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Rock of Ages: The Rolling Stone History of Rock and Roll by Ed Ward, Ken Tucker, Geoffrey Stokes
glowe2's review
informative
fast-paced
4.0
A chonicle of how music from the early 20th century slowly morphed into rock and roll. Written in three sections - the rise of rock through the 50's, the evolution of rock in the 60's and how the music industry turned rock into a money making enterprise in the 70's. There is also some short chapters at the end of the book on the 1980's.
Full of short vignettes on musicians, artists, groups and music industry insiders, a great read of people interested in the history of rock. Written by three authors, each of whom responsible for a specific decade, they concentrate on the innovators more than on the best selling songs or groups. So you will find nothing about ABBA but several pages on more avant-garde artists like Frank Zappa. Ken Tucker, who wrote the section on the 70's, is openly contemptuous of what he calls the faceless corporate rock groups such as Foreigner or REO Speedwagon. In his opinion, the 70's are almost a lost decade of rock wandering in the desert until new artists in the 80's find a way to revitalize the music.
Full of short vignettes on musicians, artists, groups and music industry insiders, a great read of people interested in the history of rock. Written by three authors, each of whom responsible for a specific decade, they concentrate on the innovators more than on the best selling songs or groups. So you will find nothing about ABBA but several pages on more avant-garde artists like Frank Zappa. Ken Tucker, who wrote the section on the 70's, is openly contemptuous of what he calls the faceless corporate rock groups such as Foreigner or REO Speedwagon. In his opinion, the 70's are almost a lost decade of rock wandering in the desert until new artists in the 80's find a way to revitalize the music.
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