Unsung Heroes of Rock 'n' Roll: The Birth of Rock 'n' Roll in the Wild Years Before Elvis Revised Edition

by Nick Tosches

Book Overview

Long before Elvis Presley entered Sam Phillips's Sun Records studio in 1954, rock 'n' roll was being performed and recorded by the likes of Big Joe Turner, Louis Jordan, Wynonie Harris, the Clovers,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0517580527
• ISBN13: 9780517580523
• Release Date: April 1991
• Publisher: Three Rivers Press (CA)
• Length: 276 Pages
• Weight: 0.88 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.6" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

An essential guide to the secret history of rock 'n' roll

An essential guide to the secret history of rock 'n' roll. Pick up this, Incredibly Strange Music, Vol.1 (ISBN:0940642220), a Norton Records catalog, and some back issues of Kicks magazine, and you're on your way. Maybe throw in some bourbon, too.

Informative, hysterically funny, a great read

This may be, quite simply, the best non-fiction book on music. I agree with his main point -- in rock and roll, there is nothing new under the sun; everything truly innovative was done by someone over half a century ago (and there's a good chance they were drunk at the time). What Tosches does is tell these stories is a way that will have you laughing out loud and running to the CD store to pick up as much of this music as you can find.

The Rosetta Stone of Early Rock and Roll

The best book about the history of Rock and Roll I have ever come across. My goal is to find and hear musis by each of the artists featured in the book, including Ming & Ling, the Chinese Hillbillies, bless their inscrutable souls. The opening paragraphs in the chapter on Big Joe Turner are worth the price of admission itself.

Inspired tales of early rockers

Tosches captures the energy of a nascent musical form with wit and no small amount of fury. The Merman chapter alone is worth the price of admission, opening new avenues of appreciation. Seek this one out.