The Wit, Wisdom And Written Word Of A Wolverhampton Wanderer
Sunday, 30 September 2012 04:30
Tyla J Pallas has certainly been a busy boy of late not just with his recent ‘A Graveyard of Empty Bottles MMXII’ CD and it’s associated sold out shows, but also with the release of two spoken word albums (‘Clobber’ and ‘A Little Snifter’) a reissue of his ‘Responding To Auditory Hallucinations’ book of lyrics and poetry, and now this his first proper hardback book, ‘Dog Tales’ – Phew!
Tyla has of course dabbled in this arena once or twice before with the mini books that accompanied both the treasure chest version of ‘Lullabies For Tough Guys’ and his ‘Mightier Than The Sword Vol.2’ album, and it was via the aforementioned piratey box of bounty that I got my first fix of Tyla’s written ramblings. The author within the charismatic frontman coming across almost how I would have imagined Tony Hancock might have sounded recounting his misadventures spent fronting a dirty and dangerous rock ‘n’ roll band in an unrealised moment of comedy gold. Now I know that might not exactly sound like your typical warts ‘n all type of biography material, that’s because it isn’t – remember this is Tyla we are talking about here folks and as you know, he’s not about to sensationalise stories just for the sake of it. Tyla’s writing is as understated as the man himself and, as I perceive it anyway, his writing style is more about capturing a place in time and wandering around that situation with a huge grin on his face, and for that reason, I became an immediate fan of his writing style.
So picking up my copy of ‘Dog Tales’ via Tyla’s Ebay store – in all its hardback signed first edition glory (link below folks), I was initially disappointed to find that a fair few of the spoken word tales that I had only heard recently on ‘A Little Snifter’ had also been included here, but being a completist, these are the risks one takes I guess? However being a completist with failing eyesight also meant I had failed to notice the subtitle of the ‘A Little Snifter’ album was ‘SPOKEN WORD EXCERPTS FROM DOG TALES’ – So one epic fail on my part there eh!
Being the dreaded “c” word (that’s completist just in case you’re wondering) also meant that I of course had to posses the book in Kindle format too, so for those of you who like to fit in with the pensioners on holiday, the link for that version is also below. Whichever version you do decide to pick up though, I can certainly wholeheartedly recommend ‘Dog Tales’ as a cracking if somewhat obtuse glimpse into the world of Timothy Taylor. I say obtuse because ‘Dog Tales’ flicks effortlessly between tales of self discovery – both physical and chemical, and then back into normal family life, and whilst there is a charm within Tyla’s turn of phrase within these particular tales, it is as you would probably expect, the stories that span our hero’s life in or around bands, where he talks surprisingly quite vividly about how albums fell/came together, along with the associated tales of life on the road hi jinks, that really makes the twenty pound plus entry fee worth your while.
I don’t want to spoil ‘Dog Tales’ for you by giving anything away, but in no particular order the parts that had me grinning like an idiot involved our man recanting how he couldn’t even afford a pint when ‘A Graveyard of Empty Bottles’ charted the first time around, how in later life he managed to survive a sabbatical to India and had a very close call with some snake venom,and inadvertently outing a one time wannabe Sex Pistol whilst describing how Paul Hornby came to drum on ‘The State We’re In’, whilst along the way namedropping a fair few people we all might know, like John Dryland at Cargo Records and Dom Daley at Uber Rock….yup that Dom Daley at Uber Rock!!!!!!
If I were really looking to add anything to that previous comparison to the works of Tony Hancock, then I would say that overall ‘Dog Tales’ builds into something akin to watching back to back episodes of Seinfeld. In so much as there is a hell of chaos going on, but in reality it’s chaos out of nothing, and perhaps this is also where this book comes closest to mirroring the work of Charles Bukowski. However having read a fair few of Bukowski’s books I would have to say some of Chuck’s “supposed” antics make the (dog) tales Tyla tells actually seem like kids stories by comparison, but again this for me is part of Tyla the author’s charm – understating his subject matter – so I’m not complaining.
The only really small niggle I do have with ‘Dog Tales’ though (and this certainly doesn’t come as an easy critique from the man known as Johnny Thumbers here at URHQ – due to my bad spelling) is when even I start picking up on some of the grammar used, you begin to realise the final draft of the book really could have (not “of”) done with one last proof read. Look, I’m not intending to pick holes here, it’s just I kind of expect perfection from someone like Tyla, especially when it comes to his writing, largely because this is a man I have always deemed to be smarter than the average bear.
Anyway enough of me being pernickety, because looking back now at my copy of the aforementioned ‘The Personification of ‘Wisdom And Beastliness’ which accompanied ‘Lullabies For Tough Guys’, I’m just kind of amazed it’s actually taken our man 11 years to build on the winning format created within that excellent book, and as with that previous title I must also mention the illustrations that adorn each chapter of ‘Dog Tales’ – because yet again these are some of the finest you will find direct from the pencil of the Wolverhampton Wanderer.
For those of you now hovering over that “Buy Now” button I would just add that ‘Dog Tales’ is written in a style that oozes Tyla’s down to earth British charm- and once you pick it up you will not want to put it down. I would suggest to appeal to wider audiences perhaps a more ordered approach to the chapters might work for a ‘Dogs Tales 2’, but that’s just my OCD kicking in there…so you can all tell me to “fuck off” at this point if you want.
As it is, ‘Dog Tales’ is a book that demands to be read by anyone who has ever thought the slightest piratey thought whilst in the middle of forming a band, or has ever worn a pair of creepers with the soles falling off. If you’ve done both then you are obviously Tyla J Pallas.
Enjoy!!!!!
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