No Bass, No Party

Sketches of My Life in Music

by

Gary Shea

Fascinating, passionate, entertaining, and eye-opening!

No Bass, No Party (Sketches of My Life in Music) by premier bassist and now author Gary Shea is a fascinating, fun, and passion-filled look back over his more than 60 years creating music. Not a “tell-all” tale by any means, Shea instead reveals what it was like for him, a kid with little formal musical training but a lot of heart, desire, and natural ability, to forge a successful career in one of the hardest industries around. 

Gary, who started out playing guitar, quickly transitioned to bass to fill a need in his first band and was mostly self-taught. However, his desire and passion for his instrument of choice overcame his lack of training and pushed him to excel. Throughout the years, he was a driving force behind several well-known rock and roll bands, including New England and Alcatrazz. His story and past are filled with renowned musicians, singers, and industry legends, a veritable who’s who that most readers will recognize. His recounting includes the many stumbling blocks he and his bandmates encountered along the way, proving that “the best laid plans” can go sideways at any time. 

The biggest surprise for me was reading about how fluid the composition of bands actually was. These musicians came together, bonded over music and performing, and became like family to one another. However, an opportunity for one would entice them away, or a change in vision might see another member tossed out, abandoned, and left behind. Personal situations would arise for others that would require them to quit. All good reasons, perhaps, but each one had a lasting impact on the three or four, or more, others in the band, a family now torn apart. As Shea explained, some changes would prove to have happy outcomes, and members remained friends despite the parting of ways or, at least, reconciled down the road. 

I enjoyed Shea’s many tales of writing and creating new, original material, as well as the story behind the tracks. He even explains how to access some of the results online when they weren’t included on an album or from bands that only existed for a short time. It would be great to compile a playlist of all the music mentioned in the book and listen to it while reading Shea’s reminiscences. From one chapter to another later in the book, there tended to be some repetitions of earlier information or stores that could be eliminated as well as spelling, typos, wrong words, and other production issues that need to be cleaned up. However, none were difficult to pass over in order to continue reading about his fascinating life. 

I recommend NO BASS, NO PARTY to nonfiction readers with an interest in rock music. 

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advance Review Copy from the author through Goddess Fish Promotions Book Tours.