Review of Band in the Wind

[Shirley Ann Riddern Labzentis]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Band in the Wind" by William John Rostron.]

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5 out of 5 stars

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For those of us who grew up in the 60s and knew someone who was in a garage band, this book is for you. Band In The Wind by William John Rostron is a gripping tale of teenage boys in high school who wanted to be something; they wanted to be famous. Everyone back then wanted to be in a band by playing an instrument or being a singer. Both boys and girls thought of nothing else. Some became famous locally. Some became famous, and some bands just crashed and burned. This book is about their struggles with playing their instruments, learning to sing, finding time to practice, booking gigs at school dances, etc. The stories of this one band and their home lives was fascinating.

Back in the 60s, there was drinking, drugs, and rock and roll. There was a lot of racial violence back then, and the whites had to stay in their section of town, and the blacks had to stay in theirs. If either crossed the line, there was violence! Growing up in the southside of Chicago, I remember my parents telling me about the line, and I was not to cross it. What happened to these teenagers, in the end, will keep you rooted in the book, and you won’t be able to put it down.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, which brought back many memories of my youth. Several famous songs from back then were mentioned. High school dances, which I attended almost every weekend, were discussed, as well as how kids dressed and acted back then. It brought back so many good memories and returned me to my teenage years. There was nothing that I disliked about the book. The characters in Band In The Wind were expertly described so that they became natural to you. There was an error or two and a few missing commas, but I still enjoyed the book. The book was professionally edited.

This book is recommended for baby boomers who lived in that era and knew about what happened. President John Kennedy’s assassination is mentioned, Beatlemania, all of it! Even if you are of a younger crowd than the Boomers, you will enjoy reading this book and finding out what happened. I do not recommend this book to young adults as there is profanity, glue sniffing (huffing), drugs, and drinking. There also is a lot of violence in the book. That said, the book is excellent and has more enjoyable reading than any cringeworthy or violent segments. I am gladly rating this book 5 out of 5 stars.

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Band in the Wind
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[Gerry Steen]

Wow, Shirley Ann. You found a diamond in the rough! Thank you for reviewing this book. I was born during this era, and this book will bring back so many memories. It is amazing how many self-made musicians who started in garage band groups made it big on the music scene back in those days. Each group was so original with its own distinctive sound and style. I added this book to my bookshelves.

[FRED GOMA 1]

The line which was drawn between the whites and the blacks people divide the two towns of these people. The whites lives on their own place just like blacks people to avoid the violence that use to be caused by drugs abuse.