What? Another book about rock and roll? Aren't there already enough of them around? Maybe more than enough? You may be right. There are a lot of books about rock and roll, and some of them are even pretty good. But none of them make the claim that rock music is the harbinger and in many ways the embodiment of a cultural revolution in America. This one does! Consider a few questions that other books never even touch on:
Like, what is this thing we call "rock and roll"? Not its history or its musical characteristics. . .but what is it really, at its essence? What does it mean? Or can it have a meaning?
"Everybody knows" (to quote Leonard Cohen) that there's an angry, dark side to rock music, but how does this dark side relate to what it affirms? Or, does it affirm anything at all?
Why have some musicians endured throughout the years, while others have swirled down the toilet after one or two hits?
What is a genuine cultural revolution, and how can it be at work in all of this seemingly frivolous output of sound?
If you're even mildly curious as to how these (and lots of other questions) might be answered, and answered provocatively, why not get a copy of:
Rock 'n' roll and the Transformation of American Culture, May 26, 2001
