| Contents |
Introduction. My favorite waste of time -- 1. Where "rock and roll" began. Across the great divide: Nat King Cole ; Let's call the whole thing pop: George Gershwin ; The complete work of B.B. King ; The blank slate : George Jones ; Black face, whose voice? Emmett Miller ; Brown eyed handsome rock and roller: Chuck Berry ; Elvis in literature: Elvis Presley -- 2. Where "rock" began. Spontaneity by the seat of the pants: Janis Joplin ; Our first Bohemians: The Rolling Stones ; God grows up: Eric Clapton ; Genius dumb: Led Zeppelin ; Jimi plays history: Jimi Hendrix ; Out of this world: Aretha Franklin ; Nothing to say but everything, or, As far as he could go: John Lennon / Robert Christgau and John Piccarella ; Why the Beatles broke up ; James Brown's great expectations -- 3. Snatched from the maw of commerce. Stevie Wonder is all things to all people ; A boogie band that loves the governor (Boo Boo Boo): Lynyrd Skynyrd ; Turn on, drop in, find out: The Grateful Dead ; Music for smart people: Randy Newman ; Time waits for no one: Richard Thompson ; Father alone farther along: Loudon Wainwright III ; Born to be mature: Bonnie Raitt ; Two rock and rollers who won't change the world: Pete Fowler/Andy Fairweather Low -- 4. Smashing the state-of-the-art. (If I'm acting like a king that's because) I'm a human being: New York Dolls ; Patti Smith pisses in a Vanguard ; The Clash see America second ; The great punk dandy at the Peppermint Lounge: Richard Hell ; Pere Ubu's right to choose ; Forever rotten: The Sex Pistols -- 5. Kings of rhythm. Sylvester Is a star ; Triumph of the trifle: Ray Parker, Jr ; Working the crowd: Bruce Springsteen/Michael Jackson ; Give him liberty or give him death: Prince ; Magnificent seven: Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five ; The Beastie Boys go too far ; Looking for the perfect Public Enemy ; An autodidact's history of KRS-One -- 6. Between punk and a pop place. A voyage to Liliput ; Simple because he's simple: Marshall Crenshaw / Robert Christgau and Carola Dibbell ; Aching to become: The Replacements ; Living legends: The B-52's ; Sonic Youth sell out ; Curse of the Mekons -- 7. They are the world. West Africa not Africa, Europe not the world: Salif Keita/Youssou N'Dour ; The Black Sea giant and the lion queens: Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens ; The goat-god in history: The master musicians of Jajouka ; A goat-god in exile: (Cheb) Khaled ; The Iron Curtain at midnight: Pulnoc ; Culture hero: Mzwakhe Mbuli -- 8. Careers in iconicity. Madonnathinking Madonnabout Madonnamusic ; Garth Brooks, Michael Bolton, Barney, and you: Garth Brooks ; Bette Midler sings ... everything ; Lou Reed, average guy ; What are realities of Prince deal? Hell, what is reality? ; Making a spectacle of herself: Janet Jackson -- 9. Careers in semipopularity. Selling the dirt to pay the band: Freedy Johnston ; Are we not girls? We are L7! ; Lucinda Williams's reasonable demands ; The ballad of Polly Jean Harvey: P.J. Harvey ; Two backsliders: Iris DeMent/Sam Phillips ; On the real side: Warren G/Coolio ; Art-rock you can dance to: D.J. Shadow ; Honk if you love honking: James Carter ; Unlikely samba : Arto Lindsay ; Stereolad: Pavement ; Grrrowing grrrls: Sleater-Kinney ; Blown away: Nirvana -- 10. Modern maturity. The goduncle: George Clinton ; Pop songs to God: Al Green ; Wasted on the young: Neil Young. |
