Research Catalog

Title

Grown up all wrong : 75 great rock and pop artists from vaudeville to techno / Robert Christgau.

Author

Christgau, Robert.

Publication

Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press, 1998.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xii, 495 pages; 24 cm

Summary

Two generations of American music lovers have grown up listening with Robert Christgau, attuned to his inimitable blend of judgment, acuity, passion, erudition, wit, and caveat emptor. His writings, collected here, constitute a virtual encyclopedia of popular music over the past fifty years. Whether honoring the originators of rock and roll, celebrating established artists, or spreading the word about newer ones, the book is pure enjoyment, a pleasure that takes its cues from the sounds it chronicles.

Subjects

• Rock musicians
• Rock music > History and criticism
• Rock groups

Note

• Includes index.

Contents

• Introduction: My Favorite Waste of Time -- 1. Where "Rock and Roll" Began. Across the Great Divide: Nat King Cole. Let's Call the Whole Thing Pop: George Gershwin. The Complete Work of B. B. King. The Blank Slate: George Jones. Black Face, Whose Voice? Emmett Miller. Brown Eyed Handsome Rock and Roller: Chuck Berry. Elvis in Literature: Elvis Presley -- 2. Where "Rock" Began. Spontaneity by the Seat of the Pants: Janis Joplin. Our First Bohemians: The Rolling Stones. God Grows Up: Eric Clapton. Genius Dumb: Led Zeppelin. Jimi Plays History: Jimi Hendrix. Out of This World: Aretha Franklin. Nothing to Say but Everything, or, As Far as He Could Go: John Lennon / Robert Christgau and John Piccarella. Why the Beatles Broke Up. James Brown's Great Expectations -- 3. Snatched from the Maw of Commerce. Stevie Wonder Is All Things to All People. A Boogie Band that Loves the Governor (Boo Boo Boo): Lynyrd Skynyrd. Turn On, Drop In, Find Out: The Grateful Dead.
• Music for Smart People: Randy Newman. Time Waits for No One: Richard Thompson. Father Alone Farther Along: Loudon Wainwright III. Born to Be Mature: Bonnie Raitt. Two Rock and Rollers Who Won't Change the World: Pete Fowler/Andy Fairweather Low -- 4. Smashing the State-of-the-Art. (If I'm Acting Like a King That's Because) I'm a Human Being: New York Dolls. Patti Smith Pisses in a Vanguard. The Clash See America Second. The Great Punk Dandy at the Peppermint Lounge: Richard Hell. Pere Ubu's Right To Choose. Forever Rotten: The Sex Pistols -- 5. Kings of Rhythm. Sylvester Is a Star. Triumph of the Trifle: Ray Parker, Jr. Working the Crowd: Bruce Springsteen/Michael Jackson. Give Him Liberty or Give Him Death: Prince. Magnificent Seven: Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five. The Beastie Boys Go Too Far. Looking for the Perfect Public Enemy. An Autodidact's History of KRS-One -- 6. Between Punk and a Pop Place. A Voyage to Liliput.
• Simple Because He's Simple: Marshall Crenshaw / Robert Christgau and Carola Dibbell. Aching to Become: The Replacements. Living Legends: The B-52's. Sonic Youth Sell Out. Curse of the Mekons -- 7. They Are the World. West Africa Not Africa, Europe Not the World: Salif Keita/Youssou N'Dour. The Black Sea Giant and the Lion Queens: Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens. The Goat-God in History: The Master Musicians of Jajouka. A Goat-God in Exile: (Cheb) Khaled. The Iron Curtain at Midnight: Pulnoc. Culture Hero: Mzwakhe Mbuli -- 8. Careers in Iconicity. Madonnathinking Madonnabout Madonnamusic. Garth Brooks, Michael Bolton, Barney, and You: Garth Brooks. Bette Midler Sings ... Everything. Lou Reed, Average Guy. What Are Realities of Prince Deal? Hell, What Is Reality? Making a Spectacle of Herself: Janet Jackson -- 9. Careers in Semipopularity. Selling the Dirt to Pay the Band: Freedy Johnston. Are We Not Girls? We Are L7! Lucinda Williams's Reasonable Demands.
• The Ballad of Polly Jean Harvey: P. J. Harvey. Two Backsliders: Iris DeMent/Sam Phillips. On the Real Side: Warren G/Coolio. Art-Rock You Can Dance To: D. J. Shadow. Honk if You Love Honking: James Carter. Unlikely Samba: Arto Lindsay. Stereolad: Pavement. Grrrowing Grrrls: Sleater-Kinney. Blown Away: Nirvana -- 10. Modern Maturity. The Goduncle: George Clinton. Pop Songs to God: Al Green. Wasted on the Young: Neil Young.

ISBN

0674443187 (alk. paper)

LCCN

98025779

OCLC

• 39189996
• ocm39189996

Owning Institutions

Columbia University Libraries