Originally posted October 2010
How satisfying it is when something you have been working on for over two years - correcting, honing, more correcting and then finessing...finally becomes reality and you hold the finished book in your hands.
"Playing the Band" ended up being bigger than originally planned...452 pages instead of around 350, mainly because Jon wanted to include over a hundred photos (many of which had never been published before), as well as adding a drum mini-tutorial and a computer appendix. Then a much more comprehensive index added several more pages. Jon also decided that, in the interest of readability, the type size should be increased, as well as the line-spacing. Up goes the production cost and, of course, the cost of shipping it, so the book's price had to be upped a bit to cover these unforeseen extra expenses. So now the cover price is £16.95, a bit higher than we wanted, though various discounting means that, in all likelihood, no-one will actually have to pay the full price.
Early sales on Colosseum's current European tour have been promising and with another 16 dates to go, it looks like it will do well over there...and so it should, as the band have always had a larger fan-base in Europe (especially the German speaking countries) than in the UK. These fans have remained staunchly loyal to the band all these years, helped, no doubt, by the frequent appearances of Jon, Barbara Thompson, Chris Farlowe and Clem Clempson, who have been touring on and off there with various groups for more than four decades. As well as Colosseum, Barbara's band Paraphernalia built up an incredible following through the '80s & '90s and both she and Jon enjoyed further exposure, playing with the all-star band United Jazz and Rock Ensemble (aka "the Band of Bandleaders"...definitely worth checking out!) during that period.
So, this comprehensive biography of Jon Hiseman's life in music covers all the bands he was involved with from the early '60s on. If you're at all interested in how the British jazz-rock and blues scene evolved from the '60s to the present day...this is one book you ought to read!
RIP Philip John Albert "Jon" Hiseman (21 June 1944 - 12th June 2018)
Jon's sketch of his first drum kit!