“Crucially it succeeds in nailing the driven personality of a self-starter motivated by a steely self-belief”: Unofficial Peter Hammill biography Rock And Role is perfect companion to recent box set

The recent Charisma & Virgin Recordings 1971-1986 box set captures Peter Hammill performing in Montreal in 1974. His scorching rendition of German Overalls – his psyche-shredding account of Van der Graaf Generator being on tour – ends with a ferocious buzz-saw howl that prompts an outbreak of fervent cheers and a larger wave of boos from the crowd.

That mixed reaction typifies Hammill’s position as an acquired taste: a progressive music scene outlier whose soul-wrenching material inspires either dazzled adulation or sceptical bafflement.

Joe Banks’ authoritative 500-page exploration of Hammill’s solo career – lavishly crammed with photos, posters and other ephemera – is the perfect accompaniment to that satisfyingly big box. Adopting a chronological trajectory, these highly accessible critiques are nicely pitched for both seasoned fans and curious newcomers.

Brimming with details and events surrounding the recordings, the author’s primary focus is on Hammill’s discography covering the 1970s to the 1980s, alongside VdGG’s albums from the same period. A comprehensive overview of the key releases from the post-Charisma period onward is also presented, ensuring Hammill’s story feels very much up to date.

Though not an authorised biography, Hammill himself cast a fact-checking eye over the text and, as the author describes in the acknowledgements, “answered the long stream of obscure questions I sent his way.” While the subject resists offering any pronouncements on the book, Banks’ interpretations of the recurring themes that stalk his work ring true and provide a nuanced assessment.

Extra weight comes from new interviews with musical and business colleagues. There’s also commentary from the woman who was Hammill’s romantic partner for much of the 70s. That relationship – or the aftershock of its dissolution – was chronicled on Over; and she reveals there was, of course, another side to that story.

Hammill is portrayed as a rounded human being, subject to all of the requisite foibles and contradictions. Crucially, Banks succeeds in nailing his driven personality of a self-starter motivated by a steely self-belief. Throughout, there is a tangible sense of the restless creative spark that has fuelled a diverse body of work, which, even accounting for its experimental diversions, remains boldly consistent.

Rock And Role: The Visionary Songs Of Peter Hammill And Van Der Graaf Generator is on sale now via Kingmaker Publishing.