Let's Go!: Benjamin Orr and The Cars - Biography Book About The Cars Band Member | Music History & Rock Band Stories | Perfect for Music Lovers and Classic Rock Fans

I bought the Kindle edition of this book and was not disappointed. It was obviously written with a lot of respect for the subject, Benjamin Orr, bassist and co-lead singer of The Cars. I came to it as a fairly new fan, with Ric Ocasek's passing sparking an interest in the band as a whole, though I remembered their 80s hits well from MTV, and Benjamin Orr in particular after watching some live performances and loving his vocal performances.The part I was most concerned about before buying it, whether I'd be interested in the info about the Ohio music scene Ben was a part of and where both Ben and Ric Ocasek got their start together, turned out to be a needless concern. I found it very interesting following Ben's life from a musically inclined child banging on things in the basement(what started out as punishment, turned into an inspiration, who would have thought) and pots and pans in the kitchen becoming fascinated by the rhythms to local teenage rock star with the Grasshoppers and Mixed Emotions(until an untimely letter from the Draft board in 1967 derailed his early career, how different things might have been if not for that letter!) and how the Cleveland music scene he came up in functioned back in the early to mid 60's, extremely interesting, the personalities including his first manager and second "father", Joe Meyer and his wife Ginny, and it was great to hear the stories of his friends and bandmates. I felt the author did a good job setting the scene so the reader could understand what it was like in an era that is now almost 60 years behind us.I read an interview with the author and he mentioned that it was amazing how people who knew Benjamin Orr at the start of his career described him in much the same way as those who knew him at the end, and in between. Rather than finding this something to criticize, I think what it shows is that it's true. Of course everyone had somewhat different experiences but the basic aspects of his personality, such as his kindness and generosity, remained the same.(For what it's worth I didn't find there to be that much technical "minutiae" in the book, the occasional mentioning of studios, types of instruments and recording methods, which is only natural given it's a book about a musician and most of the people being spoken to are either musicians or in the music business, but it wasn't that much and certainly easy to skim past quickly if reading literally a few sentences here and there about slightly more technical matters is something one finds that uninteresting.)Following the ups and downs of his early career and seeing the dedication he had to music and then through the long years(almost ten) with Ric BEFORE The Cars became a hit is a good reminder that often "overnight success" is preceded by long years of hard work, and to not give up on your dreams.He seems to have kept that same sort of determination throughout his life, as shown by how he continued working to find what worked for him after The Cars and the great potential of the last band he was in, Big People( great musicians who are also great guys) and the way he dealt with the devastating news of his terminal illness by being determined to continue to make music until he was literally unable to do so anymore.