Machers and Rockers: Chess Records and the Business of Rock & Roll (Enterprise)

Book Description

A tour-de-force history of Jews, blues, and the birth of a new industry.

On the south side of Chicago in the late 1940s, two immigrants—one a Jew born in Russia, the other a black blues singer from Mississippi—met and changed the course of musical history. Muddy Waters electrified the blues, and Leonard Chess recorded it. Soon Bo Diddly and Chuck Berry added a dose of pulsating rhythm, and Chess Records captured that, too. Rock & roll had arrived, and an industry was born.

In a book as vibrantly and exuberantly written as the music and people it portrays, Rich Cohen tells the engrossing story of how Leonard Chess, with the other record men, made this new sound into a multi-billion-dollar business—aggressively acquiring artists, hard-selling distributors, riding the crest of a wave that would crash over a whole generation. Full of absorbing lore and animated by a deep love for popular music, Machers and Rockers is a smash hit. 12 illustrations.

About the series: W. W. Norton and Atlas Books announce the launch of a dynamic new series: ENTERPRISE pairs distinguished writers with stories of the economic forces that have shaped the modern world—the institutions, the entrepreneurs, the ideas. Enterprise introduces a new genre—the business book as literature.

Customer Reviews:

Tries to write poetry, succeeds in slobbering.......2007-01-04

What looks like a history of Chess records is a bloated, unwieldy tome that deeply disappoints. While you hope to hear about Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley and other Chess greats, you get Cohen's slobbering rambling.

Here's a typical sentence (speaking of a piece of art in the Metropolitan Museum, surely a necessary comparison for a book about a roots-oriented blues-and-rock record label in Chicago): "This man, as Avedon portrays him, is rough and angry, unsociable, clear-eyed, ancient and folkloric, a relic from another age, genetically no different than those who came later, yet touched by the residue of a great evil." HUH?

Fully half of the book is history of Chicago going as far back as the Civil War. This is a startlingly bad history that pretends to be about records and instead is a palette for palaver.

Author a fan, but not too accurate.......2006-03-24

Rich Cohen's heart is in the right place here, but he needs to get some facts straight, e.g., the band is J. Geils, not Jay Geils. I liked his previous effort, "Cooler by the Lake", but this needs some serious editing.

How Leonard Chess built one of America's truly great indie labels.......2005-07-13

These "record men" were a special breed. Men like Herman Lubsinky at Savoy in New Jersey, Sam Phillips at Sun in Memphis, Syd Nathan of King Records in Cincinnati and one Leonard Chess were the driving force in the evolution of the music we now call rock and roll. "Machers and Rockers" concentrates on Leonard Chess and tells the remarkable story of Chess Records. In the span of 20 years beginning in 1948, the Chess brothers, Leonard and Phil, would build Chess records into the second largest independent record company in America. No small achievement! More importantly, it was Leonard Chess who played a pivotal role in bringing the blues out of the fields and into America's cities. It was this development, perhaps more than any other, that would ultimately result in the emergence of what we now call rock & roll in the mid 1950's.
How did these guys do it? Why did these men succeed when so many others tried and failed? As author Rich Cohen points out there was really nothing terribly mysterious about it.
Leonard Chess was a savvy businessman who was determined to succeed in the record business. And God knows, he was not afraid of hard work. Successful "record men" would do whatever it took. Leonard Chess was actively involved in nearly every aspect of his business. He beat the bushes in search of talent. He signed the artists and produced the records. Then he would stuff thousands of records into the trunk of his car and hustle them all over the Midwest. For the indies like Chess there was little margin for error. A major miscalculation could doom a small record company.
"Machers and Rockers" is a revealing look into the underbelly of the recording industry in 1950's America. However, as other reviewers have pointed out there are several glaring errors in this book. Some pretty sloppy research if you ask me. The best I can muster is a lukewarm recommendation. Since there are a number of books devoted to the subject of Chess records you might want to check out one of those.

What A Mess.......2005-03-26

I've read a couple of Cohen's books and enjoyed his tough prose style...

In "Machers and Rockers", he lets the style get away from him. Reading like an out of control Nick Tosches or a less violent James Elroy, Cohen uses his tough guy style loose on a number of unrelated tangents that immediately doom this book.

Even worse for a book about Chess Records, Cohen commits a number of horrific blunders about the artists and their music. This suggests either a lack of familiarity with his subject matter, a lack of editing and/or fact checking at the publishers, or a lack of caring.

