Michael O'Connell, Ian Brown, Already in Me: With and Without the Roses [PDF]

During a short but remarkable period of British musical inventiveness over the early years of the 1990s, one band stood head and shoulders above all other players on the scene which came to be known as ‘Baggy’. The Stone Roses defined that era in the same way as Elvis had done in the ‘50s, The Beatles in the ‘60s and The Pistols in the mid 1970s.

Lead singer and co-songwriter in that groundbreaking band was one Ian Brown, a maverick amongst men and a hero to millions. As frontman for the ‘Roses through 5 years, 2 albums and numerous singles (the way classic pop was supposed to be presented), Brown became the focal point for the entire movement.

Since the Stone Roses split in 1995, Ian Brown has become the only member to go on to succeed as a solo artist and has done so in style, producing a run of superb records that prove he was so much more than merely one element in a sum of parts.

This book traces Brown’s life and times before, during and after The Stone Roses, taking the story right back to the beginning and bringing it completely up to date. Covering all aspects of his fascinating life including his 6 month prison sentence in the notorious Strangeways, handed down for threatening behaviour on an airline, his dalliances with Noel Gallagher and his early life when he consistently nursed a desire to emulate his musical heroes. Author Michael O’ Connell has spoken to many close colleagues and friends of Ian Brown to put together a complete and unauthorised account of a man who became the spokesman for a generation.