Shake It Up: Great American Writing on Rock and Pop from Elvis to Jay Z

480 Pages·2017·4.61 MB·English

by  Jonathan Lethem

SHAKE IT UP
GREAT AMERICAN WRITING ON
ROCK AND POP FROM ELVIS TO
JAY Z
EDITED BY
JONATHAN LETHEM
and KEVIN DETTMAR
A Library of America Special Publication
Volume compilation copyright © 2017 by Literary Classics of the United States,
Inc., New York, N.Y.
Introduction copyright © 2017 by Jonathan Lethem and Kevin Dettmar All
rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the
permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in
critical articles and reviews.
Distributed to the trade in the United States by Penguin Random House Inc.
and in Canada by Penguin Random House Canada Ltd.
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keeping in print, authoritative editions of America’s best and most significant
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2106959719
ISBN 978–1–59853–531–0
eISBN 917–1–59853–532–7
First Printing
Manufactured in the United States of America
Contents
Introduction by Jonathan Lethem and Kevin Dettmar
Nat Hentoff
THE FREEWHEELIN’ BOB DYLAN
Amiri Baraka
FROM THE CHANGING SAME (R&B AND NEW BLACK MUSIC)
Richard Poirier
LEARNING FROM THE BEATLES
Jules Siegel
GOODBYE SURFING, HELLO GOD!
Richard Goldstein
MASTER OF MEDIOCRITY
Paul Williams
OUTLAW BLUES
Stanley Booth
THE MEMPHIS SOUL SOUND
Lillian Roxon
FROM LILLIAN ROXON’S ROCK ENCYCLOPEDIA
Lenny Kaye
THE BEST OF ACAPPELLA
Richard Meltzer
FROM THE AESTHETICS OF ROCK
Ellen Sander
INSIDE THE CAGES OF THE ZOO
Vince Aletti
FROM THE DISCO FILES
Paul Nelson
VALLEY OF THE NEW YORK DOLLS
Lester Bangs
WHERE WERE YOU WHEN ELVIS DIED?
Greg Shaw
IN DEFENSE OF ROCK THEORY
Robert Christgau
PRINCE
Jon Pareles
THE CARS’ POWER STEERING
Ellen Willis
JANIS JOPLIN
Carola Dibbell
THE SLITS GO NATIVE
Debra Rae Cohen
DAVID BOWIE EATS HIS YOUNG
Nick Tosches
FROM HELLFIRE
Ariel Swartley
BOYS’ NIGHT OUT: AZTEC CAMERA CLICKS
Nelson George
THE POWER AND THE GLORY
Peter Guralnick
KING SOLOMON: THE THRONE IN EXILE
Donna Gaines
SYLVIA’S HUSBAND
Dave Marsh
FROM THE HEART OF ROCK & SOUL: THE 1001 GREATEST SINGLES EVER MADE
Chuck Eddy
THE RAMONES
Eve Babitz
JIM MORRISON IS DEAD AND LIVING IN HOLLYWOOD
Gina Arnold
FROM ROUTE 666
Ann Powers
HOUSES OF THE HOLY
Robert Palmer
SAM COOKE’S NIGHT BEAT
Gerald Early
FROM ONE NATION UNDER A GROOVE
Ed Ward
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN: BORN TO RUN
Camden Joy
TOTAL SYSTEMS FAILURE
Chuck Klosterman
FROM FARGO ROCK CITY
Geoffrey O’Brien
SEVEN YEARS IN THE LIFE
Devin McKinney
FROM O.P.D. / DEUS EST VIVUS: THE BEATLES AND THE DEATH CULTS
Jessica Hopper
EMO: WHERE THE GIRLS AREN’T