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The History of Rock

History of Rock, The

The History of Rock was a magazine published in the early eighties that provided an encyclopaedic look at the history of contemporary music.

115 articles

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Jimmy Reed: Gimme That Harp, Boy!

Essay by John Broven, The History of Rock, 1982

THE MOST SUCCESSFUL DOWNHOME blues recording artist ever, Jimmy Reed chalked up 12 Billboard Hot 100 hits and 14 R&B chart entries during his career ...

Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels: Mitch Ryder: From The Detroit To The Top Ten

Retrospective by Fred Dellar, The History of Rock, 1983

Mitch Ryder meant guts, sweat, bump 'n' grind. His skin was white but he sounded black. He came from Detroit and he should have worked ...

The Walker Brothers: Harmony and rivalry from the Walkers

Retrospective by Fred Dellar, The History of Rock, 1982

In the mid sixties, just as every worthwhile group in Britain seemed to be setting up tours in the States, Scott Noel Engel, John Joseph ...

Marmalade: Sweet Sounds And Sticky Patches

Retrospective by Fred Dellar, The History of Rock, 1982

The Marmalade were an archetypal UK pop group who had the misfortune to operate in an era of progressive rock. ...

Puppet On A String: Girl Singers Of The Sixties

Essay by Mary Harron, The History of Rock, 1982

There were no bad girls in British pop music in the early Sixties — certainly nothing to compare with the most daring American girl groups ...

Paul Revere & The Raiders: Paul Revere and the Raiders

Retrospective by Tom Hibbert, The History of Rock, 1982

Hit sounds from America's Northwest ...

The Easybeats

Retrospective by Tom Hibbert, The History of Rock, 1982

An Australian group with stardom on their minds. IN MID-SIXTIES AUSTRALIA, home-grown acts found it difficult to penetrate the music scene on a national ...

Britain invades the world: Mid-Sixties British Music

Retrospective by Tom Hibbert, The History of Rock, 1982

Before 1964, the United States' worldwide domination of the pop music industry — and youth culture in general — was virtually total. Few British artists ...

The Animals: Animal Tracks - Newcastle's Brand Of Powerhouse Blues

Retrospective by Tom Hibbert, The History of Rock, 1982

In 1963, the northern beat boom was being answered further south by a trend, centred on London, towards a more aggressive R&B: the sort of ...

The Box Tops: Perfectly Packaged Pop That Sold A Million

Retrospective by Tom Hibbert, The History of Rock, 1983

While most of their contemporaries were dabbling in flower power and psychedelia, the Box Tops found success with a pop-oriented soul sound that was distinctly ...

The Fugs: Fugging around

Retrospective by Tom Hibbert, The History of Rock, 1982

Widespread, commercial appeal was never high on the Fugs' list of priorities. ...

The Turtles: Eclectic Musical Mixtures

Retrospective by Tom Hibbert, The History of Rock, 1982

While they produced some of the best pop music to emerge from California during the mid to late Sixties and had 16 American hits in ...

The Troggs

Retrospective by Tom Hibbert, The History of Rock, 1982

Reg Presley's rustics reaped a chart harvest ...

David Cassidy: Teen Dream From The TV Screen

Retrospective by Tom Hibbert, The History of Rock, 1983

"CAN AMERICA'S top rock group prevail against the evil machinations of a fat but deadly enemy agent — without blowing their cool?" ran the blurb ...

The Osmonds: The Osmond Family: Puppy Love

Retrospective by Tom Hibbert, The History of Rock, 1983

"It was not until groups like the Osmond brothers appeared on the scene that the pop revolution really get underway," wrote Richard Robinson in his ...

MC5: Kicking Out The Jams With The Motor City Rebels

Retrospective by Tom Hibbert, The History of Rock, 1983

"If you take everything in the universe and break it down to a common denominator, all you've got is energy", said the MC5's Wayne Kramer ...

Slade: Feel the Noize

Retrospective by Tom Hibbert, The History of Rock, 1983

"The fans are fed up with paying to sit on their hands while watching musicians who clearly couldn't care less about the customers." Thus commented ...

