'Beneath the Wizard's Gown, Marc Bolan Unglittered'
  by Tony Stringfellow

Introduction

  My 'Review Copy' of 'From Beneath The Wizard's Gown (Marc Bolan Unglittered)' arrived through the letterbox with an attention demanding 'thud' yesterday. The glossy Dust Jacket (see photo above left) enrobes the plain black hardback cover, with gold text along the spine.

  I wear a number of 'hats' as I get 'into' reviewing this latest book on Marc Bolan. The oldest is the 'hat' I first donned in 1970 when I was captivated by the astounding vision of curls on Top of the Pops, which I watched on my neighbour's TV, because it was 'unsuitable viewing' according to my dictatorial father! However, over the years I have acquired a University Lecturer 'hat', so that I find myself automatically noticing grammatical and other errors in whatever I read. The final 'hats' are those of 'published author' and 'Steve Peregrin Took's Biographer'. The latter being very much a work in progress so that I found myself comparing this book with what I plan to do. In particular how photographs should be presented.

The Content

Photos

  The book contains numerous photos from Peter Sanders and although they look fine printed on the white rather than off-white paper, they would have been so much lovelier on glossy paper, even though this would have added to the expense of the book. As I am a pedant, this should be taken as a minor criticism.

  Obviously, as the photographs are all by Peter Sanders they are limited to a specific period of Marc's life. The photographs do include both Marc's original partners Steve Peregrin Took and Mickey Finn.

  Some are previously unpublished while others have been used before. TAG for example used those on pages 134 and 135 in 2000 for our 'There Was A Time' (Live at Middle Earth - 23rd September 1967) CD with one used as the 'Limited Edition' Numbered Insert limited to just 500 worldwide. Both photographs also appeared on the Voiceprint Records reissue in 2002.

  So overall, the book has plenty of photos, with enough previously unpublished to elicit Ooohh's and Arrr's from fans.

Poetry - Reproduction of original pages

  The book also includes pages of Marc's poetry, which has been reproduced, presented on nicely 'framed' pages. Some readers might have enjoyed the pages reproduced without the frame, so they would have been bigger. However, they are large enough to be legible while also looking 'arty'.

  Again, finances were no doubt a limiting factor as the entire book is black and white. This is a pity because Tony talks of the different colours of pen and pencil Marc used, in particular when making corrections on his manuscripts. Having seen originals, I know that Marc would cross out a word, at the time in the same pen/pencil, but later went back in a different colour to improve the text and add punctuation. The differences between the 'errors' and 'later corrections' are not so easily seen when reduced to black and white.

The Text

  As well as reproducing the pages of poetry in Marc's own hand, the text is included for those who find Marc's hand writing a little difficult. Concerning Marc's hand writing the book contains the results of an analysis of Marc's handwriting by an expert in Dyslexia. This makes interesting reading, and debates will no doubt follow.

  Tony examined the influences, which led to Marc writing each poem. He quotes sections from the work of those who provided inspiration. I come from a scientific rather than an 'arts' background and consequently found some of the analyses quite heavy going.

  The references to writings by Marc not included in the book could be a disadvantage to those who have not got, or even seen a copy of these works which include the Limited Editions such as the Krakenmist.

  The inclusion of interviews conducted by Tony is a definite plus. The inclusions by many people including Riggs O'Hara are worth reading, although Tony has on occasion disagreed with their recollections with reasoned argument. Tony has quite successfully balanced his analysis of 'Marc Bolan - The Man', not shying away from Marc's 'use' of people while they could be 'useful'.

Bolan Information Accuracy and Depth

  Tony, who recounts his own experiences of seeing T-Rex live in 1972 are interesting and well written. He saw them at Birmingham Odeon a venue I know well living as I did, in the Midlands. In the Acknowledgements, Tony admits to not being an 'expert' and indeed, there are not too many of us around! :-)

  As the book only arrived yesterday lunchtime I've read parts, skimmed through parts and studied all the photos in great deal :-) Here are a couple of things I picked up during my appraisal.

  This jumped out at me. The reference to a song from 'Beginning of Doves' called "Sarah Was An Angel". Oops. That should be "Sally Was An Angel", although of course, there is the song "Sara Crazy Child", but that has a different spelling of 'Sarah'.

  The analysis of Marc's wonderful poem 'Blue Seeker' from which the handwriting samples above come refers to 'Holland Park'. Although the analysis starts of reasonably, Tony concludes "It could be that an element of inspiration for this poem may have come from something Marc saw in the park" ... "unfortunately there are no records available to help with that possibility", before citing circumstantial links.

  It is such a shame that Tony wasn't told that when John Peel arranged for the photo session with Marc and Steve in the Autumn of 1967 with Ray Stevenson, Marc suggested using Holland Park because of the 'Magic Roundabout' murals painted on the fences would make good 'backdrops'. A series of photographs from this session have been published in limited numbers in the past and featured on CD's.

  In addition, there is second crucial link between Holland Park and Marc Bolan - Syd Barrett. Marc's wife June was formally Syd's girlfriend. In an interview June said of Syd, "He used to go to the Youth Hostel in Holland Park" ... "He used to come round to my house at five in the morning covered in mud from Holland Park." In another interview June said, "Marc worshipped Syd", so to suggest an attraction to Holland Park as somewhere Marc's 'Idol' visited is certainly worthy of consideration. Therefore, it is a shame that Tony was not able to use all the information available for his analyses.

Summary

  In summation, some of the text is probably best 'dipped into' and in places a good 'arts' background would no doubt help. The numerous handwriting reproductions, along with the enchanting photographs give the book a nice 'look'. It is something of a Coffee Table Book, which the 'casual fan' may choose to buy, although if they find it in a bookshop, a flick through the photos may 'swing it'. For the more 'completist fan' and those with a specific interest in Marc's writings, 'From Beneath The Wizard's Gown (Marc Bolan Unglittered)' will make a nice addition to the 'Bolan Shelf'.

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