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Awopbopaloobop Alopbamboom The Golden Age of Rock Nik Cohn 9780802138309 Books

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Awopbopaloobop Alopbamboom The Golden Age of Rock Nik Cohn 9780802138309 Books

First Published in 1970 and then updated in 1973 Nik Cohn's observations during the historic Rock and Roll revolution
of the 50's 60's remains unsurpassed in music journalism.
Nik was one of the first of the Rock and Roll commentators in print media long before Rolling Stone magazine.
Some other U.K. Publications such as Melody Maker etc were operational but Nik's regular print contibutions still stand
out today.
Superb Book!!
Must own! for all those who have an interest in the 50'S and 60'S and for all of us who were there and can fondly remember
the absolute best era's in Rock music!


Tags : Awopbopaloobop Alopbamboom: The Golden Age of Rock [Nik Cohn] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. <div>Written in 1968 and revised in 1972, Awopbopaloobop Alopbamboom was the first book to celebrate the language and the primal essence of rock 'n' roll. But it was much more than that. It was a cogent history of an unruly era,Nik Cohn,Awopbopaloobop Alopbamboom: The Golden Age of Rock,Grove Press,0802138306,MUS020000,Genres & Styles - Rock,History & Criticism - General,Rock music - 1961-1970 - History and criticism,Rock music - To 1961 - History and criticism,Music & Performing Arts,1961-1970,History and criticism,MUSIC Genres & Styles Rock,Music,Music History & Criticism,MusicSongbooks,Rock & Pop music,Rock Music,Rock music;1961-1970;History and criticism.,Rock music;History and criticism.,Rock music;To 1961;History and criticism.,To 1961,Music & Dance

Awopbopaloobop Alopbamboom The Golden Age of Rock Nik Cohn 9780802138309 Books Reviews

Not everything you need to know about rock 'n' roll, but the best nonintellectual critique of the period ever, and all the better for it. Cohn has the manic energy of period reflected in his writing. Clapton was indeed God. Hell, I was there!
The Beatles For 15 Minutes, Tremendous

By NIK COHN

© Estate of Andy Warhol
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ONDON -- On the second side of the Beatles's new album, ``Abbey Road,'' there's a nine-song, 15-minute medley that seems to me the most impressive music they've made since ``Rubber Soul.''
Individually, the numbers are nothing special. ``Mean Mr. Mustard'' is a catchy melody line; ``Polythene Pam'' is a nice snatch of Liverpudlia; there are four beautiful bars during ``Golden Slumbers,'' and a brief passage of Merrill E. Moore barrelhouse piano on ``You Never Give Me Your Money.'' Apart from that, it's all pretty average stuff. Most of the melody lines have been used elsewhere, and some of the lyrics are quite painful. Still, for three main reasons, it works.

The first reason is just that it's brilliantly produced the Beatles know as much about recording as anyone outside of Phil Spector, and the whole medley is perfectly paced; it builds just right.

The second reason is that it carries genuine surprises. Over the last four years the Beatles have become increasingly verbose; no chance of a one-liner where a 10-minute sermon might do. But here they suddenly stop the bull -- before you get a chance to be bored by anything, something new is happening and, by the end, there's a real sense of speed, they're almost flying.

The third reason, by far the most important, is the sheer range of melodic invention. Faced by such a giant jumble of tunes, all piled one on top of another, there's no way of escaping the fact that Lennon-McCartney do write a prodigious number of true songs. Not just riffs and patterns, but the real thing, genuine melodies.

As it happens, most of the lines here are steals, partly pinched from other people and partly from other Beatle albums. The fact remains that no one else in rock could have achieved the same result. What with counterstrains and links, there are maybe 15 tunes in as many minutes -- all of them instantly hummable, all of them potential hits. It's a tour de force and it's terrific.

The total effect is a bit like a jam session. Of course, one knows well that it isn't spontaneous in the least, that each fragment has been worked over endlessly, but the sense of ease survives. Melodies drift in, drift out, are re-echoed, are merged with something fresh. Good is intertwined with bad, new with old, and it doesn't matter too much which is which. In the end, it's all just music-making and it's hard to resist.

The great drawback is the words. There was a time when the Beatles's lyrics were one of their greatest attractions. Not any more. On ``Abbey Road,'' you get only marshmallow.

Originally, Lennon-McCartney had one major lyrical strength -- they sounded real. Maybe they didn't attempt anything very profound, but what they did attempt was always personal. ``She was just 17, you know what I mean''; it wasn't great art, but on its own level, it worked just right. It was strong and it was evocative.

That's all changed now. On ``Abbey Road'' the words are limp-wristed, pompous and fake. Clearly, the Beatles have now heard so many tales of their own genius that they've come to believe them, and everything here is swamped in Instant Art. Give me just five minutes in the privacy of your own home and I can make you a super-bard. Here the very sensitive Paul McCartney shows us how

She came in through the bathroom window,
Protected by a silver spoon
But now she sucks her thumb and wanders
By the banks of her own lagoon.

