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Title: Unknown Legends of Rock 'n' Roll
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Manufacturer: Backbeat Books
List Price: $19.95
Our Price: $12.70
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| Unknown Legends of Rock 'n' Roll by Backbeat Books Unknown Legends of Rock & Roll | Fun review of dozens of artists, labels, & musical trends which are known only to a small number of serious rock trivia buffs. Great for younger listeners who weren't even born when most of this music was happening.
Also includes a CD of 12 songs by different artists mentioned in the book;
you'd probably never get to hear them any other way. Surprising depth of personal information about many "enigmas". Highly recommended. | | Unknown Legends of Rock 'n' Roll by Backbeat Books Get to Know The Other Sides.... | Having finished Irwin Chusid's "Songs in the Key of Z" it made sense to keep going with "Unknown Legends of Rock 'n' Roll". This book deals with more "accessible" people and groups, meaning that out of the 70 artists discussed, the average rock music person may have heard of at least one quarter to maybe half of them. Syd Barrett, the founder of Pink Floyd, and singer Sandy Denny are two readily familiar names. Joe Meek, the British creator of "Telstar", is also among the artists profiled.
British, American, German, Dutch and Iron Curtain artists from the 1950's through the 1990's are featured in this book. The psychedelic garage bands, British acts that didn't make the invasion of the 1960's and solo acts that possessed as much talent as writers and/or performers; that for lack of the "Big Break" or the machinations of the managers and/or record companies prevented the world at large from knowing of their existence.
Each performer is examined chapter by chapter; some with stories more heartbreaking than others. Unterberger made the effort to speak with as many of the performers as possible, getting them to reflect back on their struggles, accomplishments, and where it went wrong. If the performer was deceased or unavailable, he spoke with someone closely associated with the act. His prose is a first person account with extensive quotes from the artists and there are plenty of black and white photos that add to the telling. This book is very readable and informative. At the end of each chapter is "Recommended Recordings" where Unterberger lists available records and CDs for that artist.
Which leads to the BIG plus already with this book: it comes with a compact disc so you are able to hear what you are reading about! At the end of the book right before the index are 2 and half pages devoted to the disc. Some of the songs have previously been unavailable.
So this is a book that must be part of a rock music lover's library.
Over 400 pages, lots of photos, so many stories and personalities from the last 50 years... And a Compact Disc! This is a pleasurable reference book - a real keeper! | | Unknown Legends of Rock 'n' Roll by Backbeat Books good read for the seriously interested | | this book is informative and written well enough as not to be a laborious read. recommended for those that are seriously interested in little known musicians of some importance. if you spend a lot of time listening to the top 40 or scanning the charts to see what's hot this is probably not for you. make sure you get a copy with the cd included. | | Unknown Legends of Rock 'n' Roll by Backbeat Books Hugely entertaining | | I love books like this. Despite the fact that many of these acts would be considered failures, they obviously mean or have meant something to someone. Not everyone in this book can be considered a true unknown, but it would take a knowledgable person indeed to have heard of a few of them. One of my favorites is a fifteen year old kid named Joe Docko. Joe's band, the Mystic Tide, is one of the bands whose songs have been included on the cd that comes inside the back cover. "Frustration" is one of the great undiscovered moments in garage rock history, and Joe Docko tossed out the original masters because he didn't think anyone would care. If that isn't a tragi-comedy I don't know what is. | | Unknown Legends of Rock 'n' Roll by Backbeat Books Not mindblowing by any means, but worthy | "The Unknown Legends Of Rock'n'Roll" is a most interesting book and it does give a valuable reference to a large number of acts who never achieved any commercial success on album charts - Unterberger is much less strict regarding singles charts - and the factors that may have contributed to this.
It is interesting to note that there are some acts from the 1950s and early 1960s who never made it commercially, though these never get the attention in the critical world that artists from the era after about 1966 do. However, the early part of the book is devoted to British Invasion bands such as The Creation and the garage bands who are now seen as pioneers of the "punk revolution" before the Velvets, Stooges and MC5 (all household names today and not included) emerged. The next part is focused on obscure psychedelic innovators of the late sixties such as the Great Society (which featured household-name singer Grace Slick), the Blossom Toes and The Deviants.
Following that is a number of fairly superfluous inclusions in Nick Drake and Love, both of whom are extremely familiar in most record guides, and Roky Erickson and Syd Barrett, who are similarly well-known in musical circles and among critics. The next part of the book deals with punk groups who didn't receive the critical slaving so typical of most commercially unsucessful punk groups of the 1970s and 1980s, though at least one (the Raincoats) is quite familiar today owing to Kurt Cobain's championing of them. There are also (fairly superfluous in parts) entries on Krautrock giant Can and on the rock bands of Stalinist Eastern Europe and the persecution they suffered.
The next part deals with the lo-fi bands of the 1980s and 1990s, with a major focus on New Zealand's Flying Nun label, well-known to certain sections of the US rock crit establishment. The second last part deals with artists who could only make one album, the troubles that making it caused and the significance of that sole release; and the final chapter deals with the exact opposite: long-lived artists such as the Red Krayola who have never attempted to confirm to commercial trends.
All in all, most of it is well done, and the introduction is most interesting with its illustration of how unique and strange "Forever Changes" sounded to someone raised on the ultra-conservative commercial radio of the late 1970s.
However, the book does lack the feeling of sheer wonderment and sense of having discovered something new: we are seeing things that are often found in the writings of eccentric critics such as Joe S. Harrington, whose Top 100 Albums on the webzine Blastitude should be read by all interested in music. Also, there is (as often with rock criticism) a shortage of female artists such as Essra Mohawk, Annette Peacock and Judee Sill, who could have formed another chapter by themselves but are probably disliked by Richie because eccentric women tend to be too much acquired tastes.
The focus in the late 1970s and beyond does tend to be too narrow - in part for the reasons mentioned above.
All in all, eminently worth reading, but scarcely some wonderful revelation. | | Unknown Legends of Rock 'n' Roll by Backbeat Books Product Description | | For every Beatles or Stones, there are dozens of visionary rock groups who remain unsung heroes. From cult figures such as Pink Floyd's Syd Barrett (the most famous musician included here) to virtually undiscovered artists, this behind-the-scenes book with a fascinating CD of 12 rare songs celebrates the best rockers in everything from '50s rockabilly to '90s post-punk - the unknown greats who, for one reason or another, just never made it. Features lots of photos throughout. | | Unknown Legends of Rock 'n' Roll by Backbeat Books Amazon.com | | One man's unjustly neglected genius is the next man's appropriately unheeded fraud. Differentiating between the prodigies and the posers is one of the great joys of fans of any art form, including pop music. And this task is made easier with this book, a paean to some of rock & roll's quirkiest artists. All Music Guide coeditor Richie Unterberger ranks among the most prolific rock critics of recent times, and he exhibits a depth of knowledge and a clear commitment to his subjects throughout this 400-page-plus study. He tracked down former members of such long-forgotten groups as Rising Storm, Savage Rose, and the Deviants for interviews. All seem to respond with unmistakable enthusiasm as they recall creating idiosyncratic music decades back. Heaven knows, a guy like Joe Docko doesn't get many opportunities to discuss his mid-'60s Mystic Tides 45s. This brings up the book's greatest strength: the light Unterberger shines on some truly secluded artists. Yes, you may have heard of Syd Barrett and Nick Drake, but even serious rock & roll aficionados may be at a loss when it comes to Duffy Power and the Misunderstood. A 12-song CD comes with the book, making it all the better an investment for music fans who want to explore strange terrain. --Steven Stolder |
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