Rock concert An oral history as told by the artists, backstage insiders, and fans who were there

Marc Myers, 1956-

Book - 2021

"A lively, entertaining, wide-ranging oral history of the golden age of the rock concert based on over ninety interviews with musicians, promoters, stagehands, and others who contributed to the huge cultural phenomenon that is live rock. Between 1950 and 1985, the rock concert developed its allure and power as a unifying experience-and became an influential multi-billion-dollar industry. In Rock Concert, acclaimed interviewer Marc Myers sets out to uncover the history of this compelling phenomenon, weaving together groundbreaking accounts from the people who were there. Myers combines the tales of icons like Bob Weir, Todd Rundgren, Tina Weymouth, Ian Anderson, Alice Cooper, Steve Miller, Roger Waters, and Angus Young with figures such... as the disc jockeys who first began playing rock on the radio, like Alan Freed in Cleveland and New York; music journalists, like Rolling Stone's Cameron Crowe; and the promoters who organized it all, like Michael Lang, cofounder of Woodstock. The result is a rounded and vivid account of live rock's stratospheric rise. Rock Concert provides a fascinating, immediate look at the evolution of live rock performances-spanning from the rise of R&B in the late 1940s and emergence of rock 'n' roll in the '50s, through the hippie gatherings of the '60s, to the arena and stadium tours of the '70s and '80s. Featuring dozens of key players and filled with colorful anecdotes, Rock Concert will speak to anyone who has experienced the transcendence of live rock"--

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Subjects
Genres
Oral histories
Published
New York : Grove Press 2021.
Language
English
Main Author
Marc Myers, 1956- (author)
Edition
First edition
Physical Description
viii, 311 pages, 16 pages of plates : illustrations (some color) ; 24 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 305-310).
ISBN
9780802157911
  • Introduction
  • Part 1. The 1950s
  • Chapter 1. Los Angeles Auditoriums
  • Chapter 2. Cleveland Theaters
  • Chapter 3. Chicago Clubs
  • Chapter 4. Memphis Fairs
  • Chapter 5. Northeast Fests
  • Part 2. The 1960s
  • Cnapter 6. Folk at the Mall
  • Chapter 7. Pop's Endless Summer
  • Chapter 8. Dylan Invents Rock
  • Chapter 9. Ballrooms and Be-Ins
  • Chapter 10. Festival Mania
  • Part 3. The 1970s
  • Chapter 11. Image, Media, and Branding
  • Chapter 12. Arenas, Stadiums, and Tours
  • Chapter 13. Sight and Sound
  • Chapter 14. Concert Maximus
  • Chapter 15. Rise of Exurbia
  • Part 4. The 1980s
  • Chapter 16. Not Just Another Brick
  • Chapter 17. Killing the Radio Star
  • Chapter 18. Computerized Ticketing
  • Chapter 19. And in the End, Live Aid
  • Epilogue
  • Fifty Best Live Albums, Concert Films, and Rock Docs
  • Source List
  • Acknowledgments
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Myers (Anatomy of a Song), a music writer for the Wall Street Journal, surveys in this engrossing oral history five decades of rock concerts, and the "songwriters, producers, disc jockeys, managers, promoters, and artists sided with the youth culture as it struggled to be heard." Starting with the emergence of R&B in the late 1940s and ending with 1985's Live Aid benefit, he vividly recreates what went on behind the scenes, onstage, and in the crowds with intimate accounts from the people who were there. Joan Baez recounts what it was like to perform at the 1963 March on Washington and to lead the crowd in singing "We Shall Overcome"; Bob Eubanks describes how--despite being a disk jockey who'd never produced a concert before--he scrambled to secure the funding to make the Beatles' legendary Hollywood Bowl performance happen; and Alice Cooper recalls relocating his band from California to the Midwest, where his "lurid and despicable" reputation resonated with Rust Belt kids. Myers also offers a thoughtful overview of the considerable ways in which the rock landscape has shifted since Live Aid, due to the popularity of streaming services and scandals recently brought to light on social media in response to "past or present me-too events." Eminently entertaining, this is sure to delight rock fans of all persuasions. Agent: Glen Hartley, Writers' Representatives. (Nov.)

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review

The live performance is an integral part of the rock and roll experience for both performers and fans; it can create community, offer escape, and even forge political awareness and activism. For this oral history of the evolution of the rock concert, spanning 1950 to 1985, writer and music journalist Myers (Anatomy of a Song) interviewed more than 90 performers, promoters, journalists, and photographers, who discuss early Elvis appearances and package tours in the 1950s, the folk music boom of the early '60s, performances at the March on Washington, the Beatles' early stadium shows, the massive festivals of the late '60s and '70s and the turn to arena and stadium shows, and, finally, the rise of MTV and the increasing sophistication of computerized ticketing in the '80s. Myers deftly weaves a compelling narrative that documents decades of music and cultural history. VERDICT While not a totally comprehensive account, this book places the live concert in context with the broader story of popular music; its insider perspectives have an immediacy that will appeal to a broad swath of music fans.--James Collins, Morristown-Morris Twp. P.L., NJ

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Review by Kirkus Book Review

A multifaceted account of the rise of the rock show from the birth of the genre until Live Aid in 1985. In the beginning, writes music journalist Myers, the rock concert was an impromptu affair. Songwriter Mike Stoller recalls that in the 1940s and '50s, nightclubs staged shows with several acts on the ticket, and DJs would do same-day announcements when they came together. "White kids who otherwise never would have heard of these events found their way there," he notes. Black music drew ever larger White crowds thanks to those DJs, foremost among them Alan Freed in Cleveland; as they did, the limits of segregation were tested. Wanda Jackson, the pioneering rockabilly singer, remembers that in the South, the most spacious venues were state fairs, but eventually, rock shows began to move into concert halls once reserved for higher-toned music. There, acts like the Beach Boys could draw huge (and largely White) crowds. As audiences grew, music marathons such as the Monterey Pop Festival of 1967 began to take shape. Then the music changed, at least by the lights of documentarian D.A. Pennebaker. Whereas Broadway tunes were about the notion that life is good, he notes, rock tunes sounded change: "They were saying, 'This isn't friendly music. It's a warning.' Which is why the cameras in Monterey Pop [Pennebaker's documentary] gravitate toward the oddness of the concert with a childlike curiosity." Myers charts the technological changes as well: the development of vast PA systems that enabled concert stalwarts like the Grateful Dead to send their sound out for miles; the wireless electric guitar; and complex stage-lighting systems and props that made Pink Floyd's The Wall an unforgettable live experience. Closing with the Live Aid benefit of 1985, Myers notes that the rock concert continued but grew sclerotic (and expensive), so that "by the 2000s, the rock concert had fizzled as a rite of passage and was more of an event parents took children along to experience." A revealing, absorbing book for those who keep their old ticket stubs close at hand. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.