Jeffrey Morgan is a Canadian writer and photographerJeffrey Morgan, photographer who is best known for being the authorized biographer of both Alice Cooper and Iggy Pop and The Stooges.
He is also the writer of the graphic novel The Brides of Mister X and Other Stories which Rolling Stone called "one of the 50 best non-superhero graphic novels".The 50 best non-superhero graphic novels - Rolling Stone (November 16, 2019)
In 2021, New Haven published Morgan's autobiography Rock Critic Confidential as a hardcover coffee table book containing over fifty years of Morgan's writing and photography, with an afterword written by Cooper.
In 2022, New Haven published Alice Cooper Confidential: Confessions! Secrets! Fan Mail! a collection of Morgan's previously unpublished interviews with Cooper, with an afterword written by Dennis Dunaway.
In 2024, New Haven published Iggy and The Stooges: The Authorized Biography an expanded edition of Morgan's 2009 biography with a new introduction written by Stooges guitarist James Williamson and a new afterword written by artist Shepard Fairey.
In 2026, Portland Press published Morgan's first prose novel Her Name Is Axis
Writing Creem Morgan became the de facto Canadian editor of rock music magazine Creem after he was recruited by its editor, Lester Bangs, in the spring of 1974.Mentor. Editor. Lester. A Personal Appreciation - Creem (August 2003)
Morgan's first published record review, of David Bowie's 1965 Pye Records single "Can't Help Thinking About Me", was published in the August 1975 issue. Morgan's writing then went on to appear in every issue of Creem until the magazine's demise in November 1988.CREEM Magazine archive - November 1988 In 2003, at the request of photographer Robert Matheu, Morgan renewed his relationship with the magazine by writing reviews and interviewsChapter And Verse: The Rick Wakeman Interview, Part 1 - Creem (June 2004)Chapter And Verse: The Rick Wakeman Interview, Part 2 - Creem (July 2004) for Matheu's new Creem website every month for five years until its demise in 2008.
Other writing 1960s Morgan's first published writing appeared in the November 1965 edition of the Brown Junior Public School magazine Brown News and Views. Morgan had two poems printed: "The Sun" and "ELEVEN DAYS."
1970s After being discovered by Bangs but prior to his first publication in Creem, Morgan graduated from Northern Secondary high school where he served in his final year as President of the Student Council.List of Northern Secondary School alumni#Arts and literature Morgan then spent the balance of 1974 honing his craft as a rock critic and rock photographer for York University's weekly newspaper Excalibur where he reviewed and photographed concerts by Elton John and George Harrison.
While attending York, Morgan studied electronic music with James Tenney, who performed on Terry Riley's album In C.Jeffrey Morgan interview - M3 Event During this time, Morgan was the host of The Air Pirates Show on York's campus radio station CHRY-FM."The Air Pirates Show" - CHRY-FM From 1975 to 1978, Morgan was the editor of a free monthly Canadian rock magazine initially titled Cheap Thrills then StageLife and finally Roxy. All three incarnations were published by Concert Productions International, which was a major promoter of rock concerts and tours in North America run by Bill Ballard and future Rolling Stones concert promoter Michael Cohl. In addition to editing the magazine, Morgan also wrote for it extensively both under his own nameJeffrey Morgan in the Musical Periodal Index of Library and Archives Canada and that of the more vociferous alter ego he created in April 1975, "Machine Rock".Machine Rock in the Musical Periodal Index of Library and Archives CanadaIs Meat Loaf The Orson Welles Of Rock? - StageLife (February 1978). pp. 22.A Solid Gold Rush - Cheap Thrills (January 1977). pp.7. Six months later, Tee Vee Records in Canada released a compilation album titled Machine Rock: 23 Original Hits.Machine Rock: 23 Original Hits - Tee Vee Records #1038 Ballard and Cohl briefly considered suing Tee Vee for damages until they found out that Morgan had not registered his alias as a trademark. During this period, Morgan was also the staff copywriter for CBS Records Canada, for whom he wrote back cover liner notes for an album of baroque music by classical guitarist Liona Boyd. After reading them, however, Boyd demanded that Morgan's notes be deleted before the album was released, exclaiming: "You can't print this! He makes me sound like a rock star!" In 1977, Morgan's poetry was published in Rolling Stone magazine (Our Lady of Perpetual Motion) and Bakka magazine (Neuromantics I-V). In the late 1970s, Morgan was asked by Robert Christgau to participate in The Village Voice's annual Pazz & Jop critics' poll. In 1986, Christgau noted how Morgan skewed the "black caucus" vote by casting 30 points for James Brown's album Gravity.
1980s During the 1980s, Morgan was a contributing writer for Wayne Green's magazine Digital Audio and Compact Disc Review. In 1986, several of his reviews were reprinted in Digital Audio's Guide To Compact Discs which was published by Bantam Books. During the mid-1980s, Morgan was the host of The Machine Rock Show on the Rogers Television community channel in Toronto."The Machine Rock Show" - Rogers Cable 10 During the late 1980s, Morgan was the host of The Air Pirates Show on Ryerson Polytechnical Institute's campus radio station CKLN-FM."The Air Pirates Show" - CKLN-FMCKLN-FM#CKLN alumni
1990s During the 1990s, Morgan wrote reviews and biographies for LAUNCH Media, including a concert review of Diamanda Galás on her Malediction & Prayer tour, which Galás posted on her website.Carry On Screaming: Diamanda Galás Live at Massey Hall During the early 1990s, Morgan was the host of Cyberphonics on community radio station CFCR-FM in Saskatoon, which featured a five-minute spoken word segment, The Nuclear Hoedown, where he voiced the Jazz Geek and The Kapusta Kid Saskatchewan."The Air Pirates Show" - CFCR-FM In 1992, Morgan was asked by Rob Bowman to name the Lou Reed anthology that he was assembling with Reed for RCA Records. Morgan named the three disc box set Between Thought and Expression, after his favorite Velvet Underground song "Some Kinda Love". In return, Bowman thanked Morgan in his booklet liner notes to the anthology. In 1997, Morgan's Creem interview with William S. Burroughs was translated into Spanish and reprinted in Barcelona's AVUI newspaper.
