Wonderland Avenue: Tales of Glamour and Excess (Abacus Books) by Danny Sugerman Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Wonderland Avenue: Tales of Glamour and Excess (Abacus Books)
Book Review: ROCK'S ULTIMATE CAUTIONARY TALE
Summary: 5 Stars
Danny Sugarman was a 14-year old kid living in the L.A. suburb of Westchester, near LAX. He was troubled, and did not like his step-father. He read an ad or heard about a rock band in Hollywood that was hiring a teenager to answer mail, so he went for and got the job. The band was The Doors. Getting from Westchester to Hollywood by bus is not all that easy, but he did it just about every day. Jim Morrison befriended him and told him not to let his parents addle his brain with Ritalin, an ironic anti-drug message coming from the Lizard King.
As a teenager, Sugarman accompanied Morrison on sojourns to the Sunset Strip, where despite his minority he was admitted to the rarified air of The Doors, The Byrds, and other classic California bands. His step-father was appalled.
Remarkably, despite his lifestyle, Sugarmnan was good enough at baseball to be offered a scholarship of some kind to play at UCLA, but his commitment to the band tugged at his dedication for the game, so he never went the diamond route.
As Morrison went downhill, so too did Sugarman. Unlike the song "No One Here Gets Out Alive", Sugarman managered, barely, to escape. After Jim's death, Sugarman picked himself up and lived in a house on Wonderland Avenue. It was all set up by Ray Manzaerek, the Doors' keyboardist extraordinaire. Manzarek, the "sensible one" among The Doors, wanted to continue the band, or at least his own musical career. Sugarman was hired to be the band's manager, and it was a lucrative life for a guy still in his early 20s. He quickly found himself drawn back into the sordid life of drugs, alcohol, sexual excess, and the like. The Wonderland address did not help, it being a small enclave off of Laurel Canyon, the famed street that connects West Hollywood with the San Fernando Valley. Its narrow canyons and streets are dotted with picturesque homes that embody the California Dream, and are inhabited (especially then) by those artists whose labors have born fruit. The Sharon Tate murders occurred in the general vicinity. Wild, loud parties were so commonplace that neighbors hearing the screams of Charles Manson's victims thought it was just another bash. John Holmes would be involved in a massacre there in the '80s. Later, this would be the area where Heidi Fleiss connected porn with Hollywood money.
Sugarman, who eventually would marry Iran-Contra ingenue Fawn Hall, lived with his gorgeous girfriend and lived the life. Aside from The Doors, he also managed the unbeliavable Iggy Pop. Once at the Beverly Hills Hotel pool, Iggy was sunning himself next to "Gilligan's Island" icon Tina Louise. Iggy plopped his manhood from out of his floppy shorts, showed it to Ms. Louise, and asked sardonically if she would care for a shag of the old English sausage. Tina politely declined.
The book describes one after the other of Sugarman's friends and associates meeting the Grim Reaper, and in the end he lists pages of names - musicians, producers, groupies, enemies, friends, girfriends, agents, and others - who died of drug overdoses in the pre-AIDS, pre-Cocaine-is-addictive era.
The message of this book is that despite glamour and fun, it is essential to be grounded, and one must do whatever he or she can to find that center.
Book Review: ROCK'S ULTIMATE CAUTIONARY TALE
Summary: 5 Stars
Danny Sugarman was a 14-year old kid living in the L.A. suburb of Westchester, near LAX. He was troubled, and did not like his step-father. He read an ad or heard about a rock band in Hollywood that was hiring a teenager to answer mail, so he went for and got the job. The band was The Doors. Getting from Westchester to Hollywood by bus is not all that easy, but he did it just about every day. Jim Morrison befriended him and told him not to let his parents addle his brain with Ritalin, an ironic anti-drug message coming from the Lizard King. As a teenager, Sugarman accompanied Morrison on sojourns to the Sunset Strip, where despite his minority he was admitted to the rarified air of The Doors, The Byrds, and other classic California bands. His step-father was appalled.
Remarkably, despite his lifestyle, Sugarmnan was good enough at baseball to be offered a scholarship of some kind to play at UCLA, but his commitment to the band tugged at his dedication for the game, so he never went the diamond route.