Still, I shouldn't grouse. Lyrics and all, the ``Abbey Road'' medley remains a triumph.

Having said that I must also say that the rest of this album is unmitigated disaster.

The six tracks on the first side and the opening two tracks on the flip are all write-offs there's a Ringo Starr nursery rhyme; a quick burst of sub-Brian Wilson; two songs by George Harrison, mediocrity incarnate; yet another slice of Paul McCartney twenties nostalgia, and an endless slow blues.

The badness ranges from mere gentle tedium to cringing embarrassment. The blues, for instance, is horribly out of tune, and Ringo's ditty is purest Mickey Mouse. The only interesting failures are two numbers by John Lennon, ``Come Together'' and ``Oh! Darling.''

``Come Together'' is a slowed-down reworking of Chuck Berry's ``You Can't Catch Me'' and is intriguing only as a sign of just how low Lennon can sink these days. ``You Can't Catch Me'' is a very great song, after all, and lumbering it with the kind of ``Look Ma, I'm Jesus'' lyrics that Lennon unloads here is not a crime that I'd like to have on my conscience.

``Oh! Darling'' is more complex. Basically, it's just a 1950's ballad, the kind of thing that the Platters or the Penguins might have done. Lennon has always had a terrific voice, and here he halfway tears his lungs out. Just the same, it doesn't sound right. Why not? Just because he tries too hard.

Slow 1950's rock was something very formal, a ritual as classic and changeless as bullfighting, in which each embellishment and each progression had its own exact function. On ``Oh! Darling,'' Lennon flounders in an orgy of gulps, howls and retches, flung together at random, and the whole point is lost.

This kind of overkill, in fact, has become very much a Beatles trademark. It ruined their last double-album, and it ruins two-thirds of ``Abbey Road.'' The great strength of the medley is that it doesn't overkill -- no repetitions, no heavy breathing. It gets back toward the kind of ease and style that the Beatles had five years ago.

Really, the medley should have carried on throughout the whole album, and that might have been something marvelous. Counting the unreleased ``Get Back'' album, the Beatles have cut upward of 60 tracks in a year, and at least two-thirds of those have been dead wood. But if only they'd taken the 20 best and woven them together, they'd have made one tremendous album.

As it stands, ``Abbey Road'' isn't tremendous. Still, it has 15 fine minutes and, by rock standards, that's a lot.
Cohn is stuck in his ways, he admits it, and I'd agree with him on most things but he makes it hard to view the general consensus of his topic because it's all in his opinion. He's describing the history of rock n' roll, but he's also one sided. He has extensive noting on the fads in England, and while he attempts to equal his observations of America, he generally fails to do the states justice. He's good for a quick timeline and a brush up on the basics. He's good if you like high school, or teeny bopper sleeper jams from the forties and fifties, but he's jaded if you want the whole picture. The book was written in the early seventies, and it's almost comical how oblivious he was to the wave of American rock n' roll about to come up. There's a faint mention of The Velvet's, but no mention of the MC5 or The Stooges. The text and these bands might've never crossed paths but it would've shook up the experience a bit. Even if the MC5 and Stooges had yet to pop up, there was still a wave of Detroit rock n' roll before them and the blues rock that came before. Sun Ra, The Amboy Dukes and so on. I guess what it comes down too is that Cohn and I have different tastes, but that shouldn't get in the way of a decent historiography. He felt the need to write about everything and nothing at the same time, barely brushing by the bands he claimed himself to be most important to relish on the tid bits of forgotten boy groups just to get their name in.
For the history of RocknRoll, there are other books, but if you want the story of RocknRoll, this is the book to read.
If you like old Rock 'n Roll like I do, then you will enjoy this book. It gives you more than you'll ever want to know about the golden age of rock 'n roll and a whole new insight into Little Richard.
I just read a recent review of this book which was very negative. The critic didn't like the young Nik Cohn's opinions. Well, I am 60 years old and was there at the dawn of rock 'n roll and loved this book. I was pleasantly surprised that a 22 year old Brit back in 1968 could have captured the essence of the fifties music scene and also described in detail what happened soon thereafter. In fact, I agreed with most of his very descriptive analyses and even when I didn't, I understood his point of view. His knowledge on the topic and style of writing was superb.
Excellent book. Wise, funny.
First Published in 1970 and then updated in 1973 Nik Cohn's observations during the historic Rock and Roll revolution
of the 50's 60's remains unsurpassed in music journalism.
Nik was one of the first of the Rock and Roll commentators in print media long before Rolling Stone magazine.
Some other U.K. Publications such as Melody Maker etc were operational but Nik's regular print contibutions still stand
out today.
Superb Book!!
Must own! for all those who have an interest in the 50'S and 60'S and for all of us who were there and can fondly remember
the absolute best era's in Rock music!