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REVIEWS
Brady has brought to life the heart and soul of the blues singing lifestyle: of two brothers, Sonny and Walker Blaine, whos love, hate, addictions and competion know no bounds. Through her pen we feel the music we don't really hear, sense the euphoria and let-down of the effects of debilitating drugs, struggle with the emotions of elusive lovers coming and going, laugh and cringe at the antics of the colorful sub-characters, wonder at the mystical drive that pushes them both on, and celebrate their victories or cry at the losses life sends their way. She has captured in this story the need of one man to jealously guard his role as leader-of-the-pack and of the other's desire just to be himself. This is MUST reading for anyone who has an interest in the human experience.
I have always found the rock'n'roll novel a tricky genre -- the novelists usually get the music right, or the drugs right, but they often skimp on characters or language. Not so here. Brady writes beautifully and understands the music so completely that she can write about fictional music and make you hear it. Her characters Sonny and Walker are compelling and exasperating and her minor characters are colorful, funny and vivid. Brady creates an entire world of Texas blues music and musicians full of salty, sarcastic dialogue, referencing traditional legends such as Robert Johnson and enhancing them with legends of her own. The drugs are there, yes, but for once they're not the whole point -- the characters are more addicted to each other and to the music they create than anything else. I was sorry to see it end. Originally published on Curled Up With A Good Book at www.curledup.com. © Barbara Bamberger Scott, 2004 This is a story of brotherhood in all its aspects - the good, the bad, the downright evil, and the saved. Think Cain and Abel in a stranglehold, think the Wright Brothers in the glory of flight, think Mike and Darrell Waltrip duking it out behind the wheel at 180 mph, but whatever you do, think Big, because this is also a ten-gallon tale about Texas. Sonny was the star of the family, a blues guitarist with a future, but guilty about leaving his younger brother home to be a target of brutal beatings and daily doses of despair. But while Sonny wasn't looking, Walker was picking out tunes on the guitar. The music that Walker could make was out of Sonny's realm - Sonny was all heat, beat and rhythm, while Walker was cool, detached, and way out there. So they were dubbed Fire and Ice. They shared, sparred and separated, over and over again, in the wild world of the road, the honky tonks, and the big Texas bigtime - for them, Austin was a city with no limits. They shared some women, too - when your lover calls your brother's name in the middle of the act, you know that's a recipe for the blues. And, as Walker says, "They don't call it the blues for nothing, babe. Pain makes it burn." L.E. Brady is a music-knowledgeable, guitar-loving blues fan and a writer who can go the distance. Her dialogue sounds like where it comes from - the heart of the blistering southland. She deals as well with the screwed-up empty madness of drugs as with the mysteries of a girl singer's heart, and tells it all with down-home soul. This is a novel that leaks passion out from all the edges, without ever veering too far from the straight storyline. For those who love that sexy Texas flavor, and the men and women who make the music that makes the barbecue go down smooth, this is a must-read. Kirkus Reviews (June 15, 2004) Two guitar-playing Texas brothers come of age in the 1970s and travel parallel paths through the southern music scene. Sick of his father Big Billy Jay's abuse and itching to make his fortune, 17-year-old blues boy Sonny Blaine leaves behind the small town of Mingus and heads for Austin with his new Fender guitar. It's 1967, and Sonny and his group, the White Tornadoes, already have some experience and a broad repertoire, including selections from the recent British Invasion. Supercool band member Johnny Lee Hogan, high yellow bassist who always wears sunglasses, widens the Tornadoes' appeal to colored clubs as well. Sonny's only regret is leaving behind beloved brother Walker, likely to bear the brunt of dad's bad temper in his absence; Sonny gives Walker his prized Broadcaster guitar by way of goodbye. Before long, Walker follows Sonny, and trouble follows Walker in the person of girlfriend Nancy, who claims to be pregnant, and her brother Floyd, who's angry enough to wail on the young man. Sonny defuses this situation and, after Nancy's condition turns out to be a false alarm, snags the young woman on the rebound, a situation that does little to further brotherly harmony. (A few years later, Walker returns the favor by sleeping with-though he's married-the unrequited love of Sonny's life, Cilla, a musician and the daughter of legendary British guitarist Reg Mountbatten.) Walker marries a blazingly talented singer named Vada, who is equally devoted to him and to cocaine, while Sonny becomes known as Firewalker Blaine, and the story comes all the way to the late 1980s and MTV, with career highs and lows, sibling rivalry, and changing music trends. Shaping and cutting would have been helpful, but first-novelist Brady writes with energy and authenticity. Like a good episode
