With it being no secret that I am an Alice Cooper fan, it is no surprise that a family member decided to gift me a book on Alice Cooper on Christmas Eve. "Decades: Alice Cooper in the 1970s" by Chris Sutton takes the reader inside the recordings of every album from "Pretties For You," which actually was released in the U.S. on June 25, 1969, through "From The Inside," which was released in the U.S. on November 17, 1978.
The book is an easy read and one that I found hard to put down once I started reading. It also made me go back to hear some of these older cuts again. I had the opportunity to meet Michael Bruce when both of us were filming scenes for Warren Disbrow's "Scarlet Moon." I initially met him at a Chiller Convention in North Jersey and convinced him to do some scenes for the movie at the hotel the event was taking place at. We later went down to film and catch his set at CBGBs in the Bowery.
The Alice Cooper Band initially consisted of Alice Cooper (lead vocals), Glen Buxton (lead guitar), Michael Bruce (rhythm guitar, keyboards and backing vocals), Dennis Dunaway (bass and backing vocals) and Neal Smith (percussion and backing vocals). As the band developed, many other musicians were added to the recording process and live shows. Many of the musicians involved with Alice provided insightful quotes throughout the book.
1975 marked the year that the original Alice Cooper Group was splitting up. This was established when The Coop appeared solo on The Smothers Brothers Show on January 11. Thus, he began the era of "Welcome To My Nightmare," as well as his friendship with Vincent Price. Alice had this to say about Vincent Price in the book: "He was like a little kid in the studio. He came in and he goes, 'Would I be able to change some of this?' I said, 'You're Vincent Price! You can do anything you want.' He changed a few lines and played with it a little bit here and there. And he would get in the middle of something and say it and he would start giggling because he liked it so much." This, of course, is when Price portrayed the curator on "Devil's Food."
Alice Cooper's solo period also saw him working heavily with Bob Ezrin, Dick Wagner and Steve Hunter. Prakash John (bass) and Pentti Glan (drums) also played a big role. This is a must-read for any fan because it gives a much more detailed insight into the band members and their recording process. You will be very surprised by the eclectic list of celebrities that have sung backup on some of his tracks!