First of all I became an avid fan of Mitch Ryder's music in the early 80's after sampling his critically acclaimed CD's , "How I spent my Vacation" and "Naked but not dead." They were both produced and released in Germany and if not searched out would have went un-noticed. However, to my satisfaction, Incredible songs like "Tough Kid" ,"Ain't Nobody white" and "Freeze'n in Hell" to this day, remain some of the greatest composed rock and roll music I've heard in decades.
The book is a written chronologically from his early days as a child to his first passage into the Detroit Black clubs hooking up with the underbelly of that world while he fine tunes his soulful vocal skills and artistry abilities to eventually lead one of the greatest Rock and Roll bands ever , "Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels" . His story is very well thought through and written for the reader to understand the crazy world of entertainment and all of the manipulative egos within and the pitfalls of fame and greed.
Mitch explains how he overcame the ride to fame and the love it took from his wife, Megan, to help him become the exceptional artist he is today. The final chapters are riveting as he tries to explain how his immaturity, lacking the ability to love that unfortunately intensified his emotional pain as well as everyone that surrounded him.
There are also plenty of great revealing stories in connection with the many great musicians and celebrity that his journey to stardom took him. It's an honest interpretation of a man's life that happened to be a rock star. He was a man with many flaws and contradictions like many of us that was extremely talented. This talent took him to the incredible world of fame that spit him back down as damaged goods from the fame machines of NYC.He climbed his way back, year by year, fan by fan, to ultimately regain what he thought he may have lost in his journey.The people who truely loved him. In return his artistic integrity still intact marches on still creating more fine fine music,and wonderful art, while realizing the answer was simple but the lesson was heart wrenching. Simply, "Love" and the ability to love and be loved was the missing piece in the puzzle all along. Great unexpected honest account from a Rock and Roll icon passing through this world refusing to rust in his twilight years. Rock on Mitch Ryder...Rock on!