Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #257114 in Books
• Published on: 2006-06-19
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 416 pages

From Publishers Weekly
"What happened to the revolution? We got beat," says Detroit luminary John Sinclair at the end of Carson's history. A tribute to some of the original "hair" bands, the volume brings to life the people, places, rehearsals, gigs and police raids of some of the most popular rock acts born in the USA, filling an unfortunate lacuna in many rock histories. Although Carson's focus is on 1965-72, when the "Detroit Rock" sound truly developed, he gives ample and important background covering the blues, R&B and Motown sounds which fed directly into Detroit rock 'n' roll. Carson guides the reader from the early psychedelic stage shows of the MC5 through the rocky beginnings of Iggy Pop and the Stooges, Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels, the Bob Seger System, Ted Nugent and the Amboy Dukes, Grand Funk Railroad and, later, Alice Cooper. Pivotal chapters cover the MC5, a band that defined the Detroit sound, and their relationship with the "Mythical Figure" of poet John Sinclair, who founded the Detroit Artists Workshop. Carson's book is detailed, informative and well documented, with a large bibliography that gives readers voluminous opportunity for further study. Many references are to the 57 interviews Carson conducted to write the book, and these provide the grit for which the Detroit sound and scene are famous. Dozens of brief biographies cover the post-1972 lives of major figures, while a brief discography rounds out the book. 30 photos
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Carson chronicles Detroit pop music between World War II and Motown Records' early-1970s removal to L.A., delineating loud, intense Motor City acts from John Lee Hooker to Bob Seger and drawing lines of influence between white and black acts. During the period, Detroit's gritty, high-powered, seemingly urban industrial music had national influence. Carson details how Hooker's sinuous blues took the world by storm in the late 1940s and how Hank Ballard conquered the early rock world first with the salacious string of "Annie" hits and later with his song "The Twist," which Chubby Checker rode to worldwide fame. Later still, Mitch Ryder preceded Janis Joplin in defining blue-eyed soul, the MC5 provided the soundtrack to the sixties revolution, and Grand Funk Railroad spawned the mullet era of arena rock. Meanwhile, Motown acts (Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, the Temptations, etc.) climbed the charts, powered by the Funk Brothers' peerless playing. And then there's Iggy and the Stooges. More great pop than one city should produce, and Carson's got the skinny on it all. Mike Tribby
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
"...a great blow-by-blow account of an exciting and still-legendary scene." - Marshall Crenshaw "Carson reveals in rich and engaging detail exactly why the Motor City is world renowned as a musical mecca." - Dennis "Machine Gun" Thompson, MC5 "What the book does magnificently is provide the context and show the connections within a music scene filled with powerful DJs, club owners, label heads and - oh, yeah - an abundance of badass visionary musicians." - Metro Times Detroit "...[a] definitive history of Detroit's early rock scene.... Carson spends considerable space chronicling the rise of legendary bands such as the MC5, Iggy, and Alice Cooper, and he recounts the downfalls...." - Detroit Free Press"

