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. 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.