A review by donaldcapone
The Lives of Brian by Brian Johnson

5.0

I have a vague memory of Martin Scorsese saying something years ago along the lines of he wanted a good movie to take him out of his life and into someone else’s for a while (if anyone knows the exact quote please let me know). That’s what I want when I read a book—especially a memoir. With The Lives of Brian, Brian Johnson does exactly this, and succeeds fabulously. And he does so in a funny, interesting way, like you’re sitting next to him in a pub having a beer while he tells you the story of his life. He starts from the beginning, from before the beginning, actually; from how his parents met, his father fighting in WWII in Italy when he meets Brian’s mother. From there the story moves to Dunston in northern England near Newcastle, where Brian grows up in a real working class environment in post-WWII England. When a young Brian hears Little Richard for the first time, he knows what he wants to do for a living: be a singer. This memoir was such a joy to read, that as soon as I finished, I downloaded the audiobook version so I could hear him tell the story himself in his lovely Newcastle accent.

Be warned though, this is not an autobiography of being the lead singer of AC/DC. He doesn’t get that gig until three quarters of the way through the book. This is his story of grinding along through regular jobs and small-time bands before his big break comes. He does cover joining the band and working on Back In Black, though, and talks about his hearing problems much later on. I hope there will be a volume 2 to this memoir to fully cover the AC/DC parts.