Groovy Bob: The Life and Times of Robert Fraser Book

Robert Fraser is one of those very minor characters from the 60s, whose life nevertheless offers glimpses of many of the biggest names of the time, often from unusual angles. Mick Jagger, Marianne Faithfull, Dennis Hopper, Paul McCartney, Kenneth Anger, all crossed his path at one time or another. Fraser was a heady, contradictory mixture: an Old Etonian and an ex-officer of the King's African Rifles who, after having done his time in such conventional fields, arrived in Swinging London and became a noted art dealer and gallery owner. He lived in a flat in Mayfair and took a chauffeur-driven Rolls Royce to work each day, only a few streets away. He was also a promiscuous homosexual, drug addict and fringe member of the pop circles of his day. The composition of the book is daring but very successful, made up almost entirely of the recollections of those who met, worked or partied with Fraser, arranged chronologically to form one of the most vivid portraits of the decade that I've ever read. It all comes across as an infuriating mix of excitement, irresponsibility, arrogance, self-indulgence, immaturity and thrills. And there are some nice one- liners, especially from the great Keith Richards. Recollecting a character from those mad times who eventually committed suicide, Richards explains, "He shot himself because he realised who he was."--Christopher HartRead More