Rock Lives: Profiles and Interviews [Paperback]

Timothy White (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 15, 1991

Invaluable. -Entertainment Weekly

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Among the 59 rock 'n' roll legends portrayed here are Pete Townshend of The Who, Mississippi bluesman Robert Johnson, Elvis Costello, Stevie Nicks, Sting and Prince. "Eminently browsable," said PW. "The interviews catch the stars generally relaxed and willing to talk about their lives and music." Photos.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

White has a marvelous ear: not only for "an art form so triumphantly incendiary" as rock music, but for the rhythms in the lives and conversation of those who make that music. In these essays, many of which come from White's work over the last 20 years with Crawdaddy and Rolling Stone , the author has accomplished the neat feat of updating the information without losing the sound of the singer's voice or the taste of the time. Divided into three sections, "Pioneers," "Pilgrims," and "Progeny," some 60 essays capture the fervid deviltry of Jerry Lee Lewis, the hesitant eloquence of Eric Clapton, and Stevie Nicks in a different pose from airhead angel. White writes with passion and intelligence, and never gets in the way of his subjects: no one can make Jimmy Page intelligible, or Michael Jackson real. Some of this material appeared in different form in his Rock Stars (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 1984). Recommended for virtually all collections Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 6/1/90. --GraceAnne A. DeCandido, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 832 pages
• Publisher: Holt Paperbacks (November 15, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805018611
• ISBN-13: 978-0805018615
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.7 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,584,743 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I received this book as a gift..., February 11, 2011

By 

Doug DePew "Author of "SAT & BAF!"" (Missouri, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rock Lives: Profiles and Interviews (Paperback)

My wife gave me "Rock Lives: Profiles and Interviews" as a present several years ago. I sometimes teach classes about different recording personalities, and this book is a tremendous resource. It's a collection of interviews and articles about different artists that have been influential in rock and roll.

The book is organized into sections including: pioneers, pilgrims, and progeny. Each section includes a different era. The pioneers section ranges from Robert Johnson, the great blues artist, to James Brown. The pilgrims section ranges from Bill Haley to The Ramones. The progeny ranges up into the stadium rock, disco, and MTV eras.

It's a nice book to keep sitting around. Because of the structure, it's good for fifteen or twenty minutes of reading. I keep ten or fifteen book marks in it at a time because I bounce back and forth to different articles depending on my mood. It's excellent for that. I believe I've read every article in the book at least one time, and some of them many more than that. I never fail to learn something. Some of the articles are dated because of when the interview was conducted. It's interesting to see what they had to say at that time, though.

I like this book. It's very big at nearly 800 pages, but it isn't cumbersome because of the structure. It makes a great bathroom book. Each article is only ten or twelve pages long. It includes a wide variety of artists, and I think most people will find plenty of interest.