Preview
“IT’S 1971, AND AS THE POLICE SLIDE BACK THE BARRICADES, our limo forges a course through a sea of screaming fans to the private area behind the massive Central Park stage. There, the mood is electric. Roadies and sound techs scramble to set up. The air is filled with the hum of musicians tuning their instruments or gathering to run through last-minute details of the coming show. Clouds of smoke waft through the air while managers and agents scatter about anxiously. Video cameras swivel back and forth on their stanchions, ready to broadcast live, while rock luminaries like George Harrison, Art Garfunkel, and the headliner, The Beach Boys, amble casually about. My pulse quickens as I prepare to take the stage, feel the heat of the lights, and look out over the swelling crowd.”
I have been here before, have felt the exhilaration and the nerves. Not at this venue but definitely on this scale in the five years prior, I found my way into the world of pop and rock music as an original member of the hit group, The Critters. Tonight, however, is different. My place onstage is not in the spotlight. That is reserved for our star, Carly Simon. Tonight, I will play behind her.”
The Superstar Chronicles is an adventure told in a series of revealing, entertaining, sometimes hilarious, sometimes tragic tales that take the reader into the minds of pop stars, the shadier side of the music business, the struggle with setbacks, and the joys of success. From having three top-forty hits before he was twenty, to being an in-demand studio musician recording with hit artists, Jimmy Ryan tells about his early years with the Critters, sharing the playbill with pioneers of rock ‘n roll like The Rascals, The Ronettes, Little Anthony & the Imperials, Jay and the Americans; and, later, collaborating and recording with megastars such as Carly Simon, Cat Stevens, Jim Croce, Elton John, The Doors, Paul McCartney and many others. From partying at the Playboy Mansion to sitting alone in his apartment healing a bruised ego, Ryan shares the experience of over sixty years in the upper echelons of the music business.
As the book’s subtitle suggests,The Superstar Chronicles is a story of transformation, of shape-shifting, as opportunities, the currents of life, maturity, and creative energy change course and evolve. It describes what it’s like to be a touring and recording rock musician, a guitarist in the original Broadway production of Hair, a principal actor in the Tony Award-nominated Broadway play, Pump Boys and Dinettes, a producer and arranger, an award-winning composer for television, movies, commercials, major news networks, and international events; and, ironically, a national touring musician again in recent years with The Hit Men, a group of select musicians and first-ever recipients of the Road Warrior Award from The Musician’s Hall of Fame.
The Superstar Chronicles is an insider’s look into the people and business of the music industry. It examines how superstars and their musicians handle stress, their humanity, frailty, insecurities, and neuroses. It chronicles one musician’s lifetime in the profession, sometimes in the spotlight, more often behind it, and most often in the recording studio as a composer, arranger, musician, producer, and engineer. And, though by no means a tell-all hit piece, it instead employs humor, humility, occasional touches of gentle sarcasm, and masterful storytelling to craft a portrait of those who achieved stardom, their rewards, and their excesses, the alcohol and drugs, the emotional breaks, and self-destruction that befell so many, as well as the many who failed in its pursuit. It offers first-hand stories of record deals won, then lost to bloated egos, advertising jobs won, then lost to back-door payoffs, alongside heartwarming accounts of friendship, shared experiences, vulnerability, and trust. It affords the reader an insightful, candid, and introspective window into the author’s psyche and those of the brilliant artists with whom he has worked – stories of turmoil and triumph, hope, passion, greed, and deceit, guiding each other through times when their worlds crashed.
The Superstar Chronicles is a deep and thoughtful story of personal discovery. It transports readers through the dreams of a young boy spinning 45s in his bedroom, negotiating family dysfunction, and risking everything by leaving college and the life planned out for him to pursue his relentless passion for music. From sock hops to record deals, to hits charting on radio playlists and appearances on Dick Clark’s Where The Action Is, from the legendary studios of New York, London, and Los Angeles, to the stages of Carnegie Hall and London’s Royal Albert Hall, or the quiet studio in his home, Jimmy Ryan guides readers on a journey most can only imagine. In doing so, he reveals the private demons that sometimes haunt him and his quest for spiritual and personal enlightenment. Ever mindful and never quite immune to the allure of stardom and fame, he nonetheless arrives at his most natural place of comfort, creative expression, serenity, security, and stability in an industry fraught with hazards and risk.
