Rating: 
Summary: Take a dip in the well-weather'd waters of folk-rock
Review: . . . . take it slow reading this book. That way, the relatively few jaded pronouncements won't come at you quickly enough to be (much) annoying. For there is an abundance of very good writing here-and some of it is poetic. To his credit, Mr. Unterberger doesn't become nearly so harsh...
Rating:
Summary: Take a dip in the well-weather'd waters of folk-rock
Review: . . . . take it slow reading this book. That way, the relatively few jaded pronouncements won't come at you quickly enough to be (much) annoying. For there is an abundance of very good writing here-and some of it is poetic. To his credit, Mr. Unterberger doesn't become nearly so harsh...
Rating:
Summary: Take a dip in the well-weather'd waters of folk-rock
Review: An amazing amount of research and organization went into this, including gazillions of interviews. Mr. Untermeyer, who at the outset adopts a healthy reverential attitude towards his subject, didn't actually live through the period (he was only around three years old when "Mr. Tambourine" hit). I think that this helps to explain why sometimes his sympathies aren't as glowing as they otherwise might be. Here and there his aesthetic judgements and character assessments fall somewhat flat; in some spots his prose (temporarily) gets thin and ragged. But in his defense, he had to backtrack to 'learn' this music, and in the process discovered how to genuinely love a good deal of it. What we end up with here is a serious and useful piece of journalism, almost a 'biography' of the period. Here's one example of the kind of minor gaffs we encounter here: even at 15 years old, I sort of knew that Sonny and Cher weren't the profound artists that some of the others seemed to be, and neither was I ape[] crazy about them. But hey, they sounded really good anyway. And when DJ's Boots Bell ("your bearded buddy Bootsy"), Al Knight and others from WHOT radio ("the Hot Spot") in Youngstown, Ohio said that they were folk rock, none of my age group had any problem with the idea; in fact it seemed perfectly obvious to us. Having bassoons rather than 12-string Rickenbackers playing those staccato'd ostinados made no difference to us . . . it was all part of the new sound, which was [and it still does sound so] fresh, brilliant, and above all beautifully arranged. Most of all, it felt really right at the time. It really was aimed at us, not at the critics, and we didn't know nor would we probably have cared what they thought/wrote about "our" music. Here's another minor one: Mr. Unterberger seemed [am I wrong here?] to make light of McGuinn's remark that the Beau Brummels sang out of tune. Well, the Beau Brummels had maybe a better overall sound even than [McGuinn's] Byrds, but they also really did sing out of tune. Not far out of tune, but enough that might have kept them from greater success, their four [or so] brilliant singles notwithstanding (the author missed citing "You Tell Me Why" and "Don't Talk to Strangers"). With a better engineer and/or producer, they might have been able to get past this (or even fix it in some way); but Autumn records was a small outfit, and its personnel were probably relatively inexperienced as compared with the guys from the big studios. The author's treatment of Simon and Garfunkle is particularly weak, seeming almost like a brush-off. Have a good listen to the albums 'Sounds of Silence' and 'Parsley Sage Rosemary and Thyme' (their two folk-rock albums) on a good set of headphones. Take your time. You'll be amazed (stunned?) at the depth of sound in the arrangements, the melodies and lyrics . . . everything. I myself didn't notice the genius that went into their work, way back when. But it's there for us all to hear, to rejoice in, and to learn from. Even "A Simple Desultory Philippic" doesn't at all deserve the negative criticism Unterberger directs its way. It's pretty hilarious, especially Paul Simon's Dylan imitation. Mr. Zimmerman in all likelihood found it extremely amusing himself. Would he have actually fallen off his chair laughing? Heck, I don't know! But it's known that S&G and Dylan dug each other quite a bit. I'd say that for anyone else (like me) who was in their teens (or thereabouts) when "Tambourine" and "Like a Rolling Stone" hit, and still really loves the period . . . take it slow reading this book. That way, the relatively few jaded pronouncements won't come at you quickly enough to be much annoying. For there is an abundance of very good writing here - and some of it is poetic. To his credit, Mr. Unterberger doesn't become nearly so harsh as does another (otherwise brilliant) rock journalist (Mark Brend) working under the aegis of the same publisher.
Rating: 
Summary: Folk-Rock Fans, Beware!
Review: As a huge Byrds fan, I was really looking forward to this book. I wanted to read about the excitement of 1965, when the opening jingle jangle of Roger McGuinn's twelve string guitar in Mr. Tambourine Man announced an entirely brand new style of music. Instead, what I got was 300 booring pages that seemed like 3000. What a disappointment! Turn! Turn! Turn! reads like a hardware catalog. The material is often booring, repetitive, or unnecessary. The author manages to include every obscure recording artist, record label, and producer of the early folk-rock genre, many, more than once or twice. Great. Ho-hum. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. What he doesn't do is re-capture the magic of the moment. Reading this book felt like a prison sentence. DO NOT buy this book, folk-rock fans. Hey, you don't find this review helpful? Good! Buy the book and waste your ...time and money.
