Whatever Happened to Paul Nelson?

ROCK WRITING WAS NOT the first choice of Paul Nelson. A pioneer of rock criticism, and one of its most talented practitioners, Nelson (who cites Ross Macdonald as a literary hero) was originally more interested in detective fiction and movie criticism. Still, the Warren, Minnesota native entered the world of music criticism in the early '60s and wound up changing the way people listened to the music, while helping to launch a "New Journalism" that barely exists anymore.