This is a book written in 2017 and is about Paul Abraham who grew up to become a tour manager for some rock bands the most famous being Lynyrd Skynyrd in 77 of course before the plane crash. He would then go to work with .38 special, Bad Company, Paul Rodgers who was at one time the lead singer for Bad Company, The Marshall Tucker Band, and others mostly southern rock and mostly all of the ones I grew up listening to and still do. The stories are good to hear sad that some of the people have now passed on. It’s a good read for a guy like me that grew up listening to this music and still does and yes, I still crack it up. Stories will make you laugh and some will make you cry and some will make you remember a time when it was much different than today. Overall, I liked the book.

To be clear; this book is about a Southern kid named Paul Abraham whose love of music led him to an unusual life of concert promoting, tour managing, and world travel with some very famous musicians. It is NOT the story of those musicians. It is Paul's story. While relating where he came from and where he went Paul shares reminiscences of his times with several bands and artists, most notably The Lynyrd Skynyrd Band and Billy Ray Cyrus.

Those expecting "tell all" secrets or in depth biographies of those artists will be greatly disappointed. Mr. Abraham's doesn't sugar coat it, but none of the information is particularly salacious or earth shattering (The boys in Lynyrd Skynyrd partied a lot and had a tendency to feud with each other - Billy Ray's band smoked a LOT of pot).

It's a decent memoir. As has been stated in a blurb by former Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Ed King (who was a member of what is considered the "classic" Lynyrd Skynyrd line-up) Paul Abraham is, indeed, a great storyteller. One thing that particularly struck me is how much he treats everyone he talks about as being equals, whether just local folks he knew as a kid or famous people he's met in his travels, everyone he speaks of gets the same respect. I liked that. The man has had an unusual life and known some legendary people but he still comes across as just a kid from the delta.

***Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and to Mr. Paul Abraham for allowing me the opportunity to read and review this title.

Paul Abraham was a tour manager for Lynrd Skynrd, Rossington Collins, and Billy Ray Cyrus, among others. He is probably not a household name. Part autobiographical, part reminisces, this book chronicles his life growing up in a small Southern town, trying to make it as a musician, and eventually stories and legends about being on tour, the headaches, the stunts, the practical jokes. Unlike most music biographies, this one feels as if it it really was written in Abraham's unpolished, unvarnished voice.

Paul Abraham grew up in small town, Mississippi Delta and cheerfully outlines what sounds like quite an idyllic childhood. His childhood was quite the opposite of most kids today, focusing on the outdoors and playing with friends rather than sitting alone indoors on electronic devices. The good old days! The author spends a fair bit of the book describing his growing up years in the South, giving a good picture of his family, friends and town. He first heard Lynyrd Skynyrd in Atlanta in the early 1970s and was immediately moved by how much the band's music reminded him of growing up in the South. And that started his career as a concert promoter . At that concert featuring Skynyrd he met Ronnie Van Sant and began his friendship with the band. Contrary to my expectations from reading the book description, this book focuses more on the author's general life story than on his experiences as a road manager for Skynyrd. He has certainly lived a full and interesting life. It was a pleasant read full of insight into a part of the world I have never seen, the Southern USA.