Ultimately,The Superstar Chronicles is a lighthearted and joyful narrative that documents important moments in rock history. At the same time, its colorful stories and collection of personal photographs evoke memories of youth, first kisses, concerts with friends, turbulent times of social change, and the delight of hits that made up the soundtrack of our lives. I invite you to take a first-hand look into the wonderful, often insane world of music through the eyes of a lifer, a musician who has found success and fulfillment by shapeshifting his way through a lifetime behind the stars.
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Reviews
“Jimmy and I discovered the music scene together, writing songs and listening to every new LP that shouted out to us from the bins at Sam Goody’s. Jimmy led me. He inspired and directed me. He taught me and he made me laugh. We were in Greenwich Village together. Ditto: London, ditto: L.A. ditto: as many backstages as you’d care to drop the names of. It’s all in this book. We cared about each other and continued to throughout those tender years of getting to know ourselves. It could have been other gentle souls or not so gentle souls, but no, I got lucky. It was Jimmy.” — Carly Simon
“Whether you realize it or not, over the past 60 years, rock ’n’ roll has shaped your world, your culture and even your way of thinking and being. Musical genius, and recipient of the Musician’s Hall of Fame “Road Warrior Award,” Jimmy Ryan was an ever-present, integral and dynamic part of that scene all along the way. With the light-hearted, approachable style of a best friend, Jimmy offers us a “seat” next to him in the studio, concert hall, back stage, hotel room, tour bus and plane—and invites us to join him on a whirlwind adventure few have ever lived and earned the right to tell. He also offers priceless wisdom and simple sage-like advice to would-be musicians and stars. Highly entertaining, intimate and deeply fascinating, The Superstar Chronicles features photos and foibles of the fun and famous; friends and folks like Carly Simon, Cat Stevens, Jim Croce and Paul Simon, to name but a few. If you are a fan of rock and pop music, or even the psychology of life and the story of humanity, you will want this book for your coffee shop or fireside reading. What an incredible and timely gift to the world! Thank you, Jimmy Ryan!” – Brett Wilson — M Music & Musicians magazine
GREAT READ! THE AUTHOR PROVIDES A VERATIBLE ROADMAP TO SUCCESS. “Great read. Rarely in this current world of hype does a person get to see the people behind their famous personas. Jimmy Ryan is one of the few exceptional musicians who can elevate a session to the point where the music sounds like a hit. People like him not only have incredible musical skills but their very presence at a session or live shows provide the confidence needed for the performance to supersede expectations. The incredible combination of people and musical skills is what makes him invaluable to the stars. Through the author’s lens, we get to see Carly Simon, George Harrison, Billy Joel, and countless other household names as real people. The author does it with compassion, empathy, and humanity that is engaging and compelling. What is revealed through the narrative is not only stories about the multitude of gifted stars Mr. Ryan has worked with, but it illuminates the hard work, discipline, humility, and talent of the author himself. People who succeed at the level Jimmy Ryan has don’t get there by accident. This book is a nod not only to the stars but the brilliantly gifted people that assist them in realizing the exceptional work that they create. Behind is a must-read for anyone considering a career in a creative field because the author provides a veritable roadmap to success.” — B. Goodman
THIS BOOK IS A TRUE INSPIRATION! “It is obvious, from the people who Jimmy Ryan played music with and for, that he is master musician. And now, with the publication of Behind, he will be known as a master storyteller as well. His tales of stars like Carly Simon, Harry Chapin, Paul and Linda McCartney, the Beach Boys, Sly and the Family Stone, Cat Stevens, and many more are all fascinating glimpses into the “behind the scenes” world of popular music. But this is not a gossipy volume. In fact, the real story is Jimmy Ryan’s. He documents his life in music in an intimate, honest, open way. His hits and misses, his highs and his lows, all add up to a fascinating and eye-opening look into what it means to follow one’s passion. The book is a real inspiration. I read Behind straight through in two sittings. This musician knows how to write!” — Arthur Kurzweil
