History of Rock 'n' Roll in Ten Songs (27 page)

I thank as well Robert Polito, Luis Jaramillo, Laura Cronk, Lori Lynn Turner, and Justin Sherwood at the New School in New York; Michelle Kuo, Prudence Peiffer, Jeff Gibson,
and Don McMahon at
Artforum;
Vendela Vida, Sheila Heti, Andi Mudd, and Casey Jarman of the
Believer;
Dan Stone of
Radio Silence
; Melissa Harris of
Aperture;
Andrew Male, Phil Alexander, and Danny Eccleston of
Mojo;
Robert Hull at Time-Life Records; Martin Gammon of Bonhams and Butterfield; Ingrid Sischy and Graham Fuller at
Interview;
and Bill Wyman at
Salon.
For good advice, undying curiosity, inspiration, constant have-you-heards and have-you-seens, CDs, LPs, books, half-lost articles, and more, my affection and appreciation go to Anthony Allen and the Paula Cooper Gallery, Gina Basso and Rudolf Frieling of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Randall Beach of the
New Haven Register,
Akeel Bilgrami, the late Adam Block, Paul Bresnick, Mary Davis, Dion, Michael Dregni, Bob Dylan’s
Theme Time Radio Hour,
Pamela Esterson, Eleanor Friedberger, the late Debbie Geller, Tom Gray, Howard Hampton, Carolyn Hester, Peter Hook, Adean Kane, Doug Kroll, Cyndi Lauper, Tom Luddy, Christian Marclay, M. Mark, James Marsh, Heidi Metcalf, Jim Miller, Adam Rawls, Christopher Ricks, David Ritz, Jeff Rosen, David Ross, Al Ruppersberg, Fritz “True or False” Schneider, Dick Spottswood, Ken Tucker, Bobby Vee, Anthony Wall, Ed Ward, Lindsay Waters, Eric Weisbard and Ann Powers of the Experience Music Project Pop Conference, Mary Weiss, Jann Wenner, Howard Wuelfing, the late Tony Wilson, and Langdon Winner. I owe special thanks to Joy Baglio, Synne
Borgen, Matthew Choate, Virginia Dellenbaugh, Jordan Dependahl, Michael DeSanti, Maura Ewing, Chad Felix, Jean Garnett, Allison Kirkland, Leigh Metzler, Liz Richards, Kristin Steele, and Ida Tvedt, students in my 2012 seminar at the New School, who opened up American music to me in ways I could never have reached myself.

Some of the material here was adapted from earlier work, and I thank the publications that first let me try out themes and situations in public. “Crying, Waiting, Hoping” draws on pieces first published in
Mojo, Interview, Bonhams Magazine,
and notes to Time-Life Records’
The Folk Box;
the comments on Lonnie Mack in the notes to “This Magic Moment” from a piece in
Aperture;
the “Instrumental Break” from liner notes to
Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues: Robert Johnson
and a piece in
Artforum;
various bits and pieces were first floated by in items in my Real Life Rock Top Ten columns in
Salon
and the
Believer
.

My greatest debt is to YouTube, where almost every song, recording, performance, and movie scene mentioned in this book can be found. What I took from Jenny, Emily, Cecily, Steve, Pearl, and Rose adds up not to a debt but many smiles and much love.

Index

Note:
Films are parenthetically attributed according to their reference in the text, or by director.

“Absolutely Sweet Marie” (Dylan),
114

Adler, David,
104

Adler, Lou,
6
,
240

Ad Libs,
91

Agee, James,
86
AKA Doc Pomus
(documentary,

Peter Miller, Will Hecter),
212
–13

Aldon Music,
5
,
6
,
118
–19,
120

“All I Could Do Was Cry” (E. James/Beyoncé),
84
–87,
88
,
92
–93,
168

Allison, Jerry,
109
,
114
–15,
138

“All Mine” (Five Satins),
57
–58

“Alone and Forsaken” (H. Williams),
86

Alpert, Herb,
7
,
240

American Bandstand
(Clark),
70
,
242

American Folk Music
(H. Smith),
8
,
110

American Hot Wax
(Mutrix),
17
,
233
–35,
283
n

“America the Beautiful” (Taylor),
77

Anna Records,
168

Armstrong, Louis,
4
,
155
,
158

“At Last” (E. James/Beyoncé),
85
,
94

Attenborough, Richard,
48
–50

“Baby” (Spades/Slades),
67

Baby Face
(Stanwyck),
186

“Baby It’s You” (Shirelles),
126

“Baby Let’s Play House” (Presley),
175

“Bad Romance” (Lady Gaga),
9

Baker, Chet,
160

Ballard, Hank,
5
,
85

“Barbara Ann” (Beach Boys),
137

Barry, Jeff,
5
,
118
,
245

Beach, Randall,
59
–60,
66

Beach Boys,
5
,
15
,
18
,
36
,
127
,
240

Beatles,
6
,
12
–13,
50
,
51
,
84
,
97
,
106
,
109
,
122
,
124
–36,
149
,
172
–80,
187