Pink Floyd, Syd Barrett: Syd Barrett: The Tragedy Of Floyd's Founding Genius

Retrospective by Tom Hibbert, The History of Rock, 1983

Early in 1970, Melody Maker asked Roger Waters what he thought of The Madcap Laughs, the debut solo album by his erstwhile Pink Floyd colleague ...

Jeff Beck: Rough 'n' Ready

Retrospective by Tom Hibbert, The History of Rock, 1983

When Eric Clapton left the Yardbirds in 1965, disillusioned with the commercial route they were taking, it seemed unlikely that the group would be able ...

Suzi Quatro: Oh, Suzi Q!!

Retrospective by Tom Hibbert, The History of Rock, 1983

How Quatrophenia conquered the UK "SUZI QUATRO MADE A WELCOME CHANGE from the wimpy, folksy girls who were rock’s only other female representatives at ...

Shake Some Action! The bands that put the Bomp in U.S. beat

Retrospective by Tom Hibbert, The History of Rock, 1984

IN THE mid-Sixties, within the music of groups like the Kinks, the Byrds and the Who, musical aggression and melodic invention had co-existed. But with ...

Adam & The Ants: Adam Ant: from Punk Reject to Prince Charming

Retrospective by Tom Hibbert, The History of Rock, 1984

AS THE '70s drew to a close, the British pop scene seemed distinctively lacking in glamour. Punk rock had made way for a ‘new wave’ ...

Television: Prime Time: Television

Retrospective by Tom Hibbert, The History of Rock, 1983

THE RULES OF punk/new-wave music laid down in 1976-77 stated that bands should avoid displays of technical virtuosity, should profess a loathing for rock’s history ...

New York: Positively 4th Street

Retrospective by Lenny Kaye, The History of Rock, 1982

The music that came out of New York's melting pot ...

The Pedal Steel Guitar

Retrospective by Lenny Kaye, The History of Rock, 1983

Pedal steel power from country pickers ...

Grand Funk Railroad: We're an American Band

Retrospective by Lenny Kaye, The History of Rock, 1983

If there was any group that polarised rock opinion, it was the blunt, effective power trio, Grand Funk railroad. Bypassing the ruling elite of 'progressive' ...

Frank Zappa: Surreal Anarchy From The Mother Superior

Retrospective by Miles, The History of Rock, 1983

Frank Zappa was born a composer. Had he been born in a different time or place, he would probably have become a 'serious' composer. But ...

Alan Freed: Mr Rock'n'Roll

Retrospective by Bill Millar, The History of Rock, 1982

ALAN FREED, the man responsible for giving rock'n'roll its name, was many things to many people. To some, he was the original Mr Clean, an ...

Blue-eyed soul: Colour Me Soul

Overview by Bill Millar, The History of Rock, 1983

The phrase 'blue-eyed soul' was coined by Georgie Woods, a black disc jockey on the WDAS radio station in Philadelphia. One of the major personalities ...

Doo-wop: At The Hop

Retrospective by Bill Millar, The History of Rock, 1982

White vocal groups of the Fifties embraced a variety of styles and sounds, ranging from adult pop groups (the Ames Brothers, the Four Aces, the ...

The Drifters: Under The Boardwalk

Retrospective by Bill Millar, The History of Rock, 1982

The Drifters are an institution. Very few vocal groups have remained popular for almost 30 years, and in an area notable for its lack of ...

The Coasters: At Smokey Joe's Café

Retrospective by Bill Millar, The History of Rock, 1982

The songwriters and producers Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller developed an unusually adventurous method of recording black singers, using material they often wrote themselves and ...

The Platters: The Most Successful Singing Group Of The Fifties

Retrospective by Bill Millar, The History of Rock, 1982

The Platters sold 50 million records to become the most successful black doowoppers on the history of rock. They were assembled, coached and directed by ...

