November 2023 MBR The Music Shelf

The Music Shelf

Rock This Way
Mel Stanfill
University of Michigan Press
www.press.umich.edu
9780472076284, $70.00, HC, 240pp

https://www.amazon.com/Rock-This-Way-Constructions-Legitimacy/dp/0472076280

Synopsis: Any and all songs are capable of being remixed. But not all remixes are treated equally. With the publication of "Rock This Way: Cultural Constructions of Musical Legitimacy", Professor Mel Stanfill examines transformative musical works (cover songs, remixes, mash-ups, parodies, and soundalike songs) to discover what contemporary American culture sees as legitimate when it comes to making music that builds upon other songs.

Through examples of how popular discussion talked about such songs between 2009 and 2018, Professor Stanfill uses a combination of discourse analysis and digital humanities methods to interrogate our broader understanding of transformative works and where they converge at the legal, economic, and cultural ownership levels.

"Rock This Way" provides a new way of thinking about what it means to re-create and borrow music, how the racial identity of both the reusing artist and the reused artist matters, and the ways in which the law polices artists and their works. Ultimately, Professor Stanfill demonstrates that the extent to which a work is seen as having new expression or meaning is contingent upon notions of creativity, legitimacy, and law, all of which are shaped by white supremacy.

Critique: Informatively enhanced for the reader with the inclusion of a six page Data Appendix, thirty-eight pages of Notes, a two page listing of References, and a nine page Index, "Rock This Way: Cultural Constructions of Musical Legitimacy" is a seminal work of original scholarship and a ground-breaking contribution to the subject of musical creativity that will have immense appeal and value to musicians, their fans, academia, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject. Exceptionally well written, organized and presented, and also available in a paperback edition (9780472056286, $29.95), "Rock This Way" is unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, and college/university library Music Development/Creation collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists.

Editorial Note: Mel Stanfill (http://melstanfill.com/curriculum-vitae) is Associate Professor with a joint appointment in the Texts and Technology Program and the Department of English at the University of Central Florida.

All the Years Combine
Ray Robertson
Biblioasis
www.biblioasis.com
9781771965705, $18.95, PB, 240pp

https://www.amazon.com/All-Years-Combine-Grateful-Fifty/dp/1771965703

Synopsis: In "All the Years Combine: The Grateful Dead in Fifty Shows ", Ray Robertson argues that a Grateful Dead concert is life. Because like life, it can be alternately compelling and lackluster; familiar and foreign; occasionally sublime and sometimes insipid.

Although the Grateful Dead stopped the day Jerry Garcia's heart did, what the band left behind is the next best thing to being there in the third row, courtesy of the group's unorthodox decision to record all of their concerts. Meaning that it's possible to follow the band's evolution (and devolution) through their shows, from the R&B-based garage band at the beginning, to the jazz-rock conjurers at their creative peak, to the lumbering monolith of their decline.

In "All the Years Combine: The Grateful Dead in Fifty Shows", Robertson listens to and writes ecstatically about 50 of the band's most important and memorable concerts in order to better understand who the Grateful Dead were, what they became, and what they meant -- and what they continue to mean.

Critique: Impressively insightfully informative, exceptionally well organized and thoroughly 'reader friendly' in presentation, "All the Years Combine: The Grateful Dead in Fifty Shows" is a 'must read' history for the legions of Grateful Dead fans. While an outstanding and unreservedly recommended pick for community and college/university library American Rock Music History collections and supplemental Musical Philosophy/Popular Culture curriculum studies lists, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "All the Years Combine: The Grateful Dead in Fifty Shows" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99).

Editorial Note: Ray Robertson (https://rayrobertson.com) is the author of nine novels, five collections of non-fiction, and a book of poetry. His work has been translated into several languages. He contributed the liner notes to two Grateful Dead archival releases: Dave's Picks #45 and the Here Comes Sunshine 1973 box set.

Allman Joy
Bill Connell, author
Mercer University Press
www.mupress.org
9780881469004, $26.00, PB, 241pp

https://www.amazon.com/Allman-Joy-Keeping-Duane-American/dp/0881469009

Synopsis: Newly published by the Mercer University Press, "Allman Joy: Keeping the Beat With Duane and Gregg" is Bill Connell's insightful account of the mid-1960s musical journey he went on as the drummer for The Allman Joys, a group that was a precursor to The Allman Brothers Band.

A native of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Connell began drumming as a teenager. A passing encounter with the Allmans in 1966 led to Connell being offered the drummer's chair in The Allman Joys. The day after high school graduation he found himself headed to New York City's Greenwich Village to join the band. His experiences touring with the group over the next several years make for captivating stories and offer tremendous insight into a little-known chapter in the development of The Allman Brothers Band.

Connell's time in the band was cut short by the draft, but he remained in contact with both Allmans, and he resumed his musical career after his service in the U.S. Navy was completed.

Critique: A compendium of personal thoughts and humor laden stories from the road, "Allman Joy: Keeping the Beat With Duane and Gregg" features a section of B/W historic photographs and is exceptionally well written, making it a must-read for the legions of Allman Brothers fans. "Allman Joy" is especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, and college/university library American Music History/Biography collections.

Editorial Note: Navy veteran Bill Connell (1948-2023) was a native of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He was best known as a professional live and studio drummer, music publisher, music and video producer, and director for public television. John Lynskey has been involved with The Allman Brothers Band since 1995, first serving as editor-in-chief of Hittin' the Note, the group's music magazine. He co-authored "My Cross To Bear", Gregg Allman's autobiography.

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