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A review by thinkspink
Roots, Radicals and Rockers: How Skiffle Changed the World by Billy Bragg
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.