Customer Reviews

Detroit Rock City...
Grit, Noise, and Revolution: The birth of Detroit rock `n' roll is an exhaustive survey of Detroit Rock History. In his latest book, Royal Oak native David A. Carson does an excellent job outlining the evolution of Detroit music history. This book is a labor of love, as undoubtedly many hours were spent researching, digging, and interviewing. Carson starts out his story in the early 1940's, before Rock or R & B were even on the map. He accomplishes this by discussing Detroit's thriving blues scene, the electrified sounds of John Lee Hooker, and the city's vibrant Black Bottom District. This was refreshing to read about, as it is an oft neglected chapter of Detroit's rich cultural heritage.
From here, Carson delves into the 1950's; exploring early Detroit groups such as the Diablos and the effects that pioneer DJ's such as Mikey Shorr and "Frantic" Ernie Durham had on the evolution of early Rock and R & B in the Motor City. Fittingly, Motown is discussed next in great depth. The story of Motown Records and Barry Gordy will definitely be familiar to most. However, in this book, Carson points out many interesting early anecdotes and facts I was previously unaware of. Carson realizes the profound effect that Motown had on the music world and makes this abundantly evident. Without Motown's shinning contributions due to stellar productions, driving work ethic, and accepting nothing less than perfection, modern music would not have evolved as it did. Mr. Gordy ran Motown like a fine tuned machine inundating all involved with a strong sense of drive and precision, instilling fierce competition amongst his robot-like team of studio musicians and songwriters. This of course was responsible for a steady stream of musical gold. The importance of early indie record labels like Motown cannot be overstated, and is stressed throughout this book.
In the mid-60's, music and culture began to evolve. The times were a changin', and the crux of this book (thankfully) is devoted to exploring this, detailing the hard rock explosion that took place during the mid to late 1960's. Detroit was an integral part of this explosion, and Carson seems intimately familiar with this. The nucleus of this rock explosion was the Grande Ballroom and the MC5. Carson does a wonderful job covering this. In fact, this is the most in depth information about the topic I have read anywhere. The book is worth reading for this reason alone, whether you are a Detroit music fanatic, or merely a curious novice.
Another thing Carson does that works well, is focus on the culture surrounding the music. Actually it is impossible to do justice to the discussion of one without the other. The cultural contributions of publications like the `Fifth Estate' and `Creem' are exposed. The White Panther Party, John Sinclair, the Detroit Artists Workshop, and the counter culture's main artery (the Cass Corridor) are also expounded upon. The focus of this book is of course music, and Carson never veers too far off track. A great deal of time is spent discussing the wonderful Detroit hard rock scene of the late-60's. All of the usual suspects are covered: The MC5, The Stooges, Alice Cooper, Ted Nugent, Bob Seger, Mitch Ryder, and Grand Funk Railroad along with lesser known bands like Frost and Frijid Pink. I would've like to read more about Iggy & the Stooges, as I think their importance in the influencing of punk rock was not given enough space by Carson.
This book ends in 1970, which is quit fitting because the Rock literally died around here during that time. There are various reasons for this, which are explored diligently within these pages. This book also goes into the importance of truly great freeform radio stations (yes they actually used to exist), like WABX, and how they influenced the growth of the culture. These radio stations in conjunction with publications like `Creem' helped to shape and permanently alter the musical landscape- not just in Detroit, but nationwide as well.
Grit, Noise, and Revolution: The birth of Detroit rock `n' roll, by David A. Carson is an indispensable guide for lovers of Detroit Rock and music history in general. There are many great things about this book. The early history of Detroit blues and how this turned into R & B and Rock was especially fascinating to me as I was previously not privy to this information. In addition, the heavy presence of the MC5 and John Sinclair throughout the book provided a nice undercurrent. It was kind of sad however to read about the death of Detroit Rock. It was a truly unique and wonderful time, a time in which I wish I could've been part of. Fortunately, Detroit Rock City has recovered and is stronger than ever. Someone needs to write a follow up to this book, documenting the resurgence of rock in the city (maybe I will).

the books title says it all!!!
Being a West Coast/San Francisco Bay Area type of guy I thought that we had the best music scene,boy was I wrong.Compared to Detoit we were mush and milk toast.!! Damn the great hard rockin groups that came out of that area is amazing and the whole scene is all here in one fantastic book.Hats off to Russ Gibbs,John Sinclair, and all of the great bands.I went to the Fillmore West which was nice,but I think,by reading this book,I really would have felt right at home at The Grande! Great reading and the pictures ..........This book is worth a million.. in prizes !

a review by someone who was there.
What a trip down memory lane. John Sinclair, Plum street, Jeep Holland, Russ Gibb and the Grande. It was a great time to be a musician or music lover. David Carson's book is as close as it gets to being there.

Bass player and founding member of Wilson Mower Pursuit