When the lyrics to Muddy Waters' seminal "Hoochie Coochie Man" are badly mangled near the start of the book, it sets a dagerous precedent. (Note - Cohen badly messes up the third line of the song) If he can't even get a simple lyric right, why should we believe anything else that he wants to tell us?

To use a yiddishism to describe this book - "feh"...

An excellent survey .......2005-01-04

Avid followers of popular music will readily understand the importance of Chess Records in the early to modern business of rock and roll production, and won't want to miss Rich Cohen's Machers And Rockers: Chess Records And The Business Of Rock & Roll, an excellent survey of the two immigrants who changed the course of musical history by recording such artists as Muddy Waters and Chuck Berry. Cohen's lively coverage tells how Chess rose to become a multi-billion-dollar business, aggressively marketing artists and riding the rock and roll wave.

20th Century Rock & Roll-Glam (20th Century Rock and Roll)

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A Look At Glam

20th Century Rock & Roll-Glam (20th Century Rock and Roll)
Dave Thompson
Manufacturer: Collector's Guide Publishing, Inc.
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Binding: Paperback

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Performing Glam Rock: Gender and Theatricality in Popular Music

ASIN: 1896522262

Book Description

Glam was a British pop phenomenon, and a who's who of Britain's pop charts from 1970 through 1976 provides the framework for this book.

Customer Reviews:

A Look At Glam.......2005-08-29

A good brief look at the various glam bands with interesting details about the artists. The list of singles (including B sides) is a bonus. Well worth getting a copy of this book.

20th Century Rock and Roll: Psychedelia (20th Century Rock and Roll)

Average customer rating:

Introduction to Psychedelic Music for 10 year olds!!
Very Informative
Belmo's Books
This one goes in my reference library
A terrific book

20th Century Rock and Roll: Psychedelia (20th Century Rock and Roll)
Belmo
Manufacturer: Collectors Guide Publishing Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1896522408

Book Description

The Psychedelic 60's — It was an era of musical innovation that introduced the styles which influenced Rock and Roll music for the next quarter century.

Every bit as exciting as the music, were the people who made it — dynamic, expressive, socially conscious and talented — artists who injected human passions into their music unlike any others before them in this century.

This book chronicles the 50 most influential artists of Psychedelia and their music, complete with pictures, stories, biographies and discographies. Also included are lists of the top Psychedelic songs and albums of all time, and genré collectibles.

You'll find The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead, Pink Floyd, Thirteenth Floor Elevators, The Doors, Moby Grape, Cream, Iron Butterfly, and many more between these covers.

If you lived through the 60's, then you'll remember this music. If you're alive today, buy the book — it'll bring back great memories. And as you read the song titles and start humming to yourself, you'll be pleasantly surprised to realize how many of these great tunes you can still hear being played today.

Customer Reviews:

Introduction to Psychedelic Music for 10 year olds!!.......2002-08-23

As an introductory book to psychedelic music this is a less than satisfactory book and it is definitely not the tome it pretends to be. The book focuses on fifty of the most important psychedelic groups, has some colour reprints of some classic albums and includes a list of the best psychedelic albums and singles. However, it is written in a very poor way, its overall presentation is shoddy and, very often, merely states the obvious without adding anything new. The writer's tendency to refer to his own record collection is, to say the least, annoying. For a really in depth analysis of psychedelia, I would recommend THE ACID TRIP (V.Joynson), FUZZ ACID & FLOWERS (V.Joynson) or even UNKNOWN LEGENDS OF ROCK AND ROLL (R.Unterberger).

Very Informative.......2000-10-27

This is an informative and fun read for any fan of the music from the Psychedelic Sixties. The book opens with a history of psychedelics and the roots of the music and what it was like to be alive in the late Sixties. Belmo then gives a history of the top 50 groups of the era and includes lots of little known facts and a helpful discography for each group. Very cool. There are 12 pages of color photos of the psychedelic album art work. At the end of the book are lists for the top 100 albums, top 200 songs and the most collectable psychedelic albums. Thanks to this book I have now begun my search in earnest for some of the far out albums Belmo writes about. A must have book!

Belmo's Books.......2000-10-26

I already have all of Bemo's other books and I think they're all great. My fave is THE BEATLES-NOT FOR SALE. Very detailed. PSYCHEDELIA is a great look at an era/genre of music created when the world was changing and one of the main reasons for this change was the music.

