Flying Saucers Rock N Roll

The best of the cult-favorite music magazine Roctobers conversations with overlooked or forgotten artists, from the Outlaw Country singer David Allan Coe to the frustrated interstellar glam act Zolar X.

'Flying Saucer Rock & Roll' is a bittersweet novel about friendship, about being a teenager, and about the redemption that is rock & roll.

A fascinating look at the history of Sun Records, the label that started Rock n’ Roll, told through 70 of its iconic recordings. In Memphis, Tennessee, in the 1950s, there was hard-edged blues playing on Beale Street, and hillbilly boogie on the outskirts of town. But at Sam Phillips’ Sun Records studio on Union Avenue, there was something different going on – a whole lotta shakin’, rockin’, and rollin’. This is where rock ’n’ roll was born. Sun Records: the company that launched Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, and Carl Perkins. The label that brought the world, “Blue Suede Shoes,” “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On,” “Breathless,” “I Walk the Line,” “Mystery Train,” “Good Rockin’ Tonight.” The Birth of Rock ’n’ Roll: 70 Years of Sun Records is the official history of this legendary label, and looks at its story in a unique way: through the lens of 70 of its most iconic recordings. From the early days with primal blues artists like Howlin’ Wolf and B.B. King to long nights in the studio with Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis, you will see how the label was shaped and how it redefined American music. Accompanying the recordings is the label’s origin story and a look at the mission of the label today, as well as “Sun Spot” sidebars—a fascinating dive into subjects such as how the iconic logo was created, the legendary Million Dollar Quartet sessions, and how the song “Harper Valley, PTA” funded the purchase of the label. Written by two of the most acclaimed music writers of our time, Peter Guralnick and Colin Escott, and featuring hundreds of rare images from the Sun archives as well as a foreword by music legend Jerry Lee Lewis, this is a one-of-a-kind book for anyone who wants to know where it all started.

The legendary critic and author of Mystery Train “ingeniously retells the tale of rock and roll” (Publishers Weekly, starred review). Unlike previous versions of rock ’n’ roll history, this book omits almost every iconic performer and ignores the storied events and turning points everyone knows. Instead, in a daring stroke, Greil Marcus selects ten songs and dramatizes how each embodies rock ’n’ roll as a thing in itself, in the story it tells, inhabits, and acts out—a new language, something new under the sun. “Transmission” by Joy Division. “All I Could Do Was Cry” by Etta James and then Beyoncé. “To Know Him Is to Love Him,” first by the Teddy Bears and almost half a century later by Amy Winehouse. In Marcus’s hands these and other songs tell the story of the music, which is, at bottom, the story of the desire for freedom in all its unruly and liberating glory. Slipping the constraints of chronology, Marcus braids together past and present, holding up to the light the ways that these striking songs fall through time and circumstance, gaining momentum and meaning, astonishing us by upending our presumptions and prejudices. This book, by a founder of contemporary rock criticism—and its most gifted and incisive practitioner—is destined to become an enduring classic. “One of the epic figures in rock writing.”—The New York Times Book Review “Marcus is our greatest cultural critic, not only because of what he says but also, as with rock-and-roll itself, how he says it.”—The Washington Post Winner of the Deems Taylor Virgil Thomson Award in Music Criticism, given by the American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers

(Book). One of the most innovative and inspiring figures in the history of American music, Sun Records founder Sam Phillips introduced the world to Johnny Cash, Howlin' Wolf, B.B. King, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley, Charlie Rich, Rufus Thomas, Ike Turner and many other brilliant and original artists. This book complements the Country Music Hall of fame and Museum exhibition Flyin' Saucers Rock & Roll: The Cosmic Genius of Sam Phillips, co-curated by award-winning Phillips and Elvis Presley biographer Peter Guralnick. This book contains rare photos not included in the exhibit and contributions from Guralnick and Phillips's son Knox Phillips.

Chronicles the history of blues music from its emergence in the early 1900s through the twentieth century, and describes the musical accomplishments of Leadbelly, Bessie Smith, Howlin' Wolf, Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, Jimmy Reed, B.B. King, and others. Includes an audio CD.

This monster Rock-n-Roll survey focuses on the songs and the vibrant personalities who create them, for college audiences and the general public. Dean published the world's first history of Rock in 1966. Here, in his ebullient style, he buzzes through piles of musical singles from the whole last half century, describing what is fun about each major and minor hit, pointing out what elements were exciting or new or significant in the development of musical styles. He relates some tantalizing tidbits about the earlier musical heritage that artists have drawn upon in crafting ever more amazing evolutions of rock music. This snappy, witty and informative album has universal appeal, doubling as a coffee-table trivia treasure and a college-level popular music history text. It includes hundreds of photos, chapter questions, and an extensive index. Reader-friendly and informationally complete, it covers soft rock, heavy metal, rhythm & blues, country rock and classic oldies, all with tender loving care, for the specialist and casual listener alike. Its mini-portraits of the artists who move so many hearts (and feet), the photos and the insightful sound bites get to the essence of each song and each musician's contribution to the music of our age. The single-song focus makes the book unique. It's a playlist for R'n'R professors and the general public, written with a collegiate vocabulary, tight organization and a respect for all. "Hearing Elvis for the first time was like busting out of jail." - Bob Dylan That being said, no one is being incited, here, to bust out of jail or to emulate the quixotic habits of rock stars. "There's nothing in here to hide from the kids, the clergy or grandma." Gold Rush can be used as a university or community college text, but most people will grab it for the sheer pleasure of reading about everyone's favorites. Great gift for Rock enthusiasts. Gold Rush is the first book of its kind to feature a celebration of the great single songs of the rock era and beyond. Gold Rush takes thousands of songs, spanning three centuries, and brings them back uniquely as if they came out just yesterday. Gold Rush unites the Anglo-American and later worldwide spirit of Rock and Roll in a tapestry of interconnected melodies and adventures. As Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide helps you select videos at Blockbuster, so Gold Rush is a powerful playlist for your music collection, with many new and fascinating photos of favorite stars. Gold Rush explains the most important stories behind the songs you picked to be played, the songs that 'went gold,' from the 1897 Alaska/Klondike Gold Rush to the #1 songs of today and beyond.