Groovy Bob: The Life and Times of Robert Fraser [Paperback]

Robert Fraser owned a gallery in London at the height of the Swingin’ Sixties, and—as no less than Paul McCartney has said—he all but personified the period for his vast network of friends, fans, and hangers-on. This book tells Fraser’s story through the voices of those friends, including McCartney, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Kenneth Anger, Malcolm McLaren, Bridget Riley, and many more. An unprecedented close-up of the man who introduced the world to Andy Warhol, Peter Blake, Claes Oldenburg, Keith Haring, and Jean-Michael Basquiat,Groovy Bobbrings the ‘60’s London art scene, its wild parties and creative fervor, unforgettably to life.

Harriet Vyneris the author ofAmong Ruins, coauthor of Jools Holland’s autobiography,Bare Faced Lies and Boogie Woogie Boasts, and cocurator of a recent exhibition on the life and work of Robert Fraser at Pace London.

Prologue
Introduction

1. An Aesthete in the Making, 1937-50
2. 2. The Best Club in the World, 1950-55
3. A Bit of an Amusing Character, 1955-57
4. Garden of Enchantment, 1958-62
5. Belgravia Pansies, 1962-65
6. Groovy Bob, 1965-67
7. Swingeing London, 1967
8. Grooving on Magick Current, 1968-69
9. Lost Days, 1970-75
10. The Ruffian on the Stairs, 1975-86

Afterword
Image Credits
Acknowledgments
Index
 

“Ifherewas where Robert Fraser was, there was no better place to be.”

“A fascinating slice of social history.”

“The definitive portrait of the man for whom the stars once aligned.”

"An engrossing biography....Again and again, anecdotes from a seemingly endless party remind the reader just why the 60s are endlessly raked over: ex-army colleagues, poets, footballers, pop stars, actors and artists mingle in Fraser’s world, along with drug deallSk