Rating:
Summary: Heard it all before (Better)
Review: As a rule, folk rock records are crummy generic ditties with nothing to recommend them. The formulaic jangling guitars and meaningless lyrics have a lame, dated feel. But the stories behind the folk rockers could have been interesting in the right hands. Unfortunately 'Turn! Turn! Turn!' is devoid of any new or real content. Okay-to-cruddy interviews (= filler) masquerade as research. The constant harping on Bob Dylan and the Byrds gets downright irritating.
Rating: 
Summary: Everything you could want to know and more....
Review: Fan of Dylan, The Byrds, Fred Neil, the Farinas? It's all here. Well written, keeps your attention, and makes you want to go out and buy some vinyl! Nice job Ritchie!
Rating:
Summary: Everything you could want to know and more....
Review: First of all I was a little taken aback by one reviewer's comments that since Richie was only a toddler in the mid-60s that perhaps his perspective of the folk-rock music scene was somewhat skewed. To put it politely, Balderdash! I've been an Unterberger fan for years and have bought several recordings based upon Richie's reviews. As far as this book is concerned, I'd say it is certainly the definitive work on the roots and evolution of folk-rock. However it's not for everyone. The casual fan may find it somewhat drawn out, with references to producers, session men and various minor players. Unless one has at least some vague familiarity with these folks, or has an genuine interest in learning about them, I think one might become bored and skip ahead to more familiar territory. But if you've got a fairly good handle on the 60s music scene and love the music I'm sure that you'll find this book a delight. A lot of time is spent on Bob Dylan & the Byrds; but this is certainly appropriate since these are the quintessential performers that are most identified with the genre. Richie also includes more obscure artists like the Daily Flash, Bob Lind and P.F. Sloan and details their relatively unsung contributions to the music. The interviews are plentiful and insightful, whether you take some with a grain of salt or not. All in all this is a very enjoyable romp through a period that needed to be written about. Thanks to Richie's efforts it now has been!
Rating:
Summary: A classic piece of folk-rock history!
Review: First of all I was a little taken aback by one reviewer's comments that since Richie was only a toddler in the mid-60s that perhaps his perspective of the folk-rock music scene was somewhat skewed. To put it politely, Balderdash! I've been an Unterberger fan for years and have bought several recordings based upon Richie's reviews. As far as this book is concerned, I'd say it is certainly the definitive work on the roots and evolution of folk-rock. However it's not for everyone. The casual fan may find it somewhat drawn out, with references to producers, session men and various minor players. Unless one has at least some vague familiarity with these folks, or has an genuine interest in learning about them, I think one might become bored and skip ahead to more familiar territory. But if you've got a fairly good handle on the 60s music scene and love the music I'm sure that you'll find this book a delight. A lot of time is spent on Bob Dylan & the Byrds; but this is certainly appropriate since these are the quintessential performers that are most identified with the genre. Richie also includes more obscure artists like the Daily Flash, Bob Lind and P.F. Sloan and details their relatively unsung contributions to the music. The interviews are plentiful and insightful, whether you take some with a grain of salt or not. All in all this is a very enjoyable romp through a period that needed to be written about. Thanks to Richie's efforts it now has been!
Rating:
Summary: A Page Turn, Turn, Turner
Review: I love music but some books about music are better left unread. Some pop music aficinados are best advised to go back and just listen to the music as a few attempts to give a literary voice to the spirit of the sound can strike a dull and pedantic note. Not so with this book. I found myself often unable to put it away as the author packed each chapter with so many historical notes that I was not aware of; clearly he did his homework. Much of his information came straight from the source, the writers, musicians, producers, and other insiders who were the leading lights and inspiration of that musical genre known as folk-rock. Of course, if one is not a fan of this type of music (and I am)you may not be engaged by Joe Unterberger's writing. However, as someone who was entranced by the Lovin' Spoonful and the Byrds, I consumed Mr. Unterberger's book with great zeal. I think musicians will find his work especially appealing as Unterberger gives careful attention to the creative side of the artists featured in his book. But if you are like me, someone who merely loves to sing along with the marvelous tunes of the gifted artists who gave voice to folk-rock, you may enjoy reading about the historical aspects of the music that, to paraphrase John Sebastian, is magical and can set you free.
Rating:
Summary: A Page Turn, Turn, Turner
Review: I love music but some books about music are better left unread. Some pop music aficinados are best advised to go back and just listen to the music as a few attempts to give a literary voice to the spirit of the sound can strike a dull and pedantic note. Not so with this book. I found myself often unable to put it away as the author packed each chapter with so many historical notes that I was not aware of; clearly he did his homework. Much of his information came straight from the source, the writers, musicians, producers, and other insiders who were the leading lights and inspiration of that musical genre known as folk-rock. Of course, if one is not a fan of this type of music (and I am)you may not be engaged by Joe Unterberger's writing. However, as someone who was entranced by the Lovin' Spoonful and the Byrds, I consumed Mr. Unterberger's book with great zeal. I think musicians will find his work especially appealing as Unterberger gives careful attention to the creative side of the artists featured in his book. But if you are like me, someone who merely loves to sing along with the marvelous tunes of the gifted artists who gave voice to folk-rock, you may enjoy reading about the historical aspects of the music that, to paraphrase John Sebastian, is magical and can set you free.
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