The Rolling Stone record review. Volume 1

by The Editors of Rolling Stone

Vintage paperback edition issued by Rolling Stone to subscribers in 1971 as a companion to "The Rolling Stone Interviews" -- the classic collection by the Editors of Rolling Stone, describing everything from the fathers of rock and roll to the end of the Beatles, Soul, the British Invasion, the San Francisco scene, LA and SoCal, Texas and western scene, Bob Dylan, singles and albums and bands and mythologies of the Rock Age.

Genres: Music

Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1971

Reviews

[Gary Glade · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took me a long time to read this book. It was so packed with record reviews, opinions, great writing, old friends, and also some dated mumbo jumbo jargon of the sixties and the Summer of Love. I couldn’t just read the reviews. I had to cue up the album on my Spotify and listen as I read about each track. Some I added to my playlists on the spot. Others were immediately rejected. However, reading this book of reviews 50 plus years after it was published was revelatory - how some music from that time transcends generations and times, while other was very much a product of that time and needed to remain there. I lived through that time but still discovered so much that I missed and found great appreciation for now in my 70’s. There were some real gems and nuggets there from Aretha Franklin, Laura Nyro, Dr. John, Otis Redding.Junior Walker, Solomon Burke, The Box Tops, and Little Willie John. That late 60’s / early 70’s was such a rich time for music.
This was like reading the Bible. It was so rich and so chock full of information, I had to limit myself to one review a day, put it down, listen and digest and ruminate on that album or those singles. And Rolling Stone has always had a stable of the highest quality, most knowledgeable writers on music that have profoundly educated me on music I was unaware of - Greil Marcus, Jon Landau, Lester Bangs, David Fricke, Jann Wenner, and the great Ralph J. Gleason who taught me multitudes about Jazz to a Rock and Roller. It was perfect to end this great collection of reviews with a final word about Dylan by Ralph J. Gleason. Thank you Rolling Stone. There is a reason why I have a have been a lifetime subscriber for 50 years.

[Marko Ruostetoja · Rating 4 out of 5]

This cornerstone of rock criticism made me buy Sonic Youth's Daydream Nation. That money was not well spent.