2000s Between 2004 and 2009, Morgan wrote an award-winning weekly newspaper column for Detroit's Metro Times titled Jeffrey Morgan's Media Blackout.Jeffrey Morgan's Media Blackout - Volume One In 2010, the column relocated first to rocksbackpages.com and then to Morgan's own website.Jeffrey Morgan's Media Blackout - Volume Two In 2006, Morgan was asked to submit a list of his ten favorite Canadian albums for tabulation in Bob Mersereau's hardcover book The Top 100 Canadian Albums, which was published in 2007 by Goose Lane Editions. In 2008, Morgan wrote the introduction "What Is and What Will Always Be" for the hardcover book Sonic Boom: The Impact of Led Zeppelin. In 2009, Morgan told the story of how Bangs discovered him in Curse You, Lester Bangs!!! which appears in the hardcover book CREEM: America's Only Rock 'n' Roll Magazine published by HarperCollins. Also in 2009, Morgan wrote a feature review of the Queen album Hot Space for the hardcover Voyageur Press book Queen: The Ultimate Illustrated History of the Crown Kings of Rock.
2010s In 2010, Morgan wrote a review of the Bachman–Turner Overdrive song "Takin' Care of Business" for Mersereau's follow-up hardcover book, The Top 100 Canadian Singles. In 2012, a previously unpublished contemporary concert review of The Rolling Stones performing at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto on July 15, 1972, which was written by Morgan "the very next day in the heat of the moment", was published in Portuguese in the limited edition hardcover book Rolling Stones em Portugal. Morgan's review was illustrated with a previously unpublished photograph of the Stones playing Cobo Hall in Detroit, taken by Robert Matheu the night before on July 14, 1972.The Rolling Stones em Portugal - List of Contributors In 2013, Morgan wrote a feature review of the first Rush album Rush for Voyageur's hardcover book Rush: The Illustrated History. In 2014, Morgan wrote the liner notes for the album Wicked by the 24th Street Wailers. Also in 2014, Morgan was interviewed by Punk Globe Magazine about his writing and photography In 2015, Morgan was interviewed by North Toronto Post magazine about his student days at Northern Secondary including his tenure as Student Council President, his rock photography, and his career as a rock critic and biographer.North Toronto Post (February 2015). The School of Rock 'n' Roll: How a few music essays led to life as a rock critic and CREEM editor. p. 34. In 2017, Morgan was interviewed by Hard Rock Daddy's Inferno of Rock Report about his career as a rock critic and photographer.
2020s In 2020, Morgan wrote the introduction "Call Me Crazy" for the hardcover book Headquartered: A Timeline of The Monkees Solo Years. Also in 2020, Morgan signed with New Haven Publishing Ltd. in the United Kingdom to write his memoirs. In 2021, New Haven published Morgan's autobiography Rock Critic Confidential as a hardcover coffee table book containing over fifty years of Morgan's writing and photography. In 2022, New Haven published the second volume of Morgan's autobiography Alice Cooper Confidential: Confessions! Secrets! Fan Mail!. In 2024, New Haven published the third volume of Morgan's autobiography Iggy and The Stooges: The Authorized Biography. In 2025, Morgan interviewed film director W. D. Richter and screenwriter Earl Mac Rauch for the 40th anniversary of The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension.The World Watch One 40th Anniversary Interview with W.D. Richter and Earl Mac Rauch In 2026, Portland Press published Morgan's first prose novel Her Name Is Axis.
Alice Cooper In 1992, Morgan began writing the authorized biography of Alice Cooper, which would take him seven years to complete.Jeffrey Morgan interview - Music Vice His finished biography, titled Alcohol and Razor Blades, Poison and Needles: The Glorious Wretched Excess of Alice Cooper, All-American, appears in the box set The Life and Crimes of Alice Cooper which was published by Warner Bros. on April 20, 1999.Alcohol and Razor Blades, Poison and Needles: The Glorious Wretched Excess of Alice Cooper, All-American
Morgan also wrote the liner notes for two other Cooper albums: 2001's Mascara and Monsters: The Best of Alice Cooper and the 2002 reissue of Welcome To My Nightmare. In 2003, the International Journal of Academic Psychiatry cited Morgan's authorized biography in their paper "From Alice Cooper to Marilyn Manson: The Significance of Adolescent Antiheroes". In 2011, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum further cited Morgan's authorized biography as "Recommended Reading" about Alice Cooper, alongside Alice's own 1976 autobiography Me, Alice.Alice Cooper: 2011 Rock Hall inductee In 2012, Morgan appeared with Cooper and record producer Bob Ezrin on the BBC World Service radio documentary The Bizarre and Influential World of Alice Cooper.The Bizarre and Influential World of Alice Cooper - BBC World Service In 2021, Cooper wrote the afterword to Morgan's autobiography Rock Critic Confidential which was published by New Haven on June 28, 2021. In 2022, Alice Cooper Group bass guitarist Dennis Dunaway wrote the afterword to the second volume of Morgan's autobiography Alice Cooper Confidential which was published by New Haven on September 15, 2022.
The Stooges