Rock eras : interpretations of music and society, 1954-1984 / Jim Curtis.

Title :

Rock eras : interpretations of music and society, 1954-1984

Author:

Curtis, James M., 1940-

Format:

Books

Language:

English

Audience:

1310 Lexile.

ISBN - ISSN:

0879723688

0879723696

Physical Description:

363 pages ; 24 cm

Subject:

Rock music -- History and criticism.

Music -- Social aspects.

First Title value, for Searching:

Rock eras : interpretations of music and society, 1954-1984 / Jim Curtis.

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Library	Audience	Home Location	Material Type	Shelf Number	Status
Searching... Central	Adult	Non-fiction	Book	781.66 C979	Searching... Unknown

From 1954 to 1984, the media made rock n' roll an international language. In this era of rapidly changing technology, styles and culture changed dramatically, too. In the 1950s, wild-eyed Southern boys burst into national consciousness on 45 rpm records, and then 1960s British rockers made the transition from 45s to LPs. By the 1970s, rockers were competing with television, and soon MTV made obsolete the music-only formats that had first popularized rock n' roll.

Reviews (1)

Choice Review

A provocative, highly readable account of 30 years of popular music and of the 1954-1984 cultural period that produced and was shaped by that music. Unlike David Szatmary's Rockin' in Time (1987), which focuses on rock's social history, Cooper's scope is broader than artists and songs. It emphasizes the role of media, such as television in creating rock, while giving it nonmusical anchors, such as the American myth of the frontier. Curtis's narrative sets the book apart from Herb Hendler's fact-filled but sterile Year By Year in the Rock Era (CH, Oct '84). Although Curtis's interpretations are sometimes subjective, this adds to rather than detracts from a text that is always well documented. Despite some minor errors (e.g., The Five Satins's ``In the Still of the Night'' is not the same song as Cole Porter's), Curtis writes with authority. Chapter notes, often with useful annotations, are helpful, but a bibliography is needed. The index is comprehensive. Recommended for American studies and music courses, as well as for general readers.-H.A. Keesing, University of Maryland at College Park

Preface	p. 1
Some Principles	p. 7
Section I	p. 14
Bing, the Chairman, and the King	p. 15
Section II	p. 37
Chapter 1 Why 1954-1964?	p. 38
Chapter 2 Media Interplay and Its Implications for Youth Culture	p. 42
Chapter 3 Socio-Ethnic Origins of the Performers and Entrepreneurs	p. 52
Chapter 4 The Beginnings of Secularization in Black Music	p. 59
Chapter 5 Cover Records	p. 65
Chapter 6 Electric Guitars, Chuck Berry, and Buddy Holly	p. 70
Chapter 7 The East Coast Rises Again	p. 83
Chapter 8 Detroit Rises for the First Time	p. 92
Chapter 9 California Rises for the First Time	p. 103
Section III	p. 110
Chapter 10 What Happened in the Sixties?	p. 111
Chapter 11 On Beatlemania	p. 136
Chapter 12 Dylan's Words in Freedom	p. 148
Chapter 13 High Culture as Popular Culture	p. 178
Chapter 14 Sergeant Pepper	p. 191
Chapter 15 Anxious Beatles	p. 200
Chapter 16 Mid-Atlantic Stones	p. 207
Chapter 17 But What about Am Radio?	p. 220
Chapter 18 The Erotic Politicians of the Woodstock Nation	p. 227
Chapter 19 A Few Good Words for the Seventies	p. 241
Chapter 20 Tradition and Apple Pie	p. 250
Chapter 21 The Strands of Tapestry	p. 255
Chapter 22 Rock Starts to Compete with Television	p. 259
Chapter 23 A New Jersey Outlaw	p. 274
Chapter 24 High Culture as Popular Culture, II	p. 286
Chapter 25 How the Other Half Rocks	p. 294
Section IV	p. 302
Chapter 26 Disco, a New Beginning	p. 303
Chapter 27 Punk: the Other Side of Disco	p. 315
Chapter 28 Michael Jackson and MTV	p. 324
Coda	p. 339
Index	p. 343

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