Rock and Roll: A Social History

The social force of rock and roll music leaps off the page as Paul Friedlander provides impressive insights based on hits from “Johnny B. Goode” to “Walk on the Wild Side” and beyond. In this musical journey, he offers the melodious strains and hard-edged riffs of Elvis Presley, the Beatles, the Who, Dylan, Clapton, Doo-Wop, Motown, the San Francisco Beat, New Wave, rap, and much more. The book is written in a refreshing, captivating style that pulls the reader in, offering no less than a complete social and cultural history of rock and roll for students and general audiences alike.Friedlander writes, “This book chronicles the first thirty years of rock/pop music history. Picture the various musical styles as locations on a giant unfolding road map. As you open the map, you travel from place to place, stopping at each chapter to sample the artistry. Take in the tales, pictures, sounds, and feelings of each location; remember the people you met there. Don’t forget to dress your imagination appropriately for this trip, because each genre is affected by the societal topography and climate that surround it.” Enjoy your trip. We promise it will be a good one!

Offering a complete social and cultural history of the first twenty-five years of rock/pop music, this book speaks to students and general audiences alike.

Dr. Paul Friedlander is Director of California State University, Chico Music Industry Program. He is author of the Encyclopedia Americana “Rock Music” entry, many book chapters and journal articles, and is past-president of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music/American Chapter. As a musician, he has sung with Pete Seeger’s Children’s Chorus at Carnegie Hall, played bluegrass banjo at southern music festivals, hit notes with New York homeboys The Chapters, played folk music in Moscow’s Gorki Park, and rock and rolled across the U.S.A.