Customer Reviews

The Greatest Rock & Roll Stories: The Most Outrageous, Magical and Scandalous Events in the History of Rock & Roll

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What a riot this book was. A lot of these stories I had heard before, but others I hadn't. Entertaining and amusing, for those who like this kind of book I would recommend this highly. The author makes a few good points. The hostility towards long hair in the 1960's was real, and he points out that long hair didn't become "mainstream" until the early 70's with the general population. There is also a chapter on the Woodstock festival, and Fein points out that the proximity to NY and the fact that the event got filmed made it seem as if that was the only festival that summer. In fact there were many others that have been forgotten along the way. Little tidbits such as that give this book credibility beyond the gossipy nature of this kind of book.

I have read a great many books on music in my time, and as a result I'd probably already heard about a third of the stories in this volume in one form or another. However, this book is one of the only places you'll get all the good stuff between a single pair of covers, and that alone makes it worth the money for anybody interested in rock folklore.

As for the book itself - well, Fein is reasonably amusing, and many of the stories would be hilarious even if they were related by Sly Stallone during a stand-up comedy routine. Minus points, however, for the insistence on changing fonts halfway through each story, which is particularly jarring on both the eyes and the flow of the narrative (if you think I'm just nitpicking, check it out before you speak).

One line summary - it's not a classic, but you'll get a few laughs, and learn about the things any self-professed music fan should know into the bargain. Worth a look.

While randomly reading sections of this book for about 30 minutes, I found several quotes and song lyrics which just weren't correct (e.g. lyrics for "We're An American Band".) It makes me wonder how accurately this book was researched. After all, it is kind of important get quotes and lyrics right when using them to substantiate a story.

Mr. Fein does a great job of retelling many familiar Rock and Roll myths as well as a few outright lies. He really did his homework - it is just too bad his dog didn't eat it