Everything Is Combustible : Television, CBGB's and Five Decades of Rock and Roll: The Memoirs of an Alchemical Guitarist

Legendary Rock and Roll guitarist. Founding member of Television. Masterful storyteller. Richard Lloyd s acclaimed memoir is now presented in trade paperback format. Written in Lloyd's inimitable, frequently humorous style, Everything is Combustible chronicles, through vignettes, Lloyd's colorful early life, starting in Pittsburgh and soon moving to New York City, and then details his teenage travels and encounters with music legends including Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, John Lee Hooker, Buddy Guy and Keith Moon. Lloyd recounts the founding of Television, the band's rise alongside other bands and personalities in the 1970 s New York music scene, and the legend-making of the unparalleled music venue CBGB. As the rock n roll tales unfold, he accompanies them with insights into his approach to music and the electric guitar. Lloyd s mid-career vignettes detail his solo years, including the backstory of critically praised records such as Alchemy and Field of Fire, his drug addiction and recovery, his 90s-era work, and touring adventures with artists such as Matthew Sweet, John Doe, and Robert Quine. Throughout the book is an undercurrent Lloyd s continually evolving spiritual-philosophical approach to life, emerging from the conscious digestion of the highs and the lows both ends of the same stick. In Everything is Combustible, Richard Lloyd relates his life, both inner and outer, in the narrative style, digging beneath the events and revealing their meanings. Everything is Combustible is a must-have for any fan of Television and the heyday of the New York rock music scene. It fills a void in the written record as the first complete account of the band, including the making of their records and touring, from a founding member of the band. Considered a foundational band of alternative rock, Television s debut record, Marquee Moon, is widely viewed by critics and musicians as one of the greatest albums ever recorded. As one half of Television s unique guitar sound, and a legendary solo artist in his own right, Richard Lloyd s music has influenced a range of bands and artists from U2, Johnny Marr and Joy Division to R.E.M., Sonic Youth, Wilco and John Frusciante.


"You will laugh, you will cry, you will be amazed." - David Fricke, Senior Writer, Rolling Stone Everything Is Combustible is a sex, drugs and rock n roll-fueled romp, chock full of wildly entertaining vignettes culled from a five decade-long career - TimeOut New York "Fascinating...Zen-like in its philosophical and spiritual outlook" - The Huffington Post "Boldly visionary, an absolute treat from start to finish" - The LA Beat "... easily surpasses most of its rivals in giving a full sense of a creative life, in all its intensity and random thrills"- MOJO "... transcendently describes all avenues of living and dying in the same life" - Substream Magazine ... you can t stop reading. A truly remarkable achievement. - The Big Takeover Magazine I literally couldn't put it down - what a journey! I love the way Lloyd finds a way into deeper areas - I haven't seen anything like it in other rock memoirs. - Danny Goldberg From nearly the first page, you re already strapped into the ride, clinking ever higher above the ground as Lloyd weaves together thrilling and sordid tales of his time spent in mental institutions, seedy rock clubs, and those formative years as a member of one of the greatest and most impactful bands in the history of rock and roll, Television. - UPROXX