How Does It Feel?: Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, and the Philosophy of Rock and Roll

by Grant Maxwell

Grant Maxwell examines the recorded music of popular culture with the same subtlety and care as he brings to the literary and philosophical texts of high culture. He seeks not just breadth of knowledge but coherence of insight; not just accumulation of knowledge but depth of understanding.Richard Tarnas, author of The Passion of the Western MindHow Does It Feel? traces the significance of rock and roll through the early careers of Elvis Presley, The Beatles, and Bob Dylan, drawing on some of the most profound philosophical ideas of the last few centuries. Through the artists' own words and intimate accounts, the book suggests that archaic modes of thought, including those associated with mysticism, alchemy, shamanism, and ecstatic spiritual practice, and even with often trivialized phenomena described by words like "magic," "destiny," and "prophecy," are vitally important for understanding how these musicians were able to catalyze the inception of an epochal revolution in human consciousness.From the recording of Presley's first hit at Sun studio to the Beatles' primal Hamburg initiation to Dylan's "transfiguration," Maxwell shows how rock and roll has enacted the return of relational modes repressed since Descartes' equation of thought with human being in the seventeenth century. Although the privileging of rationality, materialism, and science has apparently been in service to the development of humanity's intellectual capacities, this "ascent of man" has come at the expense of intuitive, affective, and embodied ways of knowing.However, nothing can be repressed forever, and rock and roll appears to have been a compensatory reaction to the modern rationalization and disenchantment of culture. Through an engaging retelling of the familiar narratives from a novel philosophical perspective, How Does It Feel? illuminates how the renewed attention to bodily experience performed by these musicians has opened the door to even more deeply repressed premodern modes, mediating what appears to be the emergence of a new world view that integrates modern and premodern premises.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction

399 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 10, 2014

About the author

Grant Maxwell is the author of "How Does It Feel?: Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, and the Philosophy of Rock and Roll" and "The Walk", a children's book illustrated by his mother-in-law, Susan Edwards. Maxwell has served as a professor of English at Baruch College in New York, he holds a PhD from the City University of New York's Graduate Center, and he's an editor at Archai: the Journal of Archetypal Cosmology. He's also a musician, and he lives in East Nashville, Tennessee with his wife and son.

Reviews

[Micheal · Rating 5 out of 5]

I accidentally left a one star review earlier. It is now corrected.
Anything Dylan is always an exciting find for me.
Thank you Grant for drawing my attention to it. I most humble beg your pardon.

[Ricky Kimsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Musical Analysis

This is part history and analysis of rock greats Elvis Presley,Bob Dylan and the Beatles. The author gives thoughtful analysis of their music and cultural impact.

[Danielle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Makes some interesting far-reaching points about the intersection of the 60s counterculture.