The History of Rock & Roll, Volume 2
1964–1977: The Beatles, the Stones, and the Rise of Classic Rock
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4.7 • 3 Ratings
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- $19.99
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- $19.99
Publisher Description
From rock and roll historian Ed Ward comes a comprehensive, authoritative, and enthralling cultural history of one of rock's most exciting eras.
It's February 1964 and The Beatles just landed in New York City, where the NYPD, swarms of fans, and a crowd of two hundred journalists await their first American press conference. It begins with the question on everyone's mind: "Are you going to get a haircut in America?" and ends with a reporter tugging Paul McCartney's hair in an attempt to remove his nonexistent wig. This is where The History of Rock & Roll, Volume 2 kicks off. Chronicling the years 1964 through the mid-1970s, this latest volume covers one of the most exciting eras of rock history, which saw a massive outpouring of popular and cutting-edge music.
Ward weaves together an unputdownable narrative told through colorful anecdotes and shares the behind-the-scenes stories of the megastars, the trailblazers, DJs, record executives, concert promoters, and producers who were at the forefront of this incredible period in music history. From Bob Dylan to Bill Graham, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, The Byrds, Aretha Franklin, The Rolling Stones, and more, everyone's favorite musicians of the era make an appearance in this sweeping history that reveals how the different players, sounds, and trends came together to create the music we all know and love today.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Following up The History of Rock & Roll: 1920 to 1963, Ward smartly and succinctly surveys just over a decade of rock's rapid evolution. He covers the gamut of musical styles, including the British Invasion, surf sound, guitar rock, R&B, soul, blues, reggae, country, and even some jazz. Not surprisingly, he begins with the Beatles and posits the decades-old question, "Beatles or Stones," explaining the bands' different backgrounds (Beatles, working-class Liverpool; Stones, middle-class London) and how each had its own devoted fan base. Ward includes some great tidbits, such as how the small labels that released some of the Beatles' early U.S. records filed injunctions against Capitol Records in 1964; how Jan Berry of Jan & Dean nearly died in a car accident at the spot he wrote about years earlier in their song "Dead Man's Curve"; and how the unintelligible lyrics of "Louie, Louie" came to be investigated by the FBI. Ward ends the decade with The Last Waltz, Martin Scorcese's documentary of The Band's 1976 concert, whose guests (Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Ringo Starr, Ronnie Wood, and Neil Young) "had been enshrined by Rolling Stone... as rock royalty." Ward's deep dive into this influential era will send even the most knowledgable rock aficionados back to their vinyl collections.
