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How the Beatles Destroyed Rock 'n' Roll: An Alternative History of American Popular Music Paperback – October 1, 2011

by Elijah Wald (Author)
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 189 ratings
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"There are no definitive histories," writes Elijah Wald, in this provocative reassessment of American popular music, "because the past keeps looking different as the present changes." Earlier musical styles sound different to us today because we hear them through the musical filter of other styles that came after them, all the way through funk and hip hop.

As its blasphemous title suggests, How the Beatles Destroyed Rock 'n' Roll rejects the conventional pieties of mainstream jazz and rock history. Rather than concentrating on those traditionally favored styles, the book traces the evolution of popular music through developing tastes, trends and technologies--including the role of records, radio, jukeboxes and television --to give a fuller, more balanced account of the broad variety of music that captivated listeners over the course of the twentieth century. Wald revisits original sources--recordings, period articles, memoirs, and interviews--to highlight how music was actually heard and experienced over the years. And in a refreshing departure from more typical histories, he focuses on the world of working musicians and ordinary listeners rather than stars and specialists. He looks for example at the evolution of jazz as dance music, and rock 'n' roll through the eyes of the screaming, twisting teenage girls who made up the bulk of its early audience. Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, and the Beatles are all here, but Wald also discusses less familiar names like Paul Whiteman, Guy Lombardo, Mitch Miller, Jo Stafford, Frankie Avalon, and the Shirelles, who in some cases were far more popular than those bright stars we all know today, and who more accurately represent the mainstream of their times.

Written with verve and style, How the Beatles Destroyed Rock 'n' Roll shakes up our staid notions of music history and helps us hear American popular music with new ears.
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  1. Print length
    336 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Oxford University Press
  4. Publication date
    October 1, 2011
  5. Dimensions
    9.2 x 1 x 6.1 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    019975697X
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0199756971
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"I couldn't put it down. It nailed me to the wall, not bad for a grand sweeping in-depth exploration of American Music with not one mention of myself. Wald's book is suave, soulful, ebullient and will blow out your speakers."--Tom Waits

"Wald is a meticulous researcher, a graceful writer and a committed contrarian... an impressive accomplishment."--New York Times Book Review

"A complex, fascinating and long-overdue response to decades of industry-driven revisionism."--Jonny Whiteside, LA Weekly

"It's an ambitious project, but Wald's casual narrative style and eye for a juicy quote give it a lightness that even a novice to pop, rock, or jazz history can appreciate... The title is appropriate: This is a provocative book, in all the right ways."--The Onion AV Club

"Wald is a sharp, fair critic eager to right the record on popular music... deepens the appreciation of American popular music."--Boston Globe

"This is a debatable premise... you don't have to agree with it to admire this book... It is as an alternative, corrective history of American music that Wald's book is invaluable. It forces us to see that only by studying the good with the bad--and by seeing that the good and bad can't be pulled apart--can we truly grasp the greatness of our cultural legacy."-- Malcolm Jones, Newsweek

"A serious treatise on the history of recorded music, sifted through his filter as musician, scholar, and fan... It's a brave and original work that certainly delivers."-Christian Science Monitor

"A smart, inclusive celebration of mainstream stars, such as 1920s bandleader Paul Whiteman and the Fab Four, who introduced jazz, blues, and other roughhewn musical forms to mass audiences."--AARP Magazine

"A powerfully provocative look at popular music and its impact on America."--Dallas Morning News

"Elijah Wald is a treasure... There is far too much in these 300 pages to even summarize here. Wald is an economical and lucid writer with an amazing grasp of his subject. I know quite a lot of musical history, and I did not find a single clinker in this symphony of renewal and re-examination."--Winston-Salem Journal

"As catchy and compelling as a great pop single, this revisionist retelling is provocative, profound and utterly necessary... Clearly the product of years of passionate research, it's so rife with references and surprising anecdotes that it's potentially overwhelming, but Wald makes a superlative tour guide-- frank, funny and generous but judicious with his inclusions-- and his book is a beguiling, blasphemous breeze."--Philadelphia City Paper

"Elijah Wald's provocative, meticulously researched new book, How the Beatles Destroyed Rock 'n' Roll: An Alternative History of American Popular Music, turns the stock rock-and-roll narratives on their head."--Very Short List