This one goes in my reference library.......2000-10-24

This book has set a new standard for those who lived in the age of psychedelia. It is well written and full of facts which few people are aware. It's obvious that Belmo has spent a great deal of time researching the subject and talking to those who actually made that era what it has become - an original American cultural experience which continues to have a global impact. Without a doubt, this one goes in the reference library.

A terrific book.......2000-10-24

An enjoyable and informative primer on the fascinating world of psychedelic music. Whether you're a newcomer looking to get started or an old timer strolling down memory lane, you'll find this book has much to offer. If you like psychedelic music, you should have this book on your bookshelf. Highly recommended!

Book Description

Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen are widely acknowledged as the great pop poets of the 1960s, transforming the popular song into a medium for questionng the personal, social, and political norms of their times. They emerged at a time when the music industry was transforming the revolutionary sound of black music into something bland, homogenous, and fit for mass consumption. For many members of their generation, Dylan and Cohen were able to articulate what they were feeling and could not express: anti-establishement anger, angst, and despondency.

Dylan and Cohen is a fascinating political, psychological and artistic profile of these two iconic writers and performers. With reference to both biographical details and lyrics. David Boucher explores their similarities and differences, tracing the development of religious political, and social themes in their work and the ways in which those ideas engaged a new audience.

A must-read for all serious fans of either Dylan or Cohen, this book will also engage anyone interested in the North America of the 1960s, or more generally in the relationship between music, identity and politics.

Customer Reviews:

Take This Waltz.......2004-07-24

What makes this book such a unique and significant contribution to its genre is that it is written with the insight and sensitivity of a spirit that seems deeply attuned to those of its subjects. Not only does the reader come away with a better understanding of the historical times and political contexts that shaped these men, and the personal struggles and psychological bents that motivated their writing, but also with a clearer understanding of what attracts their devotees to their work.

Throughout the book, Boucher weaves explorations of various aspects of the lives and cultural context of Dylan and Cohen that strongly affected them and their work. These include the civil rights movement, drugs, women, sexuality, God and religion, what it means to be reluctantly identified as the voice of a generation, and -- particularly for Cohen -- the holocaust. Boucher also explores the influence of other artists on their work, from Woody Guthrie for Dylan to Lorca for Cohen, as well as the influence that Dylan and Cohen had on each other.

Just as Dylan and Cohen make poetry an accessible part of popular culture, with equal skill Boucher makes philosophy of art and interpretation accessible as well. He points out that our experience of lyric poetry is informed by the questions we bring to it and he explains that the richest experience is to be had when the most appropriate questions are asked. Boucher uses the theories of several philosophers such as R. G. Collingwood, Henry Jones, and Michael Oakeshott, to identify which questions are most appropriately asked of particular works at particular moments in the artists' creative development. He also shows the fruitlessness of asking the wrong kind of questions of a particular poem, as is the tendency of many thinkers. He describes various forms of artistic expression: pseudo-art, or art as magic; art as the expression of emotion, or imaginative art; and inspirational art, or poetry which delights in images. He then demonstrates how, at various stages in Dylan's artistic development, his work takes all three forms of expression, whereas Cohen's work primarily takes the form of the last two. He then offers examples from their poetry to illustrate which form(s) of expression is/are being inhabited by a particular work and he supports his demonstrations with quotations about their work from the artists themselves.

Finally, Boucher helps to bring the period to life for his reader by including several pictures of book covers, concert and film posters, magazine covers and various photographs. The overall result of the book is that Boucher successfully positions his readers to have a richer experience and a deeper understanding and appreciation of the lyric poetry of Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen.

Compulsively Readable.......2004-07-10

This is an excellent study of the music and lyrics of the 2 greatest rock "poets." Boucher explores whether or not their lyrics even qualify as poetry and keeps the subject interesting! He effectively delves into their psyches,as well, without getting hung up on personal, biographical details which have been over analyzed in other places. I found the final chapter "The Religious Experience" to be some of the best writing that I've seen on Dylan and Cohen's spiritual journeys. I highly recommend this to fans of either man's work.

Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands.......2004-06-16

The irate and intemperate person signing himself pepidude in a previous review seems incapable of being able to appreciate an argument or of understanding the nature of the exercise that David Boucher has undertaken. It is a thematic book with a wide range of references, not a book of facts about Bob Dylan.The author introduces us to the complexities of issues relating to the difference between popular music lyrics and poetry, between origins and originality, the poetry of imagination and inspiration and much more. Anyone interested in ideas and issues, and in theories as well as facts will find this book immensely stimulating and fascinating.