WOW…WHO KNEW! “This well written and organized compilation of Jimmy Ryan’s life in the spotlight’s shadow demonstrates what talent and a true love of music means. Humble beginnings, hard work, mining the best relationships, knowing when to step in and just as importantly, step aside, this is a life story of perseverance. The detail and recollections of dates, names and venues are extraordinary helping the reader join the author on a ride few have experienced. Anyone who is involved with music, especially writing and performing, will love this book. And those who are music fans will have eyes opened to the astonishing world behind the spotlight.” – B. Podstawski
TALES OF A HITMAKER “Buy this book, sit or lay back, and enjoy it! I thoroughly did. You will laugh, and you will cry and you will not want it to finish!! Jimmy Ryan has a special gift as a writer and has a fantastic tale to tell. Surely one of the most hard-working guitarists in the business, Jimmy has seen it all in a six-decade career, and quite prepared to tell it all in such a heartwarming and hilarious way. From the opening few pages describing his very own “bad boy” episode with the New York police, you won’t want to put this book down. It’s a light-hearted roller coaster ride that takes you behind the scenes at recording studios, concert halls and hotel rooms to reveal some very candid and eye-opening glimpses of the star-studded world he has had the privilege and pleasure to have been a part of. But aside from all the backstage revelations, this is also the story of a remarkable journey of a young boy with a dream who, through sheer hard work and determination, with a little bit of Irish luck thrown in, to become one of those many anonymous heroes who all too often are overlooked and do not get the credit they deserve. Jimmy has played on some of the greatest recordings of all time and well-deserves the title of Hitmaker. Thanks to him, and hundreds of unsung musicians like him, we can now listen to those songs that make up the soundtrack to our lives and appreciate the hitmakers and their musicianship that are simply in a class of their own” – Michael Taylor
GREAT READ! “An honest and quite often humorous look at the ins and outs of one man’s decades-long music career. There are many surprises here. Though you probably don’t know his face, you’ll absolutely know his music. Jimmy’s story takes us from his childhood through his experiences performing with a Who’s Who of top name bands. His teenage hometown band quickly morphed into big success and hit record sales. From there, it’s a wild ride across the US and Europe. His self-deprecating humor and “foot in mouth” situations will put you in stitches. Jimmy’s love and dedication to his craft is inspiring and I guarantee you’ll be thoroughly entertained.” – Stephen W. Hipsley
A MUST READ! “A fantastic journey through the career of one of the greatest guitarists of our era. Jimmy Ryan tells a story that runs as smooth as his stories on stage. Tremendous insights on the stars of yesterday and today. How one man can play with so many different superstars is mind-boggling, but Jimmy did it and continues to do it today. A fantastic read that begs for more. Easily my favorite read this year.” – Mark A. Ketley
A JOYOUS TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE! “For those who grew up with the music of the 60s and 70s this book not only transports one to a time of youthful exuberance but, unfortunately, ends too soon. It is such a revealing and enjoyable read that you want the experience of getting to know your musical idols and Jimmy to go on forever. Beyond that, Jimmy’s insights into the workings of the music industry and the level of commitment and dedication required to succeed as a musician and performer are fascinating. I found my trip down memory lane was made even more fun with my ability to use modern technology to access any of the songs or performances mentioned in the book.” Alan Costell
UPLIFTING AND EXCITING! “What a journey! Thank you Jimmy Ryan for taking us with you on the trip of a lifetime– to the source of so many musical memories, beginning with the fabulous Critters’ “Mr Dieingly Sad,” and, “Younger Girl,” which had me hooked from the start. The unexpected but totally sensible outcomes of your auspices beginnings were delivered with grace, humor and insight into your work ethic. “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity” gives the reader a sense of how you came to work with stars like Carly Simon and Cat Stevens, and the sometimes sad truth of these encounters takes out any shades of showboating and endears you to us. Your positive attitude exudes from every page, as does your grounded humanity. Bravo on a life well lived, and thank you for sharing it with us! Encore!” – John in Malibu, CA