Andrew Grant Jackson

That I picked this book up was mostly an exercise in seeing how much I really remembered, in as much as I was about to start high school at the time and was already developing a lot of my own musical tastes. On the whole; not bad, not great. While Jackson actually does do a pretty good job of capturing the zeitgeist, the book often feels more like a jumble than a mosaic in the end. Jackson also connects more often than not with his anecdotes, but a lot of the time he just feels like he's simply going for the "gotcha" moment. My general sense is that Simon Reynolds does this sort of thing better.… (plus d'informations)

This book sneaks up on you. About a quarter of the way through I was thinking that there was no way the author could prove his case that 1965 was the MOST revolutionary year in music. By the tine I was halfway through, I still thought the prenise was never going to be met. At the same time I was thoroughly enjoying the anecdotes and history of the year and was impressed with the amount of information that was being related with out being either boring or based on fan worship. When I finished reading the book, I wanted more. I also realized that the case had been. I can't imagine a year that affected music and the world more (really!).

The book is written in chronological format which made getting into it a little difficult but ultimately made the story flow. The author also goes off on related tangents that really enhance the overall story. Topics like the Watts riots, femenism, hippies, Martin Luther King, Jr. and freedom movement, as well as others are related well and better explained than many history books I've read do.… (plus d'informations)

1973: Rock at the Crossroads by Andrew Grant Jackson is an informative nostalgic read for those of us who remember the year and a wonderful glimpse into a landmark year for both rock music and society as a whole for those too young (not old enough?) to remember 1973.

As someone who remembers 1973 quite clearly, my opinion of the book will be heavily colored by that fact. One of the things happening during this time was the shift from AM stations to FM stations for rock and, eventually, other popular music. This book almost reads like a hybrid of those two formats. AM radio, while having some stations that were more narrowly focused on one type of music, was dominated by Top 40 stations, usually with a slight emphasis in one direction or another. On these stations you would hear a mix of different types of rock as well as different types of R&B and even some country. FM, starting with Album Oriented Rock stations, began the era of the separation of genres more clearly. This had positives and negatives. You could listen to more music in whatever genre you preferred, but it also meant far fewer opportunities to expand your tastes unless you consciously changed to a station playing a different genre. Which brings me to why I think of this book a lot like a hybrid of those formats.

While the book is chronological it also can't be strictly chronological and still tell a decent story. So each chapter uses something that occurred on this timeline but, in telling the story (of an album or a song), it moves back to what led to the event and moves forward to tell what it foreshadows. So each segment (of which there were several in each chapter) might be primarily about rock or R&B, the next segment often changed genres. So you did get some immersion in a specific genre but you also read about what was happening in a different genre. So many books, understandably, focus on a particular narrowly defined type of popular music, mainly because those books are telling a history of that genre. This book, because it is describing a specific and short period of history covers a wider range because that more accurately portrays what was going in most areas of the music business as well as society.

As for the actual information, there is a lot here that isn't so much new as presented within a holistic context. For example, it hadn't occurred to me that Bette Midler's Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy might not have been as popular had it been released just a little sooner while the Vietnam War was still claiming American lives. It might not have made a difference but it is something to consider. There are many such connections made in the book that make this nostalgic trip something more than just a passive ride down memory lane.

I would recommend this to anyone with an interest in the period, whether limited to music or more societal and cultural. And of course those of us of a certain age can both reminisce and learn some things.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.… (plus d'informations)

A fun overview of 1965, its music and its politics.

Jackson does a good job connecting all the disparate dots of the music scene, going roughly from month to month with the Beatles, Stones, Beach Boys and the rest. Don't think this is all about rock, though. Chapters focus on the country music scene, folk, jazz, even ska/reggae.

This isn't an in-depth treatment, though. For example, one chapter deals with Dylan plugging in, and angering folkies, at the Newport Folk Festival. A full treatment of the event can be found in Dylan Goes Electric! by Elijah Wald.

All in all, a good starting point. Maybe it'll encourage you to seek out more about each artist - and seek out the music, too!… (plus d'informations)