Written in 1968 and revised in 1972, Nik Cohn’s classic Awopbopaloobop Alopbamboom was the first book to celebrate the vibrant language that is the primal essence of rock and roll. But it is also a cogent history of an unruly era, from the rise of Bill Haley to the death of Jimi Hendrix. While telling outrageous tales, vividly describing the music, and cutting through the hype, Nik Cohn gave birth to the literary form of rock criticism–and the world of music has never been the same.
Now this seminal history of rock and roll’s evolution is available once more, still fresh, insightful, and as riotous a spree as any in rock writing.
“The first best book on rock “n” roll and still the best first book to read.” –Greil Marcus
“The first ever great book about pop and the definitive statement of its aesthetic and attitude.” –Jon Savage, author of England’s Dreaming: Anarchy, Sex Pistols, Punk Rock and Beyond
“No one wrote like this before and few have since been able to match Cohn’s stunning insights on the subject of what it takes to create a perfect rock blending of music and mystique.” –Nick Kent, author of The Dark Stuff
“A brilliant book. I know of nothing else in which pop as life-style, mythology, and music, these three, is so fully realized.” –Tony Richardson, The Times (London)
Selected as one of Time Out‘s 1,000 Books to Change Your Life
An Independent Literary Publisher Since 1917
