In this Book
- The Decibel Diaries: A Journey through Rock in 50 Concerts
- Book
- 2017
- Published by: University Press of New England
summary
Sometimes a rock concert is more than just an event. Every so often a band’s performance becomes a musical milestone, a cultural watershed, a political statement, and a personal apotheosis. On any given night a rock concert can tell the truth about who we are, where we are, and what’s going on in music and life right now. In The Decibel Diaries, Carter Alan, longtime DJ and music director at WZLX in Boston, chronicles a lifetime in rock with a tour through fifty concerts that defined such moments—from Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young playing in the rain when Richard Nixon resigned to Talking Heads and the first stirrings of punk in the basement bars of New York and Boston to the bluegrass angel Alison Krauss and the adaptable veteran Robert Plant forging a plangent, plaintive postmodern synergy. For each event Alan shows us what it was like to be there and telescopes out to reveal how this show fit into the arc of the artist’s career, the artist’s place in music, and the music’s place in the wider world. Taken together, The Decibel Diaries is a visceral and visionary portrait of nearly fifty years of rock ’n’ roll.
Table of Contents
Download Full Book
- Title Page, Copyright Page
- pp. i-vi
- Introduction
- pp. xiii-xviii
- 1 | First Ride: James Gang
- pp. 1-6
- 5 | The Four-Day Ring: Deep Purple
- pp. 27-32
- 15 | Six-String Outlaws: The Eagles
- pp. 87-92
- 17 | Crosstown Traffic: The Cars
- pp. 99-104
- 18 | Sound and Vision: David Bowie
- pp. 105-110
- 19 | “Hey! Ho! Let’s Go!”: Ramones
- pp. 111-116
- 24 | Before the Purple Reign: Prince
- pp. 141-146
- 26 | Rollin’ on the River: U2
- pp. 153-158
- 27 | Showtime: The J. Geils Band
- pp. 159-164
- 30 | In a Hard Place: Aerosmith
- pp. 177-182
- 31 | “I Love Rock ’n’ Roll”: Joan Jett
- pp. 183-188
- 33 | The Global Jukebox: Live Aid
- pp. 195-200
- 34 | Your Mascara is Running: Mötley Crüe
- pp. 201-206
- 38 | “Tear Down the Wall!": Roger Waters
- pp. 227-234
- 39 | Getting Back — Paul McCartney
- pp. 235-240
- 40 | Exile on Monroe Drive: The Black Crowes
- pp. 241-246
- 41 | A Wylde Night: The Allman Brothers Band
- pp. 247-252
- 43 | Digging in the Garden: Pearl Jam
- pp. 259-264
- 45 | Cliff Notes from Upstate: Phish
- pp. 271-276
- 49 | Power Hitter: Jack White
- pp. 295-300
- 50 | Life after the Fast Lane: Joe Walsh
- pp. 301-306
- Acknowledgments
- pp. 307-308
- List of Sources
- pp. 309-332
Additional Information
ISBN
9781512600476
Related ISBN(s)
9781611687927
MARC Record
OCLC
1012474992
Pages
352
Launched on MUSE
2017-11-24
Language
English
Open Access
No
Copyright
2017