Do we really need another biography of Mick Jagger?
Although this is the third in the past five years, the quality of author Philip Norman's research and writing is such that the answer is a resounding "yes".
Norman is no stranger to Mick or the Rolling Stones, having penned several books on the band, the first one in 1984. He's also written about the Beatles, Elton John, Buddy Holly and, perhaps most famously, John Lennon.
He's also written a play or two in his time, including one about another rock 'n' roll legend, Elvis Presley.
Of course, any book about Jagger is effectively a biography of the Stones, because Mick has spent 50 of his 69 years touring, recording and fighting with them. It's impossible to totally separate him from the band, although Jagger himself has tried to do so a few times over the years.
The author originally intended this to be an authorised biography but after his requests for co-operation met a stony silence from Jagger, Norman combined his already extensive knowledge of Mick with three years of new research to create this book.
Although he had first interviewed him in 1965, he didn't become a "conscious Jagger watcher" until the early 1980s, when he was granted a formal interview with him during the band's first American tour of the decade.
Mick told him he had read his Beatles biography and then proceeded to correct an error in the book. One of the few errors I found in this new book is Norman's claim to have conducted the aforementioned interview on the Stones' 1982 US tour, when in fact the tour was in 1981.
The 1960s swallow up nearly two-thirds of the 600-page biography, which offers fresh insight and greater detail about Jagger during that decade than I've read before. Norman manages to unearth a more human side to a man who was, and probably still is, famous for his appetites, not all of them musical.
There were many anecdotes new to me such as one about Stones assistant Shirley Arnold writing out the lyrics to Jumpin' Jack Flash from a rough cut of the record during a visit by Mick's mother. "I remember copying out 'I was raised by a toothless, bearded hag' and thinking, 'I hope Mrs Jagger doesn't see this'."
The years since 1969 are covered in a scant 200 pages. If this was because of space restrictions, then I feel Norman should have split this biography into two volumes. He has done such a wonderful job of writing about the young Jagger that it's a shame the old Jagger didn't get better coverage.
Of course with Mick still creating headlines and new music, and with Stones concerts announced for later this year, a follow-up from Norman can't be ruled out. This biography won't be the final word on Mick Jagger but it's easily the best book on him so far.
Geoffrey Barnett is a Dunedin journalist.
