Change of Seasons

by John Oates, Chris Epting

Overview

“One is struck . . . by how talented [Oates] was [and] how hard he worked at it. It took lots of effort to look that smooth to the tune of 80 million copies.” —Austin American-Statesman

John Oates was born at the perfect time, paralleling the birth of rock ‘n roll. Raised in a small Pennsylvania town, he was exposed to folk, blues, soul, and R&B. Teaming up with Daryl Hall in the late 1960s, they developed a style of music that was uniquely their own. John uncovers the grit and struggle it took to secure a recording contract with the legendary Atlantic Records and chronicles the artistic twists and turns that resulted in a DJ discovering an obscure album track that would become their first hit record. This is not your typical rock and roll story. John was focused on creating great music. Along the way he achieved incredible success, battling the ever-changing pop music landscape and coming to terms with complex managerial, business, and personal challenges.

Daryl Hall and John Oates have over 20 albums together, more than 60 million records sold, and 29 Top 40 hits. They are the most successful pop duo in the world and members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. And yet John’s story has never been told. Relying on his many hand-written journals, he brings to light many fascinating stories spanning his entire life with a journalist’s eye and a poet’s heart.

“Fascinating. . . . Highly recommended for fans of Hall & Oates.” —Library Journal

“Plenty of entertaining anecdotes.” —Publishers Weekly

“An exceedingly entertaining, somewhat rueful chronicle of his life. . . . Andy Warhol, Michael Jackson, David Bowie, Lou Reed, Quincy Jones, Miles Davis, and Edgar Winter all make appearances.” —Booklist, starred review

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250082664
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	03/26/2024
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	495
Sales rank:	363,482
File size:	87 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

JOHN OATES grew up outside of Philadelphia in the early ‘50s. At Temple University, he met fellow musician Daryl Hall. Since the two formed Hall & Oates in the early ‘70s, they have recorded 21 albums which have sold over 80 million units, making them the most successful duo in rock history. John lives in Nashville and Colorado.

CHRIS EPTING is an author and award-winning journalist who has written for many publications including The Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Loudwire.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Partnership 1

Just a Kid 6

The First Lessons 21

The First Season Serious Music-1960s 27

Rating 29

Wrestling 32

The Avalons 34

Summer of '66 39

First Year in Philly 43

The Record Deal 46

Meeting Daryl 49

Drive-In 54

Rocky Mountain. High. 56

Moon Walk 61

Valentine 64

Jerry Ricks 68

The Second Season Melody for a Memory-1970s 75

The Draft 77

Europe 81

Back in Philly 98

Making a Move 102

Desperation Leads to Action in LA 108

The Audition-11/22/71 114

Philly Mean Streets 118

The First Album. The First Real Tour. 123

Parkas 131

She's Gone 133

Abandoned Luncheonette 137

The Cover 150

Road Writing 156

War Babies 158

War Babies in the Woods 163

The Silver Album 169

Jamaica 172

Silver. and Gold. 178

1975 Part II 186

1976 191

Helen Hobbs Jordan 197

Racing. Life Accelerated. 200

Road Trip 206

All Things Must Pass 210

The Third Season Possessions, Obsessions-1980s 215

I Hear the Voices 217

T-Bone 227

Pop Artists 233

The '80s Sessions 236

Here She Comes 240

Smoking Guns, Hot to the Touch 244

A Word from Our Sponsors… 249

Video Killed Some Radio Stars 253

More Racing 260

Flying 263

July 13, 2985 267

Wall Street 276

Financial House of Cards 281

The Fourth Season Back Together Again-The 1990s 291

"Guys Like You" 293

The Mustache 299

Aspen Return 303

Inner Athlete 307

Going to the Chapel 315

Prelude to Reclamation 317

Chickens 319

Jasper 323

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch 327

Build a House, Birth a Baby 331

Midnight, June 19, 1996 333

Hawk 340

Finally Meeting Hunter 346

Ashes in the Sky 353

Money, Money, Money 358

Show Us the Money 361

When You Start to See the Light at the End of the Tunnel 363

Peak Perspective 366

Afterword-Whole Oates 369

Acknowledgments 375

Index 379

Editorial Reviews

01/09/2017
The mustachioed half of one of the best-known duos in pop history, Oates offers a memoir that might lead even his greatest critics to revisit the ’80s icons. Encouraged to sing by his mother’s traditional Italian family, Oates found rock ’n’ roll and his first guitar before he was seven. Half-hearted journalism studies at Temple University in the late 1960s gave him time to explore the dynamic Philadelphia music scene before partnering with Daryl Hall. Stardom was a long time coming, and en route Oates took interesting detours—including a hippie wanderjahr across Europe and an auto-racing career. Defined by a relentless work ethic and interests ranging from Beat poetry to Delta blues, Oates is a child both of the ’60s and blue-collar America. Oates can gloat, pointedly listing his accomplishments as a skier, wrestler, pilot, and tennis player. Yet, above all, charm and curiosity distinguish him from the standard-issue pop star. Oates writes with brio on songwriting and the studio (although little about his relationship with Hall), but his early years and travels are even more intriguing. Such an engaging narrator is Oates that it’s easy to miss the strict limits to his revelations—romance goes almost unmentioned and ’80s excesses are discretely elided. The second half loses focus, but there are still plenty of entertaining anecdotes on such topics as having Hunter S. Thompson for a neighbor. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

