Summary of Scattershot By Bernie Taupin: Life, Music, Elton, and Me

By Willie M. Joseph

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Summary of Scattershot By Bernie Taupin: Life, Music, Elton, and Me

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Bernie Taupin's memoir, Scattershot, is a candid and evocative account of his life and creative partnership with Elton John. Written with honesty and candor, the memoir allows readers to witness events unfolding from Taupin's singular perspective, from his childhood in England to the glittering, star-studded Beverly Hills of the '70s and '80s. The non-linear yet grounded narrative takes readers on a journey through the world, meeting some of the greatest creative minds of the 20th century and into the vivid imaginings of one of music's most legendary lyricists. The memoir takes readers on a journey through Los Angeles, Australia, and beyond, meeting writers like Graham Greene, painters like Andy Warhol and Salvador Dali, and notable eccentrics and geniuses. Scattershot is a unique and compelling read for music fans.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Willie M. Joseph
• Release date: Sep 25, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223540182

Willie M. Joseph

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Once Upon a Time in the West End

In late 1967, a young man named Thomas Hardy is in London to meet a piano player named Reg Dwight. He is initially considered tragically unhip but is determined to give it a shot, believing that Reg might be the answer. The man is surprised to find Reg playing in a band backing Long John Baldry and making extra money performing on demos. They bond over music and discuss their shared interests, which include psychedelia and Hobbitism.

The man is a country kid who is shy but experienced in local music territory. He wants to write songs and shares his own fanciful work with Reg. They agree to give it a shot and head for the Underground. The boy's dreams are as gigantic as his surroundings are small. His imagination is ignited by heroism from classical poetic narrative, played out in medieval landscapes of the East Midlands. He is inventive, solitary, and unattached to others of his age who are confused and unfamiliar with their identities.

In the future, his penchant for acting out heroic deeds of fictionalized characters will be replaced with a roistering fervor for a more contemporary, but tarnished, antihero. He is complex and individualistic before being hijacked and neutered by Hollywood. The Samaritan they created from the blueprint bore no resemblance to the prototype.

In the end, the boy realizes that he is not the cowboy he wants to be and decides to give it a month and see what happens.

Born in Lincolnshire, England, the author's education was largely through her mother, father, and vinyl albums. Her secondary school days were filled with simple aspirations and a lack of idealism. The author's father, who had abandoned citified pursuits in favor of country living, chose to forge his own path in a part steeped in Roman history and predominantly agrarian activity. Her mother, who loved him, sacrificed the artistic and cultural benefits of cosmopolitan life for a different aesthetic.

The author's parents were a contrast in diversity, with their father being a man of oldfashioned sensibilities and his mother being a master of arts and educator. The author's grandfather, Poppy, was a master of arts and educator who facilitated creative expression and instilled in her passions, particularly caring for the quality of words and the stimulation of verse.

The author's father's desire to strike out on his own was eventually understandable, and she and her mother were enchanted by the images on a napkin that depicted idyllic green pastures and horses frolicking behind rustic fence lines. However, the harsh reality of self-employment was not prepared for her. Her father had sprung for a fixer-upper house with a dilapidated two-story stone farmhouse fronting an expansive run-down yard containing a broken-down barn and a long, grubby brick battery house.

The house had serious antiquated flair, with code violations and infractions that would see it condemned by contemporary standards. The author's only toilet was a green metal portable potty in the cellar, which was both uncomfortable and intimidating.

The front room of the family's home in Owmby-by-Spital was filled with warmth and comfort, especially on Sunday afternoons when the family was sequestered together after church and lunch. The family had a ritual of eclectic fare, including the Billy Cotton Band Show and The Clitheroe Kid. The village was small, with only about three hundred inhabitants at the time of their arrival. The author's father built a practical red brick bungalow for them, which proved to be a testament to his ingenuity and resolve.

The author spent most of his time in this home before moving to a more reliable structure six years later. As he moved, he became interested in books, making friends with locals, and falling under the spell of music. Pre-Beatles, American rock and roll was the predominant music north of London. Elvis wasn't that big a deal in the area, but artists like The Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison, Gene Vincent, and Eddie Cochran were particularly popular.

At the same time, the author was drawn to a deeper understanding of the American West, dispelling the image of a sanitized culture. He read books like Stuart Lake's Wyatt Earp, Walter Lord's Alamo account A Time to Stand, and Ramon F. Adams's Six-Guns and Saddle Leather, which helped him find fragments of the truth about law keepers and the lawless. Years later, Sergio Leone, Clint Eastwood, and Sam Peckinpah would restore realism to the genre and eradicate clichés. This cross-pollination of visuals and music created a gravitational pull not easily ignored.

The author, who had failed his eleven-plus exam, was deeply enamored with country music. He was inspired by Marty Robbins's cowboy ballad El Paso, which led to his 1959 album Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs. This album became the first album the author owned, and it remains the single most influential record of his early years.

At fifteen years old, the author was dismissed from the secondary modern school in Market Rasen. They were given few options for creative or nonmanual careers, and they were eventually thrown out of the school. The author was initially disappointed and decided to work as a journalist instead of writing for a paper. However, at the end of their interview, they were informed that they would receive their diploma at twenty-one after six years on the floor and enrollment in night school.

Upon arrival, the author was introduced to the foreman, Frank, who was both racist and socialist. The shop floor of the Lincolnshire Standard Group was filled with noise, smoking, and profanity. The author found himself undermining Frank's principles and slacking on his part. Frank's apoplexy upon realizing this was palatable, and the author began smoking. Frank distanced himself from confrontation with the author, preferring not to break in a new hand.

Eventually, the author decided to resign, but it wasn't until one day that they did. Their journey into the world of music and writing serves as a reminder of the importance of pursuing one's passions and dreams.

In the 1960s, friends and I would frequent pubs in Lincolnshire, enjoying cheap whisky, snooker, and sleeping in barns. We thought we were American hitchhiking rebels, but in reality, we were transient beatniks with a penchant for petty thievery and an aversion to soap and water.

I got a job working on a poultry farm, where I worked under a manipulative and solitary regime led by the operational manager, Mike. Mike was a clever bastard who took me under his wing, making it look like he was doing none at all. I worked hard hours, either in the stuffy broiler sheds or outside in the cold wind. The hardscrabble landscape had a raw beauty that made my days on the factory floor pale by comparison.

One Saturday morning, after my feeding stint, I took off for RAF Faldingworth, the home of an old school friend with a furtive backstory in Cold War history. The base had become a nuclear weapons store for the RAF's V-bomber force in the late 1950s, which gave rise to doom-laden schoolboy scenarios. The base still housed air force personal and civilian employees northeast of the airfield.

One day, I heard a familiar sound from the next door: country music. In Lincolnshire in 1966, there was no classic country music, but there was an abundance of Slim Whitman, Jim Reeves, Eddy Arnold, and Roger Miller. This music was pure, undiluted, and mesmerizing, unlike anything I had heard before.

In the early 1960s, a friend introduced