Beck, Jeff,
7
,
164

Bell Notes,
70

Belvin, Jesse,
67
,
68
–69,
73
,
160
,
241

Benjamin, Benny,
6
,
170

Berry, Chuck,
3
,
88
,
97
,
102
,
115
,
233

Berry, Richard,
24
,
160
,
241

Best, Pete,
124

Beyoncé,
8
,
77
,
80
–81,
84
,
87
–89,
92
–94

“Big Road Blues” (T. Johnson),
148

“Black Is the Color” (Hester/Holly),
120

Blackwell, “Bumps,”
16

Bloomfield, Mike,
148

“Blowin’ in the Wind” (Dylan),
119

“Bob Dylan’s Blues” (Dylan),
119

“Bo Diddley” (Diddley),
133

Boggs, Dock,
188
–89,
190
,
229

Bonnie Sisters,
58

“Boogie Woogie Country Girl” (Pomus/Southwind/Dylan),
198

“Boredom” (Buzzcocks),
32

Borgman, Jim,
173

“Boy from New York City, The” (Ad Libs),
91

Bradford, Janie,
169
–70,
179

Brains,
180
–83,
187

“Breathless” (Corrs),
12

“Breathless” (Lewis),
12

Brighton Rock
(Greene/Attenborough/Riley),
48
–53

Brill Building,
118
,
119
,
210

Brody, Adrien,
88
–89,
92
–93

Brooks, Louise,
207

Broonzy, Big Bill,
154

“Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?” (Crosby),
151

Brown, Richard “Rabbit,”
201

Brown, Willie,
147
,
149
,
150

Buddy Holly Story, The
(Busey),
103

Burch, Don,
67
,
68
,
69
–72,
74

Burgess, Sonny,
98

Burnett, T-Bone,
150
,
271
–72n

Busey, Gary,
102
–3

Buzzcocks,
32
,
36

Byrd, James, Jr.,
223
,
227
–30

Cadillac Records
(Martin),
87
–89

Camus, Albert,
42
–43

Canaries,
58

“Canned Heat Blues” (T. Johnson),
148

Carr, Leroy,
151

Cash, Johnny,
5
,
117

Casuals,
70

Cat Power,
123
,
145

“Celebrated Walking Blues, The” (Taj Mahal),
145

“Change Is Gonna Come, A” (Cooke),
213

Chantels,
26
,
90
,
91
,
213

Chaplin, Charlie,
86

Charles, Ray,
3
,
84
,
118
,
123
,
169
,
197
,
213
,
245

Chess, Leonard,
4
,
87
–88,
262
–64n

Chess, Phil,
88

Chiffons,
15
,
119

“Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” (Love),
240

City Lights
(Chaplin),
86

Clark, Dee,
133

Clark, Dick,
5
,
242

Clarkson, Kelly,
77
–80

Clarkson, Lana,
239

Clash,
7
,
184

Clear Blue Flame
(Delta Moon),
188

Clock, The
(Marclay),
224
–25

Coasters,
5
,
197
,
241

Cobain, Kurt,
24

Cohen, Leonard,
6
–7,
243

Cohen, Paul,
125

Cohn, Nik,
9
,
100
,
102
,
109
,
243

Colbert, Stephen,
77
–78

Colvin, Shawn,
198

“Come on in My Kitchen” (R. Johnson/Cat Power),
145
,
152
–53,
231

Control
(Corbijn),
31
,
48
,
52

Cooke, Sam,
3
,
15
,
18
,
84
,
213
,
240

“Cool Drink of Water Blues” (T. Johnson),
148

Coral label,
122

Corbijn, Anton,
31
,
35
,
41

Cornell, Allison,
191
–92

Corrs,
12

Costello, Elvis,
7
,
33
,
143

Cott, Jonathan,
115
–16,
137

“Could I Be the One?” (A. Green),
9

“Country Blues” (Boggs),
189

“Cowgirl in the Sand” (N. Young),
24

Cream,
6
,
145

Crenshaw, Marshal,
103

Crickets,
98
,
99
,
106
,
110
,
112
,
113
,
118
,
120
,
125
,
138

Cronenberg, David,
65
–66

Crooked Still,
224

Crosby, Bing,
151

“Cross Road Blues” (R. Johnson),
145
,
151
–52

Crows,
70
,
90

Crumb, R.,
147

“Cry Baby” (Scarlets/Bonnie Sisters),
58

“Crying, Waiting, Hoping” (Holly),
97
,
103
,
117
,
121
;

Beatles,
122
,
124
–26,
134
–36

Cat Power,
123

Crenshaw,
103

Richards,
123

Curtis, Ian,
31
–36,
38
,
40
,
41
,
43
–48,
52
–53

“Da Doo Ron Ron” (Crystals),
243