Little Willie John: The Turbulent Career Of Little Willie John

Retrospective by Bill Millar, The History of Rock, 1982

Little Willie John brought soul to blues balladry and helped to change the whole direction of black popular music. Born William Edward John in Camden, ...

Charlie Gracie: Southern Sounds From A Northern City

Retrospective by Bill Millar, The History of Rock, 1982

After 1958, the year of his second sell-out tour of the UK, Charlie Gracie faded quickly from the ranks of front-line rock'n'roll singers. But on ...

Johnny and the Hurricanes: Stormy Weather

Retrospective and Interview by Bill Millar, The History of Rock, 1982

Although they scored four Top Thirty hits in the USA, Johnny and the Hurricanes doubled that figure in Britain, where they sold almost as many ...

Mary Wells: Teenage Chart-Topper With Motown Style

Retrospective by Bill Millar, The History of Rock, 1982

Mary Wells helped create the history that surrounds the Motown sound. She was their third chart-topper and the first to achieve international acclaim. But despite ...

Swamp Rock: Local heroes who rocked the everglades

Overview by Bill Millar, The History of Rock, 1983

Four hundred miles of US highway run between Port Arthur, Texas in the West and New Orleans, Louisiana in the East. On either side of ...

Rhythm and Blues

Retrospective by Bill Millar, The History of Rock, 1981

Crude, powerful, loud… and the racing pulse of rock ...

Clyde McPhatter, The Drifters: Clyde McPhatter

Retrospective by Bill Millar, The History of Rock, 1981

PERHAPS THE MOST INNOVATIVE OF ALL R&B singers, Clyde McPhatter brought a new and radical sound to popular music by singing with a spirit and ...

Rockabilly: Was this the purest style in rock?

Retrospective by Bill Millar, The History of Rock, 1981

A DEFT, HARD-DRIVING BLEND of country, gospel and blues, rockabilly was performed mainly by white artists who traded legitimate country backgrounds for a short-lived but ...

Lloyd Price

Retrospective by Bill Millar, The History of Rock, 1981

FROM BLUES SHOUTER TO BLACK ENTREPRENEUR ...

Berry Gordy: Motown Magician

Profile by Bill Millar, The History of Rock, 1982

Until recently little was known of Berry Gordy Jnr’s background. Such information as was available made no sense at all except on a romantic level, ...

A Short History of the Rock Guitar

Overview by Charles Shaar Murray, The History of Rock, 1981

BEFORE THE ADVENT OF ROCK, guitars were just guitars. Amplification made guitars more flexible, more assertive and more prominent, but even so the electric guitar ...

The Dilemmas of Sex and Romance in Fifties Rock

Essay by Cynthia Rose, The History of Rock, 1982

The screen door slamsMary's dress wavesLike a vision she dances across the porchAs the radio playsRoy Orbison singin' for the lonelyThat's me and I love ...

The Blank Generation — How Rock Moved From Political Opposition to Sheer Nihilism

Essay by Cynthia Rose, The History of Rock, 1982

ROCK HAS ALWAYS been about cultural and social conflict, ever since its birth in the Memphis-style boogie (over-amplified 'jump' tunes whose driving rhythms kept country ...

How Music Changed The Look Of American Youth

Essay by Cynthia Rose, The History of Rock, 1982

BY 1962, ROCK'N'ROLL was no longer the pressing issue it had appeared in the days of Teddy Boys and juvenile delinquency. Music had given way ...

Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Out In The Street: Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty and the simple truths of blue-collar rock

Essay by Cynthia Rose, The History of Rock, 1984

In the heyday of Elvis, Chuck Berry or the Beatles, radio was revered. It constituted rock’n’roll’s channel to the teen heart, and it struck out ...

Peppermint Pop: Music, Art And The New York ‘In-Crowd’

Retrospective by Cynthia Rose, The History of Rock, 1982

The Twist was a phenomenon of a commercial musical culture which, ever since its early boom in the mid-Fifties, had been looked down upon by ...

