The History of Rock & Roll, Volume 2: 1964–1977: The Beatles, the Stones, and the Rise of Classic Rock (The History of Rock & Roll, 2)

When I think of great music books, Peter Guralnick's Elvis books come to mind, as does Respect Yourself by Robert Gordon, Dancing With the Devil and Rythm Oil by Stanley Booth, various books by Dave Marsh, Greil Marcus, Robert Christgau, John Morthland, and others. Ed Ward, one of rock's veteran writers and critics, has written a masterpiece with his History of Rock & Roll Volume 2 and now I must go back and read Volume 1. Not only does Ed have a clear vision of what the sixties and its music meant and how it developed, but he provides some of the most incisive anecdotes I've read anywhere on this much trod subject. Ed Ward is also a splendid writer with a deceptively easy-to-read style. The man knows how to turn a phrase and unlike some writers I could name, he never writes show-offy prose. The book is a pure pleasure and I'm now ready to read Volume 3 -- when it comes out.

I had given “The History of Rock and Roll, Volume One” a four-star review, noting that, while it remained an excellent reference on the subject, a volume on so unwieldy a subject would mean “…that important people and music will fall through the cracks, be under-represented or not put in sufficient context.”
I struggle to give Volume Two more than three stars. While it is still a book I would recommend, it is rather maddeningly uneven.
For those subjects in the book for which Mr. Ward has an easily apparent interest, this is again a marvelous read. His history of the development and growth of reggae is an excellent example of Mr. Ward’s knowledge and enthusiasm; there are many other sections such as this which leads me to a recommendation.
There are other sections that are frustrating. First, mistakes are almost impossible to avoid in so wide-ranging a book, but some just seem sloppy. About the Beatles, especially – it was George, not John who answered the question in their first U.S. press conference as to whether they would get a haircut during their visit “I just had one yesterday”, and the Mellotron was not used in “Penny Lane” – it was used to great effect in “Strawberry Fields Forever”. Other mistakes have been noted in other reviews.
The times when an extra sentence could have added needed context are rife throughout the book, but Mr. Ward did note in the introduction that it would be impossible to fill in all of the needed facts. And perhaps there will be readers in the future who will not be able to discern which names are worth researching further and those whose inclusion in this history are questionable. There are myriad artists that never truly impacted the history of rock and roll yet appear in this book.
My greatest frustration, however, concerns some that do not get the respect they deserve. On page 233, Mr. Ward writes “Paul [McCartney] assembled a band, which he dubbed Wings, featuring an ex-Moody Blues guy…”
Denny Laine, a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and a presence in three notable bands (let’s not forget Ginger Baker’s Air Force), deserves to be mentioned by name in a book titled “The History of Rock and Roll”; to be treated in so desultory a manner is quite dispiriting. Quite a number of other figures who are well worth further exploration are handled nearly as dismissively, which is the greatest failing of the book; in many instances, Mr. Ward’s personal tastes and interests overwhelm what should have been a more evenhanded chronicle of the era.
So, with reservations and a reminder that this is not the last word on the subject, yes, “The History of Rock & Roll, Volume II” is a book I recommend – and hope that any Volume III is a bit more consistently respectful of all of its subjects.

Few writers have the temerity to tackle a topic as complicated as a history of pop/rock music. Fewer still have the talent to pull it off. To find someone who does it in an engaging, conversational style full of sardonic wit and humor is a pleasant rarity. This book, which essentially covers a particularly fruitful period of rock history sandwiched between the Beatles explosion in 1964 and the death of Elvis Presley in 1977, is a flat out gem. (As is its companion Volume 1, which covers the 1920-1963 period.) As a lifelong music lover, I've always had an eye out for a readable, enjoyable treatment of the sounds I grew up with. For a long time, my favorite in this genre was "The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock & Roll." Then I discovered "Rock of Ages," a rock history co-authored by Ed Ward (who penned the first third of the book); it became my new bible. When I found that Ward had written two volumes covering rock up to 1977, I jumped on them. I have not been disappointed. Of necessity, a topic as broad and open to interpretation as rock music is bound to leave some readers asking "How come so and so is not discussed?" Happily (for me anyway) that question never entered my mind. I was too wrapped up devouring who and what Ward did cover -- which is a lot! I fancy myself somewhat of a music buff, so I was amazed at the amount of "new" info I learned from this book. If you want an eminently enjoyable account of rock music (and its influences that make up the pre-rock era), you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who does it better than Ed Ward.
My only quibble (and it's a small one) is Ward's tendency to construct some really long, convoluted sentences using a ton of semicolons and parentheses that will have you occasionally re-reading the front part of the sentence just to tie it up with its tail end. It's almost as if he's trying to present a mini-history of a person or event in the space of a single sentence.