"Brilliant and provocative... the most challenging and head-clearing history of American popular music to be published in decades."--The Buffalo News

"Wald explains musical and recording techniques and sociological phenomena in an engaging style accessible to a wide range of readers. Throughout, he makes a compelling case for why the figures most historians have disregarded or footnoted need to be considered in order to understand the totality of American popular music. This is an ideal companion to the plethora of standard histories available. Highly recommended." --Library Journal starred review

"Wald's arguments are as nuanced as his scope is wide, which makes this a fascinating and useful volume--required reading for any fan of pop music."--Memphis Flyer

"Fascinating... It's hard to imagine any American music buff coming away from this book without a fresh perspective and an overwhelming desire to seek out Paul Whiteman CDs. Highly recommended."--San Jose Mercury News

"A bracing, inclusive look at the dramatic transformation in the way music was produced and listened to during the 20th century... One of those rare books that aims to upend received wisdom and actually succeeds."--Kirkus Reviews

"Some of the smartest historiography I've ever read. The examples and turns of phrase sometimes make me laugh out loud, and nearly every page overturns another outmoded assumption. Wald just calls it like he sees it and transforms everything as a result."--Susan McClary, MacArthur Fellow and author of Feminine Endings: Music, Gender, and Sexuality

"This is a ground-breaking book, a muscular revisionist account that will get people thinking quite differently about the history of pop music. I've learned much from it and admire the writing style that is so light on its feet, lucid and elegant."--Bernard Gendron, author of Between Montmartre and the Mudd Club: Popular Music and the Avant Garde

"A fascinating and scrupulous piece of pop scholarship...Tantalizing." --Paste Magazine

Book Description

From ragtime to rap, this lively history casts aside conventional wisdom to offer a fresh look at the enormous variety and vitality of American popular music

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oxford University Press; 1st edition (October 1, 2011)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 019975697X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0199756971
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.05 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9.2 x 1 x 6.1 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 189 ratings

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Elijah Wald

Elijah Wald

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For information about Elijah Wald, his books, his recordings, his other writings, and so forth and so on, visit http://www.elijahwald.com

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
189 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Doc Moose
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Read
Reviewed in the United States on November 10, 2022
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This is the book you didn't know you wanted to read. Of course, it deals with more than a century of popular music history, not just the enormous impact of the Beatles. Wald's eminently readable style is a joy and the book delves into complex cultural topics, fraught race and class issues and historical details with insight, accessibility and balance. Scholars and laypeople alike will find this a most engaging read.
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Timothy C Allison
4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting alternate view of the past
Reviewed in the United States on July 31, 2012
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Relax boomers - this isn't the 300 page takedown of the Beatles that you're ready to hate. What it is then, is a unique history of American popular music in the 20th century. A sequel, of sorts, to Wald's "Escaping the Delta".
The argument in this case is that around 1965, music became more segregated, with black performers continuing the traditional interest in dance music, while white performers became more interested in art music designed for listening, not movement. His claim is that this was to the detriment of both strands of music.
Wald's approach is somewhat unique. The usual approach is to construct a critical narrative. From a position of hindsight, various figures deemed important and/or influential are highlighted to provide some sense of progress. Wald views himself as a historian, rather than a critic. Using sales charts and radio playlists he constructs a vision of what people were actually listening to, rather than what they *should* have been listening to.
The advantage of this approach is that it provides a more accurate reflection of what the times were actually like. Yes, apparently Doris Day & Perry Como really were that popular!
And that leads to the downside of Wald's approach. There are long passages devoted to performers such as Paul Whiteman who is of little to no interest to contemporary listeners. While Wald's writing never falters, the fact that these performers are quite simply of lesser importance to modern ears makes these portions of the book drag.
The discussion of the 1950s was of particular interest to me in light of the current state of the music industry. The split between albums and singles, both among audiences and performers, seems to mirror the emerging state of the recording industry. Perhaps in a few years we'll again find ourselves in that same situation.
10 people found this helpful
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bobdc
5.0 out of 5 stars Unfortunate title, really great book
Reviewed in the United States on March 5, 2010
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This is the best book I've read on music history since Alex Ross's "The Rest is Noise." It has fascinating insights about the Beatles (I never noticed the surf band influence on their first few singles before; it seems so obvious now) but considering what a small percentage of the book covers them, the book's main title is going to attract the wrong readers. The subtitle implies that Wald puts some weird spin on the traditional story, but his meticulous research (and I kept two bookmarks when I read this book: one to show where I left off reading and one to follow along with the footnotes) shows that the pieces of his story fit together very well indeed.

