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thinkspink's review against another edition
5.0
With a caveat on the rating that I'm a big fan of Billy Bragg and Skiffle music, so I'm pretty much the perfect audience for this. I mean, you know upfront you are going to finish with the Beatles on the Reeperbahn, the conventional starting point for British rock music. But this book covers that period just before. Why were there so many great guitar bands in the early 60s all able to play blues, from all over the UK? The skiffle boom of the late 50s partially answers this.
Full of facts, anecdotes, and a view of pre-rock and roll music fandom. My favourite sections are the rags to riches tales of each of the main players, going from smoky pub back rooms or Soho cafes to concert hall tours. The perspective being that the scene was a precursor to punk in that this was accessible music that anyone could start playing with little or no resources.
While I wouldn't recommend it to people who don't listen to a lot of 50s music, if you are interested in how Britain developed its own spin on rock and roll, then this is where to go. The best way to read it is probably to take it slow, dip in and out and break up each chapter with some of the songs mentioned.
Full of facts, anecdotes, and a view of pre-rock and roll music fandom. My favourite sections are the rags to riches tales of each of the main players, going from smoky pub back rooms or Soho cafes to concert hall tours. The perspective being that the scene was a precursor to punk in that this was accessible music that anyone could start playing with little or no resources.
While I wouldn't recommend it to people who don't listen to a lot of 50s music, if you are interested in how Britain developed its own spin on rock and roll, then this is where to go. The best way to read it is probably to take it slow, dip in and out and break up each chapter with some of the songs mentioned.
sfletcher26's review against another edition
4.0
An enjoyable look at the skiffle music and it's influence on the culture and music of the late 50s and early 60s. Bragg's obvious love for his subject shines through and he writes well though it's a little disjointed at times.
rzahradnik's review against another edition
4.0
Love Billy Bragg. Always wondered what a skiffle band was, since that's what the Beatles started as (the Quarryman). I come to learn, to my surprise, from this great pop culture history they were primitive guitar-based bands in Britain that played American roots music--Led Belly, Woody Guthrie. Excellent history of a critical link in the development of rock and roll that had been lost, at least to me until I read this book. Sometimes over detailed. I had to plow through a lot of names I didn't know. But worth it for the insights into what was happening in music in Britain, and to an extent, in the U.S. in 1950-1960.
johnday's review against another edition
5.0
Without skiffle there wouldn't have been the Beatles. This well written book traces the roots and influences of skiffle from trad jazz to rock. A must read for anyone serious about folk or rock 'n roll.
simnett's review against another edition
5.0
Great, well told history of an underappreciated precursor to the music of the 1960s.
It's not "about the Beatles" but there is a sense that is what it is leading to (with some interesting content around George Martin's early work)
It's not "about the Beatles" but there is a sense that is what it is leading to (with some interesting content around George Martin's early work)