Rock and Roll Year By Year [Hardcover]

Luke Crampton (Author), Dafydd Rees (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 29, 2003

From Abba to ZZ Top, from the birth of rock and roll in the 50's to the hybrid music of the present day, Rock & Roll Year By Year is the definitive guide to the music that influenced generations and helped shaped history. Meticulously written to cover key stories of every year in every decade with insights into the seminal artists and music of the times, this is the only full-color guide that details all the major events in the first fifty years of rock and roll. Co-founders of Original Media and www.musicinformationdatabase.com, creators/executive producers of CNN's global music series, "World Beat" and "The Music Room", Luke Crampton and Dafydd Rees have written more than 20 books about popular music, including DK's Encyclopedia of Rock Stars.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School-Two prolific music writers have followed their Rock Stars Encyclopedia (DK, 1999; o.p.) with this massive photographic chronology of a musical and cultural phenomenon. At first, it seems to walk and talk like a coffee-table production, but the contents reveal considerably more substance than the usual oversized gift volume. Produced with the cooperation of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, the book is as notable for the careful research behind the text as for the striking pictorial layouts. Beginning with January 1950, when Sam Phillips opened his first recording studio in Memphis, rock history is chronicled month by month through December 2002, ending with the sudden death of punk star Joe Strummer of The Clash. In addition to the facts, figures, and personalities highlighted within each month, lively essays summarize significant developments of each decade, charts compare No. 1 hits in the U.S. and the U.K. during identical periods, and entertaining sidebars provide expanded commentary and quotations. Every page includes fascinating historical photographs and color images of artifacts from the museum's rich collections. Though considerably larger than a backpack, this visual feast should tempt even thin-book devotees, and provide food for some cross-generational conversation among music-loving teens and adults.-Starr E. Smith, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Co-founders of the Media Research & Information Bureau -- the largest chart-compiling and music research agency in Europe -- Luke Compton and Dafydd Rees have written more than 20 books about the music business, including DK's Encyclopedia of Rock Stars.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 14 and up
  
• Hardcover: 600 pages
• Publisher: DK ADULT; 1st edition (September 29, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0789496496
• ISBN-13: 978-0789496492
• Product Dimensions: 12.4 x 10.3 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,112,125 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Valiant effort but not perfect., February 23, 2004

By 

Larry Willis (Phoenix, AZ United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rock and Roll Year By Year (Hardcover)

This is probably the best book of its type to date. But it is not without it's problems. The first is that both of its authors are British. Hence it skews to the right of the Atlantic. Not that I don't feel myself, that British Rock has produced some of the best acts of all time, but for instance there are more entries on and photos of Gary Glitter than Alice Cooper. Gary Glitter? This is just one example. Some one in a review here mentioned the happy inclusion of Yes. If you look through the entries for that band you'll find at least Two mistakes saying that Fragile was their third album, (it was the fourth) and that Owner of a Lonely Heart is from Big Generator (it wasn't). This may seem like nitpicking but these are just the equivalent of what might be found on one page. It makes one wonder how many more of the presented "facts" are not trustworthy? You expect more from music critics on the voting board of the Rock & roll Hall of Fame. In the end though it's a valiant effort they undertook, and I'm glad I bought the book. It could/should have been a five star book though.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nothing Else is Worth Knowing, January 8, 2005

By 

mr.everyoneshouldlistentome - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rock and Roll Year By Year (Hardcover)

I just got this book and let me just say that the words inside are some of the finest ever put between two covers. It's all so informative. So much so that one may think that it is perhaps, too informative, but I doubt it. It's perfect. You'll find some of the most obscure and some of the most well-known facts, on the same page. Incredible.

The main thing I like about this book, is that it's much different from these types of timeline books. Rather than saying "this happened, then this happened", it does that and provides much more information by giving background stories of many of the artists, and also providing a lot about the impact the person or band had. Also, it's great how the devotes entire pages to show the significance of some important events in rock history. This does a lot to show why some of the greatest bands of all time are considered some of the greatest band of all time. So after reading this, you'll never wonder why again. The bold type really helps out too, if you're looking for someone imparticular. Also if you're a Beatles fan, the only thing you're not likely to find out is how many times they went to the bathroom each week. So, in short this is the rock n' roll book I've seen and I highly recommend it. Anything not in here probably isn't worth knowing.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars top drawer, nugget-packed gem of a tome, November 22, 2003

By 

Max Ramming (Atlanta, GA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rock and Roll Year By Year (Hardcover)

It was like your highschool yearbook. . . racing through the pages to find your first musical love. If you didn't find it, you didn't look in the right place. They covered it ALL. Geezers and kids alike will spend hours reading up on their favourite groups. Couldn't remeber that group whose song was big during your first date? Just look up the year/month/day. Truly an amazing feat of research.