Groovy Bob: The Life and Times of Robert Fraser By Harriet Vyner
Robert Fraser owned a gallery in London at the height of the Swingin’ Sixties, and—as no less than Paul McCartney has said—he all but personified the period for his vast network of friends, fans, and hangers on. This book tells Fraser’s story through the voices of those friends, including McCartney, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Kenneth Anger, Malcolm McLaren, Bridget Riley, and many . An unprecedented close up of the man who introduced the world to Andy Warhol, Peter Blake, Claes Oldenburg, Keith Haring, and Jean Michael Basquiat, Groovy Bob brings the ‘60’s London art scene, its wild parties and creative fervor, unforgettably to life. Groovy Bob: The Life and Times of Robert Fraser
Robert Fraser was a cornerstone in the Swinging Sixties in London. He was one of the leaders of that era. Very good book, narrated in a coral way, with different personages, between them Mick Jagger who is in the cover handcuffed with Robert Fraser , Keith Richards, Marianne Faithfull or Paul McCartney. A must for understanding of the sixties. Groovy Bob: The Life and Times of Robert Fraser L'autrice ne s'est pas foulée. Cette biographie n'en est pas une, c'est juste un collage d'interviews. On saute de l'un à l'autre sans transition, sans trop suivre le fil. Ce n'est pas écrit, c'est photocopié. Le sujet méritait mieux. Groovy Bob: The Life and Times of Robert Fraser He was an upper class s**t who was sloppy about paying bills or repaying loans, but he had a superb eye for art. He knew everyone because everyone wanted to know someone as hip and knowledgeable as him. Excellent biography and an excellent view of the times. Groovy Bob: The Life and Times of Robert Fraser If you know anything about 1960's pop culture, you know that Robert Fraser was the main force behind the Beatles'Sgt. Pepper cover and that he was busted with othersat Keith Richards' house in 1967. He was a driving force behind Pop Art in England and the US. This book consists mainly of interviews with those who knew and loved (and often hated) him. He died early by AIDS. He was a trendsetter and is all but forgotten nowadays. The only problem with the book is that some background information on some of the interviewees would have been nice, but the interviews carry the book along. Among those interviewed are Jagger, Richards, McCarney, Faithfull, Peter Blake, etc. A good read for those interested in Swinging London. Groovy Bob: The Life and Times of Robert Fraser Extraordinary account of cutting edge 1960s life among the art crowd and those who were 'hip' at the time. This book brings to life, from the inside, a period that was unique for its combination of vitality and self destructiveness. We now know, with hindsight, that this decade brought in a revolutionary change to both music and the decorative arts. Vyner's book deliniates that change from first hand accounts from the people at the steering wheel at that time. Vyner's style is unique, the entire book is written from first hand interviews with the people involved. Her memoir of the time centres around the character of Robert Fraser inspirational art dealer, drug addict, nucleus of the 'happening' scene in the 1960's, friend of so many famous names, gay sex addict who died of Aids in 1986. He emerges, through the first hand accounts of friends like Paul McCartney, john Lennon, Marianne Faithfull, Keith Richards and Mick Jagger, as this mysterious person who held the kernel of 'Swinging London' in his hand in the 1960s and then threw it all away. He emerges as an epitaph for the era. Groovy Bob: The Life and Times of Robert Fraser
