Josh Alan Friedman Comes Clean

The pretty awesome-looking cover of Josh Alan Friedman's book. We haven’t picked up a copy yet, but Dallas writer/musician/renaissance man Josh Alan Friedman’s latest book sounds like a must-read for anyone interested in the forgotten heroes of rock ‘n’ roll, R&B and blues. Tell the Truth Until They Bleed: Coming...

By Pete Freedman

April 4, 2008

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The pretty awesome-looking cover of Josh Alan Friedman's book.

We haven’t picked up a copy yet, but Dallas writer/musician/renaissance man Josh Alan Friedman’s latest book sounds like a must-read for anyone interested in the forgotten heroes of rock ‘n’ roll, R&B and blues.

Tell the Truth Until They Bleed: Coming Clean in the Dirty World of Blues and Rock ‘n’ Roll, published by Backbeat Books in March, collects 15 music profiles, including the story of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, the songwriting team that helped create rock and R&B. Friedman shared some of their fascinating history with us in this story.

Other subjects in the book include Doc Pomus (who went from being a white blues shouter in the 1940s to writing songs for Elvis) and a story of romance with Ronnie Spector.

For those craving seedy stories from the underbelly of the music world, it’s probably a safe bet that the author of underground classics I, Goldstein, Tales of Times Square and When Sex Was Dirty included some tawdry tales here as well. --Jesse Hughey

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