B.B. King: King Of The Blues

Profile by Tony Russell, The History of Rock, 1983

Riley King was born in Itta Bena, Mississippi, on 16 September 1925. For a young black boy growing up amid the poverty and racial segregation ...

T-Bone Walker: Rare Blues and a Worldwide Reputation

Retrospective by Tony Russell, The History of Rock, 1983

T-BONE WALKER, had he been that sort of man, might have carried a chip on his shoulder the size of the Chrysler Building. ...

Lightnin' Hopkins: Lightnin' Strikes

Retrospective by Tony Russell, The History of Rock, 1983

When the great bluesman Big Bill Broonzy died in 1958 there were some who obituarised him as the last of the blues singers. ...

Disc Jockeys

Overview by Tony Russell, The History of Rock, 1981

The men who turned the USA on to rock DISK JOCKEYING IS AN OLD TRADE – but not perhaps, an old name: music-biz archaeologists have ...

Leonard Chess: Grand Master Of The Blues

Retrospective by Tony Russell, The History of Rock, 1982

Chess is one the great labels. Along with Sun and Atlantic it has stamped its trademark indelibly on the history of rock. ...

Muddy Waters: Loud & Clear

Profile by Tony Russell, The History of Rock, 1982

When it comes to Chicago blues, Muddy Waters is The Man. "Spell it M! — A, child! — N!" as he growls in ‘Mannish Boy’. ...

Bob Marley & the Wailers: Bob Marley: The undisputed world ambassador of reggae

Retrospective by Chris Salewicz, The History of Rock, 1983

BOB MARLEY ALMOST SINGLE-HANDEDLY introduced reggae music to European and American audiences and, more than any other artist, was responsible for establishing it as a ...

Anarchy in the UK

Retrospective by Chris Salewicz, The History of Rock, 1983

A nation watched aghast as punk reared its spiky head ...

The Beatles: George Martin: From Comedy Records To Rock Classics

Profile by John Tobler, The History of Rock, 1982

While the man himself might deny it with typical modesty, there's little doubt that George Martin is one of the most celebrated record producers of ...

Teenage Rampage

Essay by John Tobler, The History of Rock, 1983

Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman orchestrated a British bubblegum revolution ...

Todd Rundgren

Profile by John Tobler, The History of Rock, 1983

THERE ARE FEW FIGURES IN ROCK AS versatile as Todd Rundgren. A skilled producer and engineer, a gifted songwriter and a talented multi-instrumentalist, proficient on ...

Rap It Up! Street-corner jive that brought discos alive

Retrospective by David Toop, The History of Rock, 1984

UNLESS YOU were a streetwise native New Yorker, the source of the new underground black music that was appearing on disc in 1979 seemed unfathomable. ...

The Bee Gees: The Bees Gees: From Down Under To Disco

Profile by Steve Turner, The History of Rock, 1984

SINCE ENTERING POP MUSIC in the Fifties, the Bees Gees have had three careers on three continents, each more successful than its predecessor. The first ...

Majors and Indies: Fight For Survival

Overview by Greg Shaw, The History of Rock, 1982

During the forties and fifties, at a time when giant conglomerates were starting to squeeze small companies out of the market in most industries, a ...

Rock Instrumentals: Without A Voice

Retrospective by Greg Shaw, The History of Rock, 1982

Rock is essentially a vocal musical form: the singer is the pivot and he or she is supported by the group. ...

The US Music Moguls and the Rock Revolution

Retrospective by Greg Shaw, The History of Rock, 1983

Business as Usual Following the arrival of the Beatles, the American record industry no longer found it so easy to manufacture rock 'n' roll stars ...

The Archies, Barry Mann, Carole King, Neil Sedaka: Don Kirshner: The Pop Factory

Profile by Greg Shaw, The History of Rock, 1982

POP FROM THE production line; that seemed to be the story of the late Fifties and early Sixties. But the production line does not inevitably ...

Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry: Jeff Barry & Ellie Greenwich: Weavers Of Dreams

Retrospective by Greg Shaw, The History of Rock, 1982

THE THIRD GREAT husband and wife team of the Brill Building era, Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich hit the scene late. ...