Apart from that, this a five-star effort from a five-star author. In the preface to Volume 2, Ward mentions his intent to finish up this project with a final Volume 3 "sometime in the future." (I assume it will cover rock from the late '70s forward.) I only have three words in response: I can't wait!!

I've been reading Ed Ward since he reviewed music for Rolling Stone in the days when the magazine covered music that truly mattered. Despite some minor errors ("Day Tripper" was not the flip side of "Ticket to Ride") that can be forgiven considering all the ground (1964-1977) Ward covers, this is a brisk, concise and even nostalgia-producing read. Even if one does not agree with his opinions, it still provides a wealth of worthwhile information.

Too many errors for this type of book.

I really enjoyed Volume 1 and thought that Vol 2 would be more of the same. I am a casual reader of the genre, and caught at least 2 factual mistakes that a decent editor should have caught: The Monkees recorded the Neil Diamond song "I'm a Believer" not "Daydream Believer"; the John Lennon postcard mocking Paul was in the Imagine album, not the Plastic Ono Band LP. These mistakes made me doubt the accuracy of the other stories he tells. Rather than keep the year-by-year narration format of Vol 1, Mr. Ward frequently spins stories that span several years; the result is the reader must thread several stories all spanning within a few different years. I frequently had to stop and figure out the year he was discussing. Sadly, many events are either dismissed, not discussed or given thrift notice: Grand Funk is ridiculed, but he never mentions that they sold out stadiums all over- someone once told me that Cream was their opening act (could that be true?). I was never a GFRR fan either, but that doesn't mean they don't deserve their place in the sun. I was surprised that the spiritual side of early 70's rock music was not addressed in greater detail; while Ward is dismissive of it, but it was a huge trend at the time. Masterpieces like "Bridge Over Troubled Waters" aren't even mentioned. No Foghat, no Boston either.

THE HISTORY OF ROCK & ROLL VOL. II by Ed Ward:

Anyone remotely familiar with the history of rock and roll will have to grit their teeth to get through this three hundred page book. It's riddled with mistakes...most any music fan could tell you Little Eva was NOT a member of RNB/pop trio The Cookies, who sang backup on her biggest hit The Locomotion. Some might even remember that The Newbeats had four Top 40 hits, although the author refers to them as "one-shots". Many of Ward's personal opservations are laughable... calling Grand Funk a "power trio of very limited virtuosity"...seriously? This is a disjointed read at best, with no decent photos of the artists in question. Suffice to say, the REAL history of rock and roll has already been documented by authors with more imagination and better fact checking abilities.

RATING: TWO SOUR NOTES

The author obviously knows a lot about rock music, but much of the book is just verbalizing what you can see in online lists from Billboard and such. There were some inside stories of interest but not enough to get me to plow through a lot of filler. Kent Hartman's Wrecking Crew and Goodnight LA are much better books. You get a coherent story line and there is no endless filler. Plus his inside stories are better.

If you are not familiar with Rock and its history, you could benefit from this book. I was hoping its content would have been more substantive. It's a nice synopsis of those classic years but, for me, I can say that there really wasn't anything in the book that I did not already know. No offense to the author who seems to be a swell gent. I always enjoyed his reviews on Fresh Air. If you are well versed in Rock and Roll history, this is not the book for you.

A bit too much opinion on whether certain songs, albums, or bands are good or not. Let readers be the judge. The book at times read like an album or concert review, not a history. I was expecting an overview that--based on the title--explored how the Beatles and Stones laid the foundation for what followed and emerged musically during this period. The book, however, felt more like a discussion of those groups, with anecdotes of all the more obscure groups or songs to come out of the 1960s, with very little attention paid to more memorable bands. Finally, there are a number of times that the same story or comment in made on one page, only to be repeated several pages later.