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A review by drivingman
Shake It Up: Great American Writing on Rock and Pop from Elvis to Jay Z: A Library of America Special Publication by Kevin J.H. Dettmar, Jonathan Lethem
4.0
While I didn't read the whole book, what I did read was very good. I mostly jumped around and chose what piqued my interest, so I imagine that aided my overall opinion.
Some thoughts:
-I had never read Greil Marcus before. He is a superb writer. His piece on Christian Marclay's Guitar Drag was one of the most engrossing reads in this collection.
-Another highlight was Peter Guralnick's piece on the fantastic Solomon Burke, who was quite a character. Easily the funniest read.
-In an otherwise well-done article on Memphis soul, Stanley Booth coughs up this terrible take: "Elvis Presley in his earliest recordings combined the music of the country whites with rhythm and blues, and therefore probably deserves to be remembered as the first modern soul singer." I haven't stopped shaking my head since I read that.
-It seems like nearly everyone wrote for The Village Voice back in the day, a shame it's not around anymore.
-I would've liked more than just two hip-hop-related pieces, but those two were strong; Greg Tate comments positively on the arrogance of Kanye and 50 Cent, and Kelefa Sanneh counters the idea that hip-hop deserves respect only because it is akin to poetry.
-Bob Dylan, The Beatles, and Elvis take up a lot of pages, maybe too many.
Some thoughts:
-I had never read Greil Marcus before. He is a superb writer. His piece on Christian Marclay's Guitar Drag was one of the most engrossing reads in this collection.
-Another highlight was Peter Guralnick's piece on the fantastic Solomon Burke, who was quite a character. Easily the funniest read.
-In an otherwise well-done article on Memphis soul, Stanley Booth coughs up this terrible take: "Elvis Presley in his earliest recordings combined the music of the country whites with rhythm and blues, and therefore probably deserves to be remembered as the first modern soul singer." I haven't stopped shaking my head since I read that.
-It seems like nearly everyone wrote for The Village Voice back in the day, a shame it's not around anymore.
-I would've liked more than just two hip-hop-related pieces, but those two were strong; Greg Tate comments positively on the arrogance of Kanye and 50 Cent, and Kelefa Sanneh counters the idea that hip-hop deserves respect only because it is akin to poetry.
-Bob Dylan, The Beatles, and Elvis take up a lot of pages, maybe too many.