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GOODBYE, LITTLE ROCK AND ROLLER takes its title from a song of the same name composed by Marshall Chapman, the author of this occasionally disjointed but always interesting memoir of a wild life's ride. Chapman is one of those musicians who is well known and well thought of among critics, musicians and aficionados of rock and country music, yet whose work is better known than her name among the masses. Her best-known work is probably "Betty's Bein' Bad," which interestingly enough is certified as having been played or performed over one million times. Yet Chapman's name is not well known; certainly she deserves wider fame and fortune than she has. Yet, as she points out in GOODBYE, LITTLE ROCK AND ROLLER, true happiness comes from wanting what you have, not having what you want.
GOODBYE, LITTLE ROCK AND ROLLER is not an autobiography per se; it is divided into twelve chapters, each titled after one of Chapman's compositions. I would have liked to have had as an accompaniment to the book a CD containing these songs, though I'm sure it would have been a licensing nightmare. Still, it was great fun to go back through my own Chapman collection while reading each chapter and listening to the particular song each chapter is titled after. And while GOODBYE, LITTLE ROCK AND ROLLER starts at the beginning (kind of) it goes here, there and everywhere before reaching an ending of sorts.
Chapman was born in Spartanburg, South Carolina in 1949, of well-to-do parents. As was the custom then, a good deal of her upbringing was performed by black housekeepers; so it was that seven-year-old Marshall Chapman found herself sitting in the balcony section, for blacks only, in Spartanburg's Carolina Theatre in 1956 during an Elvis Presley concert, an event that changed her life forever. With respect to events of that life, Chapman's account is neither linear nor chronological. She has a tendency to begin a story about her life and then veer off in another direction for a while before coming back to the topic at hand. It's kind of like driving down one of those New Orleans streets that somehow manages to intersect itself once or twice before you ultimately get where you're going. Reading Chapman is like listening to a slightly tipsy friend at the end of a long day in the sun. Well, make that a slightly tipsy, really interesting friend.
Chapman is also --- there's no way around it --- really self-absorbed. One gets the feeling that if there were a blackout imposed upon the city of Nashville, there would be one light on and she would be underneath it yelling, "Here I am!" What is really cool, even charming, however, is that she acknowledges these less than endearing traits, noting that her significant other has described her as having Attention Deficit Disorder --- she just can't get enough attention and will do anything to get more. GOODBYE, LITTLE ROCK AND ROLLER is a testament to that statement. Further, there are indications in each account of Chapman's life that this is a person in need of a good twelve-step program. Indeed, Chapman comes to that realization in her own time, cleaning up herself and turning her life around. Chapman's neat, commendable trick is that she was able to do this while remaining steadfast and true to her own vision. It is a triumph when, like author Ross MacDonald and singer/songwriter Warren Zevon before her, she realizes that the substance abuse doesn't aid and abet the writing, and that she can live and perform without it.
Those unfamiliar with the Nashville music scene or with Chapman's work might be confused by some of her reference points here (though is there anyone on the planet who by now does not know of Jimmy Buffett?). Her stories, however, are incredibly well told and always interesting, even at times fascinating. And if perusing GOODBYE, LITTLE ROCK AND ROLLER nudges you toward exploring her catalogue of work, you'll be happy to go with the flow.
--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
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