Customer Reviews

Da Capo Best Music Writing 2001: The Year's Finest Writing on Rock, Pop, Jazz, Country, and More

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Another collection on music writing.from Da Capo, this edition does not dissapoint admirers of the previous year's entry. Hornsby has chosen well, representing a broad spectrum of styles and artists (though it must be said that women and black artists are given relatively short shrift). The most interesting pieces seem to be, once again, those on the least mainstream artists, probably because so much has been said about the hitmakers before. Still, all the pieces are at least interesting (however, I don't understand why NPR editor Sarah Vowell's short essay on Al Gore is included). Standouts include terrific novelist Steve Erickson's attempt to capture the mercurial Neil Young on paper; a sad tribute of sorts to the forgotten South African Zulu, Solomon Linda, who improvised the melody to the song we know as "The Lion Sleeps Tonight;" a lengthy New York Times piece on the impact of hip-hop culture on whites and blacks, and how they in turn shape the culture; and Metal Mike Sauders making a surprisingly good case for Disney Radio being the ultimate independent station. More disappointing are a nostalgic homage to the gangsters that ran the early rock business by the usually powerful Nick Tosches, a prosaic account of a Barbra Streisand concert by a non-fan, and an uninformative tribute to Jeff Buckley by his neighbor. But, as I said, all of the material here is at least interesting, and there's much here that will inspire readers to listen as well.

Nick Hornby opens his introductory essay to Da Capo Best Music Writing 2001 (Da Capo Press) with an admission. He was in his fifth decade before he got his first regular music-writing gig, for The New Yorker. His first fax from a major label was a press release saying that a leading female artist had signed an exclusive deal with a brand of shampoo. He wonders whether the fax should feature in this anthology: music writing should reflect what's happening, and "what's more representative of the zeitgeist than this sort of crap? Isn't this what they mean by synergy?"
Hornby has captured the spirit of the age with his selections of 2001's best (American) music journalism. There are pieces that couldn't have been written at any other time, on Napster, say, or Eminem. But he hasn't wasted space trying to be hipper than thou, and there's a timelessness to the best pieces: who they're writing about isn't as important as how they're written. One of the best isn't really about music at all: Robbie Fulks describing his tax audit (on the web at www.openletters.net/001002/fulks001005.html). There's Memphis writer Robert Gordon's sensitive report on the disintegration of Jeff Buckley, singer Mike Doughty debunking the myth of dangerous rock, and Rian Malan on the convoluted provenance of `The Lion Sleeps Tonight'. Hornby initially wanted to showcase a new, young group of writers (in fact, one piece examines the dilemma of the ageing music writer, a topic Hornby himself was sneered at for discussing in the NY Times of 23 May 2004). But he found the strongest work came not from pimply webzine writers but from veterans - and venerable outlets such as The New Yorker and the New York Times. Nick Tosches relishes the links between music hipsters and hoodlums, and Bill Buford's exemplary profile of Lucinda Williams perfectly captures a languid, literary, Southern tone. While Richard Meltzer's bitter diatribe about Almost Famous confirms music journalism's perennial-adolescent reputation, pieces such as Malan's - which sees the descendants of the composer of `Wimoweh' receiving thousands in unpaid royalties - show how useful the genre can be when it steps away from dealing in "product", hip or otherwise.

In this edition of Da Capo's "Best Music Writing" guest editor Nick Hornby has put the emphasis on relatively established writers tackling music-related themes though not necessarily the music per se. Two of the standout pieces from this mold are South African journalist Rian Malan (author of the incredible memoir "My Traitor's Heart") on the vicissitudes of the continuing legal wrangling over "Wimoweh" in which New York business sharks in essence defrauded its illiterate South African writer Solomon Lindo who died in poverty; and Nick Tosches funny piece on a group of now elderly wiseguys reminiscing on the underworld connections that made 1950s-1960s rock and roll. Granta editor Bill Buford contributes a very revealing portrait of alt-country singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams. Three unusual and enjoyable pieces are alt.country singer-songwriter Robbie Fulks' encounter with the IRS (think low-rent Willie Nelson), the fan letter of Jonathan Lethem (editor of the subsequent 2002 collection) to the Go-Betweens, and Jim DeRogatis' acrimonious interview with Third Eye Blind singer Stephan Jenkins in which he invites Jenkins to give as good as he gets. A good compilation, would make a good gift for anyone interested in popular music.

A first-rate collection of music writing assembled by Nick Hornby. As excellent as I would expect from Mr. Hornby, author of the music obsessive's novel, "High Fidelity".