Full Description
What is rock? This book offers a new and systematic approach to understanding rock by applying sociological concepts in a historical context. Deena Weinstein, a rock critic, journalist, and academic, starts by outlining an original approach to understanding rock, explaining how the form has developed through a complex and ever-changing set of relations between artists, fans, and mediators. She then traces the history of rock in America through its distinctive eras, from rock's precursors to rock in the digital age. The book includes suggested listening lists to accompany each chapter, a detailed filmography of movies about rock, and a wide range of visuals and fascinating anecdotes. Never separating rock music from the social, political, economic, and cultural changes in America's history, Rock'n America provides a comprehensive overview of the genre and a new way of appreciating its place in American society.
Contents
List of Illustrations
Suggested Listening Lists
Acknowledgments
Preface
1. What is Rock?
2. Rock's Precursors, 1946-1953
3. Rock Begins, 1954-1958
4. Mainstreaming Rock and Roll, 1959-1963
5. The Times They Were A-changin', 1964-1967
6. The Best and Worst of Times, 1968-1973
7. The Shame and the Splendor, 1974-1978
8. Draining of the Mainstream, 1979-1982
9. Visuals Rule While Indie Rocks, 1983-1990
10. Alternative to What? 1991-1996
11. Decentering Rock, 1997-2002
12. Rock in the Digital Age, 2003-now
Filmography
Bibliography
Index