"His story stands on its own, and it’s one that Oates delights in telling. . . . A charming, almost breezy retrospective. . . . Change Of Seasons is Oates’ moment in the spotlight, which he handles with aplomb." —AV Club

"Change of Seasons is not the Hall and Oates story; it’s the John Oates story (he’s kept diaries for decades), and one is struck not only by how talented he was but how hard he worked at it. It took lots of effort to look that smooth to the tune of 80 million copies." —Austin American-Statesman

"[A] fascinating memoir. . . . Highly recommended for fans of Hall & Oates and those interested in how much work it takes to be a hit act in the music business." —Library Journal

"Oates offers a memoir that might lead even his greatest critics to revisit the ’80s icons. . . . Charm and curiosity distinguish him from the standard-issue pop star....Plenty of entertaining anecdotes on such topics as having Hunter S. Thompson for a neighbor." —Publishers Weekly

"An exceedingly entertaining, somewhat rueful chronicle of his life . . . . Andy Warhol, Michael Jackson, David Bowie, Lou Reed, Quincy Jones, Miles Davis, and Edgar Winter all make appearances." —Booklist, starred review

"Oates has reason to boast, but his prose is workmanlike and modest; more than anything else, he comes off as a fan of many artists of the day, from the Beatles to the Temptations and the earliest manifestations of Elton John and David Bowie. There’s some Zelig-like right-place, right-time things happening here, too, such as a residence at LA’s famed Tropicana Motel: as he writes, nicely, 'can’t say I wasn’t blown away by the fabulousity of it all because I was.' There’s some sex and drugs along with the rock ’n’ roll, but Oates emerges, like Hall, as a pretty sensible guy who recognized when he was going off the rails; in the end, he emerges as a seeker not of pleasure but of wisdom . . . Oates’ musical admirers will find much to like here." —Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

02/01/2017
Oates, half of the legendary pop duo Hall & Oates, recounts his path to stardom in this fascinating memoir. Raised in a middle-class Italian American family, he develops an early interest in music, experiments with drugs while a student at Temple University during the Vietnam War era, and begins a fortuitous partnership with Daryl Hall that parlayed itself into a record deal in the early 1970s. Prior to becoming superstars in the 1980s, they struggled, yielding a few big early hits ("She's Gone," "Sara Smile"). Oates recalls the travails of a hardworking musical group constantly touring and recording, sometimes succeeding, often failing. With 1980's "Kiss on My List," Oates details the dizzying blur of superstardom in the new age of music videos and corporate-sponsored world tours. After retreating from the limelight, Oates experienced financial straits as a result of shoddy management and byzantine record deals. He discusses being a husband and father and relates stories about his notorious next door neighbor, writer Hunter S. Thompson. VERDICT Highly recommended for fans of Hall & Oates and those interested in how much work it takes to be a hit act in the music business. [See Prepub Alert, 10/31/16.]—Brian Flota, James Madison Univ., Harrisonburg, VA

Library Journal

John Oates, the renowned rock singer and composer, and author Chris Epting collaborate on both the synthesis of Oates’s journals for this memoir and on the audiobook narration. While the book is not about the rock act known as Hall & Oates, the creative collaboration and strong friendship of the pair is artfully explored. Language is cogent and precise and, at times, lyrical. Sadly, only the introduction and conclusion allow the listener to hear the dulcet baritone of Oates himself. Epting performs the bulk of the audiobook in a workmanlike fashion with some inappropriate pauses and other weaknesses of a first-time narrator. While Epting’s timbre seems grating for the long haul, listeners will be absorbed by the life of John Oates, whom one could view as a privileged and self-possessed artiste. W.A.G. © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine

MAY 2017 - AudioFile

2017-02-06
Amiable memoir by the shorter, quieter partner in the renowned duo Hall & Oates.In partnership with Daryl Hall, Oates has racked up some impressive chart stats indeed. As he opens his look backward, he rehearses some of them: countless live performances, seven platinum albums, more than 40 million albums sold, and "fame, fortune, freedom." Though Hall & Oates are remembered as a creature of the mid-1980s, Oates points out that his friendship and collaboration with Hall dates back a decade and a half earlier, in the second generation of rockers, informed by the likes of Bill Haley, Elvis, and the soul sounds of the Philadelphia streets. Oates has reason to boast, but his prose is workmanlike and modest; more than anything else, he comes off as a fan of many artists of the day, from the Beatles to the Temptations and the earliest manifestations of Elton John and David Bowie. There's some Zelig-like right-place, right-time things happening here, too, such as a residence at LA's famed Tropicana Motel: as he writes, nicely, "can't say I wasn't blown away by the fabulousity of it all because I was." Oates works quickly over his earliest years, marked by a stint as a high school wrestler and time in journalism school, before settling into the journeyman stuff, where knowing fans will find a wealth of notes on how the hits came into being, from the early "Abandoned Luncheonette" to the later, more polished, but far less engaged "Ooh Yeah!" ("my head and my heart were not into it"). There's some sex and drugs along with the rock 'n' roll, but Oates emerges, like Hall, as a pretty sensible guy who recognized when he was going off the rails; in the end, he emerges as a seeker not of pleasure but of wisdom, even as the duo acquires new street cred in the place of being a "Reagan-era punchline." Oates' musical admirers will find much to like here.

Kirkus Reviews