A candid memoir by the legendary Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna co-founder and guitarist, written with as much depth and emotion as his music
Jorma Kaukonen is one of the most highly respected interpreters of American roots music, blues, and Americana, and at the forefront of popular rock 'n roll. He is a co-founding member and the guitarist of Jefferson Airplane and the still-touring Hot Tuna, and has recorded more than a dozen solo albums. He's a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and a Grammy nominee. Jorma and his wife Vanessa operate Fur Peace Ranch Guitar Camp, a center in Ohio for studying guitar and other instruments.
Praise for Been So Long: A quick, engaging read... --Associated
Press Been So Long is a survivor's tale, well told and sprinkled
with a bit of 1960s fairy dust. --Wall Street Journal Jefferson
Airplane guitarist Kaukonen's candid and affectionate memoir
resembles the rambling and free-flowing road trips he enjoys.... A
mesmerizing storyteller, Kaukonen delivers a memoir as intricate
and dazzling as his music. --Publishers Weekly, starred review At a
time when many rock stars are releasing memoirs, Jorma Kaukonen's
Been So Long: My Life and Music stands apart.... an incredibly
insightful look inside the life of a musician who was not only
influenced by some of America's greatest music but who also left an
indelible mark on that very same musical landscape. --AXS Been So
Long could be considered a text that reveals not only the musical
heart of Jorma Kaukonen, but his heart in and of itself. It is a
memoir of a man who has lived an eventful life and has decided to
take advantage of his later years to consider his past and his
legacy both as an artist and as a human being. --Counterpunch
Kaukonen's ingenuity, his creativity, his desire to follow a story
wherever it takes him, and his crisp writing permeate his new
autobiography Been So Long: My Life and Music; his writing is as
smooth and intricate as his fingerstyle blues, and he's a rattling
good raconteur, drawing us in with tales of his days in the
Airplane and Hot Tuna, and always candid about his own battles with
alcoholism and drug use and his failed first marriage....
Kaukonen's illuminating stories and lilting prose warm us with this
glow, too, and the book carries us on a lyrical journey through the
hills and valleys of a man who is one of the five best guitarists
playing today. --No Depression journal A sweeping span of a life
well lived and should be a cornerstone to any library, personal or
public, that deals with American history, musical history or a
range of disparate perspectives on human nature. --Stomp and
Stammer
But just as Jorma Kaukonen has followed whatever path in his life
musically he feels at any given time, his book likewise travels
roads you many not expect to go down, but still create a unique
portrait of the artist. --Houston Press
Reflective and insightful...an intriguing picture of a man for whom
music is not merely a vocation but, rather, the source of life
itself. Entertaining and emotional, alternately exhilarating and
depressing, this is a special musician's memoir, and it will strike
a resounding chord with fans of classic rock. --Booklist Amiable
and informative... An honest personal portrait. --Kirkus
Reviews
Kaukonen writes with narrative flair... --Library Journal A modern
parable. --from the foreword by Grace Slick Jorma comes across as a
real guy ...saying what he really did ...and how he actually feels
....kind of what you'd expect if you knew him ...but very unusual
for a book ...they are seldom this honest or this good. --David
Crosby Jorma Kaukonen has produced an enduring body of original
music, and devoted a lifetime to introducing a broad audience to
blues, roots and Americana. Been So Long is an important read for
anyone who loves music. It is thoughtful, insightful and downright
fun. In Japan, artists who have made the greatest contributions are
designated as Living National Treasures. For many reasons, Jorma is
a truly Living National Treasure. I learned a lot from Been So
Long, and I highly recommend it. --Jesse Finkelstein, Blues Radio
International Meet Jorma Kaukonen - genius guitarist of Jefferson
Airplane and Hot Tuna, speed skater, diarist, lyricist, husband,
father, teacher and storyteller. His Been So Long reads like his
guitar playing sounds - sharp, and stinging mixed with sweet and
gentle. Reading this book was like having him sitting next to you,
whispering the story of his life in your ear. --Joel Selvin, Music
Journalist and Author of Altamont: The Rolling Stones, The Hells
Angels, and the Inside Story of Rock's Darkest Day Praise for Jorma
Kaukonen: "Kaukonen's brilliant acoustic guitar work results in an
aural feast." --Raleigh News & Observer
"Kaukonen doing what he does involves playing folk/blues-derived
guitar with skill and dexterity few can match." --San Francisco
Chronicle
"Nobody does the acoustic blues better these days than the founder
of Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna guitarist, Jorma Kaukonen."
--Popmatters "With early Tuna, there was a bit of respectful
distance; they were playing an older generation's music and giving
it a few psychedelic tweaks. Today, Kaukonen plays that music like
it's his own; the hard-lived sentiments are those he has
experienced firsthand." --Sound & Vision Magazine "The playing is
quietly astounding, but it's the sincere love for these songs that
pushes the plow." --Detroit Free Press
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