Ian Brown: Already in Me: With and Without the Roses

305 Pages·2006·10.67 MB·English

by  Michael O'Connell

IAN BROWN
ALREADY IN ME
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IAN BROWN - ALREADY IN ME
With And Without The Roses
by Michael O’Connell
A CHROME DREAMS PUBLICATION
First Edition 2006
Published by Chrome Dreams
PO BOX 230, New Malden , Surrey
KT3 6YY, UK
WWW.CHROMEDREAMS.CO.UK
ISBN 1 84240 332 X
Copyright © 2006 byMichael O’Connell
Editorial Director Rob Johnstone
Editor Cathy Johnstone
Cover design Sylwia Grzeszczuk
Interior design Marek Krzysztof Niedziewicz
Front cover photo
Rex
Inside photos
Rex
Live
Redferns
Michael Shepherd
Lancaster Guardian
Record covers courtesy of
Silvertone
Geffen
Revolver
Polydor
DMC
All rights reserved. No part of this book covered by the copyright hereon may be reproduced
or copied in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief
quotations embodied in articles or reviews where the source should be made clear. For more
information please contact the publishers.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
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ALREADY IN ME
IAN BROWN
ALREADY IN ME
With And Without The Roses
Michael O’Connell
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IAN BROWN
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank: fi rst and foremost, my editor Rob
Johnstone and the team at Chrome Dreams, Cathy Johnstone,
staff at the British Library and The ‘Bookmen’: Gethyn Jordan,
Daniel McCabe, James Smith, Mandy Jamieson, Andy Miller.
Joe Camillo, Kate Davey, Chris Dewberry and the much-missed
Geoff Turner. Phil Carroll, Tracy Bellaries, Mark Lewisohn,
Mark Wood, Gill Sergeant, Jo Mueller, Karen O’Brien, Michael
Gray, Andy Muir, Alison Clarke, Conrad Cave, Pete Aves, Lee
Hazlewood, David Sheppard, Mark Brend at Backbeat, Eddi
Fiegel, Alwyn W Turner and Roger Crimlis.
Love and thanks go to the Bains and MacAnultys of Glas-
gow and the O’Connells in Stamford Hill, Chadwell Heath,
Leicester, Emlaghmore, Tooreens and Fermoyle. Also, Patrick
O’Connell and Mary O’Shea – riamh inspioráid.
Special love and thanks to the Browns of Brighton –
Flossie, Hildy and, most of all, Glyn.
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ALREADY IN ME
Part One – So Young 7
Part Two – Adored 85
Part Three – The Resurrection 179
Appendixes
I – An Ian Brown Bibliography 269
II – Second Coming Apocrypha 273
III – Discographies 275
A Word About The Author 281
Index 283
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PART ONE
SO YOUNG
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PROLOGUE
When the line-up for the 1996 Reading Festival was an-
nounced, there was great excitement as people learned that head-
lining the prestigious Sunday night slot were none other than the
Stone Roses. Remarkably, this was the fi rst appearance at a major
festival for a band that had become the stuff of legend with their
eponymous debut album way back in 1989. For the organisers of
the festival it should have represented an important coup; for fes-
tival-goers, it could have been a mouth-watering fi nale. The only
problem was that the band presented here in 1996 was very differ-
ent from the one that had taken the country by storm in 1989.
Ian Brown, John Squire, Mani and Reni is the roll-call of
musicians meaning as much to the passionate fans of independ-
ent music of the late 80s and early 90s, as John, Paul, George and
Ringo did in their time, to Beatles fans. The Stone Roses’ fi rst
coming revitalised an independent music scene, still recovering
from the shock of the Smiths’ split in 1986. With their landmark
debut, The Stone Roses, they had proven themselves as true heirs
to the Smiths’ long held crown of ‘Best English Band’.
Seven years on, at Reading, the band were clinging grimly
to their mythic status, despite the fact that, in all the time since,
they had released only one follow-up – Second Coming – and this
to very mixed reviews. More importantly, the names John Squire
and Reni were now notably absent from that roll-call.
Reni, their irrepressible genius drummer, had been fi rst to
fall by the wayside in May 1995. His breathtaking musicianship
had long been a source of inspiration to the band but his departure
represented only part of the fall-out surrounding the ill-fated Sec-
ond Coming. Perhaps because there was so much general unrest
within the band at the time, the impact of Reni’s departure wasn’t
felt anywhere near as keenly as it should have been. And when
John Squire, the Roses’ very own guitar hero, followed suit in
November of the same year, this should have been recognised as
the fatal blow it undoubtedly was. The Stone Roses might have
called it a day then and there – certainly the remaining two mem-
9
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