in the current issue
Rare Record Price Guide
- The world's leading authority on prices of rare and collectable records pressed in the UK.
- More Information
R.C. Partners
- Sugarbush Records
- Fine Vinyl
- RARE AND SIGNED
- Kool Kat Jazz Records
- CJ's Music Merchandise
- Rock Music Memorabilia
- Revival Records
- Love Vinyl
- NYLVI.com
- THE SOUND MACHINE
- 991.com
- Beatles Links
- Wienerworld
- VIP Record Fairs
- Austin Record Convention
- Mega Record & CD Fair
- Record Collector's Guild
- RARO
- Arrowfile
- Ace Records
- Clear Spot
- Rockground
- Heritage Auction Galleries
- Popsike.com
- System Records
- Industrial Silence
- BBC 6 Music
- GEMM
- LP CD Reissues.com
- Blue Storm Music
- GrooveCollector.com
A Brief History Of Rock’n’Roll
by Nick Johnstone
Impressive, overly Presley-centric return to the source
Nostalgia tends to give things an aesthetic makeover, and that certainly seems to be the case here. What begins as a well-informed account of the birth of rock’n’roll via R&B doesn’t restrain from digressing into self-indulgence and sentimentality. Anecdotes about Robert Johnson and Little Richard will never become tedious, and when interspersed between the history lessons, you’re on to a winner. But then along comes Elvis to spoil the party. Author Nick Johnstone loses himself here and, consequently, the tome becomes more of a mawkish biography on the King, rather than a recapitulation of the period. Johnstone’s adoration of Presley is conspicuous, with too much text steeped in sycophancy. If you can overlook this, though, the book impressively justifies its publication. Johnstone has a refreshingly simple and unpretentious style, suiting the brevity needed for this type of work. Plus, his knowledge is staggering. You can bet your record player that he’d rather be in 1956 than 2007. About as simple and amicable as the music it documents. And that’s not a bad thing at all.
ISBN 9781845295783
Reviewed by Laith Al-Kaisy
<< Back to Issue 344
