Before I really get into this, I want to point out, at the start, just so there is no confusion about this, that I think that any James fan who is interested in the history of the band should go out, purchase and read Folklore by Stuart Maconie.  It is a good read, particularly about the formative years of James, and is chock-full of great interview tidbits.  Now, having said that, I’d really like to know what Mr. Maconie (and James at that), a professional journalist, was thinking!!!!

 Now, this book is an official history, and as such, is bound to be glossy, positive propaganda. It seemed pretty reasonable to expect before reading it that the book would be history as the band wanted it, and not would not necessarily tell us everything that has ever happened.  What I was NOT expecting is exactly how many gaping holes this would leave.  While the first half of the book, covering the early years up until about 1989 is incredibly detailed and thorough, and even surprisingly upfront at times, the story of James over the last 11 years has been glossed over and summarized.  Andy Diagram – who made an essential contribution to the sound of the band on Goldmother and Seven – is mentioned once in the entire book.  He never joins or leaves, he simply is in the studio at some point and does horns for the song “Goldmother” never to be mentioned again.  The 1998 tour promoting the Best Of where the band were clearly unhappy and not getting on, again glossed over.  Problems within the band after Larry Gott’s departure are put down to resentment over Tim Booth pursuing solo work instead of sticking around to help write Whiplash, but Maconie relates this led to nearly 2 years during which Jim Glennie and Tim Booth were not on speaking terms.  Somehow, all of this is ironed out in one meeting which gets a sentence.  So what exactly aren’t they telling us?  I found the second half of the book to be rushed and lacking in crucial detail.  Some of this may be down to the short time frame the author was given to complete the work, but certainly not all.  Furthermore, I’d like to point out that the Blackpool Empress Ballroom gig that took place around the release of Millionaires happened in 1999, after the first single “I Know What I’m Here For” had been released, AFTER the album had been completed – there were copies floating around already, and NOT before they went back into the studio to finish it.  Furthermore, someone should have caught Larry’s flawed statement that the Foo Fighters had been onstage before James in 1990 – the Foo Fighters did not exist until 1995 or 1996 at least.  But that’s just being picky.

 What really struck me most about the supposed professionalism about this book was the fact that Mr. Maconie seemed to have done an incredible amount of interviewing.  The bulk of his material seemed to come through detailed interviews about every stage of the band’s career – until I came across a couple of quotes I recognized from elsewhere.  Only the sections in bold faced type with a bandmember’s name in front of them actually came from his own interviews.  The rest of the quotes in the book, despite not being credited to anyone, did NOT come from Mr. Maconie’s own interview tapes.  Now, most first year university students understand that this is plagiarism.  Apparently, Mr. Maconie, someone who has been a journalist for over twenty years, does not.  

Finally, and most importantly, there is one main thing that the book blatantly lacks.  As a band commissioning a book, James had the opportunity to answer all their critics, to cement the importance of their role in British music.  But nowhere does Mr. Maconie try to justify the creation of his book.  Why is the story of James an important one? If I weren’t a fan, I wouldn’t have known before reading the book, and I still would not after finishing it.  This book is a historical record of the band’s achievements, but beyond stating chart positions and pointing out that live shows were well received, there is no explanation or discussion of what makes James special; what their contribution and influence has been, and why they have touched so many people.  In a book that is only 259 pages (and took a mere 4 hours to read), surely there is a place for this, if only to state it for posterity.  In fact, it seems the most important exercise of all, certainly more important that going through early pre-James lineup changes in minute detail.

 Overall, while I learned some things I didn’t already know, and I managed to entertain myself reading it one morning when I felt ill, I think this is a very poor attempt at capturing the spirit and the substance of one of the most important indie bands to come along in British music.