[(Rock Around the Clock: The Record That Started the Rock Revolution!)] [Author: Jim Dawson] published on

by Jim Dawson

(Book). Music detective Jim Dawson reveals the real story of rock 'n' roll's beginnings like it's never been told before. It's all here, from the song's murky origins and Bill Haley's early struggles as a professional musician, to the record's explosion through motion pictures like The Blackboard Jungle and Haley's resulting success and eventual burnout. Dawson makes the case that "Rock Around the Clock" besides being the first national No. 1 rock 'n' roll hit killed Tin Pan Alley and heralded the beginning of modern youth culture.

Genres: Music

Unknown Binding

First published May 10, 2005

About the author

Dawson has also written extensively about early rock and roll and rhythm and blues, including 'What Was the First Rock 'n' Roll Record?' which Mojo magazine called 'one of the best musical reads of [1993].' His 1980 cover story on Ritchie Valens in the Calendar section of the Los Angeles Times led directly to the reissue of the forgotten rock 'n' roller's recordings and the making of the biopic La Bamba, which used some of Dawson's research.

Jim Dawson is a Hollywood, California-based writer who has specialized in American pop culture (especially early rock 'n' roll) and the history of flatulence (three books so far, including his 1999 top-seller, "Who Cut the Cheese? A Cultural History of the Fart"). Mojo magazine called his What Was the First Rock 'n' Roll Record (1992), co-written with Steve Propes, "one of the most impressive musical reads of the year"; it remains a valuable source for music critics and rock historians, and an updated second edition is currently available on Kindle. Dawson has also written a series of articles on early rhythm and blues and rock 'n' roll pioneers for the Los Angeles Times, including a front-page story in the Calendar entertainment section on the forgotten tragic figure Ritchie Valens. The piece led directly to Rhino Records reissuing Valens' entire catalog (with Dawson's liner notes) and eventually to the 1987 biopic "LaBamba," which used some of Dawson's research. Since 1983 Dawson has also written liner notes for roughly 150 albums and CDs, including Rhino's prestigious "Central Avenue Sounds" box set celebrating the history of jazz and early R&B in Los Angeles. His most recent book (2012) is "Los Angeles's Bunker Hill: Pulp Fiction's Mean Streets and Film Noir's Ground Zero."

Reviews

[Jon]

Fun book about the definitive rock'n'roll record by the author of 45 RPM (another wonderful piece of record-industry history) and co-author of WHAT WAS THE FIRST ROCK'N'ROLL RECORD (another good one). Lots of information about Bill Haley (though this is not a biography of him), the various Comets, the song's origins, other similarly named and themed songs that preceded it, and its significance, including the truth about the BLACKBOARD JUNGLE cinema "riots." Ian Whitcomb, the British pop singer, guest-wrote one chapter, about the impact of Haley and early r'n'r in England. My only complaint is that at one point, Dawson states that Joe McCarthy led the House Un-American Activities Committee. (This is at least the fourth book in which I've seen this error.) Let's get this straight: SENATOR Joe McCarthy was not a member of the House of Representatives, and therefore was not on HUAC, which was a HOUSE committee.