Tenement Kid

A new autobiography written by Primal Scream frontman Bobby Gillespie has been published by White Rabbit Books this autumn. ‘Tenement Kid’ was written during lockdown in 2020, and reflects upon the early days of the outspoken singer’s life up until the release of Primal Scream’s Mercury Prize-winning album ‘Screamadelica’ in 1991.

The memoir opens with Gillespie, now 60, recounting his upbringing in a single-room tenement house in Glasgow during the Thatcher years. It was from this underprivileged background that the singer would go on to find success in music, first joining Scottish rock band The Jesus and Mary Chain in the mid-‘80s, before reaching acclaim with Primal Scream in the ‘90s following a series of collaborations with dance music producer Andrew Weatherall, beginning with 1990 single ‘Come Together’.

Weatherall tragically passed away in 2020 at the age of 56, having left an indelible mark on British dance music as one of the most influential DJs of the ‘90s. Gillespie, meanwhile, has continued as a member of Primal Scream to this day, and also released the album ‘Utopian Ashes’ with Savages singer Jehnny Beth, in 2021. ‘Tenement Kid’, meanwhile, is the latest work to be released by White Rabbit, a publisher specialising in music literature, whose other titles include works by house DJ Carl Cox, The Doors’ guitarist Robby Krieger and grunge vocalist Mark Lanegan.