Have Mercy!: Confessions of the Original Rock 'n' Roll Animal

by Wolfman Jack

Book Overview

The personal story of Wolfman Jack reveals the advent of his alter ego, multiple broadcast successes, appearance in American Grafitti, battle with drugs, and many celebrity adventures. 75,000 first... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0446517429
• ISBN13: 9780446517423
• Release Date: January 1995
• Publisher: Warner Books (NY)
• Length: 362 Pages
• Weight: 1.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.4" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

Have Mercy Baby, He's Howling in Rock-N-Roll Heaven

Wolfman Jack "was" the ultimate D.J of all time. No one will ever fill his shoes. This book defines how his career got started, but it's too bad it wasn't accompanied by an "audio". You can't learn about or know "Wolfman" unless you've heard one of his shows. I was stunned that the entertainment world never gave him a tribute! But he "did"it in the way he lived his life! HAVE MERCY WOLFMAN. (insert a HOWL here!)

HAVE MERCY! Relives the era but fails to capture THE VOICE.

HAVE MERCY! takes a wild ride through an important era of broadcast history. HAVE MERCY! captures the renegade spirit that led a few pirates and pioneers to take risks for entertainment sake. HAVE MERCY! does a superb job of describing the times and painting a picture of what those who ventured into early rock were up against. HAVE MERCY! helps us to better understand what made one white boy howl in the night - and others sing the blues. HAVE MERCY! makes clear the impact of radio in the early days of rock-n-roll. Its a classic expose' on pop culture. HAVE MERCY! shows the drive and determination and focus and endurance and high energy it took to succeed in a highly competetive industry. HAVE MERCY! catches the gimmicks and the glamour. HAVE MERCY! drops all the right names in all the right places. HAVE MERCY! doesn't shy away from revealing the hazards, the hardships, the dirty deals and the difficult decisions either. HAVE MERCY! is a roller coaster without seatbelts - a wooden one with plenty of bumps and sharp turns and deep drops along the way. HAVE MERCY! chronicles the life of a street tough kid with a dream - someone least likely to succeed - who beat the odds and made it. HAVE MERCY! relives the roots of rock as told through THE VOICE that spoke for a whole generation. HAVE MERCY! grabs onto the craziness of THE VOICE but doesn't see the flip side. Nothing is revealed about the inner stuff the Wolfman was made of. HAVE MERCY! tells the what, when and where of Wolfman's story but fails to communicate the why well enough for reader's know who the Wolfman really was. Its as if the author is writing from a distance - on the outside looking in when a more compelling biography would be told from the inside looking out. HAVE MERCY! recants the making of the personality . . . but fails to see beyond the legend the Wolfman had become. If I hadn't already known the huge impact Wolfman had on my generation, I'm not sure I would've comprehended it from the book. The author tries, but fails to show the true connection between THE VOICE and his listeners. HAVE MERCY! gets the facts but not the feelings. Its like when a record company measures the quality of a song by its sales instead of its message or craftmanship. HAVE MERCY! records details but never gets the big picture. The author never catches the vision. He rides with the Wolfman but never contemplates the reason. He notes the Wolf's charisma but never understands it. Its clearly too overwhelming to describe and so its treated almost like an after-thought. Not a lot of effort goes into getting to know Wolf's fans or measuring his impact on the world around him either. HAVE MERCY! never sees the Wolfman as a wholistic being - the author never gets into his soul the way I, the reader, wanted him to. And so, the Wolfman came across as a wild, but somewhat packaged, entertainer with a well inflated ego - rather than a dedicated spokes

Have Mercy for sure!!

I read the book after he died. What a book!! The book takes the reader for a ride with a character that the reader will never forget!The book will make a great movie and I hope that there is a movie made from the book.I can not wait till the publisher starts publishing the book again because I will buy another one for sure.HAVE MERCY!!

The best on air personality of all time!!

The spirt of "Wolfman" Jack lives in this book!! I think that too many radio DJs these days think boring is good! "Wolfman" Jack always took it to the edge. He made you want to hear more. Today you listen to the radio to hear a song or two that is "the new or hot thing of the day." "Wolfman" always played such a mix of music and even help make a few others career. He is a force that is missed in radio today. He will always be my favorite of all time. Long live "Wolfman" Jack!!

Should be required reading for everyone in radio today!

This book describes radio the way it used to be...the way it should still be. DJ's were real live personalities, not a computer, and they played your requests. I never got to hear the Wolfman on the air but because of this book I consider myself one of his biggest fans. If you are in radio, thinking about a career in radio, or if you are a true radio fan you simply must read this book.