Michael B. (Ichabod) reviewed on 4/1/2021 + 140 more book reviews

Ricki Lee Jones broke music in 1979 with the freshest, coolest, emotionally charged work unlike anything else out there. As a young record store clerk I was lucky enough to score a promotional copy of her debut album and was blown away. This was an original voice. I was happy to see Ricki was publishing her autobiography, Last Chance Texaco: Chronicles of an American Troubadour.  I am always anxious to read music bios, even if often left with an empty disappointment after slogging through the childhood years and then enduring endless self-congratulatory accomplishments with little real insight.

Ricki is not just a songwriter, she is a writer. She tells her story, her family's story, with skill. There's a magic to her early childhood and the chord she strikes is so easy to identify with. You are jolted when the hardships hit and you pull for her when she struggles or stumbles on her journey, all the time getting insight into the songs she has set out for us. We see Ricki make it, we see her wrestle with heroin, and we see her conquer her demons and put her career into perspective (we get Tom Waits, too). She says show business is the business of showing your life to the world... and she does this impressively.

Five out of five stars. Thank you to Grove Atlantic, NetGalley, and Ricki Lee Jones for the Advanced Reading Copy in exchange for this review.  #LastChanceTexaco #NetGalley

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