"You know all blues men are liars except you and me, and sometimes I ain't so sure about you".

Reminds me of the old northern saying, "All the world's queer, save thee and me - and I'm none so sure about thee."

I do think that biographers should start at least with a basic sympathy for the person whose life they're describing. There may be discreditable aspects to a person, but there's a big difference between showing all sides of someone fairly and doing a hatchet job.

I recall buying Albert Grossman's book "Elvis" - which was full of sneers and jibes - and thinking, "Why did you bother?"