Rock & Roll: An Unruly History

by Robert Palmer

Book Overview

The companion volume to a PBS documentary traces the continuing evolution of rock, from its origins to the present day, examining the dimensions of the music itself and the culture that surrounds it.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0517700506
• ISBN13: 9780517700501
• Release Date: September 1995
• Publisher: Harmony
• Length: 325 Pages
• Weight: 2.68 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 8.3" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

I thought this book was brilliant

I read this book almost ten years ago, and I still remember it as a remarkable work that put everything into perspective -- a kind of enlightenment experience. I especially loved Palmer's background on the beginnings of rock & roll in the call-and-response tent revivals. With regard to the Elvis controversy below, I don't think Palmer ever suggests that Elvis invented rock & roll -- he painstakingly documents the contributions of dozens of black artists like Pinetop Smith, T-Bone Walker, Roy Brown, Goree Carter (to whom he credits the first rock & roll record), Ike Turner etc, well before the Elvis "invasion" of the mid-1950s. I loved it.

Savoring the experience

I ordered this book after savoring the experience of the PBS series. This book keeps it with me and expands it. Far out! I was so happy that this series was playing on TV while I was writing my novel "Forever Retro Blues" because it touched on so much I was writing about. Oh happy days when I found out there was a book it was based on.

Snapshots into rock 'n' roll's true roots

An intriguing archaeological dig down to the murky muddy roots of rock 'n' roll -- sifting through race politics and dogma back to pre-war gospel, blues and jazz, to the Caribbean, to Africa. Robert Palmer was one of the best rock 'n' roll writers and historians. This is the basis for the PBS TV series ROCK 'N' ROLL, which,unfortunately, did not have nearly the depth of this (it quickly dispensed with rock's roots and showed only Elvis and other latecomers in its first episode). Sadly, Palmer died before he could flesh out this work, which remains a blueprint for future writers to follow on researching rock 'n' roll's roots. Go for it!

Robert Palmer & the Journey of Rock 'n' Roll

I had to write this to offer a different opinion to the one-star review below. Robert Palmer was one of this country's best music writers and a man who died way too young. This book is not his best (that'd be DEEP BLUES), but he does an excellent job of capturing the broad history of rock 'n' roll. He discusses what led up to that crucial moment at Sun Studios in 1954 (I don't think he's trying to say that the music sprang full-grown from Elvis) and where the music traveled from there.Bear in mind, however, that this book also served as a companion to a PBS special. That it's able to stand alone without the visuals attests to its worth. It badly deserves to be back in print.