Customer Reviews

Sonic Boom! The History of Northwest Rock: From Louie Louie to Smells Like Teen Spirit

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

To begin, this is, plain and simple, a highly enjoyable read (as is his "Rock and Roll Archaeologist"). Blecha has a clear love for his subject and has spent many years digging through the backwaters of the Pacific Northwest to accumulate the rich details that that make this volume such a concise yet pleasurable experience.

While the title cites a range from Louie Louie to Nirvana, Blecha's prime focus is on the late 50's and 60's, which takes up 220 of the book's 304 pages, a period largely glossed over in Clark Humphrey's 1995 NW music tome, "Loser." Blecha also creates a much broader and more insightful picture of that era than previously delivered in titles such as the memoirs of KJR uber-boss Pat O'Day, "It Was All Just Rock `n' Roll" or James Bush's "Encyclopedia of Northwest Music."

This is not to belittle Blecha's thoughts on the decades that follow. He was a member of the Debbies in post-punk 80's Seattle and can speak with a first-hand authority on what that scene was about.

As a long time participant in and follower of the Northwest music scene, I say Blecha's latest stands up with Charles Cross's Hendrix bio as NW canon. Buy it. Enjoy. I did.

Author Peter Blecha has come up with THE DEFINITIVE account of the history of Northwest Rock And Roll, in this new book.

Carefully researched, the detail on the people, the politics and most importantly, the music of the Pacific Northwest, should be a "must read" for anyone who has even a casual interest in the phenomenon of
the style of music, that has influenced generations, around the world for over five decades. Additionally, there are numerous previously unseen photos and memorabilia, which add immensely to the flavor of Blecha's text.

Of particular interest is Blecha's soundly based critique of the institutional racism that plagued (many say still does) in the Epicenter of Political Correctness, SEATTLE, Washington, and its unconscious politicians, journalists, and other "keepers of the public interest". He also fairly criticizes the terrible situation that remains shameful in the history of Seattle, in particular, by organized labor, in the personna of the Musician's Union, and its refusal to allow the exposure and growth of black musicians and bands in particular, with
sordid and well-documented detail.
Seattle's Liberal Left establishment needs to read this work, if for these above reasons only, and acknowledge
that in terms of race relations, Seattle has far to go. This book is a worthwhile, and long overdue public account of a unique cultural experience, and its historic contribution to popular music and culture.

Great book, enjoyable read (read it twice).
If you're from this area and knew the music scene, this will give details you never knew before.
It's laid out in the proper time frame of how the Music evolved from 50's to the 90's
Have recommended this book to others.

I'm giving this book five stars because it rocks, I couldn't put it down, and it answered so many questions that I've had since the early '60s until present day. I found this book to be fabulous, though it does have some faults. Sonic Boom is extensively researched and presented in an easy-to-read, engaging style that hooked me from the beginning.

Sonic Boom is written very well, and it has some fantastic passages that are meaningful to people who grew up in the Puget Sound. Two of the criticisms that I've read about Sonic Boom deal with it's lack of coverage outside the Puget Sound, and it's intense coverage of the late '50's and all of the '60s. This is a fair criticism, as Portland, and Oregon in general, gets slighted. After reading this book, one could easily ascertain that Portland had two bands in the early '60s, the Kingsmen and Paul Revere and the Raiders. Obviously, this wasn't true. The era criticism has less validity, though certainly some merit. While Blecha didn't spend a fair share of time on the 80s-2000, it's also true that for the most part, that period isn't all that interesting, and it has been covered extensively, exhaustively, in main stream press rags since 1988. Also, the metal scene in Seattle, Queensrcyhe included, is a big so what. I'm okay with the way Blecha covered the various eras. I think he hit the important eras well, and while he could have given us more about Nirvana and Pearl Jam, I'm okay that he didn't.

Pat O'Day was a legend beyond belief when I was a teenager growing up in the Puget Sound. Lou Guzzo was also a well known journalist and patriarch during these times. I used to want to be Pat O'Day. He was a childhood hero, so I had difficulty accepting the negative role Blecha painted of him. However, after reading about O'Day's methods, I can see that while he was great on the radio, he is probably more responsible for restraining the growth of Northwest rock and roll than he was for promoting it. In fact, it would be fair to say that O'Day did only what he needed to do to put a buck in his pocket. A problem that is as American as apple pie. Lou Guzzo! I used to wonder why I didn't like that guy. Now I have a better understanding.

I guess if I could have had some input into the writing of Sonic Boom, I would have asked for more extensive interviews from actual musicians. Hearing it from members of The Wailers, The Sonics, Merrilee Rush, etc would have been great. Also, Chris Novaselic lives here! I had to wonder why we didn't get any input from him. It seems that since Nirvana is the second biggest thing to ever come out of the Seattle area, with Hendrix being the first, we could have had some local input into the dialogue. Perhaps there is a reason why that didn't happen. Nonetheless, I still love this book. And I think it is important to remember that the book, as written, is of a reasonable length, 304 pages, and to have filled it with too much information would have altered its readability.

Buy this book. It is well worth the current price being asked, and it is full of Northwest music history. I'm going to buy it for friends and relatives for birthday presents. They need to know, so do you.

Well done, Peter!

This book really focused on that period in time I have the most interest. Well written... easy read and extremely interesting and not just because you mentioned my old band (although just once).

I'm looking forward to more of your good work.

Sammy Carlson

This was a gift: My Husband takes this book with him where-ever he goes. He reads it every chance he gets.

Sonic Boom! The History of Northwest Rock: From Louie Louie to Smells Like Teen Spirit

First of all, if you want to read about pop music history of the Northwest get this book. In short chapters this book discusses most of the things that happened. Maybe not in depth but interesting nonetheless. Most of the focus is on the 60's though. Could have been more on the grunge scene I think.
The fact that Portland today is a major center of indie music is only written about in the last paragraph. In conclusion: if you're looking for a book about Northwest music in the 2000s this book is NOT for you. For anything prior it is.

I agree with Mr. Beal's review. However, I had a more personal reason for buying it as I was a friend of Bob Hosko, the saxophone player for the Frantics. He is not in the index and is mentioned only once in passing. There is much more on the internet about him and I should have looked there first and saved the money.