Customer Reviews

Unsung Heroes Of Rock 'n' Roll: The Birth Of Rock In The Wild Years Before Elvis

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4 star:		(3)
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This may be, quite simply, the best non-fiction book on music. I agree with his main point -- in rock and roll, there is nothing new under the sun; everything truly innovative was done by someone over half a century ago (and there's a good chance they were drunk at the time). What Tosches does is tell these stories is a way that will have you laughing out loud and running to the CD store to pick up as much of this music as you can find.

The best book about the history of Rock and Roll I have ever come across. My goal is to find and hear musis by each of the artists featured in the book, including Ming & Ling, the Chinese Hillbillies, bless their inscrutable souls. The opening paragraphs in the chapter on Big Joe Turner are worth the price of admission itself.

When I hear people talking about rock 'n' roll, and mentioning names like Pink Floyd, Nirvana, Talking Heads, or some other group that have little to do with the form, I want to put this book in their hands and let them get a little education on the subject. Don't get me wrong, I like a lot of the groups and artists they're talking about, I just don't think of it as rock 'n' roll, any more than I think Blood, Sweat & Tears or Chicago are jazz, or ELO is classical. Real rock 'n' roll didn't last very long before it was co-opted as a mainly white, teenage culture phenomenon. Again, there's been great music made since then, lots of it very close in spirit to the music that gave birth to the term. But the sense of danger, of making music that actually frightened the powers that be, and that did so not as some sort of poorly formed political statement, but simply because it was a true and unfiltered emanation of the spirit, had already dried up by the supposed heyday of rock 'n' roll.
By the sixties, it was marketed like cars or clothes, with little attention to anything approaching artistry. No matter, when artistry became the new marketing scheme, the music simply followed along and became deadly serious, unable, for the most part, to do little more than parrot previously agreed upon social and cultural bromides dressed up as serious art, revolution, deep thought, or whatever. Sure, lots of the music was stunningly good, the bands looked cool, the booze and drugs and sex flowed, but rock 'n' roll was fifteen years in the grave.
The dawn of a new movement, especially in music, is where the real fireworks are. Anything that has been attributed to rock 'n' roll (you know-Elvis, Jerry Lee, Chuck, the Beatles) had its beginnings ten years before that. As badly as we treat the legends of that time, it's nothing compared to the complete ignorance afforded those who actually invented the forms, and did the leg work. They came from all corners of the country, they were young and not so young, black, white, and tan, male and female, but they created rock 'n' roll, and because they were so diverse a group, the music was able to shoot off in just about any direction you can think of.
Nick Tosches has done a great service by writing about 25 or 30 of these trailblazers in such a way that you just have to go out and get yourself some. My collection increased by about 10 or 12 albums after I read this. Some of it was familiar to me, but if I'd only discovered Merrill Moore or the Treniers, it would have been worth the time and the money. Honestly, most people aren't going to care, and that's expected, but if you really want to know, and really want to hear, then you might just want to pick up this book. It's enlightening, funny, and a quick read to boot. Git it.

Tosches captures the energy of a nascent musical form with wit and no small amount of fury. The Merman chapter alone is worth the price of admission, opening new avenues of appreciation. Seek this one out.

Nicky kicks *ss with this one. Simply the best book about early rock and roll and who influenced the music we love. Lots of great stories about people you've never heard of. This book will make you go out and buy cds from Europe where much of the artist's music is available in public domain. Or maybe you'll be searching on Amazon. Either way, you'll love it! A great read from a great writer.

This book achieves what it sets out to do, painting grandiose pictures of these overlooked Rock & Roll stars (and in a humorous light as well), but some chapters can turn into a tiresome list of singles, especially frustrating considering the premise of the book assumes you have vague familiarity with the artists

An essential guide to the secret history of rock 'n' roll. Pick up this, Incredibly Strange Music, Vol.1 (ISBN:0940642220), a Norton Records catalog, and some back issues of Kicks magazine, and you're on your way.
Maybe throw in some bourbon, too.