Have Mercy!: Confessions of the Original Rock 'N' Roll Animal - Hardcover

Wolfman Jack; Laursen, Byron

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0446517429 ISBN 13: 9780446517423

Publisher: Grand Central Pub, 1995

Synopsis

The personal story of Wolfman Jack reveals the advent of his alter ego, multiple broadcast successes, appearance in American Grafitti, battle with drugs, and many celebrity adventures. 75,000 first printing. $75,000 ad/promo. Tour.

About this title

From Booklist:

Some great rock songs have lyrics that make an indelible impression, while others impress because of their melodies or instrumentation, and still others are memorable because of their overall atmospherics, their "feel." Such is the appeal of Wolfman Jack's autobiography--its feel. The Wolfman lovingly and proudly communicates the atmosphere of the rock 'n' roll world as he describes his career--he started on a superpowerful, unregulated AM radio station in Mexico; he then landed network TV gigs, stateside disc-jockey jobs, and movie appearances; finally, he has become a contemporary icon. Station XERF, just across the border from Del Rio, Texas, reached most of the U.S. West and Midwest with plenty of radio ministries and Wolfman Jack's wild, howling shows. Always an advocate of black music, the Wolfman mixed records by blues and rhythm-and-blues artists with more mainstream rock to pioneer the parents-of-teens' aural nightmare that is now so familiar from its portrayal in numerous don't-knock-the-rock movies. The Wolfman then parlayed notoriety into fame and fame into fortune. It's a story he tells in a swashbuckling style that recalls his days in pirate radio, and although he names the names and fixes the places, it's not a rock reference but a highly entertaining peer to the finest recent rock autobiographies. Mike Tribby

From Publishers Weekly:

Host of America's first syndicated rock-and-roll radio program and the inspiration for George Lucas's American Graffiti, Bob Smith, aka Wolfman Jack, is one of radio's legendary figures, and this autobiography reveals that his life has been as colorful as his broadcasts. Wolfman recounts his childhood passion for the black music ignored by mainstream radio in the 1950s, his lowly beginnings as an ad rep for a small station in Norfolk, Va., and the wild story of his career as a radio DJ near the Mexican border?a career initiated by a wild west-style shootout with one station's owners. Writing with Laursen (Show Time), Wolfman dishes out his take on the politics of the music industry, the many music-biz celebrities he's known and what it's like to live a rock-and-roll lifestyle. His fast-paced story is peppered with generous tributes to the musicians?Chuck Berry, Ray Charles, Elvis Presley and a slew of others?who "supplied the original heart of rock 'n' roll." Rock music fans will find inspiration in these memoirs of a man whose finger has been on the pulse of American rock for decades. Photos. Author tour.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Grand Central Pub
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0446517429
• ISBN 13: 9780446517423
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 362