From the back of the shelf......

In the late 60s/early 70s just about the only place in London to find any sort of selection of music books that were mostly published in the U.S. was Compendium Books in Camden Town.  Nick Kimberley was the friendly, learned fellow there who knew everything there was to know about music writing and the underground press at the time and he was a huge help to me in two invaluable ways. He took copies of my fanzine Fat Angel to sell in Compendium and he introduced me to the very best in music writing from the U.S. Of course I still have all the books he persuaded me to buy and I treasure them even though some haven't stood the test of time very well. This one I think though just about has : ROCK AND ROLL WILL STAND - edited by Greil Marcus (Beacon Press, Boston, 182pp, pbk, 1969). It cost me £1.45 (there's currently a used copy available via Amazon for £49.99) and is a collection of topical, music-related essays by Bay Area writers who were probably all friends of Marcus and therefore operating on an intellectual level that at worst can be both intimidating and humbling and at best stimulate and enlighten. Rock music began to be taken seriously in 1967 and by 1969 a number of writers, inspired by Paul Williams and his groundbreaking Crawdaddy magazine, were trying to write important stuff about rock. Of course pretentiousness was rife and some hilarious prose resulted, but the best of these writers connected with an audience that wanted rock music to mean something. Marcus himself is of course the doyen of rock analysts and a master at explaining the meaning of it all and he has four essays here. Writers I probably should remember like Sandy Darlington, Steve Strauss and Stewart Kessler also contribute but sadly there is only one piece by Langdon Winner - one of the great writers from the era of Rolling Stone when its review section was the rock fan's bible. I've always thought that some of the best music writing I've ever read has been about talented writers coming up against the previously unknown and unfamiliar and trying to make sense of it. Even though its quality is patchy, this book is a good example of that. Don't pay £49.99 for it but perhaps it might be ripe for re-issue?

Up on the CAUGHT BY THE RIVER web-site today - my new Music Book Reader Bulletin -
http://www.caughtbytheriver.net/2012/05/the-music-book-reader-bulletin-5/#more-19356