Ed Ward covers the first half of the history of rock & roll in this sweeping and definitive narrative f rom the 1920s, when the music of rambling medicine shows mingled with the songs of vaudeville and minstrel acts to create the very early sounds of country and rhythm and blues, to the rise of the first independent record labels post-World War II, and concluding in December 1963, just as an immense change in the airwaves took hold and the Beatles...

Selects ten songs recorded between 1956 and 2008 that embody rock and roll as a thing in itself--in the story each song tells, inhabits, and creates in its legacy.

A brief history of rock bands from the 1950s to the present.

Presents a history of the New Jersey alternative and punk music club of the 1980s and early 1990s, with a listing and description of each band's appearance and interviews with band members, club regulars, and employees.

When punk first broke in the UK in 1976, music journalist John Ingham was on hand to document the very heart of the scene. He famously conducted the first-ever interview with the Sex Pistols (for "Sounds," in April 1976), partied with them, bailed Sid Vicious out of jail and witnessed the band's evolution at historic gigs ; he also wrote the first reviews of The Damned and The Clash. Later, Ingham would launch and manage Generation X. "Spirit of 76...

By mixing personal memoir, criticism, and journalism, Hyden explores the ways that classic rock changed the culture -- how it established the album as music's answer to the novel, and rock concerts as the secular equivalent to church -- and asks whether any of these signposts can endure. He investigates the rise and fall of classic rock radio and determines whether the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is telling the right version of Rock history. He revisits...

An anthology of essays from a chorus of twenty-nine luminaries singing the praises of their favorite Beatles songs.