For readers interested in a very well-written account of the interplay between economics and culture in the history of 20th-century American, this will become the crucial book to read. It sent me back to listen to a lot of music that I had heard of but never heard, and it helped me to understand music I had been listening to much better. I'm sure I'll be rereading the entire book within a few years.
7 people found this helpful
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J Bouffard
3.0 out of 5 stars Academic style, doesn't deliver on the title's promise
Reviewed in the United States on January 6, 2011
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I found this book to be quite interesting as a history of popular music, but disappointing with regard to its thesis of demonstrating the effects of the Beatles on the history of rock and roll music. The book is well annotated, thoroughly researched, and written in a very sophisticated, academic style. It contains a wealth of information that cannot be found in other books about popular music, and it effectively debunks a host of myths about popular music.

But in the end, if one judges by the title, it is supposed to be a book about the Beatles, or at least a book focusing on the Beatles' effect on rock and roll music. So, after being "hooked" in the introduction by the author's childhood experiences with Beatles' recordings, the reader is disappointed to read over 200 pages of small-typeface text which, despite the exquisite level of detail mentioned above, say virutally nothing about the Beatles. Discussion of the Fab Four is limited largely to the final chapter and an afterword, and these pages have a decidedly unexpected, anti-climactic effect on the reader. I read the final two chapters multiple times to see if perhaps I was missing some nuance, some tidbit of information which would make the trip seem worthwhile, and I continually came up empty. Granted, the extensive detail in most of the book is required to fully explore and "set up" the reader for a consideration of the Beatles, but when it comes time finally sit down and eat the big meal, the reader/diner is in many respects left hungry, wanting for more. It's like listening patiently to a long joke, and never hearing the punch line.

The book is supposed to demonstrate that the Beatles popularized a style of music originally developed by black artists, making it more appealing to a broad based, white audience, but also further developing and transforming rock and roll into a deeper, more artistic form; a "music-as-art" style. This latter point, the author contends, was celebrated by critics as something good, while similar trends in the past (viz., the work of Paul Whiteman and his orchestra in ragtime and jazz in the first half of the 20th century) were typically viewed negatively by historians. It is at this point where I still am somewhat confused; Wald contends that the Beatles' transformation of rock music into a more elevated art form lead to the stagnation of the genre, as well as the separation of rock from styles of music developed by primarily black artists (rhythm and blues, soul, etc.). As a result, Wald contends, rock music today is far less evolved and developed, relative to Beatles' music, than is modern black music (rap, hip hop) to black music of the late 1960s.

I find no compelling evidence, from my listening experience, to accept this view. Rock music has evolved considerably since the Beatles, with discrete movements such as Heavy Metal, Punk, Grunge, Progresive, etc., and while I am not saying that any of these forms are necessarily good or positive developments in the history of rock, I'm not sure they are any different in kind or in scope from the transformation of black music from 60s R&B to modern hip hop. As for the issue of rock being separated and segregated from black artists, I supposed this is true today, to a degree, where rock music, or at least what I see as rock, is today a largely white genre. Still, the causal connection of this to the Beatles' work is not completely evident to me upon reading of the book.

In illustrating the difference between "art music" and music focused on entertainment, the author contends that rock and roll, post-Beatles, became more of a listening genre than a dance genre, and that dance music became more exclusively associated with black artists. While this seems plausible, I am not sure to what degree the evidence suggests that the Beatles and their music per se initiated or caused this trend. The same trend occurred in jazz, which in the ragtime and big band eras was largely a dance music form, while bebop and later forms essentially removed jazz from the dance music scene altogether. If this transformation occurred in jazz without any specific artist being singled out as responsible for the trend, why would we look to the Beatles or any other band as the cause of the same trend in rock music? Perhaps the changes in dancing and its association with music are caused by other societal trends - the development of improved listening technology, the advent of other forms of communication which obviated the need for social dancing, etc. - and the music of the artists of the day was simply following suit.

