The history of rock and roll is a long and winding road full of unforgettable moments, but some of them provided more than magic memories: They triggered social and cultural revolutions. They radically changed the way music is performed and recorded. They altered our very perception of what popular music is. Written by a longtime industry insider and featuring interviews with over 100 key figures, Turning Points in Rock and Roll gives you a front-row seat to the pivotal events and breakthroughs of the past fifty-plus years in music. From the first great music festival at Monterey to the violence at Altamont that signaled the beginning of a new era, from Elvis's swiveling hips to Mick Jagger's pouting lips...it's all here -- the people and events that have kept rock and roll vibrant, vital, and constantly evolving in bold new directions. Book jacket.

On the evening of February 9, 1964, Ed Sullivan introduced the Beatles to America. Across the country, teens were glued to their TV sets and witnessed a turning point in rock and roll history. Vibrant and creative teen scenes sprang up all across the country. The scene in Fort Worth, Texas, produced an exceptional burst of creativity in songwriting and musicianship. Weekend concerts and battles of the bands drew thousands of fans. Primitive teen recordings were pressed into 45s and received radio airplay in rotation with national acts. Local television shows featured live bands; fashions changed with go-go girls' skirts growing shorter; long hair became the style for women and men; and the seeds of the counterculture were planted and flourished. The music of this generation birthed every rock subgenre for the next 40 years (acid rock, heavy metal, punk, new wave, grunge), and today's musicians still reach back to these recordings for inspiration.

This infamous book has enjoyed a lively underground reputation since its first publication in 1970. Richard Meltzer (a.k.a. R. Meltzer) took his training as a young philosopher and applied it with unalloyed enthusiasm to the lyrics, sound, and culture of rock and roll. Never before had anyone noticed the relationship between the philosophy of Heidegger and a tune by Little Anthony and the Imperials, heard the cries of agony in the Shangri Las' “Remember (Walkin' in the Sand)”, or transcribed every "papa-ooma-mow-mow" in the Trashmen's “Surfin' Bird.”From Dionne Warwick to Plato, Jim Morrison to Bert Brecht, Conway Twitty to Miguel de Unamuno, Meltzer subverts high and low culture in his search for meaning, emotion, and codes in popular music. At once an earnest investigation and a crypto put-on, the book can be read for its nuggets of information and insights or for its humor. Here with Greil Marcus's new introduction, yet another generation of readers can be outraged and inspired.

The legendary critic and author of Mystery Train “ingeniously retells the tale of rock and roll” (Publishers Weekly, starred review). Unlike previous versions of rock ’n’ roll history, this book omits almost every iconic performer and ignores the storied events and turning points everyone knows. Instead, in a daring stroke, Greil Marcus selects ten songs and dramatizes how each embodies rock ’n’ roll as a thing in itself, in the story it tells, inhabits, and acts out—a new language, something new under the sun. “Transmission” by Joy Division. “All I Could Do Was Cry” by Etta James and then Beyoncé. “To Know Him Is to Love Him,” first by the Teddy Bears and almost half a century later by Amy Winehouse. In Marcus’s hands these and other songs tell the story of the music, which is, at bottom, the story of the desire for freedom in all its unruly and liberating glory. Slipping the constraints of chronology, Marcus braids together past and present, holding up to the light the ways that these striking songs fall through time and circumstance, gaining momentum and meaning, astonishing us by upending our presumptions and prejudices. This book, by a founder of contemporary rock criticism—and its most gifted and incisive practitioner—is destined to become an enduring classic. “One of the epic figures in rock writing.”—The New York Times Book Review “Marcus is our greatest cultural critic, not only because of what he says but also, as with rock-and-roll itself, how he says it.”—The Washington Post Winner of the Deems Taylor Virgil Thomson Award in Music Criticism, given by the American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers

A collection of Barry Schneier's photography from Bruce Springsteen's historic May 9, 1974 performance at the Harvard Square Theatre in Cambridge, MA, the very night he was deemed "rock and roll future" by rock critic (and future Springsteen manager) Jon Landau.

Set among the Malibu mansions and Hollywood rock clubs of California's southland, Never Break the Chain finds Tim Green's grief over the loss of his father spinning into an obsessive quest to track down the wayward mother who deserted him almost three decades before. It's a journey that, like Believe in Me before it, sends Green venturing deep into the heart of the rock and roll jungle. Opening a few months after the end of Believe in Me, Never Break the Chain lands Green in the oceanfront Malibu compound of British guitarist Blake Saunders, who's just hired him to pen an authorized biography of his floundering, formerly-huge arena rock band. Even as the highly combustible Saunders' son Mal-recently installed as the band's new lead singer-and daughter Jane offer him distorted reflections of himself, Green's efforts to retrace his mother's steps through LA's rock and roll underworld propel him toward a cathartic confrontation. The revelations to come challenge every answer he once thought he possessed to the most fundamental question of all: who is Tim Green? Equal parts family drama, literate thriller, and peek behind the curtain of an aging rock band, Never Break the Chain is ultimately a story about families-the ones we're born into, and the ones we create. Praise for Never Break the Chain: "Rock writer Jason Warburg ties up some loose ends with his latest Tim Green novel, Never Break the Chain. His charming protagonist is still threading the road to self-knowledge by poetically and amusingly examining the lives of others in this tale of excess and success. Best of all, a turn in the story resolves the mystery of who Tim Green really is. It's the magic of music that takes us there, along with Warburg's very entertaining style." -- Viola Weinberg, Poet Laureate emerita of Sacramento & former KZAP FM News Director "A beautiful book... Never Break the Chain is a novel about family life and the ties that bind people together. It is not easy to write about music and the life of musicians in a convincing way, but Jason Warburg never misses a beat. Warburg understands how music can play a major part in the staging posts of people's lives." -- Greg Spawton, co-founder & songwriter, Big Big Train

An Epic Journey through the Golden Era of Rock & Roll Embark on a thrilling musical voyage with The History of Rock & Roll, Volume 1. The book traces the evolution of rock and roll from its humble origins in the 1920s, culminating in the seismic shift ushered in by the Beatles in the 1960s. This rollercoaster ride through the decades invites you to tap your feet to the music of vaudeville and minstrel acts, rhythm and blues, and the unmistakable sounds that defined post-World War II America. Our guide through this iconic era is none other than celebrated writer Ed Ward. With his definitive narrative style enriched by a profound knowledge of music, Ward spotlights lesser-known heroes and big-name legends alike. Uncover the fascinating stories of Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, and Ray Charles. Delve into the unsung tales of pioneers such as the Burnette brothers, the “5” Royales, and Marion Keisker. For all music lovers and rock & roll fans, Ward spins story after story of some of the most unforgettable and groundbreaking moments in rock history, introducing us to the musicians, DJs, record executives, and producers who were at the forefront of the genre and had a hand in creating the music we all know and love today.