of "Behind the Music", June 25, 2004 Lone Star Ice and Fire is a tale of rock and roll excess and redemption told with the backdrop of a familiar base of two guitar playing brothers from Mingus, Texas. The Blaine brothers are based on Stevie Ray and Jimmy Vaughan and takes their story to all new and inventive heights. The background and supporting characters are the same, but the outcomes of their lives are quite different. For those not familiar, Stevie Ray Vaughan was an enormously talented blues guitarist whose fast paced, frantic style had people comparing him to Hendrix. Jimmy, the less known of the two, was the guitarist for the blues/rock group the Fabulous Thunderbirds. "Ice and Fire" takes us on a journey with the two brothers from their teens in Mingus to the heights of their popularity. Along the way we get a great look at their struggles, their heartache and their redemption. Those familiar with the Vaughans will see similarities with throughout the book with the actual Vaughans, but Brady takes the story in entirely different directions. The book does a great job mixing actual musicians with fictitious ones who propel the story. Half the fun is trying to figure out just who is supposed to be who. Those familiar with blues, rock and soul will have fun with the numerous songs and artist sprinkled throughout the book, but one does not need to be a true 'recordhead' to appreciate the story. Brady is a skillful writer who does a nice job focusing on the important parts of the 20+ years of the tale. Rarely does one wonder why a particular scene is included. Her writing style is descriptive, but she avoids the flowery, lengthy descriptions that too many writers use when describing emotional music like the blues. She lets the reader rely on their own experiences and knowledge, why at the same time not being too minimal. She describes the important parts and lets us decipher the rest. The book alternates between the two brothers as the protagonists. Sonny "Icestorm" Blaine is the older brother, with the movie star good looks. A great guitarist, but Sonny never gets the widespread acclaim. Walker is the younger brother. Not the looker his brother is, Walker has a true gift for music. He's truly special. Both brothers live in the shadow of one another, and their subtle rivalries propel much of the story. The supporting characters are what make the book. From Cilla, the brother's femme fatale, to the mysterious Bonell, the "Used Car Salesman of the Blues", the supporting cast is key. Brady doesn't just focus on the protagonists, she fleshes out their lives with rich, wonderful characters. You don't have to love the blues to love the book. If you've ever watched 'Behind the Music', you'll enjoy the story. It has all of the makings of a great rock and roll tale, drugs, sex, music and the fast paced lifestyle they create. It also has believable, likable characters that are all too human. From Marc Bristol, BLUE SUEDE NEWS Brady is a contributor to this magazine, but her fine profiles of Kid Ramos, "Juke" Logan and others, plus reviews, hadn't prepared me for the power of this, her first novel. The story is quite clearly based upon the prototype of a certain pair of guitar picking brothers named Vaughan. But being fiction the author has license to change names and various attributes of other characters whose basis in reality may be more metaphorical than historical, which shouldn’t be taken to mean they are or were any less real. Actually, since I've never had the opportunity to review a bio of Stevie (or Jimmie if there is one), I'm not sure if there really are any women both were involved with either physically or emotionally. The character most in question is Priscilla Montbatton, also a guitar player/singer and daughter of fictional British Blues guitar god Reg "Little Lord" Mountbatton. Both brothers are in love with her. To find out if either gets her in the end, you should read the book -- but not only for that reason. Brady has quite clearly hung around with the boys in the band plenty enough to know how they think and talk. But add to that the insight the insight into the female characters and we have here an incredibly rich portrait of the epic tale of two blues-playing siblings from Texas -- "Icestorm" Sonny Blaine and "Firewalker" (Walker Dale) Blaine. The fact that we know the core myth of this story is true lends it all a credence that, together with Brady's intimate knowledge of the lives of touring musicians, makes this tale of sex, drugs and Rock'n'Roll stand up next to books like ROBIN HOOD among great cultural artifacts. Knowing basically how it will end takes nothing away from the journey from page 1 to page 411. |
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Singin'
the blues, Texas style, May 24, 2004