Tragedies and Mysteries of Rock 'n' Roll

by Michele Primi

Is rock 'n' roll cursed? This expanded edition of the music fan's favorite explores the question, adding six new biographies to the sad list of loss. Although drugs and excess led to many of these premature passings, Rolling Stone journalist Michele Primi also investigates other mysteries, including the death of John Lennon and the myth of the "27 Club"—the many artists (like Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Amy Winehouse) who died in the seemingly ill-fated year following their 27th birthday.

Genres: Nonfiction, Music

348 pages, Hardcover

First published October 2, 2012

Reviews

[Roxanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not that exciting and the print is so tiny you need a magnifying glass to read it.

[Clarke · Rating 1 out of 5]

I saw this book at my library and thought the topic was right up my alley. I was correct about that but otherwise this book was a complete disappointment. I was going to originally give this book two stars despite how there are literally no sources cited for any of this book. It's a quick read and gives the reader a good jumping off point if a certain musician catches their eye. This book read like a master thesis that a fourth grader wrote. There were multiple typos and formatting issues. It seems like the author just wanted to make a quick buck. Also, the author had racist undertones for some of the passages. There wasn't anything I didn't know in this book. The pictures were subpar but at least the photographers got credit at the end of the book. I'm still gobsmacked that the author didn't cite a single person, article, other books, anything. We as the readers are just supposed to take the authors word that these events took place? If someone cited this book as a source, I would laugh and say try again. Save yourself the trouble of this book and just read the Wikipedia article about whatever band/musician you're interested in. At least Wikipedia has sources.

[Maura · Rating 4 out of 5]

A big coffee table sized book (almost a text book really) with lots of photos and a few pages devoted to each of a very long list of artist who met unfortunately early ends, starting with Robert Johnson and going all the way up to Amy Winehouse and Whitney Houston. (The emphasis is on Rock musicians but the book also strays into pop, blues, death metal,etc. for artists who were either very famous or whose ends were particularly sensational.) The tone is a little uneven, sometimes recounting the facts as dryly as a police report and sometimes drifting into lurid tales of rock and roll curses and deals made with the devil at lonely crossroads at midnight. But all in all, it was a good introduction for me, someone who likes classic rock a lot but was born in the 80s, to a lot of artists I didn't know but should.

[PennsyLady (Bev) · Rating 5 out of 5]

hardcover

published in 2012
text by michele primi

an extensive, concise treatment of tragedies and mysteries in rock n roll
..comprehensive discussion of the lives of 63 rock stars [Robert Johnson (1938) to Whitney Houston (2012)]
....excellent photography...

a must read for the rock n roll enthusiast

[Joann(san diego shutterbug) · Rating 2 out of 5]

There was only maybe 10 stories that i wanted to read. Still dont get how amy whinehouse, whitney houston and michael jackson fall into the catagory of rock and rock and roll, to me they are more pop music than anything. not exactly what i was expecting. it was ok.i guess.wouldnt pay money for it.

[Karolina Sosnowska · Rating 3 out of 5]

https://tanayahczyta.wordpress.com/20...

[Lucilletln · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting & SAD read...