This is the first biography of "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, the
revered guitarist for Pantera, who was murdered on stage by a
deranged fan in 2004. "Black Tooth Grin" is the first book to
document the life and times of "Dimebag" Darrell, the Texas-bred
pioneering lead guitarist of the million-plus selling heavy metal
band Pantera, who was tragically murdered on stage in 2004 by a
deranged fan - 24 years to the day after John Lennon met a similar
fate. Darrell Abbott began as a teenage guitar prodigy enamoured of
Kiss in Dallas, Texas. The son of an accomplished local country
musician, Darrell and his brother Vinnie formed a number of metal
bands before starting Pantera with livewire vocalist Phil Anselmo.
Within a few years superstardom followed, as did years of bad
behaviour, long nights of partying and endless touring for an
increasingly frenetic audience Pantera shows were legendary for
their enormous, tremendously aggressive mosh pits. Through it all,
Dimebag remained the most beloved figure in metal; a guitar hero to
hundreds of thousands of teenagers, and all who knew him comment on
his gregarious, friendly personality, as well as his enormous
tolerance for large quantities of alcohol. Dimebag was all about
good times, so when Phil Anselmo''s abrasive personality and heroin
addiction made it impossible for Pantera to continue, he and Vinnie
started Damageplan. It was while on tour with the new band at a
show in Ohio that Nathan Gale, a deranged ex-marine who was angered
over the break-up of Pantera and who was also under the delusion
that Pantera had stolen his lyrics, leapt on stage and opened fire,
killing Dimebag and two audience members before police arrived and
felled him with a shotgun blast to the head. Dimebag was buried in
a Kiss casket donated by Gene Simmons, holding Eddie Van Halen''s
iconic yellow-and-black striped Fender Stratocaster guitar. The
book is named after the "Black Tooth Grin", a mixture of Crown
Royal or Seagram 7 whisky and cola, which was the band''s drink of
choice.
關於作者:
Zac Crain is a music journalist who has written for American
Way and Spin. He lives in Dallas, Texas.