
Coal Black Mornings
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Narrated by:
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Brett Anderson
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Matt Thorne
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By:
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Brett Anderson
About this listen
Listen to the end for an audiobook exclusive: Brett Anderson in conversation with Matt Thorne, author of Prince.
Brett Anderson came from a world impossibly distant from rock star success, and in Coal Black Mornings he traces the journey that took him from a childhood as 'a snotty, sniffy, slightly maudlin sort of boy raised on Salad Cream and milky tea and cheap meat' to becoming founder and lead singer of Suede.
Anderson grew up in Hayward's Heath on the grubby fringes of the Home Counties. As a teenager he clashed with his eccentric taxi-driving father (who would parade around their council house dressed as Lawrence of Arabia, air-conducting his favourite composers) and adored his beautiful, artistic mother. He brilliantly evokes the seventies, the suffocating discomfort of a very English kind of poverty and the burning need for escape that it breeds. Anderson charts the shabby romance of creativity as he travelled the tube in search of inspiration, fuelled by Marmite and nicotine, and Suede's rise from rehearsals in bedrooms, squats and pubs. And he catalogues the intense relationships that make and break bands as well as the devastating loss of his mother.
Coal Black Mornings is profoundly moving, funny and intense - a book which stands alongside the most emotionally truthful of personal stories.
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Critic reviews
What listeners say about Coal Black Mornings
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- David Erb
- 07-06-20
Success Born Through Fire
The ground breaking back story of the very harsh life shaping forces & struggles that forged a sparkling original & epically successful singer song writer’s career.
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- AR
- 12-20-20
Any Suede fan will love
The reading by Brett is great. A very entertaining, well written story that any fan of the band will love.
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- Taylor R.
- 01-15-23
Gorgeously written and read
Loved it! So much detail and depth. I read some of my hard copy and listened to other chapters. Loved learning about Anderson’s early life. Writing is so much better than your average celeb memoir.
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- Martha Z
- 11-08-19
Engrossing and Inspiring
Being a massive fan of the Suede music catalog, I had no insight about Brett Anderson's childhood and formative years before the band really took off. I ended up purchasing the Kindle edition and the audiobook so that I absorb as much as possible. This audiobook provided that history and more, as Anderson dives into those years in a uniquely cerebral way. His style reminds me of prose in parts, which is entirely different than any other autobiography that I've come across before. I was able to immerse myself due to Anderson's ability to convey his thought in a descriptive way. I appreciated learning about his family and the experiences that he's been through. The early bits about the band and his friendship with Bernard Butler were the just the icing on the cake for what was a thoroughly engrossing read/listen.
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2 people found this helpful
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- MayaZ
- 11-19-22
Beautifully written and narrated
As a fan from the older days - this was such a delight .
Yes, this is so poignant and powerful to listen as one who grew up on the music. But I will argue that people who are outsiders, authentic and those interested in the depth of the creative process of one of the more original voices in the past few decades would enjoy the origin story .
Brett has such a special gift of observation of the mundane and makes it into a seductive landscape you want to engross yourself in.
Looking forward to the next book and the one after that as well as more beautiful music from the beautiful one.
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- Anonymous User
- 02-08-21
An incredible story of passion and overcoming.
Brett's story is truly inspiring. What a class act and a pioneer. His prose are quality.
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- alankelleher
- 06-10-23
Wonderful
For Suede fans, it’s an absolute must read/hear. My only wish is that it could have been so much longer. Hopefully we’ll get memoirs from the rest of the band someday.
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- toomanybarts
- 08-24-20
Must listen NOT read
Having Brett Anderson read this to you is soooo much better than reading the books (and I own both hardcovers!).
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- Eduardo Romero V
- 01-02-21
Great listening!
A very well written book, as a Suede fan I enjoy it very much, for anyone interested in Brett' s days before Suede and in the very begginin of the band it' s a must read.
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