As Morrison went downhill, so too did Sugarman. Unlike the song "No One Here Gets Out Alive", Sugarman managered, barely, to escape. After Jim's death, Sugarman picked himself up and lived in a house on Wonderland Avenue. It was all set up by Ray Manzaerek, the Doors' keyboardist extraordinaire. Manzarek, the "sensible one" among The Doors, wanted to continue the band, or at least his own musical career. Sugarman was hired to be the band's manager, and it was a lucrative life for a guy still in his early 20s. He quickly found himself drawn back into the sordid life of drugs, alcohol, sexual excess, and the like. The Wonderland address did not help, it being a small enclave off of Laurel Canyon, the famed street that connects West Hollywood with the San Fernando Valley. Its narrow canyons and streets are dotted with picturesque homes that embody the California Dream, and are inhabited (especially then) by those artists whose labors have born fruit. The Sharon Tate murders occurred in the general vicinity. Wild, loud parties were so commonplace that neighbors hearing the screams of Charles Manson's victims thought it was just another bash. John Holmes would be involved in a massacre there in the '80s. Later, this would be the area where Heidi Fleiss connected porn with Hollywood money.
Sugarman, who eventually would marry Iran-Contra ingenue Fawn Hall, lived with his gorgeous girfriend and lived the life. Aside from The Doors, he also managed the unbeliavable Iggy Pop. Once at the Beverly Hills Hotel pool, Iggy was sunning himself next to "Gilligan's Island" icon Tina Louise. Iggy plopped his manhood from out of his floppy shorts, showed it to Ms. Louise, and asked sardonically if she would care for a shag of the old English sausage. Tina politely declined.
The book describes one after the other of Sugarman's friends and associates meeting the Grim Reaper, and in the end he lists pages of names - musicians, producers, groupies, enemies, friends, girfriends, agents, and others - who died of drug overdoses in the pre-AIDS, pre-Cocaine-is-addictive era.
The message of this book is that despite glamour and fun, it is essential to be grounded, and one must do whatever he or she can to find that center.
(...)
Book Review: Raw
Summary: 5 Stars
Nothing quite compares to the shock , horror and curiosity one finds in Sugerman's words. I have just read it the second time. Sugerman is not the stereo-typical L.A. brat, but at the same time he is. We all figured Hollywood was the mecca of drug-disaster we thought it was, but this is proof. Now, I look at everyone I see in movies and the "business" in a new light. Everyone is doing drugs of some sort. Media tends to tell us the horror side of drugs. If you do drugs you will immediately drop in the pit of hell. Sugerman didn't just survive the drugs, he worked well on drugs -- until the end. What did Sugerman do with all the years in between the end of Wonderland, and the release of the books? What is he doing today? What happened to the people he knew? You know it is a good book when it leaves you drooling for more. Kind of like heroin, eh?Book Review: Sugerman the Apostle
Summary: 5 Stars
This book was mentioned frequently in the 2004 Steven Davis book on Jim Morrison. I knew before reading it that it would contain lurid Hollywood tales of sex, drugs and Rock and Roll. I also knew it would reveal more about the relationship between Jim Morrison and Sugerman, which is barely touched upon in the other biographies, including Sugerman's other book, No One Here Gets Out Alive.
It has a Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas feel to it for sure. Lots of drugs, this may be one of the most drugged out books ever. However, there is more to this book than drugs. For any serious student of Rock or Morrison fanatic like myself, you will enjoy this book. There is information that is left out of all the rest of the books that have been written on these subjects. Sugerman gets you on the inside. The parties, the lifestyle, the excess. Also, there is such an insight into Morrison, which for me, was the best part.
As a spiritual guide to another world he takes Danny on it. This occurs in chapter six, pgs. 151 - 154. and it's one of the best pieces ever writted about Morrison. In fact, I believe it gives you the whole Jim Morrison philosophy! From the mouth of Jim through the writing of Danny Sugerman. Reading this book I have to say Danny Sugerman truly is the great Morrison disciple.
Book Review: The best book ever written (excluding the bible)
Summary: 5 Stars
Wonderland Avenue by danny sugerman, is the best book in the world. It tells you everything about his life with a humorous twist. His account on Jim Morrison and the doors tells everything in a brilliant perspective. He indicates to the reader what it was like growing up in the '60s, and also what Jim Morrison was like. This book inspired me to listen to and read more about the doors and jim morrison. If i were someone who wanted to read a great book about music, love, drugs, and rock n' roll, then you should most definately read this book.