Black Tooth Grin: The High Life, Good Times, and Tragic End of "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott

Great book!

Owner of two CDs back in the days I wanted to know more about the origins of the band at it quick falling apart. Was not disappointed the complete start to fish of the bands history and its members is all in this book. One of the must hard rock bands that was able to stay around when grunge and alternative music was making a big entrance . Couldn't put the book down worth the read.

The book begins which a preamble describing the horrible events of the night Dime was murdered. We all know what happened, but not exactly HOW it happened, and the author does a great job of describing the events with edge of your seat tension. The rest of the book chronicles the rise of Dime/Pantera into the realm of Metal Gods. A couple of thing stood out. Dime was such a gifted player, a veteran of the club circuit at the ripe age of 17, obliterating his competition, some which were years older than him. Second it shows just how honest, unassuming and sincere Dime was in life. Not to mention how down to earth, he and Vinny lived with their mom well after Pantera became a national act, and one of their first acts of generosity was to make sure SHE was taken care of. Vinny and Dime were the perfect Yin/Yang. Dime represented the good time rock and roll, Vinny was the heady business type with very underrated savvy in a cutthroat business. A great deal of time is spent on the typical 'backstage' antics, but a lot of time is spent on the evolution of the band from a hair metal outfit to the bludgeoning juggernaut that Pantera became,all through it, we get glimpses of Dime's humanity through touching annecdotes that remind us just how special he was as a human being. Dime loved to party, but it never interferred with his true love: guitar shredding, and this theme is repeated throughout the book. My only criticism was that I would have liked a little more perspective from the "outcast" Phil Anselmo, his take, his thoughts etc...but then the book is about DIME, really, and it's a minor criticism....well worth a read!

I remember when Pantera first made it and being from Texas myself I also remember Pantera before they "really" made it big. In the late 80's and the the 90's I saw them several times. I even met my wife at a Pantera show at the Summit in Houston. Dime bag was digger than life and the day we was shot and knowing he had been shot many times it still didn't hit me that he could be dead because he was so much larger than life. Reading this book and learning all the intimate details of his life and the life of the band really made me feel I knew him that much more as a person and not just the blazing guitar wizard that he was. I think the book was raw and untamed and brought back many specific memories and details in my own life. This book is a great read on different levels. If you are a fan of Pantera or a fan of rock music or if you are into the guitar aspect of this book and as in my case I love to read anything that is a biography of musicians then this book is absolutely for you to read. I rate this book right up there with Nikki Sixx's "The Herion Diaries" once I started I had to finish before I put it down. Only regret all the music that we will never hear from him and it really sucks that I never had the opportunity to just "one pull" with The Diamond aka Dime Bag Darrell !! R. I. P.

Great biography of one of the most amazing guitarists of all time. I loved it. I've been into Pantera for over 20 years, read every Guitar World column, countless interviews, etc, and a lot of the material here I never knew about.

If your a heavy metal fan you need to read this it tells all its a awesome book must read

I'm a devote Pantera and Dimebag fanatic. Had to give it a read. It's brought me so much closer to the man. Having visited his and his brother's grave site, I feel a circle has completed for me and I've found more closure than I could have imagined. THANK YOU for sharing your insight and personal knowledge with me. I will miss him but he's still shredding my face off! God Bless and Cheers!

I knew the ending. I remember getting the phone calls from friends and all they said was “Dime’s been murdered”; what more could we say to each other? But I WAS NOT PREPARED FOR THE ENDING!! TO READ IT IN SUCH VIVID DETAIL!This is a great book, very well written and truly explores the lives of Dimebag and Vinnie. I think he also was respectful in covering the break up of Pantera. He doesn’t portray it in a bias way, or try to prove it was all Phil Anselmo’s fault etc.Overall I thoroughly enjoyed reading this except the ending. Be sure you have a box of Kleenex and maybe even a Black Tooth Grin to fortify you to read that.

The only sources Zac Crain seemed to have for writing the book were the first Pantera singer Terry Glaze who it sounds like hadn't seen him in years, someone from Dimebag's guitar company and a few others who only knew him briefly. His brother Vinnie clearly had nothing to do with the book nor did his girlfriend or anyone else really close to him. The book is short and goes into little detail. One minute he's playing at home, the next Pantera are releasing an album. He doesn't have the little details, clearly only what he's taken from interviews from music magazines. He even describes lots of stuff from the Pantera home videos as stories.The book is well written and enjoyable to read. But I really didn't learn much about the guy I didn't already know from seeing interviews with the band over the years. It would be great to see a Dimebag book that really had the stories from those close to him. This isn't it and is obviously just a cash in.

Good

Apart from finding out that Dimebag was a fun guy who drank a lot I didn't learn much! The author clearly had limited information about Darrell as the book seemed very padded out in places. There wasn't enough honesty either, where were the sex and drug stories? I'm sure there was more going on than just partying with a black tooth! It probably would have been better if this was a Pantera biography instead, may have been more to tell. Dimebag Darrell was a great guitarist but this doesn't do him justice. For a better metal biography check out "Sabbath" Bloody "Sabbath" by Joel McIver.

Un libro imprescindible para los fans de Dimebag, aunque solo lo encontrarás en inglés.

More of a story and interview mix than a historical account of the events that lead up to his murder. Not bad, just not what I expected. It could have been so much better. It did not seem focused properly.