Phil Spector: To Know Him Is To Love Him

Retrospective by Greg Shaw, The History of Rock, 1982

So much has been written about Phil Spector, yet he still remains an enigma. ...

Leaders Of The Pack: Teen Dreams And Tragedy In Girl Group Rock

Retrospective by Greg Shaw, The History of Rock, 1982

OF ALL THE musical fads that came and went in the early Sixties, the girl-group phenomenon has succeeded best in retaining its appeal. ...

Mickie Most: The Midas Touch: Mickie Most

Profile by Steve Turner, The History of Rock, 1983

Record production made millions for Mickie Most ...

Cliff Richard

Profile by Steve Turner, The History of Rock, 1983

CLIFF RICHARD HAS DONE MUCH more than merely survive on the British pop scene. He remained a chart act and pin-up in the Eighties, still ...

U2: Songs Of Praise: Fire and Fervour from Ireland’s U2

Profile by Steve Turner, The History of Rock, 1984

U2, ONE OF IRELAND'S MOST SUCCESSFUL rock bands ever, seemed something of an anachronism when they arrived on the scene in 1980. The group had ...

Malcolm McLaren, The Sex Pistols: The Great Rock'n'Roll Swindle: How Malcolm McLaren made cash from chaos

Profile by Steve Turner, The History of Rock, 1983

THERE IS A CERTAIN TYPE OF ROCK MANAGER whose clients become the means to express his own artistic vision: in the late Fifties, Larry Parnes ...

The Clash: Combat Rockers

Profile by Penny Valentine, The History of Rock, 1983

IF THERE WAS one band that successfully rose above punk’s swift and premature decline, it was the Clash. Although historically the Sex Pistols remain the ...

Hank Ballard and the Midnighters: Hank Ballard: Midnight Man

Retrospective by Cliff White, The History of Rock, 1982

HANK BALLARD is most often remembered as the man who wrote ‘The Twist’ but lost out to Chubby Chucker as the populariser of the dance ...

Louis Jordan

Retrospective by Cliff White, The History of Rock, 1982

The king of jive who made the good times roll. ...

James Brown: Soul Brother Number One

Retrospective by Cliff White, The History of Rock, 1982

James Brown: the most famous flame of all. ...

Rock Cinema: It’s Only A Movie

Overview by Johnny Black, The History of Rock, 1984

How rock cinema fared in the wake of Woodstock IN MANY WAYS, THE FIRST HALF of the '70s was a drab time for rock music ...

Craig Douglas: The Boy Next Door

Retrospective by Chris Welch, The History of Rock, 1982

THE SUCCESS American rock'n'rollers in the United Kingdom naturally brought about a wave of British imitators, but the raw aggressive sound of these copyists did ...

Cream, Ginger Baker: Ginger Baker

Retrospective by Chris Welch, The History of Rock, 1982

PETER 'GINGER' BAKER had an enormous and profound effect on the course of rock drumming when his playing and personality first began to make an ...

British Steel: How UK rock got ever harder, heavier and more metallic in the '70s

Retrospective by Chris Welch, The History of Rock, 1983

ROCK CRITICS HAD IT ALL PLANNED: music during the Seventies would become increasingly sophisticated. By dint of hard reviewing all folly would be removed, leaving ...

Carl Palmer, Emerson Lake And Palmer: Carl Palmer

Retrospective by Chris Welch, The History of Rock, 1984

CARL PALMER first came to international prominence with Emerson, Lake and Palmer at the start of the Seventies. His dynamic approach to drumming, which combined ...

Rush: Neil Peart

Retrospective by Chris Welch, The History of Rock, 1984

NEIL PEART is one of rock’s show drummers, whose uncompromising personality matches his single-minded dedication to music. As one-third of Canada’s Rush, Neil made a ...