As a book covering the Beatles in general - and I think from the title, it's reasonable for a prospective buyer to expect this book to be about the Beatles - the book is remarkably disappointing. While we learn many new and interesting things about popular musicians throughout history, the discussion of the Beatles overall is brief, quite "summarized" in comparison to the level of detail eleswhere in the book, and devoid of new or surprising insights. Short schrift is given to the development of the Beatles' style, the transformation of their music throughout their catalog of albums, the differences in the writing styles of Lennon, McCartney, etc.

If you enjoy learning details, reading about history, and love all types of music, I think you will enjoy this book, even if it doesn't have the focus that the title suggests. It is extremely well-written and chock full of facts you won't read elsewhere. But if you are looking for another great book on the Beatles, or to learn something new and different about them, you will be disappointed.
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AgeeJim
5.0 out of 5 stars Despite a misleading title, a terrific overview of American music
Reviewed in the United States on September 26, 2020
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I've encountered Eijah Wood before as an author & guitar teacher. I admit the title hooked me, but without it I doubt I would have picked up the book! I was fascinated to read the history of American popular music, primarily through what was published and/or recorded and why. Wood is not your typical highly opinionated critic, he's view is broad, generous and inclusive of all things musical.
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伊藤よしひろ
5.0 out of 5 stars タイトルがミスリード。素晴らしい分析だ
Reviewed in Japan on May 18, 2017
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Kindle版　ファイルサイズ： 1673 KB　紙の本の長さ： 331 ページ
Oxford University Press; 1版 (2009/6/1)　ASIN: B0032TJO80　のレビュー。

　19世紀末から1970年代までのアメリカ・ポピュラー音楽全般について書かれた本。つまり、ほんとうに売れていた、聞かれていた、普通の人が楽しんでいた歌やダンスはどんなものだったかを調べた歴史本である。一部の熱狂的ファンやディレッタントや批評家がほめるものではなく、一般大衆の好みを探った本である。（ロックンロールの時代は全体の1割ほど）
　著者は1959年か60年ごろの生まれである（著者紹介文にも生年の記載なし）。つまり、本書が扱う音楽の大部分は、レコードや当時の記録からさぐっっていったもので、著者自身が体験したものではない。本書の執筆動機は、「なぜ、こんなワン・パターンのバンドが売れたのだろう？　なぜ、今忘れ去られているミュージシャンが当時ああれほど人気があったのだろう？」という疑問からはじまっている。

　そうした著者の疑問とともに、読者は20世紀のさまざまな音楽の変遷を見ていくことになる。結果として、忘れ去られたものを再発見する場合もある。あるいは、才能ある改革者が受け入れられず、イミテーターが成功するいやなエピソードもある。クラシック音楽の手法を取り入れれば、批評家も一般大衆にも受けるという、不都合な事実もある。
　通底する流れとしては、一般大衆はリズムの改革よりも踊りやすいダイス音楽を好み、批評家がほめるのはスノビッシュな中産階級向けが多い。そしていつの時代も飯を食うために日夜ライブ演奏をするミュージシャンが主流であるということ。
　レコード、ラジオ、ヒットチャートなど技術やメディアの発達もわかりやすく解説されている。

　タイトルがミスリードだと書いたが、読み終わってみると、このタイトルでよかったと納得した。
　本書は1960年代のポップやロックやR&Bが好きなひとが一番読みやすいように書かれている。ザ・ビートルズやボブ・ディラン、あるいはスタックスやチェスのサウンドがすきな人、ジェイムズ・ブラウンでもビーチ・ボーイズでもなんでもいいが、あのころのものが好きな人の目を開くように、耳を開くように書かれている。ヒップホップ誕生前で本書の記述は終わるので、ちょっと残念であるし、ヒップホップ以後のサウンドで育った人たちには不満かもしれない。（それでも、シルヴィア・ロビンスンにはちょこっと触れている）
　前書きに書かれているが、著者のビートルズ体験は6歳の誕生日プレゼントから始まる。つまり、ばりばりのリアルタイムのファンなのである。しかし、1966年ごろからは、もうビートルズに興味を失ったそうだ。それでも、『サージェント・ペパーズ』は家族そろって聞いたといから、いい環境に育ったんですねえ。

　索引33ページ
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Bernie Koenig
5.0 out of 5 stars It's All About the Music
Reviewed in Canada on September 13, 2009
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Art Matters: The Art of Knowledge/The Knowledge of Art
Natural Law, Science, and the Social Construction of Reality

Of course the Beatles did not destroy Rock 'N' Roll, but they did transform it. To get to the hows and whys of that transformation, Wald takes us on a complex journey through the history of American pop music of the last century. In so doing he maintains a number of themes, which is what the book is really about.

