Who's The Boy With The Lovely Hair?
The Unlikely Memoir Of Jakko M. Jakszyk
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Kingmaker Publishing
Published:10th Oct '24
Should be back in stock very soon
This is a book about origins, identity and who we become. It’s about a kid who found solace in music when the very sense of who he was left him floundering. It is about how his journey to discover his family allowed him to reflect on who he could have been had he not been given away at birth.
Who’s The Boy With The Lovely Hair? is a tale about discovering, processing and making peace with who you are, and ultimately asking: “How much of us is nature and how much is nurture?” The book is published as a 400 page hardback, including 48 pages of photographs documenting Jakko’s life and career.
Who’s The Boy With The Lovely Hair? is, at first glance, a traditional rock’n’roll memoir, charting Jakko’s long and varied musical career, packed with eyebrow-raising and hilarious anecdotes about his encounters with everyone from Michael Jackson, Kate Bush, Cliff Richard and Gene Simmons, to Uri Geller, Jack Charlton, Audrey Hepburn, the Dalai Lama and crossing swords with Millwall Football Club’s dodgy director Reg Burr.
Step away from the tales from the trenches of late 20th and early 21st century rock’n’roll, theatre and alternative comedy, and you uncover:
- The harrowing stories of his adoptive parents’ lives during World War II.
- Discovering his adoptive father had fought on both sides of that war .
- His birth mother’s fame as a successful singer in Ireland .
- Jakko finding and meeting his birth mother and self-proclaimed ‘white supremacist’ step-siblings .
- How a lonely, despondent adopted child ended up working and playing with his childhood heroes.
Sir Ian Rankin “Musician Jakko Jakszyk, known globally for his work with King Crimson, here tells his own compelling story. Blending his personal history with the drama and conflict of the twentieth century, from wartime Poland to contemporary Arkansas. Providing powerful testament to his achievements and his resilience.”
Michael Attenborough CBE “It made me laugh and, on way too many occasions, made me cry. Jakko’s story is remarkable and unique; especially when told with such wit, perception and humanity.”
David Fricke (Rolling Stone/MOJO/Sirius XM Radio) “Here is a life in great music and a lesson in its power and sanctuary, vividly told from inside one of rock's most important and tumultuous bands, King Crimson. But Jakko Jakszyk's story is also one of profound, personal discovery – of family lost and found; friendships made; identity revealed. This is the pain and joy, the secrets and revelations, that became the music. Read it the way you listen to King Crimson: ready for anything.”
Sir Lenny Henry “Jakko is a consummate storyteller; his tales of his upbringing are warm and heartfelt. And he shreds lead guitar like a mofo. I am very jealous.”
“Who’s The Boy With The Lovely Hair? is that rarest of birds: a rock and roll autobiography in which drugs are barely mentioned. Instead, its story weaves Jakszyk’s life as a solo artist and a collaborator with stagers such as The Kinks, Steve Hackett, Tom Robinson and Level 42 together with a search for, and discovery of, all manner of family secrets. With its stoic refusal to follow the dance steps of most music memoirs, it’s a book I enjoyed immensely.” TELEGRAPH
“Heart on sleeve memoir from a fan who become a [King Crimson] frontman. His hunt for his birth mother is poignant and harrowing… Jakszyk writes with searing honesty.” MOJO ****
“Memoir of the only man to play with both the Nolan Sisters and King Crimson. [He] has quite the tale to tell… a warm, skilled narrator who really soars when he relates his complex life story and you’ll melt when you understand this memoir’s title.” CLASSIC ROCK 9/10
“Jakko Jakszyk’s musical journey is almost as remarkable as his personal one. Vivid, entertaining and frequently moving. As a music autobiography alone, Who’s The Boy With The Lovely Hair? would be a great read. But with everything else it involves, it’s an unalloyed triumph.” PROG MAGAZINE
ISBN: 9781838491864
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
400 pages