Ah! Donnie!

Add "The Story of Donnie Iris and The Cruisers" to your Christmas list.

That's the brand new, long overdue biography on Beaver County's resident rock star.

Award-winning journalist D.X. Ferris did a vast and unprecedented amount of research to chronicle, in plain-spoken prose, the one-of-a-kind story of how a kid from Ellwood City goes on to write a chart-topping song with Beaver County R&B band the Jaggerz, then 10 years later leads another regional band to national rock 'n' roll success.

Ferris -- a Pittsburgher and a Clevelander, just like Iris' rock band, The Cruisers -- follows through with the story of how Iris became one of western Pennsylvania's most beloved icons, who regales friends and onlookers with stories at his monthly cigar smoking events at Jergel's Rhythm Grille, where Iris and Ferris will conduct a book-signing Dec. 20. That will be the only way to buy the book until its national release in 2018.

Ferris, who previously wrote a book about thrash-metal pioneers Slayer, told me "The Story of Donnie Iris and The Cruisers" was the toughest thing he's ever done, largely because Iris and his bandmates have never been ones to boast about their feats, yet alone jot down important facts and dates for posterity.

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"It took a lot of drilling down and excavating and research," Ferris said. "I viewed this book as an opportunity to document some undocumented history. It started out with a question: 'Why weren't these guys bigger?' As a Pittsburgh guy, I think of them as gigantic, but the national perspective is that of a one-hit wonder, which isn't true."

Indeed, Iris and the Cruisers reached the Billboard charts an impressive seven times, with three of those songs -- "Ah! Leah!" "Love is Like a Rock" and "My Girl" -- climbing to the hallowed Top-40.

Though Ferris also was surprised to discover some Iris songs, faithfully played by Pittsburgh's WDVE-FM, never were released as national singles (though should have been). He begins his book urging readers first to blast  the Iris rocker "That's The Way Love Oughta Be" for a reminder of how he The Cruisers were an excellent -- and still enduring -- classic-rock band.

Personal tales in "The Story of Donnie Iris and the Cruisers" really surprise and resonate, filling in the gaps for even those of us who have befriended and followed Iris' career for decades.

The book includes Iris' young man recollections of hanging out at the Wolverine car hop and drag racing his '64 Pontiac Grand Prix on River Road, between Ellwood City and Beaver Falls, then later serving in the Army National Guard, included a time, armed with a bayonet rifle (but no bullets), where he was dispatched to guard a Pittsburgh liquor store during a 1968 racial riot.

"Donnie has a hungry heart, but he wasn’t born to run; Donnie dutifully stays where he is," Ferris writes, playing off a couple lyrics from Bruce Springsteen.

Readers get an extensive account of how Iris co-founded The Jaggerz, the band whose vocal harmonies swooped them from Beaver Falls to the top of the charts in early 1970 and a spot on Dick Clark's "American Bandstand." Iris penned the group's lone hit "The Rapper," and explains the origins of that novelty tune.

"I was just watching guys do their thing at the clubs, going up and rappin’ to chicks to get ’em up to their apartments. It was such an obvious thing to write about. The idea hit me in my sleep, and I woke up and started writing. I brought it in to the band. We brought stuff together in a group. Everybody was receptive to everything, and we worked hard at all the things that everybody brought in. I wrote the riff, too. At the time, I was kind of a Stones fan. And I liked the simple kind of riffs that (Keith) Richards did. That’s probably where I got some of the inspiration for some of the stuff on that tune. And then the strumming guitar was probably a Creedence Clearwater kind of thing."

Ferris does local music fans a service by outlining the Jaggerz' largely un-documented post-"Rapper" years, including how the band, led by lead singer Jimmie Ross, ended up backing Wolfman Jack on the famed deejay's solo album, and how decades later numerous hip-hop artists sampled the band's "Memoirs of The Traveler" (and ironically, not "The Rapper").

Following the Jaggerz's demise, Iris briefly joined Wild Cherry as that Steubenville band was headed toward an unglamorous ending, unable to duplicate the success of their smash "Play That Funky Music. " Ferris recounts a Wild Cherry gig from that era where rifle-toting guards in rural Tennessee made sure the band didn't back out of a show threatened by rain. Wild Cherry is where Iris befriended keyboardist Mark Avsec, who would become the co-lyricist and willing behind-the-scenes band leader for The Cruisers. 

The rest is a history to make Beaver Valley and Pittsburgh music fans puff out their chests with pride, as Iris and the Cruisers appeared on radio stations coast-to-coast, played for adoring fans in packed theaters and finished second in a Playboy magazine readers' poll with "Ah! Leah!" ranked only behind the Rolling Stones' "Start Me Up" for top song of 1981.

Local readers will recognize many landmarks, like Jeree Records in New Brighton, and Morry's Speakeasy in Rochester Township, where Iris jammed with local music star B.E. Taylor, and discovered future Cruisers guitarist Marty Lee Hoenes playing in a band called The Pulse.

"The Story of Donnie Iris and the Cruisers" is a treasure trove of information for Iris fans and local music nerds, and while a national release is set for spring 2018 (tentatively March 2) the band didn't want to miss the Christmas shopping season. Hence the free book signing party set for 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Dec. 20 at Jergel's, in Marshall Township, also to include an on-stage interview between Iris and comedian/podcaster/ex-WDVE jock Jim Krenn, who helped boost Iris' iconic presence through popular on-air comedy skits.

Iris authorized the book, though I reached out to him to get his thoughts on sharing so much of his life's story with fans.

"At first I felt a little apprehensive about it," Iris said. "Talking about myself didn't seem like something I'd be too crazy about. But after sitting down and talking to D.X. several times it got easier to relax and understand why he wanted to do it.

"There's a lot of history there behind all those songs; all those gigs, all the work," Iris said. "I found it to be enjoyable actually."

Having known Iris for 20 years, I'd add this: The book superbly captures his essence.

It's a unique story, and as the author says in his introduction, "The 50-year saga has surprisingly little heartbreak, bad blood and illegal contraband — but enough hard-won accomplishments, bitter defeats, qualified successes, behind-the-scenes intrigue and trials to keep the story moving."

Tidbits

*The first show sold out in two-and-a-half hours, so a second B.E. Taylor Christmas tribute concert has been booked for Dec. 21 at Capitol Music Hall in Wheeling, W.Va., with tickets at capitoltheatrewheeling.com. Members of Taylor's band will pay homage to the late-Aliquippa native's popular Christmas concerts, at times performing in sync with video images of Taylor, according to longtime keyboardist Hermie Granati.

**Beaver Falls rapper/promoter Antwan Carter, aka Pryme Sinny, will host a Black Friday Black Out party this Friday at Frank's Original Grill in Beaver Falls. DJ Kode Wred from radio station WAMO-100 will provide the tunes. The cover is $10, though ladies in all-black attire get in for free until 11 p.m.

Scott Tady is entertainment editor at The Times and easy to reach at stady@timesonline.com.

If you go

What: Donnie Iris book signing

When: 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Dec. 20. Comedian Jim Krenn will interview Iris following the signing at 7 p.m.

Where: Jergel's Rhythm Grille, 103 Slade Lane, Warrendale, Pa., 15086

Information: jergels.com.