Big Beat Heat: Alan Freed and the Early Years of Rock & Roll

by John A. Jackson

An evocative portrait of the early days of rock music chronicles the contributions of disc jockey Alan Freed, discussing his radio career, work as a promoter, involvement in the late-1950s payola scandal, and role as spokesman for the American musical scene. Reprint.

Genres: Music, History, Nonfiction, Biography

400 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1991

Reviews

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thorough and exhaustive look into Alan Freed’s life and his devotion to rhythm and blues and, ultimately, rock and roll. Does a neat job of letting the payola scandal bubble and churn under the surface throughout much of the book until it breaks. And breaks Freed. A must-read for any rock fan.

[Nathan Phillips · Rating 2 out of 5]

… except not really, more like “Alan Freed and random namedrops of songs and record labels.” This is a well-researched book that gives a solid, dry rundown of the Payola scandal and Freed’s life but isn’t particularly strongly written and doesn’t really capture anything about the music itself, serving only to try and explicate a little about the time in which it existed. Payola was essentially the major labels’ (and ASCAP’s) excuse for shutting indies out of the music industry for a time; in other words, the “real” Payola was the system that already existed, and the smaller labels and DJs like Freed just attempted to play along and had careers and lives derailed because of it, which temporarily killed rock & roll in the early ’60s. I was interested in the book and it may be useful as something to consult in the future for context, but it just isn’t all that compelling by itself… and I think it could have been.

[captain america · Rating 4 out of 5]

alan freed is prosecuted, dies broke and bitter but dick clark is unscathed and emerges clean as a whistle? there's no justice.

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very detailed account of his musical life, and a good explanation/analysis of payola. But, too many typos.