Poetry Always was the New Rock & Roll.......2004-06-16

David Boucher has written a book that examines in detail the contribution of both artists to the worlds of both literature and rock & roll. In his intoduction he looks at the progress of Cohen from serious poet to rock & roll recording artist and performer. This transition cost him status in the literary world but aided by the legendary "golden voice" and some consummate musicians it allowed him to reach a hitherto undreamed of audience.

Dylan, whom he refers to as "The Changing Man" in Chapter Three, was the chameleon-like performer who picked up, and discarded new personas and new musical styles at the drop of his very famous hat. The obvious example here is the infamous "electric tour" where Dylan was heckled and called "Judas". This abuse was, the book shows, not only for his perceived betrayal of the acoustic folk movement, but also a reaction to the contempt with which Dylan treated his audience. Dylan had always been a confrontational performer, and his response to such attacks was to become louder and less acoustic than ever. What David Boucher also shows is that this signified a shift from the community centred ethic of the folk movement to the excessive individualism and nihilism of the Beat poets who through the drug culture wanted, like Rimbaud, to experience the extremes.

In other chapters the myriad influences on both performers are examined as well as their involvement with political and religious organisations. Finally David Boucher gives us an insight into the road travelled by both men in search of their own personal salvation.

Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen are complex men and complex performers. To listen to, or to read the works of either man is always challenging. In this book the author has written an analysis that is equally challenging exploring, as it does, the anger and the angst of the 1960s and beyond. I enjoyed every minute of the challenge.

How lovely does it get...?.......2004-06-11

David Boucher's masterly work 'Dylan & Cohen' is essential reading, not simply for devotees of these 'Poets of Rock and Roll' but for anyone with an interest in the history of the radical cultural, political and musical changes in the last century.

It is clear from this eloquent book that neither Dylan nor Cohen wished to speak for anyone but themselves and equally clear that the strength of their work would be seized upon by a generation looking for a new direction. Thankfully they both continued to write through their tribulations and we have a bank of some of the most evocative music to continue to listen to.

I urge you to buy this book but with a word of warning: you won't want to stop reading once you've started.

20th Century Rock & Roll-Alternative Rock (20th Century Rock and Roll)
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Everything you never knew you wanted to know about alt rock!

Factually Brilliant!

20th Century Rock & Roll-Alternative Rock (20th Century Rock and Roll)
Alan Cross
Manufacturer: Collector's Guide Publishing Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Over the edge: The revolution and evolution of new rock

The Making of Pretty Hate Machine & Downward Spiral (Making Of...)

ASIN: 189652219X

Book Description

Features the history of alternative rock's top 25 performers and includes biographies, discographies, trivia, reading lists, and websites.

Customer Reviews:

Everything you never knew you wanted to know about alt rock!.......2001-11-17

This book is an incredibly informative and interesting source for the story behind modern and alternative rock music. Alan Cross does a fine job of delievering the lives, music, and impact of some of the last 4 decades' musicians. While some of what's in this book may be just intriguing trivia about your favorites well-known bands (i.e. Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, R.E.M.) a good deal of the chapters deal with some of the lesser known gods of alt rock. But that's the best part I think. I have found that I have been introduced to all lot of my new favorite bands through reading this book. The other chapters however did provide an interesting new look at some of my old favorites. Overall, this book was a thouroghly interesting read that gave great insight into a lot of rock's most important bands and expanded my horizons as well. The only downside I found was that Alan Cross' writting seems a little dumbed down sometimes, as if he's writting to a much younger audience. Aside from the fact that you're not reading Rolling Stone quality reporting, this book is quite essential to anyone who wants to know all about alternative music. Highly recommended.

Factually Brilliant!.......2000-02-03

Alan Cross' second book is a detailed (and loving) look at 25 alternative acts that influenced the shape of current modern rock. The artist profiles begin with The Velvet Underground and Iggy Pop & The Stooges and wind their way through the seventies (Bowie, Kraftwerk, The Ramones), the eighties (U2, Depeche Mode, The Cure) and end up in the nineties (with The Smashing Pumpkins). Along the way, Cross inundates readers with plenty of information, great "Fast Facts" and a timeline which connects it all together. Cross clearly knows this stuff inside out (it helps when you write and produce your own radio column for a Troronto alternative rock station) but a more personal voice (like the way Nelson George or Colin Larkin use in their writings) would have really brought this stuff home to first-time readers trying to get a handle on the music's scope and breadth. Readers may feel a little angry by the proofreading of the thing: a number of misspelled words appear, breaking the reader's "flow". But, for the sheer amount of information packed in its 206 pages, the book is a quick read that brings its topic into sharp focus. Its no-nonsense tone may be a little academic, but in the end, his observations win the day.

