The Crawdaddy! Book: Writings (and Images) from the Magazine of Rock

by Paul Williams

When 17-year-old Paul Williams began publishing Crawdaddy magazine in 1966, just as the American counterculture was poised to explode, the world was only beginning to take rock music as seriously as the intelligencia took folk and jazz. Preceding both Rolling Stone and Creem, Crawdaddy has gone down in history as the pioneer of rock journalism, and was the training ground for many rock writers who would later become stars in their own right. Now,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0634029584
• ISBN13: 9780634029585
• Release Date: May 2002
• Publisher: Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation
• Length: 319 Pages
• Weight: 2.08 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 8.1" x 10.9"

Customer Reviews

Wow! Wordy, Wordy, Wordy

Surely I was the only person in Springfield, Missouri in 1967 reading "Crawdaddy." If I hadn't been getting those East Coast hippie rags (the "East Village Other" anyone?), I'd never have known someone was publishing the commentaries us rock 'n' roll buddies used to consume the nights while the record player turned. The guy who stocked the record department at Kresge's knew I would be the first customer in Tuesday mornings to get the new Doors, Spencer Davis Group, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Jimi Hendrix Experience albums, each costing $2.98 plus tax. It was "Crawdaddy" that told me to make these morning trips so I could spend the day playing the new albums. Reading these issues of "Crawdaddy" now kindles plenty of memories - stories I've told over the years that came from those pages - but I really have to wonder if I read those dreary page-after-page meanderings by Jon Landau and Richard Meltzer. "Raunch epistomology," "raga rock," Otis Redding compared to Plato? Hey, just dig the enthusiasm and use the book to remind you of albums you need to play again.

Great Compilation of the Original Rock Magazine!

Paul Williams is one of originators of serious writing about the whole rock music scene. This is a great collection of his early pieces from the original Crawdaddy magazine, which was his brainchild. In addition, check out his other writings. He remains an enthusiastic observer/participant of music and pop culture.

Long-overdue tribute to the first rock journal

Excerpts and recollections from the first 19 issues (February 1966-October 1968) of Crawdaddy!, the first magazine of serious rock music coverage and criticism. This was the period when rock & roll was transforming into rock, when new groups and sounds were a weekly happening, and the rock album was asserting its place in the market. It is fascinating to read the articles, reviews, and interviews by some of rock music's future premier writers such as editor/publisher Paul Williams, Jon Landau, Richard Meltzer, and Ed Ward, and to relive the history of the music in the reprinted news items and record release notices. Fans of rock history and pop music journalism will enjoy this long-overdue celebration of the orgin of the form.