In “Take A Walk on the Dark Side, Gary Patterson takes readers on a hell-raising (and sometimes hair-raising) journey through the enduring myths and legends of rock and roll hijinks and history. This updated and expanded edition of his cult classic, “Hellhounds on Their Trail, features ten brand-new chapters sure to captivate devotees of his earlier highly sought after work. Did you know…Buddy Holly was originally going to call his group Buddy Holly and the Beetles? The plane that Ricky Nelson perished in was purchased from Jerry Lee Lewis, who had a premonition that he would die in a plane-crash? Beginning with the fateful place where it all started–a deserted country crossroads just outside Clarksdale, Mississippi, where Robert Johnson made his deal with the devil–through the Buddy Holly curse (rock and roll’s first great tragedy), and beyond, this incredible volume uncovers some of rock and roll’s most celebrated unsolved murders, tragic deaths, bizarre twists of irony, and decades-long streaks of bad luck that defied rational explanation. There are chapters on Jimmy Page and the Zeppelin Curse, and the chilling quirks of fate in the fatalities in the Allman Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd bonds. “Take A Walk on the Dark Side also takes a provocative look at the members of “The Club” whose exclusive claim to fame was untimely death at the age of twenty-seven, and examines the cryptic messages in song lyrics that have proved eerily prophetic.
Take a Walk on the Dark Side is the ultimate book for today’s rock and roll fan: a fascinating compendium of facts, fictions, prophecies, premonitions, coincidences, hoaxes, doomsday scenarios, and other urban legends about some of the world’s most beloved and mysterious pop icons.
Updating, revising, and expanding on material from his cult classic Hellhounds on Their Trail, Patterson offers up a delectable feast of strange and occasionally frightening rock and roll tales, featuring the ironies associated with the tragic deaths of many rock icons, unsolved murders, and other tales from the “fell clutch of circumstance.”
Beginning with the fateful place where it all started — a deserted country crossroads just outside Clarksdale, Mississippi, where Robert Johnson made his deal with the devil — through the Buddy Holly curse (rock and roll’s first great tragedy) and beyond, this incredible volume uncovers some of rock and roll’s most celebrated murders, twists of fate, and decades-long streaks of bad luck that defy rational explanation. Inside you’ll find:
Facts about Jimmy Page and the Zeppelin Curse.
Chilling quirks of fate surrounding the deaths of musicians in the Allman Brothers Band and Lynyrd Skynyrd
A provocative look at “The Club,” membership in which requires an untimely death at age twenty-seven and whose inductees include Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix, and Janis Joplin
Cryptic messages in song lyrics that have proved eerily prophetic
Carefully researched, wildly enjoyable, and often harrowing, Take a Walk on the Dark Side takes the reader on a mysterious ride through rock and roll history.