Customer Reviews

American Troubadours: Groundbreaking Singer-Songwriters of the 60s

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this book has chapters on some of the best songwriters of the era, ranging from the, more or less anyway, fairly well known ( like tim buckley and phil ochs)to the undeservedly obscure, like david ackles. these artists do vary in quality, but the stories are always at least interesting, and often fascinating. there are lots of fine pictures of the performers in the book as well,if anything the work is a little short. people who enjoy the writings of richie unterberger and vernon joynson probably will like this as well

Some of the artists showcased in this slim volume have devoted cult followings now; others are still unjustly in the shadows. All are uniquely gifted songwriters & performers whose work deserves to be better known. I knew very little about some of them, even though I was a young teenager during their prime; but after finishing this book, I sought out several of their CDs & was not disappointed. For example, I was already somewhat familiar with Tim Buckley's music, but Tim Hardin & Fred Neil were little more than legendary names to me, with just a couple of songs each known only through cover versions ... now their music is a vital part of my life. Brend does a fine job of giving the reader a basic biography & artistic overview of each man, as well as a feel for the times that shaped them, and which they helped to shape. Well worth reading! And be sure to investigate the music when you're done, via the samples available here at Amazon.com. You'll be buying a few new CDs yourself!

I'm pleased to see this book still available. These performers, although not well known by the general public, changed the direction of pop music. By most accounts, for the better too. The good news is that their recordings are more easily available now than for many years in the past. These folks were story-tellers. Too bad that most country and pop performers now are so boring. This group definitely were not.