Out of the Vinyl Deeps: Ellen Willis on Rock Music Review

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(More customer reviews)This book gives a good "you are there" perspective on the phenomenon of Dylan, the Beatles, Stones, the folk scene, the Velvets, Creedence, Woodstock, regional scenes, and the nascent women's music/women in rock scene.
A few random thoughts (and to be honest, I'm a few chapters short of being done with this book):
Willis doesn't offhandedly mention dancing to music - she actually did it, and used it as a critical benchmark. She also has very little use for technical prowess. Too much of it gets in the way of good rock music.
Pre-"classic" rock acts like Elvis and the Everly Bros. aren't square in Willis's eyes.
As far as I can tell, Willis omits mention of the Beach Boys (what, no Pet Sounds!) and Led Zeppelin, which is interesting from my more "Generation X" experience. The former may simply not have interested her, what with her political bent as a writer, and as for the latter she would not have been the only contemporary critic who couldn't stand the Zep.
Willis's dissection of the "acceptable" roles of women in music is fascinating. She also describes the gradual adoption of rock by educated bohemians and political types as well as anyone.

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In 1968, the New Yorker hired Ellen Willis as its first popular music critic. Her column, Rock, Etc., ran for seven years and established Willis as a leader in cultural commentary and a pioneer in the nascent and otherwise male-dominated field of rock criticism. As a writer for a magazine with a circulation of nearly half a million, Willis was also the country's most widely read rock critic. With a voice at once sharp, thoughtful, and ecstatic, she covered a wide range of artists—Bob Dylan, The Who, Van Morrison, Elvis Presley, David Bowie, the Rolling Stones, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Joni Mitchell, the Velvet Underground, Sam and Dave, Bruce Springsteen, and Stevie Wonder—assessing their albums and performances not only on their originality, musicianship, and cultural impact but also in terms of how they made her feel.

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