after all.)
What I also liked it's that it feels like a long chat with an old friend of yours telling you story as they come along in his mind. That is why it feels quite genuine.
I love this band quite a lot, so when I heard that this book was coming out, I got really excited. If you're a fan of the Who you'd know from the beginning that this was going to be a completely different book from Pete's. Of course, you know, Pete wrote the songs so he has a certain way with words. Despite this, I didn't enjoy his book as I thought I would, it was so long and at some point to me it felt like a chore reading it (at the time I wasn't working and I remember sitting down and thinking, okay, now I won't get up until I read 50 pages).
This book was the opposite: you can tell already by the page count how different these two people are.
And that's one of the reasons why I love this band so much: Pete and Roger (and John and Keith before) were all people that got on each other's nerves a lot, but despite this, they loved each other a lot and stuck with each other 'til the end. And when I read Pete's book, at times I felt that he didn't pay enough respect to the other members of the Who: yes of course, he wrote pretty much all the songs but without /that/ band performing them, where would Pete be now?
In this book, however, Roger doesn't hide the negative sides of all the other guys in the band but also acknowledge how important everyone else was. (Roger was the one starting the band, after all.)
What I also liked it's that it feels like a long chat with an old friend of yours telling you story as they come along in his mind. That is why it feels quite genuine.