Last Chance Texaco: Chronicles of an American Troubadour Paperback – April 5, 2022

"Last Chance Texaco, Chronicles of an American Troubadour" or in Britian, just 'Chronicles of a Troubadour' is named after her Grammy-nominated song 'The Last Chance Texaco" and it definatly should have been on the best seller lists of 2021-22. Unfortunate that it was released during Covid, so there were no live appearances in book stores or tie ins to tv shows, etc. none of the support it might have gotten even though Grove is relatively small and does not promote books with much vigor. I kept looking for it at the airport. Never the less, here it is on Amazon with lots of 5 star reviews. Mojo, the British music music magazine, named her book 'Best of the year, ' Oprah included it in her list for most important books of 2021, NPR did a very nice piece. It was a unique and engaging story of an impossibly cinematic and ridiculously dangerous life.As long as Rickie Lee Jones is discovered by new people and her legend is made from her own hand and no one elses, I think history will be kind to this artist. Her performances remain, like her writing, funny, smart, heart-rendering. She remains respected by the greatest writers of her time, one of the few woman included in the heady lists of American writers of the past rock n roll century, including Randy Newman, Bruce Springsteen, Becker and Fagen, John Prine, Laura Nyro. Rickie Lee Jones was the last of the singer songwriters, and yet .. ten years after... is not really part of that group at all. She is singular, the first and only one of her genre. Her impact has never really been documented, the odd and ridiculous documentary here or there... But the actors and songwriters of today tell the story. in their style, timbre, clothes, confidence. RLJ gave confidence to the younbg outsiders who were neither punk nor... disco nor... From Melissa Ethridge to Sheryl Crowe, Jamie Lee Curtis and Mary Louise Parker, even Whoopi Goldberg - have their come to jesus moments with Pirates and 'Rickie lee Jones'. The Prince women, those were Rickie Lee Jones outfits - but frew would know that today. the lace and leather. Old emblems of sexuality and new emblems of innocence, that was her device. Even Erykah Badu, backstage at the Long Beach jazz festival was heard whispering "I named myself after your song...." We are all teenagers once and those women and men who impact us should never be set aside. Perhaps... Neil Young and Rickie Lee Jones are the .. kind of...underground tunnels we pass through on our way to our own ideas.Good photos, nice chapter organization. the stories are amazing, good writing here. And though they are often abbreviated, almost prose and then pulling back, it seems to almost have been a great book, edited into a good book, a struggle between the voice of the writer and the will of the editor to make it a readable adventure for the largest denominator. The photograph on the back of the outside has a tiny fairy in it. Do you see her? down by the back tire... odd, you miss the child in the photograph. it's almost a perfect metaphor for her childhoo.She is an Artist Whose life and work continue to unfold.

This is a stunning, beautiful book. I finished it five weeks ago and think about it every day. Fans of Rickie Lee Jones' music will already be reading this, but I want to recommend it to anyone who's interested in any of the things she writes so beautifully and honestly about: Family (love and disfunction, tragedy and kindness); growing up in the 60s, in Phoenix and the desert; a closely-remembered childhood; the lure of California and the partially-unfulfilled promises to the next generation who came of age just as the 60s wave was cresting; and the way the music of that time moved the next generation. Running away at 14, hitchhiking, drugs, danger, close calls and escapes, interesting characters, and strange coincidences that seem magical. And finally and somewhat miraculously, finding a voice as a singer and songwriter; day jobs, hard times, and hard work; and then, sudden, huge fame and recognition, and the aftermath of that. She shares a lot about the songwriting process, the music business (especially in her early career), and the effects of rising and falling fame on her and the people around her. The language is poetic and evocative, playful, and artistic. It's a quick and enjoyable read -- I wish it was longer and I'd read three more volumes of this if she wrote them. Her appreciations of the music that inspired her are very eloquent, detailed, and moving and help in understanding her own music. And if you like her songs, or are just interested in songwriting, the details of how the lyrics and music came together are very revealing. This is not an egotistical book -- she knows what she did, but it never comes off as bragging. There's insight into her experiences with and feelings about Tom Waits, Lowell George, Dr. John, and others, but it's not celebrity gossip. It's personal and heartfelt, and she has a mature and insightful, even spiritual perspective on what she's been through. I love almost all music memoirs and autobiographies, and reading them is a fun part of my job (I teach jazz history, among other things), but this one is different from any other and very highly recommended.

Rickie Lee Jones' biography is an entertaining and thoughtful look at Jones' life and art. She knows how to tell a good story but I'm disappointed, however, with the photos in the Kindle version of the book. This is the same problem with all Kindle books: the photos are always tiny and not zoomable. Amazon, please fix this issue!

Stands to reason that someone who writes songs brilliantly and speaks brilliantly would write a brilliant memoir -- one of the best I've read. I'm a long-time fan of Rickie Lee Jones's music but this is so much more than just a timeline of the artist's life. It's an authentic series of stories about family, people she encountered, and how she made her way through a multitude of difficult experiences and just kept moving forward. She survived a lot but doesn't blame anyone for anything. She just takes us along on the journey through her chaotic childhood, her search as a young adult for identy and place, and her early days breaking into the music industry. It's haunting and engaging, insightful and sensitive. That she clearly lost the love of her life due to a short-lived drug addiction is not focused on. It's just one of the stepping stones in an intriguing life told by a hugely talented and unique singer and song writer. Yes, read it.