So it seems I totally forgot to blog about a book last month but here’s one for this Sunday morning, OK? It does feel pretty right to post about a book on Sunday, maybe I should get into the habit of the first Sunday of every month to blog post a book? What do you think about that idea?
Now I did finish reading it a while ago but it’s taken me some time to blog about it. Today I wanna write a little something about Aussie songwriter’s so very loose memoir first published in 2009 entitled Shots because that kind-of what you get with his book, shots of everything. I don’t think I’ve read a auto-bio or memoir like this before. I remember some people read and complained about Bob Dylan’s one a few years back, well if you didn’t like that? You’ll like this one even less but I very much love Don Walker style here. Everyone here in Australia is going a little bananas over the two Jimmy Barnes auto-bios, with TV doco, soundtrack album tie-ins. I figured I’ll go and read the book by the main songwriter of Cold Chisel not just the singer. Walker was the piano player in that band plus everyone in it did have a go at writing songs but a huge amount was wrote by Don. Jimmy did have bigger solo career I guess? But to me he was always the Cold Chisel singer thanks to my old man hammering them to dead when I was kid. I did also read Tex Perkins book last year which Walker has worked with too.
Now you don’t get much about his music in this book which I did find very funny because that’s what most would read these style of book want. He does calls the most successful CC album East too flowery and pretty much dismiss it. Talks about having to chase people a lot who should have just payed him or them, living in the cheapest place in town: King Cross hotel most of that time. Before forming the band he seem to just hitchhiked all around the east coast and after that just getting in any car and driving around the whole country. I did say not much about his songwriting but I guess all these things would have feed into his writing the songs he has wrote.
I would rate his book as one of the best music memoir or just a memoir I’ve ever read and I’ve read a lot of them. Walker’s Shots would have to be top five easy because it’s so very original or that’s most likely just plain Don Walker! If you wanna buy a copy of Shots with now a new cover with a better photo of Don in black & white: here at Black Inc. Books and I did write a blog post about my fave Walker solo album a couple of months back now, if you wanna look or listen it’s over here, OK?
+Bonus extra songs written by Don Walker to soundtrack your Sunday if you wish? Which I’ve off course picked out some lesser known tracks or non-single hits today to go with his wicked cool book, enjoy!
Just How Many Times by Cold Chisel (last track on debut self-titled 1978 album)
Merry-Go-Round by Cold Chisel (second song on Breakfast At Sweethearts album of 1979)
Four Walls by Cold Chisel (second last song on East by album of 1980)
Houndog by Cold Chisel (fifth track on Circus Animals album of 1982)
The Year He Was Cool by Catfish (before going under his own did two album under that name, this song is from 1991’s Ruby album)
Barlow And Chambers by Tex, Don & Charlie (also before going solo he did the first of three with these two guys, from 1993’s Sad But True album)
Three Blackbirds by Don Walker (the epic final track from his debut solo of 1994’s We’re All Gonna Die album)
Get Along by Slim Dusty (his songs have been recorded by a lot of Aussie singers but maybe my fave is on Dusty’s final album of 2004’s Columbia Lane – The Last Sessions)
Harry Was A Bad Bugger by Tex, Don & Charlie (from the second one with these blokes All Is Forgiven album of 2005)
Cutting Back by Don Walker (the title track from his 2006 solo album)
That’s ten fave songs so maybe I should have labeled/tagged this post as one of my top ten tracks posts, oh well. You can get his solo, Catfish and even a couple live albums over here, also now available in a vinyl box-set now!
Cheers 🙂
a1000mistakes 