1967: The Year It All Came Together

Retrospective by Simon Frith, The History of Rock, 1981

Rock is Jimi Hendrix’s guitar introduction to ‘Hey Joe’; it is Mick Jagger strutting onstage; it is Bob Dylan singing ‘John Wesley Harding’; it is ...

Screamin' Jay Hawkins: Rock Shock Horror: Screamin’ Jay Hawkins

Retrospective by Cliff White, The History of Rock, 1981

INFAMOUSLY KNOWN AS THE "original king of shock rock" or the "weirdest one-hit of them all", Screamin’ Jay Hawkins fits neither bill. He’s never ...

Tony Orlando: Before Dawn

Retrospective by Bill Millar, The History of Rock, 1982

IN FEBRUARY 1962, Tony Orlando toured Britain with Clarence Henry and Bobby Vee. Henry boogied his head off but no-one had paid to see the ...

Rock’s Death Songs

Retrospective by Cynthia Rose, The History of Rock, 1982

ON 16 FEBRUARY 1979, Elvis Costello and the Attractions performed Leon Payne’s 1974 country anomaly ‘Psycho’ at Hollywood’s Palomino Club and, late in 1981, the ...

Colosseum: Jon Hiseman/Colosseum

Retrospective by Chris Welch, The History of Rock, 1982

A SWIRLING barrage of ideas flecked with passion epitomizes the style of one of rock’s finest drummers — the highly-respected Jon Hiseman. Rock music has ...

Frankie Lymon

Retrospective by Bill Millar, The History of Rock, 1981

AS ROCK'N'ROLL GROUPS PROLIFERATED, the age at which they turned professional took a nosedive. With names such as the Classmates, the Juniors or the Sixteens, ...

Johnny And Dorsey Burnette

Retrospective by Bill Millar, The History of Rock, 1981

THE EARLY LIFELINES of Johnny and Dorsey Burnette are remarkable similar to Elvis Presley’s. They all grew up in a poor section of Memphis, ...

The Singer Or The Song

Retrospective by Greg Shaw, The History of Rock, 1982

BEFORE 1960, rock ‘n’ roll had inevitably been seen as a rough-edged, spontaneous invention of teenagers. By that year, however, the teenage performers — and ...

Blondie, Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers, Television: The Bowery Beat: CBGBs and All That

Retrospective by Tom Hibbert, The History of Rock, 1982

FROM 1970 ONWARDS, the US rock mainstream grew increasingly staid, predictable and unimaginative. On the surface, the American scene appeared to offer nothing but sleepy ...

Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil: Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil

Retrospective by Greg Shaw, The History of Rock, 1982

MANN AND WEIL were the hipsters of the Brill building set. While Carole King and her friends were basically square, middle-class types who wrote things ...

New York Dolls: The New York Dolls: A retrospective

Retrospective by Miles, The History of Rock, 1983

ALTHOUGH THEY WERE one of the most influential bands of the early Seventies, the New York Dolls remain one of the least known. The ...

Keith Moon: An appreciation

Profile by Chris Welch, The History of Rock, 1981

LONG BEFORE the myths and legends of Keith Moon as a rock celebrity began to grip the imagination of the public and sensation-hungry newspapers, his ...

Steve Howe

Profile and Interview by Chris Welch, The History of Rock, 1984

IN 1970, STEVE HOWE replaced Peter Banks in Yes and sounded his arrival on record with a spiraling, glittering arpeggio on 'Yours Is No Disgrace', ...

The Clash, The Sex Pistols: Punk: 1977 - Two Sevens Clash

Essay by Chris Salewicz, The History of Rock, 1983

AS A REBEL MUSIC, punk rock had close affinities with reggae. When the punk movement found a focal point and place of worship in the ...

Buddy Knox

Retrospective by Bill Millar, The History of Rock, 1982

TEX-MEX, A PHRASE commonly used to describe the rock’n’roll of such artists as Buddy Holly and Buddy Knox, has nothing whatever to do with Mexican ...

Brenda Lee: Dynamite

Retrospective and Interview by Martin Hawkins, The History of Rock, September 1982

BORN BRENDA MAE TARPLEY in Atlanta, Georgia, on 11 December 1944, Brenda Lee is rumoured to have taken to the road with a singing group ...

