Rock of Ages: The Rolling Stone History of Rock and Roll

by Ed Ward, Ken Tucker, Geoffrey Stokes

Excellent Book

Genres: Music, History, Nonfiction, Reference, American History

649 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1986

Reviews

[Bill O'driscoll · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this when it came out in the 80s, when I was in college, and decided to check back when Peter Guralnick's Elvis bio left me hungry for more context about the music's earliest days. And indeed, while it's impossible to be comprehensive (or definitive) about a whole (and somewhat hard-to-define) genre of music, Ed Ward's take on the 50s and before is the real highlight here. Ward's a very funny writer, especially about the mass hysteria early rock n roll generated among self-appointed moral guardians like politicians and the Catholic Church. But he's also solid on tracing all the individual strands of DNA that went into the music -- mostly rhythm and blues and country, but even those "genres" have a lot of different aspects. (It's impossible, by the way, to pin down "the first rock 'n' roll" song; Ward notes aspirants to the title dating to the early 1930s, though there's general agreement that the track that began rock 'n' roll as a commercial force was Billy Haley & The Comet's "Rock Around the Clock.") Geoffrey Stokes covers the 60s well, including the rise of Brill Building pop and Motown; he's especially trenchant on this once-racially integrated music's division into white "rock" and black r&b and soul. Ken Tucker traces the 1970s through roughly 1985, tracking funk, disco, punk and new wave and the further splintering of the audience into niche markets. Especially apt in documenting how a music that was once seen as a disposable fad for teens that they'd grow out of evolved into a huge industry, maturing perhaps but inevitably losing (on the whole) that raw, fresh feeling that Ward described so well. An epic story, pretty well told. (Also, 30 years (!) on from publication, interesting to note how emerging rock acts of the day were treated: both REM and U2, which in the late 80s became the two biggest bands around, got respectively a quick mention and a few sentences.) Unavoidably, "Rock of Ages" is a detailed survey, but if you're into pop-music history you could start with a lot worse.

[Robert Hale]

As a history of the period this book is excellent.

But hearing it read by the narrator Barry Berenson is too frequently disappointing. Narrators are paid to read like a pianist sight-reads a score, except that whereas notes are precise and unambiguous, pronunciations are unique and specific.

Are narrators responsible to check pronunciations? Are producers responsible to verify and correct them? Apparently not.

Hearing names like Leiber and Stoller, and Joan Baez, mispronounced make it difficult to continue.

[Robert Marovich · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the first book I read that went behind the scenes of the songs I grew up with. In its own way, it inspired me to keep digging beneath the surface of popular music to learn more about the industry and how popular music is crafted, sold, and consumed.

[Russ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This isn't the book to read if you want in-depth information about particular bands. If you like to read about history, music and business trends and get a good overview of important artists, this is a good read.

I found the first section of the book quite exciting and interesting. The author of that chapter begins by talking about the history of popular music in the United States, setting the foundation for the rock and roll to come. The information about the 40s and 50s wasn't as interesting to me, because many of the acts and songs are unfamiliar. I did, however, enjoy reading about the way the record industry worked back then.

Things get more interesting during the chapter about the 60s. You start reading faster as the "rock era" really begins to form. Familiar names start popping up and you learn about their place in the overall picture.

The book ends in the MTV era of the 80s. I think an updated version is needed, in order to cover the Grunge rock era. Personally, I would end the book with today's Indie Rock scene. That's where rock and roll is today.

Once you get through the 50s (although that may be interesting to you, depending on your age), this book is fascinating and informative.

Favorite part: The chapters about the 60s and 70s.

Favorite character: Alan Freed. He ruled popular music with an iron fist in the 1950s, but paid dearly for it. It's hard to imagine anyone doing such a thing today.

[Susan B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a sturdy history of rock and roll focussing on the period of rock's emergence in the 1950's through the beginning of the video era in the mid-1980's. There is quite a bit of detail here, with the book coming in at over 600 pages. It is split into three sections (50s and before, 60's, and 70's and beyond), each written by one of the three authors. I'm not a huge fan of the chronological approach to rock, as such accounts tend toward a "and then this happened, and then this happened" type of narrative. There are many books of this sort on the market and perhaps I've read too many of them. :^) This is surely one of the best of its kind and there is quite a lot of good information in it. While quite servicable in this regard, it is not as good a read as I had hoped.

[Kozmo Kliegl · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very good running history of Rock especially the 50s & 60s running into the 80s up to Frank Zappa vs. the PMRC. A must have member of the Rolling Stone Magazine trilogy of rock (The 1983 Encyclopedia & the red-cover [the blue's good too)record guide being the others).

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Got this book when I was still in my teens. A very thorough and comprehensive book about the history of R&R from the 40s and 50s through the PMRC in the 80s.

[Lynn Vannucci]

Absolutely absorbing, dense, and brilliant!

[Lynn Vannucci]

Absolutely absorbing, dense, and brilliant!

[Gabrielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anything you ever wanted to know about any band! Came in Handy with school projects and if you just want to know more about a particular band. This book is Awesome!

[William Enright · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dated but still a very interesting and insightful look into the history and evolution of popular music.

[Mdye · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good but broad in covering all genres well enough. I like its discussion on Bob Dylan.