First, he argues with many examples, of how critics and historians of pop music do not accurately reflect the actual popular tastes of the people. So histories and critical discussions of pop music all too often are done from a limited perspective and do not really reflect the actual history of the development of the music and the tastes of the people who danced to and listened to pop music.

Second, he shows how, because of the first theme, the interrelationships between the races and between the different generations have been badly misrepresented.

Third, following up on the second theme, is that all major innovations in pop music had one foot in the future and one foot in the past. Thus no matter how revolutionary a change may have appeared, it was able to take hold because it still reflected its roots.

And fourth, when we get to the Beatles, some of the changes they brought about, did bring about a break with the past, which is where the title comes from.

In the 1920s and 30s and into the 40s pop music was jazz oriented. But pop music was first and foremost dance music. People went out to dance. Prohibition destroyed the small dance spots and only the big places with big bands were able to survive. So we had Fletcher Henderson and Duke Ellington, and we also had Paul Whiteman. Yes, Henderson and Ellington were the real jazz bands, but people went to see and hear them primarily to dance. Ellington constantly said how much he was influenced by Whiteman's arrangements and his use of large works.

So, given that Whiteman was the real popular band leader, from that standpoint he deserved the crown.

The theme of the relationship between black and white is a major part of the book. Wald constantly shows how influences in music went both ways and audiences went both ways. Segregation may have been the order of the day, but white styles influenced black bands as much as black styles influenced white bands. And white people would dance to black bands, and black people would dance to white bands.

Yes, most of the in innovations in American pop music came from Afro-Americans and were watered down by white bands, but, on the other hand, it was the popularity of the white bands that got people to listen to the black bands.

In other words, in the music field, things were not as simple as many of the critics and historians would have us believe. As Wald constantly says, the views of critics and historians do not reflect the actual tastes and practices of the people.

So without going on too long, to get to the significance of the title.

Another theme of the book has to do with the notion of 'genre'. Musical genres usually have little to do with the music but all to do with who buys the music. And when white kids were going to black neighborhoods to buy R & B records, the notion of genre started to collapse.

But the British invasion, even though it claimed to have roots in Afro-American music, transformed that music in such a way that the new Rock was divorced from those Afro-American roots. Rock as an art form, as an album centered music---and the Beatles were leaders of this trend--changed rock from a dance music to an art music, from a dance music to a listening music. And while there is nothing wrong with art music, there is something wrong with changing a dance music into an art music. And as a result new genres were created, further separating black from white.

The irony here is that as rock became the music of the civil rights movement, the styles of the music led to more segregation in musical styles.

And that is how the Beatles destroyed Rock 'N' Roll.

The book is full of fascinating information and, because of that, a bit difficult to read in one shot, it will make a great reference book which will be referred to for a long time. This is especially true for me as I teach various courses in the history of music.

Highly recommended to anyone interested in the development of pop music over the last century.
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KCB
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in Canada on March 18, 2018
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Amazing and unexpected.
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Kindle Customer
3.0 out of 5 stars How this book destroyed my interest.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 10, 2013
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I bought this book in the hope that it would provide me with an explanation of how some people feel that the Beatles ripped off American musical genres such as blues and jazz. Although the writer clearly knows his stuff and I now know a lot more about jazz and blues than I previously did, I found it a little heavy going, being only a general reader, and not very well linked to the Beatles which is my main area of interest and why I bought the book. I think this book would suit someone that is more familiar with blues and jazz and would not recommend it for someone like myself who was just interested in the Beatles.
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R. Copple
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in Canada on March 22, 2015
Verified Purchase
very informative and a great view of the history of pop
music and culture in the 20th century
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