Introduction -- Part 1. The 1950s. Los Angeles Auditoriums ; Cleveland Theaters ; Chicago Clubs; Memphis Fairs ; Northeast Fests -- Part 2. The 1960s. Folk at the Mall ; Pop's Endless Summer ; Dylan Invents Rock ; Ballrooms and Be-Ins ; Festival Mania -- Part 3. The 1970s. Image, Media, and Branding ; Arenas, Stadiums, and Tours ; Sight and Sound ; Concert Maximus ; Rise of Exurbia -- Part 4. The 1980s. Not Just Another Brick ; Killing the Radio Star ; Computerized Ticketing ; And in the End, Live Aid -- Epilogue -- Fifty Best Live Albums, Concert Films, and Rock Docs.
Summary:
"A lively, entertaining, wide-ranging oral history of the golden age of the rock concert based on over ninety interviews with musicians, promoters, stagehands, and others who contributed to the huge cultural phenomenon that is live rock. Between 1950 and 1985, the rock concert developed its allure and power as a unifying experience-and became an influential multi-billion-dollar industry. In Rock Concert, acclaimed interviewer Marc Myers sets out to uncover the history of this compelling phenomenon, weaving together groundbreaking accounts from the people who were there. Myers combines the tales of icons like Bob Weir, Todd Rundgren, Tina Weymouth, Ian Anderson, Alice Cooper, Steve Miller, Roger Waters, and Angus Young with figures such as the disc jockeys who first began playing rock on the radio, like Alan Freed in Cleveland and New York; music journalists, like Rolling Stone's Cameron Crowe; and the promoters who organized it all, like Michael Lang, cofounder of Woodstock. The result is a rounded and vivid account of live rock's stratospheric rise. Rock Concert provides a fascinating, immediate look at the evolution of live rock performances-spanning from the rise of R&B in the late 1940s and emergence of rock 'n' roll in the '50s, through the hippie gatherings of the '60s, to the arena and stadium tours of the '70s and '80s. Featuring dozens of key players and filled with colorful anecdotes, Rock Concert will speak to anyone who has experienced the transcendence of live rock"-- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.