Smart Ass: The Music Journalism of Joel Selvin

by Joel Selvin, Jim Marshall (Photographer), Greil Marcus (Foreword)

San Francisco Chronicle pop music critic Joel Selvin started covering rock shows for the paper shortly after the end of the Civil War. His writing has appeared in a number of other publications that one would think should have known better. People all over the world are still pissed off about pieces in this collection.

Genres: Music, Journalism

400 pages, Paperback

First published November 2, 2010

About the author

San Francisco Chronicle pop music critic Joel Selvin started covering rock shows for the paper shortly after the end of the Civil War. His writing has appeared in a surprising number of other publications that you would think should have known better.

Reviews

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love him or hate him, Joel Selvin was a fixture on the Bay Area music scene for a long time. Punks and new wave types in the Eighties couldn't stand him - Selvin was identified with Bay Area dinosaurs like the Dead, or worse, the "Bammie" bands like Journey (it turns out Selvin dishes and bashes the Metallicas and Journeys and Hueys quite nicely in this book.) But if you ever took his "rock history" classes at SF State you know the man is a deep expert on pop music and it shines through in this book. Recommended for Bay Area memory lane-ism, but also for general good stuff about a region that tends to be compartmentalized by the rest of the world.

[Seth Arnopole · Rating 4 out of 5]

A strong collection of SF Bay Area-centered rock and roll journalism, including compelling stories about Bill Graham's estate, Booker T. Jones learning to use Pro Tools, and the sad final years of Tubes/Grateful Dead keyboardist Vince Welnick. A good journalist like Joel Selvin can make you appreciate stories about subjects that you wouldn't think you would care about, like the issues surrounding the recording of Journey's ninth album, or the history of Third Eye Blind.