Customer Reviews

Unknown Legends of Rock 'n' Roll

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this book yesterday and haven't been able to put it down since. My jury is not all the way in on this (I have to give it four stars to make room for Greil Marcus' MYSTERY TRAIN and, perhaps, Lester Bangs' PSYCHOTIC REACTIONS AND CARBURETOR DUNG), but I'm clearly hooked on it for the short haul. I'm not sure I've read a book like this before. There is plenty of sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll here (especially the latter two), interesting tales of quirky, sometimes insane, behavior, as well as some strong arguments for why these people deserve more attention. It's easy to praise the merits of, say, the Beatles or the Clash, but Unterberger successfully engages me in (what is for most of us) musical terra incognito. I've only heard of about 1/3 of the artists Unterberger covers (I wouldn't say that Nick Drake, Syd Barrett, and Sandy Denny are exactly "unknowns"), but he makes me want to try and track down the records of some of these people (e.g., Skip Spence, Aisha Kandisha's Jarring Effects, etc.). This book reminds me--a little--of Nash's BLOOD LETTERS AND BAD MEN (for some reason--I guess I'm thinking of the Joe Meek piece) as well as Kenneth Anger's HOLLYWOOD BABYLON (b/c so many of the artists discussed come to bad ends via alcohol, drugs, insanity, etc.). The CD (45 minutes long) is interesting, but my jury is nowhere near decided on IT. At around $20, this book is a very good deal. It's not for everyone, but if you think you MIGHT be interested in it, you probably will. Here in a few days I might kick myself for not giving it five stars.

A friend gave me this book as he knew I was interested in this sort of thing, and I thank him every so often for doing so. As a musician and a music fanatic, I must say Rithchie Unterberger's book really opened my eyes to some incredible stuff I had never dreamed existed.
I must give my profound gratitude to Mr. Unterberger again (I emailed him a couple years back) for introducing me to some criminally underrated music groups that are now among my favorites. To name a few: The Music Machine, John's Children, United States of America and Savage Republic. I remember diligently tracking these groups down after reading this book and buying their albums even though I had only heard one or no songs of theirs at all. Mr. Unterberger's writing style seemed to speak to me exclusivley, and precisley communicated to me EXACTLY what the music sounded like in his words. When I bought the albums, I wasnt very surprised by how good they were on the first listen, as I already "heard" the music based soley on his descriptions alone. That proves how good this book really is. I am a rock fan in general, from new-wave to psych to mainstream alt-rock to aggro-japanese-noise-core, and this book gave me a profound new respect for the sixties. Being a child of the eighties, I did not have the luxury of hanging out at the Factory and/or Haight Ashbury in their '60s beatle-boot heydays. So ostensibly, the only way I could have found out about these wonderful groups is through a book such as this (god knows even NPR would not play most of this stuff during their interludes). Hats off to Ritchie Unterberger for his scholarly knowldege of the TRULY great groups of the sixties.

Unterberger is a critic who really does have a deep knowledge of rock history, especially in terms of little-known artists who have had an unexpected influence on others. Don't be too concerned with who exactly is in this book, because in a world where there's ten thousand unknown bands for every successful rock star, it would be impossible to cover any representative number of "unknowns" in one book. So Unterberger has written about artists that he's familiar with, and he's especially keen on those that were noticed by other open-minded musicians, and have actually influenced the course of rock history in unexpected ways. A few surprise twists are bands that famous people were in during their developmental days, most notably Marc Bolan (T. Rex) in the unheralded psychedelic band John's Children. Also featured in the book is much needed information on artists that most astute rock fans probably have heard of, but for which there is precious little information available, such as Love and Nick Drake. So while it's clearly impossible to cover everybody, Unterberger has done a real service to the artists he includes here. This book has turned me into a real fan of both Love (a tremendous band that all serious fans of rock history should be aware of), plus the intriguing Middle Eastern troupe Aisha Kandisha's Jarring Effects. I have also found myself very interested in Savage Rose, the Music Machine, and the Deviants, but I wish I could track down some of their stuff. For that reason (among others) the CD that comes with this book is a great bonus.

