The History of Rock & Roll, Volume 2

1964–1977: The Beatles, the Stones, and the Rise of Classic Rock

By: Ed Ward

Narrated by: David Colacci

It's February 1964 and The Beatles just landed in New York City, where the NYPD, swarms of fans, and a crowd of two hundred journalists await their first American press conference. It begins with the question on everyone's mind: "Are you going to get a haircut in America?" and ends with a reporter tugging Paul McCartney's hair in an attempt to remove his nonexistent wig. This is where The History of Rock & Roll, Volume 2 kicks off. Chronicling the years 1964 through the mid-1970s, this latest volume covers one of the most exciting eras of rock history, which saw a massive outpouring of popular and cutting-edge music.

Ed Ward weaves together an pause-resisting narrative told through colorful anecdotes and shares the behind-the-scenes stories of the megastars, the trailblazers, DJs, record executives, concert promoters, and producers who were at the forefront of this incredible period in music history. From Bob Dylan to Bill Graham, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, The Byrds, Aretha Franklin, The Rolling Stones, and more, everyone's favorite musicians of the era make an appearance in this sweeping history that reveals how the different players, sounds, and trends came together to create the music we all know and love today.

©2019 Ed Ward (P)2019 Tantor

Very enjoyable!

Well written. Well narrated. I learned several things I didn't know. I'd like to see part 3.

real raw story of musicians dysfunctional lives making great music

good historical background without the excessive hyperbole. We all love good rock n roll and the evolution of music from the 50's through the 70's. This book along with the History of Country and Western music really appreciate the music and musicians much more.

The most interesting compendium of Rock and Roll

This is the second volume of a two-volume work on the phenomenon that we know and love as “Rock and Roll.” In this book, Ed Ward offers many insights into the different musicians who have affected the art. Much if this material was already known to me, but much of it was not. I’m glad that I had taken the time to purchase and listen to this audio book because it was a trip back in time for me and also a refresher course about the rock and roll scene of which I was privileged to be a part of in a big way then…and now. If you love Rock and Roll, you will thoroughly enjoy this book.

Great Story. Read is Soporific

They story is great and well written. The performance is dull and monotone. The first time I listened, I was asleep within a minute. Second time was better but I had to be on the exercise bike. Sadly, the performance does take away from the story which deserves more energy. Save this for a long overnight flight.

Indispensable! Vol. I and II are a must read!

Ed does a great job summarizing the high points of R n R history while touching on obscure tidbits that keep those familiar with rock’s history interested (‘The Warlocks’ name shared by two famous west and east coast bands). My only criticism was his sidestep over Punk which started well before ‘77 though he alludes to it (Elvis) being included in his next volume. Bravo!

great book,great reader

Ed Ward gives us a wide ranging history of music for this period. No book could encompass it all, but Ward covers alot of ground, giving more coverage of soul, r & b, funk, ... than I have seen elsewhere. And by covering such so much, the music actually seems to be all a part of a whole rather than mere separate genres. Ward does make a few minor errors: The Bosstown bad was Orpheus, not Orphna who were actually a contemporaneous band from Boston, Don Stevenson, not Peter Lewis, gives the finger on Moby Grape's cover (and after CBS airbrushed the finger off the cover, they failed to do so on the accompanying poster), the Incredible String band's "Hangman's Beautiful Daughter" is their third album, and the first to feature the females Rose and Licorice. And ELO was the same band as the Move to start, and Wizard was Roy Wood's group after he left ELO. (Sorry, I owned these records, and can get a bit obsessive about them.)
Pardon these quibbles, p;ease, because this book was a deligh to listen to. Especially so when David Colacci, easily my favorite narrator, does the reading.

Lost me in the end

The book was interesting until the few chapters . The author neglected a lot of good bands that were big in the early 70's  as he he continued to focused on John Lennon,  Bob Dillon, The Band,  The Grateful Dead and other Folk artists.  Also, working in the industry in the 70's & 80's some of the stories about record labels didn't ring true. The book treated the man with the golden ear, Clive Davis as an aftert thought instead of the legend he is.

Just couldn't get into it

full of facts and stories, but I had a difficult time really getting into it. maybe each story was too short or long. it's a book I should have enjoyed more, but I just didnt

The author is an asshole

I like a large part of this book. It chronicles the 60s well.

But the author makes it clear the music he doesn’t like, giving snobbish asides about how awful they are that are substance-less and pretentious. He follows the typical rock critic line of hating prog rock, which I’m not even a huge fan of, but man, you don’t have to be a dick about it. You lose credibility.

The first book in this series was far better, as you can actually tell that he has a passion for that music, so it was largely better.

Some really bad factual errors, too. “Day Tripper” the b-side of “Ticket to Ride”? He even makes it seem like Abbey Road was made before Let it Be.

Amateurish and encyclopedic in the worst way of both of those words.

All over the place

As someone who experienced the rise of classic rock & roll first hand and enjoy the evolution of this genre, this book is a big disappointment. I'm about 1/3 finished listening and hoping I can finish it since I bought the audiobook. The narration is flat, very little emotion or feeling is put into the reading. The "story" consists of a lot of names strung together with very little explanation of who they are or how they fit together in the overall history of this music. I find this listening very boring and uninformative. There are a few other titles about rock and other music on Audible, My suggestion is to look into other books and skip this one all together.