The Peel Sessions: A story of teenage dreams and one man's love of new music Paperback – 4 October 2007

Viajo hasta Mexico y no llegó maltratado por el viaje. Muy buen producto

This book is the definitive guide to John Peel's career at the BBC as well as being a decent history of popular music in Great Britain from 1967-2004. It describes the history of the live session and the role of "needle time" in its development. The characters at the BBC are brilliantly brought to life - their motivations for pushing Peel around the schedule, trying to eliminate the show, etc. And how Peel survived it all to become universally acknowledged as the best DJ in rock history. And it's a damned good read!That's the first part. The second part is page after page of data on each and every show, who played, where it was broadcast from, you name it. In truth, I've only skimmed the second part so I can't give a detailed account.

The Peel Sessions A story of teenage dreams and one mans love of new musicYou’ve read “ Margrave of the Marshes “ by John Peel and his family and “The Olivetti Chronicles” an collection of John Peels writings ( if not, why not ?) .Here is an independent history of the late lamented John Peel’s attempts to bring new music and groups to our attention over some 30 years with the BBC and Radio 1 in , particular from 1967 - 1992.The book is by Ken Garner , sometime friend of John and author of an earlier book on the history of Radio 1.We start with the funeral and remembrance of JP in chapter 1 before moving onto the BBC back in1957 (before JP) and the Saturday Club programme and the first recordings of groups like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones moving on from Trad Jazz and sounds of the 50’s. The stories of the ancient equipment and the engineers who coaxed the best out of them provides the precursor to the programming that followed – moving from playing actual records ( “needle time” – controlled by the record companies) to live music and pre-recorded music ( Sessions) for broadcast make fascinating reading of the heyday of Bernie Andrews and his crew. Saturday night club and Top Gear took the public by storm but the BBC brass were not impressed.Onto 1967 ,and the demise of Pirate Radio stations ( the Marine (Offences) Broadcasting Bill – or something of that ilk) and finally the creation of Radio 1 – enter one John (Ravenscroft ) Peel – recently back from the US and a short stint on the Pirate ship Radio London ( The Perfumed Garden night programme) and brought in by Bernie to do some radio 1 sessions ..All the DJ’s were on limited contracts at this stage.The next chapters of the book cover the development of the Peel phenomenon and the history of Radio 1 and Peel sessions – particularly the BBC staff who aided and abetted him ( Bernie Andrews , John Walters and several extremely competent lady studio managers – who often suggested ,in their own right, bands for Peel to check out.) , the engineers who actually made the recordings possible , the equipment , the locations ( initially Maida Vale) and its limitations . Also covered are the politics of the BBC hierarchy and the initial attempts to smother this rebellious Peel only to be embarrassed by many awards and recognition of the programmes . Although John was rarely present at many of the earlier recording sessions themselves , his initial input and final presentations on air gave many groups ( many of whom have vanished without trace or become cult figures) their first nationwide airingsWe progress to 2004 covering many of the sessions , notes and comments by the groups and listeners, to Peels last sessions and those that carried on after him.The second half of the book is a listing of all the groups ( with dates) of those who did the sessions , the engineers and the like. - a compendium of pop from 1967 up to 2004 including the specials like the Peelenium , the festive 50 of the 1970’s and the like .Comprehensive listings are both by date and by band. If you compare the listings with The Rough Guide to Rock or the All music Guide to Rock , you will see just how many bands were featured but didn’t make it to the big time. Many of the key successes were heard first on the (Peel) Sessions however.So a fascinating history of Pop on the BBC ( 1967 – 2004) , as seen from the perspective a friend of one maverick DJ.A fascinating history , a massive listing of music famous (and infamous) to dip into if you are challenged. There are now out there many CD’s and some of the original recordings of Peel programmes made by dedicated fans over the years , now digitised and on the Internet.Definitely for all dedicated Peel fans and some of us who only listened into part of the story in our teenage years.

10/10.

Nothing I write here could do justice to Ken's monumental effort of meticulously documenting the greatest music radio show ever made.For me, the most refreshing thing is we now have a book that is solely dedicated to accurately representing the story of John Peel's show from start to finish - the one thing he did that really matters. Personally, as a Peel show disciple, I started to get frustrated at the misrepresentations of the show following his death (e.g. some obituaries made it sound like opportunity knocks for indie acts) along with the focus on other less important aspects of his life (yeah yeah, National Service, Home Truths, zzzz...). If you feel the same, if you treat your lovingly compiled C90 Peel tapes like the crown jewels, this is the only Peel book you'll ever need.