Rock and Roll: An Introduction

I had the pleasure of taking this course from one of its authors (James Brody) at the University of Colorado and I do believe that the textbook offers a wonderful approach to the teaching of Rock and Roll Basics. Too many students of my generation do not appreciate the "older" rock and roll and it is great to see a book that focuses equally if not more on the roots and evolution of rock and roll as on its more modern counterparts. However, Although the textbook is excellent, I believe that you only get about 3/4 of the experience, because having an author teach it allows for many of the blanks to be filled in, and an unbeatable course instruction. Bottom line: A great example for a rock and roll course, but without proper instruction it will fall short of what it is capable of.

This textbook is good overall and very suitable for college rock and roll courses. Michael Campbell is the author of AND THE BEAT GOES ON, a textbook about the history of American Popular Music. This textbook focuses just on rock and roll. The first few chapters cover the roots of rock n' roll: the basics of blues, boogie woogie, and other popular styles in the years after World War II. The authors spend a large chunk of pages on Rock's ascendance from 1964-1974 (about 170 pages). The period from 1974-1989, as a comparison, receives about 90 pages. The book's strengths are their thoroughness of explanation and clarity of the text. While the textbook is certainly not exhaustive or complete (somebody always complains that THEIR FAVORITE band was overlooked), all the major styles and bands are discussed. Campbell and Brody do a good job of placing each rock movement within its historical context and tracking the progression of rock through the mid-90s. The pictures and diagrams can be helpful, especially to non-music majors. The key terms at the end of each chapter are basic, and the study questions are somewhat helpful. One strong criticism (and certainly any R & R textbook will run into this) is its listening examples. Because these songs are still so popular, it is impossible to get all of the recordings discussed on one set of recordings. The discography at the back of the book shows that most of the songs discussed are on several anthology CDs, but there are many which have to be bought piecemeal. Once again, any textbook on rock will likely have this problem. I think undergraduate professors should strongly consider this book for their courses, as it takes a straightforward approach to the subject.