Sound Bites

by Albert Goldman

Sound Bites is history by strobe light, an electrifying collection that picks you up and sets you down in the best seat in the house for an all-star rock show that spans three decades. Albert Goldman, renowned for his definitive, controversial, bestselling biographies of Lenny Bruce, Elvis Presley, and John Lennon, is the foremost writer today--or yesterday--on American music. Now, the man Newsweek called "half scholarly intellectual and half funky pop rock schlock freak" chronicles the sounds and scenes of rock's apocalypse through this collection of his most riveting pieces. From the screaming frenzy of an early Elvis concert to the sweaty fervor of James Brown at the Apollo; from the mind-bending chaos of the Electric Circus to the supersonic vapor bath of Studio 54; from Motown to Memphis, rockabilly to acid, Jagger to Hendrix to Tiny Tim--Goldman covers rock's birth, maturity, and decadent decline with fierce energy. Here is a critical and celebratory journey into the glitter and gore of rock and roll, by its most provocative evocateur.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction

299 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1992

Reviews

[Adam Thometz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sound Bites is a book that follows the history and evolution of music from Elvis Presley to Michael Jackson, while going back to jazz in the middle. The author, Albert Goldman, is known for his controversial biographies on Elvis, John Lennon, and Lenny Bruce (of which the latter received the most controversy). He died while working on a biography of Jim Morrison in the early 90s.

I thought this was a pretty good read. I really liked Goldman's style of writing in here. It manages to capture the true essence of the hype of 50's and 60's rock and roll, such as Elvis in concert or the Beatles in New York, which in my opinion are the best parts of the entire book. Honorable mentions in the book include his account on The Who's legendary rock opera (Tommy), the Latin concerts in Rio, the birth of tango, the rise of gay clubs in New York City, basically most of the book.

My only problem with this book, dropping one star from the rating, is that there where some boring or insignificant parts in the book, such as Goldman's encounter with R.D. Laing (what the hell does he have to do with anything?), some parts of his jazz chapter. Though this is probably because of my short attention span or the fact that I mostly read when I'm the least alert.

Overall, this book is definitely worth checking out, whether or not you know rock history, or like reading for that matter. I thought I knew everything there was to know about rock and roll. That is, until I read this book.

[Maree · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best-written books I have *ever* read. I was only tangentially aware of most of the events described in it, and reading about them from someone who lived them was very eye-opening. Goldman covers aspects of musical history from rock all the way up through disco, so if you have an interest in music from, oh, about the late 1970's back through about the '40's, definitely check it out. I will be buying this book.

[Frank Taranto · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of reviews on the music scene of the 60's through 80's. One man's viewpoint of waht he saw and heard.