20th Century Rock & Roll-Women in Rock (20th Century Rock and Roll)

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A perfect place to start!

20th Century Rock & Roll-Women in Rock (20th Century Rock and Roll)
Dale Sherman
Manufacturer: Collector's Guide Publishing Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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She's a Rebel: The Histroy of Women in Rock and Roll (Live Girls)

ASIN: 1896522297

Book Description

Looks at 50 women rockers who have helped to shape the world of rock music.

Customer Reviews:

A perfect place to start!.......2001-02-01

I'm a freelance music journalist who does a lot of writing about women in rock. This book scores very highly with me based on range, subject, and knowledge of the individuals covered.

The author divides the book into a section devoted to the 50 women who have defined rock and roll, with a short essay on each, and a recommended discography. I like the selection much better than some books (including the truly disappointing Rolling Stone Book of Women in Rock). He doesn't include ALL the artists I consider essential, but that's a personal matter. I think he did a very good job, with a range from the obvious choices like Joan Jett and Tina Turner to more obscure but important artists like Lita Ford and Suzi Quatro.

He includes several appendixes with info on all-girl bands, all-girl groups (singers as opposed to instrumentalists) and spotlights on frontwomen of renown, ranging from superstars like Stevie Nicks to the cult heroines like Christina Amphlett and Doro Pesch.

This is a book to give people who don't know much about the subject, or to throw at people who say "women can't rock."

It's not a historical survey (though the author recommends several books, including the one I think of as the definitive volume, Gillian G. Gaar's "She's a Rebel"), but it's a very good basic reference volume.

Book Description

Journey back fifty years to explore the decade of baby boomers, the Red scare, and the birth of rock and roll with Robert Rodriguez’s The 1950s’ Most Wanted: The Top 10 Book of Rock & Roll Rebels, Cold War Crises, and All-American Oddities. America was revving its engines when the fifties came along, and its citizens more than ready for everything the historic decade had to offer. Rodriguez takes you on a spin down memory lane with dozens of top-ten lists filled with amazing, amusing, and even astonishing trivia from the 1950s.

Television exploded into the mainstream in the 1950s, and in this book you’ll find kids’ television, shows that were immensely popular then but forgotten now, and potential series that never got off the ground. Film and music history are also well represented, with lists highlighting the fathers of rock and roll and some unlikely recording artists, plus catchphrases from contemporary films and first roles of future stars. Relive the most notorious crimes of the decade, such as the one that inspired the TV show and film The Fugitive, and its big scandals, such as the quiz show debacle and the deportation of Charlie Chaplin. You’ll read about politicians, celebrities, fashion, toys, fads, and disasters. Relearn the hip slang of the time while finding out which tales from the fifties were really tall tales or urban legends that are now debunked. Rodriguez gives you a whole decade’s worth of fun, facts, and all-important memories. It may have been half a century ago, but with The 1950s’ Most Wanted™, it’ll seem like just yesterday.

Customer Reviews:

What a fun read!.......2007-06-27

This book rocks! When I first picked it up in a book store (under "reference"), I didn't know what to think, what with the odd title. But as I started to flip through it, a bunch of things caught my attention.

This wasn't a book about old cars, which you might think from the cover. It covers the entire decade - just about any subject you can name: deaths, scandals, politics, movies, TV, books, fads, commercials, toys, and yes - even cars.

I didn't expect to be into the whole book, but once I started reading, I couldn't put it down. The writer comes off as both literate and irreverent. There is a definite tone throughout that seems to delight in deflating pomposity but then turns serious where appropriate.

This book is rich with detail; if there is any fault, perhaps it is in sometimes offering more than you want to know. But then, something for everyone, I guess.

For those who can't get enough, the author's website has even more articles. It's at www.fiftiesbook.com

20th Century Rock & Roll-Pop (20th Century Rock and Roll)

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20th Century Rock & Roll-Pop (20th Century Rock and Roll)
Dave Thompson
Manufacturer: Collector's Guide Publishing, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Book Description

Guides readers through pop music history as some of the most celebrated pop songs and performers of the last half century are examined.

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American Rock 'n' Roll
Ian Wallis
Manufacturer: Music Mentor Books
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Binding: Paperback

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