BOOKS
The Gospel According to Abraham From Delta Boy to Tour Manager Paul Abraham (The Word Verve)
Paul Abraham’s life so
far has been quite an ad- venture. Growing up in Delta Mississippi, all the young Paul could think about was getting out of the Delta. Well, he did, although he would later return with a new respect for the region and the amazing amount of great musicians who were born
there. He grew up in Leland, Mississippi, the same city where Edgar and Johnny Winter lived for a long time. Their dad was even Mayor, and Johnny Winter wrote a song called “Leland Mis- sissippi Blues” which appeared on his very first album. The Winter boys would move to Beau- mont, Texas, but they had already absorbed the mojo of the Delta by then. Abraham is a great storyteller, and the
memories in this book are all well written, bite sized chunks of his life from the time he saw the Beatles live in 1966, through his days in Atlanta during the ‘70’s, when he saw Little Feat three nights in a row at Richard’s with Bonnie Bramlett opening and singing backup for Lowell George. He speaks of seeing Lynyrd Skynyrd for
the first time at a club called Funochio’s in At- lanta. It was his first meeting with Ronnie Van Zant, and the two struck up an immediate friend- ship. Abraham was so taken aback by the band that he booked them for a gig with the band Warm opening up. Oddly enough, many years later, he world work for the band. It was after the airplane crash and follow-
ing the run of the Rossington Collins band, Gary and Dale Rossington started The Rossington Band. Paul was hanging out with Gary and Dale
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when word came down the pike that a Skynyrd survivors one off tour was in the works. Gary told Paul he wasn’t sure about joining in, but if Paul would come along, he’d say yes. So just like that, Paul went to work as security for the Tribute Tour, which found the Rossington Band opening for Lynyrd Skynyrd. It wasn’t long before Abra- ham became the Road Manager, a position he held for quite some time. The book has plenty of Skynyrd stories,
among them, many tales of the late great Leon Wilkeson. Abraham paints Thumper as one of the kindest, most generous human beings he’s ever known. Somehow, I have always seen him the same way. The stories just keep on coming, from the
infamous groupie Sweet Connie (as in the Deep Purple song “Smoke On the Water”) to adven- tures in NASCAR with Dale Earnhardt, to Bad Company, the Moody Blues, and the Allman Brothers Band. There’s great tales of his years as road manager for Billy Ray Cyrus during the peak of Billy’s career and his friendship with Billy and his family, including young daughter and future Hannah Montana and pop superstar Miley. Paul Abraham has written a very interest-
ing and engaging book filled with stories of a life well lived, a life filled with music of all types from blues to southern rock, from country to Ameri- cana. Paul’s writing style keeps you turning the page to see what happens next. The Gospel Ac- cording to Abrahamis a must-read for music
lovers.It’s a backstage pass, all-access. Get on the bus. You won’t regret it.
-Michael Buffalo Smith Order directly from
www.thewordverve.com
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