![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/euphoric_recall.jpg\")
Along with the other ways in which they can function, memoirs often serve as score-settling endeavors. A memoir can represent an opportunity for its author to say I-told-you-so, run a victory lap, explain away poor decisions or bad acts and\/or generally have the last (or highest profile) word on a panoply of topics.<\/p>\n
Not so with Euphoric Recall<\/i>. The ironically- and pointedly-titled memoir by Peter Jesperson engages in none of those activities. Instead it\u2019s a clear-eyed, well-remembered account of a life spent in music, both in its creative sphere and in the often rough-and-tumble business side.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s that old joke about oxymorons: jumbo shrimp, compassionate conservative, legal brief. Another is music business<\/i>. When creativity and commerce attempt to coexist, it\u2019s an uneasy alliance. But that tension \u2013 and its yields \u2013 are at the core of Euphoric Recall<\/i>. Jesperson\u2019s life is one that will resonate with a good segment of those who read it, as his life trajectory (or at least sections of it) mirror that of many who are passionate about music. Pop music fan, record store employee, musician, band manager, label head\u2026 those are all roles into which Jesperson threw himself wholeheartedly.<\/p>\n
At one point very late in the book Jesperson owns up to what he characterizes as name-dropping. It\u2019s a needless confession, as his association with all of the names he mentions (and yes, there are very many) has been genuine, legitimate and in most cases quite fruitful and positive. So when one reads about Paul Westerberg, Peter Buck, Kris Kristofferson, Vic Chesnutt, Alex Chilton, Slim Dunlap, Jack Logan and other notable figures in the alt- and otherkindsa-rock worlds, the stories offer insight far beyond mere anecdote recollections.<\/p>\n
Within the pages of Euphoric Recall<\/i>, Peter Jesperson is modest to a fault; if anything, he understates his importance in the stories of the important bands and record labels with which he has been involved. Jesperson has been a key figure \u2013 much, much more than a Zelig, even if he\u2019s not a household name \u2013 in the stories of Minneapolis\u2019 Oarfolkjokeopus record store, Twin\/Tone and New West Records, the Replacements and other bedrocks of the music scene. And he\u2019s counted a long list of major figures as associates and friends.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s that latter category \u2013 friends \u2013 that provides much of the most compelling material in Euphoric Recall<\/i>. Many of the names figure into Jesperson\u2019s story in on-again, off-again fashion, entering his orbit (or he entering theirs) at a significant point, only to fade away, return and depart yet again.<\/p>\n
And what\u2019s remarkable about Jesperson\u2019s telling of those encounters, and how they fit into his larger narrative, is his even-handedness. He never once takes an opportunity to crow about his judgment being vindicated; he never points blame for things-gone-wrong squarely at others.<\/p>\n
Instead he goes to sometimes near-heroic lengths to understand why other people said or did the things that yielded unwanted results. If Jesperson was fired or dismissed as a tour manager, A&R man or employee (and indeed he was), Euphoric Recall<\/i> contextualizes that event in such a way as to say, I can kind of see where he\/she\/they were coming from<\/i>. The book often reads like the memoir of someone who has (as they say in the worlds of therapy and recovery) \u201cdone the work.\u201d<\/p>\n
And in fact Jesperson has<\/i> done the work. His unvarnished tales of his excessive drinking inform and provide important context for much else that happens within the book\u2019s 275 or so pages. And his account of how and when he got sober isn\u2019t at all preachy or sanctimonious. Significantly, when he explains the meaning of the book\u2019s title, readers will appreciate that no, that\u2019s not at all the approach he is taking to recounting his life story.<\/p>\n
At its core, Euphoric Recall<\/i> is a compelling, fascinating and (yes, entertaining) story well told by an important if largely unsung figure in popular music. It\u2019s enthusiastically recommended especially for fans of the Minneapolis brand of alt-rock, of R.E.M. and of the non-mainstream side of \u201880\u2019s-and-beyond music. But it\u2019s also a highly readable story that will reward listeners less familiar with all that, who instead simply appreciate a good, honest and articulately-recounted memoir.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Along with the other ways in which they can function, memoirs often serve as score-settling endeavors. A memoir can represent an opportunity for its author to say I-told-you-so, run a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28254,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,45],"tags":[3368,5520,1773,2544,5521],"class_list":["post-28252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book","category-memoir","tag-new-west","tag-peter-jesperson","tag-r-e-m","tag-replacements","tag-twin-tone","cat-10-id","cat-45-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28252","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28252"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28252\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28366,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28252\/revisions\/28366"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}