Name: To Ease My Troubled Mind: The Authorised Unauthorised History of Billy Childish
Brand: Ted Kessler

Bonus disc

Bonus disc: No

Catalogue number

9781399624374

Colour

Format multiplier

Download code

Download code: No

Rough Trade Exclusive

Rough Trade Exclusive: No

Extended format

Extended format: Yes

Format Books GB

Hardback

Format detail

Signed and Numbered by&nbsp;Billy Childish and Ted Kessler&nbsp; 7 inch EP, woodcut, book uniquely bound and designed by Billy Childish in a Solander Box designed by Billy Childish

Limited edition

Release date

2024-08-15

Signed copies

Signed copies: Yes

Supplier GB

Hachette

Tax rate GB

Zero:0

UPC / Barcode

Hardback | Signed Copy

9781399615532

Extended format: No

2024-07-07

Signed copies: No

Artist

Ted Kessler

Genre GB

Music

Label GB

White Rabbit

Newest Listed Items

The story of Billy Childish, the most famous artist you have never heard of, by legendary music journalist Ted Kessler.

In 1977, 17-year-old Steven Hamper was a stonemason in the dockyards of Chatham, Kent. His heart, however, beat in sync with the punk rock tremors of the era, seduced by its celebration of amateurism. So, in a gesture of revolutionary defiance, he took a 3lb club hammer and smashed his hand, vowing to never work again. In doing so, Steven Hamper metamorphosed into Billy Childish, a true renaissance man.

Childish has since remained steadfastly true to punk's DIY cred, becoming one of the most recognisable and authentic voices in whichever artistic endeavour he undertakes. He has released over one hundred and fifty albums of raw rock and roll, punk, blues and folk, written many volumes of searing poetry as well as several autobiographical novels. But what he is perhaps best known for in recent years is his painting, for which he is now critically, commercially and internationally feted. He hasn't changed course in any of his disciplines, though. The world just caught up with the sheer volume of his brutally honest work.

To Ease My Troubled Mind is a mosaic portrait collated over a year of interviews with Childish, as well as with close family, ex-girlfriends, band members past and present, friends, foes, collaborators, even his therapist. It is an unflinching, yet frequently spiritual and funny portrait of an artist whose obstacle-strewn upbringing formed the backbone of his work: raised in a broken home and abused as a child, Childish was an undiagnosed dyslexic in remedial class at school who is nevertheless now Britain's most prolific and uncompromising creative force.

To Ease My Troubled Mind: The Authorised Unauthorised History of Billy Childish

Books GB

Discover To Ease My Troubled Mind: The Authorised Unauthorised History of Billy Childish by Ted Kessler. A deep dive into the life of the enigmatic artist. Available in book format from White Rabbit.