The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll (Revised and Updated for the 21st Century) [Paperback]

Holly George-Warren (Author), Patricia Romanowski (Author), Jon Pareles (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 30, 2001

Completely updated with new entries and extensive revisions of the previous 1,800, The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia Of Rock & Roll is the authoritative volume on the world's music makers -- from the one-hit wonders to the megastars.

In 1983, Rolling Stone Press introduced its first Rock & Roll Encyclopedia. Almost two decades later, it has become the premier guide to the history of rock & roll, and has been selected by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame & Museum as its official source of information. Giving full coverage to all aspects of the rock scene, it tells the story of rock & roll in a clear and easy reference format, including complete discographies, personnel changes for every band, and backstage information like date and place of birth, from Elvis Presley to Eminem.

Since the last edition, the music scene has exploded in every area, from boy-bands to hip-hop, electronica to indie rock. Here, the Encyclopedia explores them all -- 'NSync, Notorious B.I.G., Ricky Martin, Radiohead, Britney Spears, Blink-182, Sean "Puffy" Combs, Portishead, Fatboy Slim, Fiona Apple, Lil' Kim, Limp Bizkit, Oasis, Outkast, Yo La Tengo, TLC, and many, many more. The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll, Third Edition includes all the facts, phenomena, and flukes that make up the history of rock. Accompanying the biographical and discographical information on the nearly 2,000 artists included in this edition are incisive essays that reveal the performers' musical influences, first breaks, and critical and commercial hits and misses, as well as evaluations of their place in rock history. Filled with hundreds of historical photos, The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia is more than just a reference book, it is the bible of rock & roll.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This latest incarnation of an authoritative encyclopedia first published in 1983 boasts over 100 new entries and many revisions to the 1800 entries found in the 1995 edition. The coverage increase was made possible by the omission of three kinds of "nonartist" entries: the Grammy Award boxes, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame boxes, and the style and genre definitions. As with the previous editions, the scope is excellent: few works can compete in terms of blanket coverage of the major rock'n'roll players, which dates from the 1950s to the present and includes names as diverse as Elvis, Chad and Jeremy, Britney, and Eminem. The alphabetically arranged entries contain birth and, when applicable, death dates; a discography; and an essay that attempts (usually successfully) to put the performer's or group's work in critical and historical perspective. The introduction by coeditor Romanowski cogently sums up the criteria and methodology, and though her reasons for featuring or deleting artists are subjective, they are hard to counter. This latest edition even offers an index of acts cut from the second edition. Useful, reasonably priced, and including well-written essays by respected music writers, this is highly recommended for any public or academic library. David M. Turkalo, Suffolk Univ. Law Sch. Lib., Boston
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 1136 pages
• Publisher: Touchstone; Original edition (October 30, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743201205
• ISBN-13: 978-0743201209
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #179,665 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #27 in Books > Education & Reference > Encyclopedias > Music

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Flawed But Reliable Resource, July 19, 2004

By 

Gianmarco Manzione (Tampa, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll (Revised and Updated for the 21st Century) (Paperback)

There are two reasons why I had to get this book. Firstly, my 1995 copy crumbled into an oblivion of dry glue, a spine torn in half and a cover too flabby to endure. I did turn to the book often for information, but from the looks of it, you'd think I shot it out of a canon once a week as well. The book is just as cheaply constructed as other reviewers contend, while the Q Rock Stars Encyclopedia is much friendlier to the reader both aesthetically and physically. Secondly, Rolling Stone's web site used to contain all the information found in this book. Recently, though, the disappointing decision was made to scrap those lengthier and more informative biographies for the infuriatingly cursory headnotes they recently replaced them with.

Some of the omissions noted by other reviewers here are remarkable not necessarily because of the bands omitted, but because of the "artists" Rolling Stone replaced them with. I mean, come on, the guys in Great White aren't exactly pioneers, and why anyone thinks the exclusion of Wierd Al Yankovic is at all noteworthy mystifies me. But to leave them out for Britney Spears? Ricky Martin? What a blow! Couldn't we just scrap Milli Vanilli, for the love of God? It isn't as though Tiffany, who is included in this book, will be remembered any more than Britney 30 years from now; nonetheless I don't consider either pop star worthy of inclusion at the expense of decently talented blues bands such as Great White who at least know what a "chord" is. The real crime with regard to the debate over who's in and who's out is the exclusion of various Native American songwriters such as Jim Boyd or Bill Miller. The former in particular continues to make unbelievable folk rock (some of which was featured on the "Smoke Signals" Soundtrack). The work Boyd has done with Sherman Alexie (songs like the incomparable "Million Miles Away") especially warrants recognition here.

Those objections aside, this really is a nearly inexhaustible resource for fans of any of the 1,900+ bands the book takes a look at. I think that the distant tone with which the entries are written will infuriate more passionate fans who think their heroes aren't getting the accolades they deserve. But as an Encyclopedia's duty is to provide the essential information, this book at least succeeds more often than it fails. My own relationship with its past and current editions is going on about 8 years now. Along with the "Rough Guide to Rock" or the "Encyclopedia of Record Producers," it continues to be one of the few resources I run to for answers to questions or quick tutorials on bands whose work I am yet to be familiar with. I think it should also be noted that people ought not to be mislead by the "Rock 'N Roll" title, as the book includes many bluegrass, country, and folk artists who may not immediately be associated with Rock 'N Roll per say, but who influenced the genre to such an extent that their exclusion from this book would have been egregious. I mean people like Dave Van Ronk, Bill Monroe or Townes Van Zandt.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Abritrary, capricious, infuriating but indispensible, October 14, 2003

By 

E. Davis "E. Davis" (Bloomfield, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll (Revised and Updated for the 21st Century) (Paperback)

Why include a nothing group like the Classics IV and not include the group they imitated who had more hits (the Hilltoppers)? Why exclude one-hit wonders, but include Bobby "Boris" Pickett (Monster Mash)? Why include Sam Phillips, but exclude Leonard Chess who may be even more important? How can they include the Flamingoes, the Penguins, the Moonglows and leave out the Harptones? And two of the worst ommissions: the Duprees and the Skyliners! Amazing!
I don't like the fact that they included Phil Spector as a performer and then wrote a lengthy article about him as a producer. If his reason for being in the book is that he sang with the Teddy Bears (another one-hit wonder), then he shouldn't be in for that. If he is in because he was a seminal producer, then Lou Adler and John Hammond should be in. How can you leave out Alan Freed and Murray the K? What happened to Lieber & Stoller? Eddie Holland?
Of course, there are wonderful articles that are gems such as the one on the Airplane, Mamas & Papas and others. There is a wealth of information that one would be hard pressed to find elsewhere, but the inconsistencies are astonishing. The real problem lies, I think, in that this should be a larger book, or a CD-ROM. Further, the discography listings that precede each article should have the correct number of stars assigned. Obviously, this may not be possible (or even desirable)for every album, but this information already exists in the RS database. A couple of more editions and they may just get it right.

43 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Save your money!, September 26, 2005

By 

Ham On Wry (Decatur, GA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll (Revised and Updated for the 21st Century) (Paperback)

I won't be as kind as some of the other reviewers who were disappointed in this edition. It's a load of crap! Back in the 80's it was the only thing going, but each successive edition has gotten less and less helpful, until it's finally degenerated to a great big commercial for What's Playing On The Radio. Hey, if I needed to know what was playing on the radio, I'd turn on the radio!

I just saved you thirty bucks. You can thank me later.