rock and roll 
-
9/11/2022
Arena Rockin' The Vote?
by George Case
Dismissed, derided, or even deplored by critics, and out of step with the trends, arena rock acts still pack them in in much of America. Is it the sonic key to understanding Trumpism?
-
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
4/12/2022
Greg Ginn, SST Records, and the Rise of SoCal Punk
"In its 1980s heyday, SST released at least a dozen canonical rock albums that were notable for their rejection of convention."
-
SOURCE: The Nation
3/14/2022
Dave Grohl's Incurable Optimism
Historian Daniel Bessner says that Dave Grohl's memoir is heavy on affable storytelling but doesn't offer Grohl's views on the huge shakeups in the music industry that he's witnessed over his career.
-
SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
2/6/2022
The Neil Young-Joe Rogan Affair Shows the Long History of the Music Industry
by Sam Backer
The music industry's adaptation to the streaming age (and return to profits for the big labels) is part of a long history extracting money from new technologies, including giving artists the smallest slice of the pie.
-
SOURCE: The Guardian
1/20/2022
Another Hendrix Legacy Lawsuit: Family Seeks to Block Royalty Claim by Heirs of Bandmates
Lawyers for the Hendrix family argued that a suit for back royalties by the heirs of Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell were invalid because of waivers signed by the guitarist's British bandmates soon after his 1970 death.
-
SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
2/10/2021
The Beatles Ignited a Culture War and Changed the World
by Randall J. Stephens
While Peter Jackson's "Get Back" documentary focuses on the last phases of the band's work together, it's important to think about how the group's emergence changed American culture, especially around sex and gender.
-
10/3/2021
At 82, Dion Offers a Rock and Roll Light in the Darkness
by Richard Aquila
Dion's new recording isn't just a work of Baby Boomer nostalgia; it reaches to the past to understand the present, says a historian of rock in American culture.
-
SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
9/26/2021
How the Drive-By Truckers Hacked the Music Industry
by Stephen Deusner
Through lineup changes, record label hassles, and fans upset with their political lyrics, the Truckers have used the internet and social media to build support and survive for decades. Their story is a history of the changing business and a map for younger acts.
-
SOURCE: The Conversation
8/24/2021
Charlie Watts Put Some Jazz in Rock and Roll
by Victor Coelho
"In an era when rock drummers were larger-than-life showmen with big kits and egos to match, Charlie Watts remained the quiet man behind a modest drum set. But Watts wasn’t your typical rock drummer."
-
6/20/2021
"Juke": Bluesman Bobby Rush on the Roots of Rock and Roll
by Bobby Rush with Herb Powell
Blues musician Bobby Rush's new autobiography chronicles his life and career, and the way that the appropriation of Black music into American popular culture often left Black entertainers behind. Read here how he remembers the roots of rock and roll.
-
SOURCE: New York Times
1/28/2021
Sun Records, Storied Early Rock Label, Sells Its High-Wattage Catalog
"In the 1950s, Sun Records in Memphis became one of the most dynamic forces in American music, releasing the first recordings by Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and others, helping define rockabilly and rock ’n’ roll."
-
SOURCE: Variety
10/26/2020
MC5’s Wayne Kramer Files Suit Over ‘No on Prop. 23’ Ad for Using 1968 Band Footage
More bluntly, in keeping with the tone of MC5 songs like “Kick Out the Jams,” Kramer said, “Give me a break with your jive bulls—.”
-
SOURCE: The Conversation
10/7/2020
With His Signature Guitar Style, Eddie Van Halen Changed Rock Music
by Ken Murray
A professor of guitar performance explains Eddie Van Halen's innovations in technique, contribution to electric guitar design, and influence across genres including the solo on Michael Jackson's 1983 mega-hit "Beat It"
-
SOURCE: New York Times
10/6/2020
Eddie Van Halen, Virtuoso of the Rock Guitar, Dies at 65
The influential rock guitarist died today at age 65 after a battle with cancer.
-
SOURCE: CNN
10/6/2020
Led Zeppelin Victorious in 'Stairway to Heaven' Plagiarism Case
Representatives of the estate of the late Randy Wolfe, who claimed authorship, said the case nevertheless proved its point that "Led Zeppelin are the greatest art thieves of all time."
-
SOURCE: The Atlantic
9/18/2020
How Jimi Hendrix’s London Years Changed Music
A new book, at the 50th anniversary of the guitar master's death, takes Jimi Hendrix's leap from chitlin circuit sideman to London sensation as a turning point for rock music.
-
SOURCE: The Guardian
9/16/2020
Black Sabbath's Paranoid at 50: Potent Anthems of Working-Class Strife
Music critics dismissed Black Sabbath's sludgy sound and alienated lyrics, but fans ensured that the band's second album would become one of the most influential rock records of all time. The songs' channeling of working-class pain and frustration, not their fascination with the occult, explain why.
-
SOURCE: American Songwriter
9/13/2020
John Fogerty Responds to Trump’s Unfortunate Use of “Fortunate Son”
"I find it confusing, I would say, that that the president has chosen to use my song for his political rallies, when in fact it seems like he is probably the fortunate son.”
-
5/31/2020
Little Richard: Bold, Pioneering, Complex, and Unapologetic
by Elwood Watson
Little Richard left a lasting musical and cultural legacy because of his talent and his willingness to be more boldly black and sexual than other artists dared.
-
SOURCE: New York Times
5/10/2020
Little Richard: An Ecstasy You Couldn’t Refuse
Little Richard was a challenge to 1950s proprieties: to segregation, to musical decorum, to chastity, to straightness.
News
- The Debt Ceiling Law is now a Tool of Partisan Political Power; Abolish It
- Amitai Etzioni, Theorist of Communitarianism, Dies at 94
- Kagan, Sotomayor Join SCOTUS Cons in Sticking it to Unions
- New Evidence: Rehnquist Pretty Much OK with Plessy v. Ferguson
- Ohio Unions Link Academic Freedom and the Freedom to Strike
- First Round of Obama Administration Oral Histories Focus on Political Fault Lines and Policy Tradeoffs
- The Tulsa Race Massacre was an Attack on Black People; Rebuilding Policies were an Attack on Black Wealth
- British Universities are Researching Ties to Slavery. Conservative Alumni Say "Enough"
- Martha Hodes Reconstructs Her Memory of a 1970 Hijacking
- Jeremi Suri: Texas Higher Ed Conflict "Doesn't Have to Be This Way"
Trending Now
- New transcript of Ayn Rand at West Point in 1974 shows she claimed “savage" Indians had no right to live here just because they were born here
- The Mexican War Suggests Ukraine May End Up Conceding Crimea. World War I Suggests the Price May Be Tragic if it Doesn't
- The Vietnam War Crimes You Never Heard Of