Have a Cigar!
The Memoir of the Man Behind Pink Floyd, T. Rex, The Jam and George Michael
£20.00
IN STOCKWhen the music impresario Bryan Morrison died aged 66 in 2008, after two years in a coma following a polo accident, he left behind his unpublished memoir. As a music publisher, manager and agent, Morrison had represented the Pretty Things, Pink Floyd, T. Rex, The Jam, Wham! and many others. He was also the founder and owner of the Royal County of Berkshire Polo Club.
In this candid and outspoken book, Morrison reveals the true stories behind why Syd Barrett of Pink Floyd once bit his finger to the bone, the Pretty Things were banned for life from New Zealand, and he became involved with the Kray Twins. He also tells how The Jam kissed goodbye to success in the USA, he received death threats when Robin Gibb left the Bee Gees, and signing a publishing deal with George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley as Wham!
Spanning the golden age of British rock ’n’ roll from the 60s to the 80s, this is the extraordinary story of a cigar-chomping, East End entrepreneur with a passion for art and design, fashion, music and polo.
Meet the author Bryan Morrison
Bryan Morrison studied art and design at St Martin’s and the Central School of Art in the early 1960s before leaving to manage R&B group the Pretty Things. Within five years, the Bryan Morrison Agency grew to be one of the leading pop music agents in London, booking clubs, concerts and tours. Morrison also became the manager of Pink Floyd and through his publishing company he would later represent Marc Bolan of T. Rex, Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees, Paul Weller of the Jam, George Michael and many others.
As well as his music business interests, in 1965 Morrison was the co-founder with Rodney Kinsman of the furniture designers OMK and later they opened the Kinsman Morrison Gallery in Mayfair, London, which specialised in modern art prints. He also managed and invested in the young fashion designer Bill Gibb, opening shops in London, New York and Athens, and staging a pioneering fashion show at the Royal Albert Hall, before the company was declared insolvent because of its debts.
In the early 1970s, Morrison took up polo, becoming an accomplished player and one of the few amateurs with a three-goal handicap. He joined the Guards Polo Club, where he was mentored by the Duchess of York’s father, Major Ronald Ferguson. Then in 1985 he opened the Royal County of Berkshire Polo Club, whose members have included Prince Charles and his sons William and Harry, and he is credited with making polo into a fashionable sport.
In 2006, Bryan Morrison suffered a serious polo accident after falling from his horse, which caused severe brain injuries and left him in a coma, in which he died in 2008.
Reviews for Have a Cigar!
Have a Cigar! is a thrilling affair that takes the reader from the handy fists and feet of London’s East End gangsters to the inner turmoil and confusion of Syd Barrett’s by then Pink Floyd-less world. Morrison’s account affords tremendous insight into the twilight world of the groups, the song publishing highs and lows, the gigs and parties; also putting a degree of flesh onto one or two particular stories, the skeletal bones of which are already known, especially to those who have geeked-out and freaked out to the myriad sounds that made up British psychedelia… It’s an easy-going, hugely enjoyable read, the pages seemingly just turning by themselves as you wonder, eagerly awaiting to learn of what’s going to happen next.
Lenny Helsing, Shindig! Magazine
For me, reading ‘Have a Cigar’ was like finding a box in the loft that you had completely forgotten about which, upon opening, reveals treasures that have been locked away in your memory and transport you back in time… Even if you would not describe yourself as being a huge music fan, I defy you to not be gripped and sucked in by this cigar-chomping music impresario.
Amanda Best, Haynet
The book is written in an easy to read, down to earth style and tells of a lifestyle that could have stepped straight off the pages of a Jilly Cooper novel… Given the sheer force of personality that shines through on the pages of the book, it seems unsurprising that Morrison was attracted to the world of polo. As he says, ‘A game of such intensity, skill, bravery and presence of mind that everything else pales into significance.’ I read the book in one sitting; it is an incredible insight into Morrison’s life and truly a privilege to have even a glimpse of the sheer force of nature he was as a businessman.
Louise Broderick, Haynet
The book reveals the often cut-throat nature of the music business and the chaotic and often destructive lifestyles of those involved… Have a Cigar is a riveting read, bouncing through his music business deals, a brush with The Krays, Bill Gibbs’ fashion business disaster and Morrison’s dogged determination to stick with recording artists he believed in.
Nigel Carr, Louder Than War
