Guitarist and songwriter Dick Wagner, a long-time Alice Cooper collaborator, will publish his memoir, Not Only Women Bleed: Vignettes from the Heart of a Rock Musician, in September.
The memoir, which is already available as a Kindle book, features a foreword by Cooper.
"I first saw Dick Wagner while he was playing with the Frost in Detroit, and quickly I filed him under 'guitar players I’d like to steal,'" writes Cooper in the book's forward. "Later I had the great pleasure of adding him to the Welcome To My Nightmare touring band, where along with Steve Hunter they became known as the "Dynamic Duo," a name given to them by Steven Tyler.
"He considers them two to be the best tandem American guitar players in rock and roll. But Dick isn't just a guitar player. He’s a gifted writer, and I wrote most of the post-Alice Cooper hits with him."
The witty, often-touching Not Only Women Bleed: Vignettes from the Heart of a Rock Musician strings together a series of vignettes, with Wagner sharing tales from a lifetime of experience as a songwriter, guitarist and producer for Cooper, Aerosmith, Lou Reed, Peter Gabriel, Air Supply and others. Wagner also provides tales of reckless behavior and debauchery with an emotional spin that will make them resonate with a wide audience. After a heart attack, stroke and brain surgery left him disabled and “drying up in the desert,” Wagner found enlightenment in an intensive care unit. Yes, this guy has been around.
Wagner’s songs and lead guitar playing have been featured on more than 200 albums, garnering more than 35 platinum and gold records and BMI songwriter awards.
For more about the book, visit notonlywomenbleed.com. For reviews, head here.
“You wanted me to come on your track and do something in a Spanish style. I thought, ‘I have to show him how I do it on the whole guitar’”: Marcin shows an astounded Will Smith his virtuosic guitar technique
“I probably hauled in 20 guitars. I listened to the record top to bottom, turned to him and said, ‘It doesn’t need anything’”: Jeff “Skunk” Baxter on the one studio session where he lugged a ton of guitar gear – and didn't use any of it
