Word: rolled
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...there were some hints, even in those days, that things were going to change. The questioning, anti-social youth hero who became so prevalent in the '60s was an outgrowth of the discontent that the structured '50s produced, especially among the younger people in the country. Rock and Roll emerged; for the first time black music and white music tentatively merged, a synthesis that gained tremendous popularity. The movies too, began to show some shift in outlook among the kids growing up in America. The confused, "unrespectable" heros portrayed on the screen by Dean and Brando were slowly becoming more...
...dances his way into our hearts, a tough guy who is basically a hopeless romantic. Certainly he is a bit insensitive, but it's nothing the heart of a good woman can't cure. Even in The Buddy Holly Story, which tries to trace the emergence of Rock and Roll, the whole thing comes off as some sort of apple pie success story, ignoring the problems involved in fusing two very different worlds through music. Even Holly's end is treated like some sort of apple-pie tragedy, a pity to be sure, but easily gotten over and sighed...
...left of such an era are these one-sided memories. It's rather sad to watch movies in which present day movie stars yearn for the good old days, when "the movies really meant something." It is the same sadness you get when you hear the formula-rock and roll bands eulogizing how the original music is. But as anyone who saw Elvis grow old and ridiculous on the cover of countless magazines already knows, the media in this country can hardly ever be accused of seeking new directions or even of good taste. For the movies and television seem...
...provided a musical definition of rock that still works as well as any: "You say that music's for the birds/ And you can't understand the words/ Well, honey, if you did/ You'd really blow your lid/ 'Cause baby, that is rock and roll...
Rock Critic Robert Palmer has supplied a fleet, smart text for the book, but Baby, That Was Rock & Roll is made up mostly of lyrics (terrific) and old photos (family-scrapbook evocative). Mike Stoller's wonderful music is necessarily shortchanged in print. Its influences can be traced-boogie, R&B, smatterings of Latin rhythm and Broadway melody -but the magic remains in the grooves. Best thing to do while looking through this book is put on some Elvis and some Coasters...