Newsgroup: it.arti.musica.rock.progressive
Titolo: Rocking The Classics: English Progressive Rock and Counterculture

Rocking the Classics
English Progressive Rock and the Counterculture
EDWARD MACAN
Few styles of popular music have generated as much controversy as
progressive rock, a musical genre best remembered today for its gargantuan
stage shows, its fascination with epic subject matter drawn from science
fiction, mythology, and fantasy literature, and above all for its attempts
to combine classical music's sense of space and momumental scope with
rock's raw power and energy. Its dazzling virtuosity and spectacular live
concerts made it hugely popular with fans during the 1970s, who saw bands
such as King Crimson, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Yes, Genesis, Pink Floyd,
and Jethro Tull bring a new level of depth and sophistication to rock. On
the other hand, critics branded the elaborate concerts of these bands as
self- indulgent and materialistic. They viewed progressive rock's
classical/rock fusion attempts as elitist, a betrayal of rock's populist
origins.
In Rocking the Classics, the first comprehensive study of progressive rock
history, Edward Macan draws together cultural theory, musicology, and music
criticism, illuminating how progressive rock served as a vital expression
of the counterculture of the late 1960s and 1970s. Beginning with a
description of the cultural conditions which gave birth to the progressive
rock style, he examines how the hippies' fondness for hallucinogens, their
contempt for Establishment-approved pop music, and their fascination with
the music, art, and literature of high culture contributed to this exciting
new genre. Covering a decade of music, Macan traces progessive rock's
development from the mid- to late-sixties, when psychedelic bands such as
the Moody Blues, Procol Harum, the Nice, and Pink Floyd laid the foundation
of the progressive rock style, and proceeds to the emergence of the mature
progressive rock style marked by the 1969 release of King Crimson's album
In the Court of the Crimson King. This "golden age" reached its artistic
and commerical zenith between 1970 and 1975 in the music of bands such as
Jethro Tull, Yes, Genesis, ELP, Gentle Giant, Van der Graaf Generator, and
Curved Air.
In turn, Macan explores the conventions that govern progressive rock,
including the visual dimensions of album cover art and concerts, lyrics and
conceptual themes, and the importance of combining music, visual motif, and
verbal expression to convey a coherent artistic vision. He examines the
cultural history of progressive rock, considering its roots in a bohemian
English subculture and its meteoric rise in popularity among a legion of
fans in North America and continental Europe. Finally, he addresses issues
of critical reception, arguing that the critics' largely negative reaction
to progressive rock says far more about their own ambivalence to the legacy
of the counterculture than it does about the music itself.
An exciting tour through an era of extravagant, mind-bending, and
culturally explosive music, Rocking the Classics sheds new light on the
largely misunderstood genre of progressive rock.
"This extremely detailed and scholarly book offers a unique
overview."--Library Journal
"Outstanding....Highly recommended--a must-have book for any fan of
progressive music."--Progression
"While there have been thousands of books written on every form of music,
progressive music as such has gotten a raw deal. Edward Macan has been
brave enough to write the quintessential book on a curiously
underrepresented form of music--and it's about time."--Keith Emerson,
Emerson, Lake and Palmer
"An impressive piece of work....Macan knows this music backwards and
forwards: he combines a fan's detached knowledge of minutiae with what if
often a quite sophisticated agenda of cultural criticism....I was delighted
to find some intelligent, detailed, and nuanced writing about progressive
rock....The writing is excellent--the author is always vivid, elegant, and
engaging....It contributes another valuable genra study to a burgeoning
field."--Robert Walser, author of Running with the Devil: Power, Gender,
and Madness in Heavy Metal Music
"I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book; once I began reading it I found it
almost impossible to put down. Macan has put together a wonderful account
of the Yes-Genesis-ELP crowd, and much, much more....Macan does an
exceptional job of pulling together a tremendous amount of information and
assembling it into chapters that are very user friendly. His understanding
of the English roots of this style is perhaps the most valuable aspect of
his account and will be often cited....Intelligently organized. The number
of albums referred to is a remarkable feat of scholarship."--John Covach,
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
"Comprehensive....Macan gives the much-maligned genre the kind of respect
and serious study it deserves."--Cleveland Scene
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About the Author:
Edward Macan is a music educator, mallet percussionist, and pianist. He
teaches at the College of the Redwoods in Eureka, California.
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(da altro sito:)
In January 2002, we received news that Ed Macan's Rocking the Classics:
English Progressive Rock and the Counterculture, the most influential study
of prog ever written (there is already a Polish translation available, and
there will soon be a Japanese translation available as well) sold out its
5,500 English language print run.  At this point, Oxford University Press
has no plans to do a second print run.  In the months before the book went
out of print, we managed to obtain a very limited quantity of copies of the
book (i.e., low double digits).  We are selling these copies for $22 each
in the U.S. and $26 each elsewhere; these prices include shipping.  These
are NOT used copies.  All copies are in absolutely mint condition, and all
have been personally autographed by Ed Macan! Cheques, postal money orders,
or international money orders should be made directly payable to "Edward
Macan"; payment should be in U.S. dollars only.  Please send your orders to
Rocking the Classics
H.S.W.H.
P.O. Box 486
Loleta, CA  95551-0486
U.S.A.
P.S.  There have been questions about whether Ed Macan is really writing a
book about Emerson, Lake and Palmer, especially since he began work on the
book in fall 1998.  Although it's understandable that people might be
feeling at this point that the book is a mere myth, in fact the book
manuscript does exist.  As of June 2002, he has completed 14 chapters,
covering the band from their recording sessions for their first album in
June 1970 to the end of the Black Moon Tour in April 1993.  Macan will no
longer predict when the book will be done, other than to say that when it
is done it will be (a) long and (b) good.  The working title:  The Endless
Enigma:  A Musical Biography of Emerson, Lake and Palmer.  The book is
going to be both a biography of the band and a critical survey of all of
the ELP albums (including ELPowell and Three), as well as of the solo work
of Emerson, Lake and Palmer.
--
Marco.
specchi...@virgilio.it
"Non si sazia l`occhio di guardare né mai l`orecchio
è sazio di udire. Ciò che è stato sarà e ciò che si è fatto
si rifarà; non c`è niente di nuovo sotto il sole.
C`è forse qualcosa di cui si possa dire: "Guarda,
questa è una novità"? Proprio questa è già stata
nei secoli che ci hanno preceduto."
[Qoelet, 1, 8-10]

 
specchi...@virgilio.it

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