Ritchie Valens: The Young Singer Who Pioneered Chicano Rock

Retrospective by Martin Hawkins, The History of Rock, March 1982

WHEN ROCK'N'ROLL first stopped calling itself rhythm and blues in the mid Fifties, it became a young man's game. Teenage performers like Ritchie Valens began ...

Connie Francis: All-American Girl

Profile by Martin Hawkins, The History of Rock, September 1982

LISTENING TODAY to many of the records Connie Francis made for MGM in the late Fifties and early Sixties it is difficult to see their ...

The Sun Story

Retrospective by Martin Hawkins, The History of Rock, 1981

THE SUN RECORD COMPANY of Memphis, Tennessee, was one of the very few independent record labels to develop a unique and immediately identifiable 'sound'. ...

The Sweetheart Years: The Dilemmas Of Sex And Romance In Fifties Rock

Essay by Cynthia Rose, The History of Rock, 1981

The screen door slams/Mary's dress waves/Like a vision she dances across the porch/As the radio plays/Roy Orbison singin' for the lonely/That's me and I love ...

Brenda Lee, Connie Francis: Venus: The Role Of Women In Fifties Music

Overview by John Pidgeon, The History of Rock, 1981

APART FROM the amiable and avuncular Bill Haley, the most memorable figures of the first years of rock'n'roll presented an aggressively sexual, flamboyant, even threatening ...

Carl Perkins: 'Blue Suede Shoes'

Profile by Colin Escott, The History of Rock, 1981

One song rocketed Carl Perkins to stardom ...

In The Farms And On The Forecourts: The Short-Lived Heyday Of Rockabilly

Retrospective by Bill Millar, The History of Rock, 1981

THE FIRST RECORDED example of rockabilly proper can be traced to the moment in July 1954 when Elvis Presley cut an old blues by Arthur ...

Nashville

Overview by Martin Hawkins, The History of Rock, 1981

The producers and musicians who made country music a multi-million-dollar industry ...

Jerry Lee Lewis: How The Devil's Music Possessed Jerry Lee Lewis

Retrospective by Nick Tosches, The History of Rock, 1981

THERE HAVE been only two figures of mythic dimension in the history of rock'n'roll. First and foremost was Elvis Presley, the guileless star-god who rendered ...

The Big Bopper: Big Bopper: The Singing Texas DJ Who Rocked Over The Airwaves

Retrospective by Martin Hawkins, The History of Rock, February 1982

J.P. RICHARDSON, the self-styled 'Big Bopper', was one of the true characters of Southern rock'n'roll. ...

Country Boogie: Honky Tonks, Hoedowns And The Roots Of Rock

Overview by Martin Hawkins, The History of Rock, October 1981

IF RHYTHM AND BLUES was a major constituent of rock'n'roll, so too was the influence of country music in the form of country-boogie. Country-boogie was ...

Purely Percussive: The Irresistible Rise Of Rock Drumming

Overview by Chris Welch, The History of Rock, 1982

A GLITTERING ARRAY of drums surrounded by a forest of shining stands and cymbals has been the center-piece of the rock show since the early ...

Led Zeppelin: Bath 1970: Confessions Of A Festival-Goer

Memoir by Tom Hibbert, The History of Rock, 1983

The 1970 Bath Festival: a personal view. ...

Pete Seeger: Johnny Appleseed

Retrospective by Dave Laing, The History of Rock, 1982

Pete Seeger spread the word throughout America ...

The Four Seasons: Valli's Evergreens

Retrospective by Bob Fisher, The History of Rock, 1982

Why the Four Seasons were perennial chart-toppers ...

Leonard Cohen: Songs from a Room: The Inside Story of Leonard Cohen

Retrospective by Liz Thomson, The History of Rock, 1983

IT WAS IN 1956 that the work of Leonard Cohen first appeared before the general public in book form, an event that marked his transformation ...

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