How the Beatles Destroyed Rock 'n' Roll: An Alternative History of American Popular Music
Revisiting original sources to understand how music has been received over the past century, Wald neatly traces the evolution of popular music. As with many books that set out to prove sensational claims in the title (theChristian Science Monitorcalls the book's tag "blatantly disingenuous"), Wald's work doesn't really deliver on its claim (or, in fact, pay it a great deal of attention). But look past the title, and readers will discover that even when he's not being provocative, Wald can be thought-provoking, as in his profiles of lesser-known musicians and their influence on subsequent generations of musicians. Those pieces complement more mainstream -- and, in Wald's hands, refreshingly honest -- discussions of superstars and issues of race and gender. The result, despite theLos Angeles Times'ssharp criticism of the thesis, is both passionate and informative.