Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents vii
3. Preface ix
4. Acknowledgments xv
5. The Classics
6. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band/The Beatles 3
7. Plastic Dno Band/John Lennon 6
8. "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" /The Rolling Stones 9
9. Exile on Main Street/The Rolling Stones 11
10. Blood on the Tracks/Bob Dylan 14
11. Bob Dylan's Blue Highways: The Bootleg Series, Vols. 1-3 16
12. It's a Thursday Night in Athens, Georgia
13. The Athens Scene 21
14. R.E.M.'s Brave New World 28
15. Rock Criticism and the Rocker: A Conversation With Peter Buck 41
16. Lives and Deaths
17. Blues Legends 65
18. Eric Clapton: A Life at the Crossroads 71
19. Kurt Cobain: 1967-1994 84
20. No Mercy: Leonard Cohen's Tales from the Dark Side 87
21. Jerry Garcia: Don't Look Back 94
22. Robyn Hitchcock: A Wry Poet to the Devoted 97
23. John Lennon: The Man 100
24. John Mellencamp's Void in the Heartland 107
25. Father of Bluegrass Is Dead at 84: Bill Monroe 118
26. Free at Last 124
27. Artist of the Year: The Rolling Stones 131
28. Phil Spector: Back to Mono (1958-1969) 140
29. Sting 149
30. 10,000 Maniacs Break Loose 161
31. U2: Zoo World Order 172
32. Wu-Tang Family Values 185
33. Recordings
34. The Bristol Sessions: Various Artists 195
35. Autobiography ofMistachuck: Chuck D 197
36. Woody Guthrie's Dust Bowl Ballads and Library of Congress Recordings 199
37. Ice-T Fires: Black Rage, Dope Beats 201
38. Flying Cowboys: Rickie Lee Jones 204
39. One From the Heartland: John Cougar Mellencamp's Scarecrow 206
40. Life After Death: The Notorious B.I.G. 211
41. Graham Parker Squeezes New Sparks: The Mona Lisa's Sister 213
42. Songsfora Blue Guitar: Red House Painters 216
43. Their Way: Frank Sinatra and Johnny Cash 217
44. The Dream Fades: Bruce Springsteen's Born in the U.S.A. 221
45. New Bruce: Lose Your Illusions 224
46. 10,000 Maniacs: This Side of Paradise 227
47. U2: "Zooropa," MonAmour 229
48. In the Crosshairs
49. Music's Mean Season 233
50. Opinion: Cop Killer 239
51. Opinion: Country Music 241
52. Opinion: Mark David Chapman 243
53. The Next Multiplatinum Cash Cow 245
54. Opinion: Broadway Production of Tommy 253
55. Culture Watch, Culture Wars
56. I'll Take My Stand: A Defense ofpopular Culture 257
57. Anarchy in the U.S.S.R.? 264
58. Erotic Terrorism: The Enemy Is Us 275
59. Pop Goes to College 277
60. Popular Music: Political and Social Realities Can Be Discovered in Serious Criticism of the Medium 283
61. Postrnodern Romance 289
62. Village Idiots 296
63. Talking Big: Can Eric Bogosian Tune In and Turn On without Selling Out? 298
64. A Punk's Past Recaptured: T. Coraghessan Boyle 302
65. The Product: Bucky Wunderlick, Rock & Roll, and Don DeLillo's Great Jones Street 307
66. Dharma Bums and Other Friends: Ginsberg'S Photos 317
67. An Ambitious History Lesson: Greil Marcus's Lipstick Traces 319
68. Hot Writers: Neil Sheehan and Taylor Branch 322
69. Epilogue: The Naked Transcript 332
70. Index 335