Having finished Irwin Chusid's "Songs in the Key of Z" it made sense to keep going with "Unknown Legends of Rock 'n' Roll". This book deals with more "accessible" people and groups, meaning that out of the 70 artists discussed, the average rock music person may have heard of at least one quarter to maybe half of them. Syd Barrett, the founder of Pink Floyd, and singer Sandy Denny are two readily familiar names. Joe Meek, the British creator of "Telstar", is also among the artists profiled.
British, American, German, Dutch and Iron Curtain artists from the 1950's through the 1990's are featured in this book. The psychedelic garage bands, British acts that didn't make the invasion of the 1960's and solo acts that possessed as much talent as writers and/or performers; that for lack of the "Big Break" or the machinations of the managers and/or record companies prevented the world at large from knowing of their existence.
Each performer is examined chapter by chapter; some with stories more heartbreaking than others. Unterberger made the effort to speak with as many of the performers as possible, getting them to reflect back on their struggles, accomplishments, and where it went wrong. If the performer was deceased or unavailable, he spoke with someone closely associated with the act. His prose is a first person account with extensive quotes from the artists and there are plenty of black and white photos that add to the telling. This book is very readable and informative. At the end of each chapter is "Recommended Recordings" where Unterberger lists available records and CDs for that artist.
Which leads to the BIG plus already with this book: it comes with a compact disc so you are able to hear what you are reading about! At the end of the book right before the index are 2 and half pages devoted to the disc. Some of the songs have previously been unavailable.
So this is a book that must be part of a rock music lover's library.
Over 400 pages, lots of photos, so many stories and personalities from the last 50 years... And a Compact Disc! This is a pleasurable reference book - a real keeper!

I love books like this. Despite the fact that many of these acts would be considered failures, they obviously mean or have meant something to someone. Not everyone in this book can be considered a true unknown, but it would take a knowledgable person indeed to have heard of a few of them. One of my favorites is a fifteen year old kid named Joe Docko. Joe's band, the Mystic Tide, is one of the bands whose songs have been included on the cd that comes inside the back cover. "Frustration" is one of the great undiscovered moments in garage rock history, and Joe Docko tossed out the original masters because he didn't think anyone would care. If that isn't a tragi-comedy I don't know what is.

this book is informative and written well enough as not to be a laborious read. recommended for those that are seriously interested in little known musicians of some importance. if you spend a lot of time listening to the top 40 or scanning the charts to see what's hot this is probably not for you. make sure you get a copy with the cd included.

This is an absolutely indespensible book for those of us who are really into rock and roll. The chapters on Creation, Love, Hampton Grease Band and a few others make this a necessary purchase. I do agree with some pundits who note that there are some artists included who are hardly `unknown'...and apparently there are no Canadian `unknown legends'...but those are very minor quibbles. Highly recommended.

Fun review of dozens of artists, labels, & musical trends which are known only to a small number of serious rock trivia buffs. Great for younger listeners who weren't even born when most of this music was happening.
Also includes a CD of 12 songs by different artists mentioned in the book;
you'd probably never get to hear them any other way. Surprising depth of personal information about many "enigmas". Highly recommended.

Shows that for every Beatles and Rolling Stones, there are many equally talented individuals you never hear about. After reading about what can go wrong to prematurely stop a career, it makes the ones like the Beatles and Stones seem all the more amazing. I kept thinking: "what if after returning from Germany, John, Paul, George and Ringo had gotten discouraged and decided to call it quits." I guess we would now be sitting around reading about them, trying to imagine what they would have sounded like and wondering how far they could have gone. I felt some sadness while reading this book, because that is excatly what seems to have happened to these musicians. Ah well... the CD (which comes with the book)--Ritchie could you part with more-- is a nice touch. I was familiar with some of the bands: Music Machine, 13th Floor Elevator and I was inspired to seek out some of thier work on CD. Would love to see part two...ever heard of Shawn Philips, a great undicovered talent, once played lead for Donovan and still has quite a loyal following or Beast, a group from Colorado..circa 1966-68, adapted jazz to rock before it was fashionable......

This is the book for the rock fan that has reached a temporary dead end in his/her quest for great music. Even if you're already familiar with some of the artists profiled here, there will be new and interesting albums for you to track down. I am particularly grateful for being introduced to The United States of America. In fact, the only dissapoiontment for me was Unterberger's total dismissal of Daniel Johnston.

I'm using this book as a buyers guide whether I'm at the local used record store or surfing the web. Amazon.com's got has a suprising number of these reissues in stock.

All of you asking 'where's the Big Star chapter?' are answering your own question. They don't need one anymore.