The Rock Music Imagination

Author:   Robert McParland
Publisher:   Lexington Books
ISBN:  

9781498588546


Pages:   218
Publication Date:   15 March 2022
Format:   Paperback
Availability:   Manufactured on demand   Availability explained
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The Rock Music Imagination


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Overview

The Rock Music Imagination is an exploration of rock artists in their social and artistic contexts, particularly between 1964 and 1980, and of rock music in relation to literature, that is, creative expression, fantastic imagination, and contemporary fiction about rock. Robert McParland analyzes how rock music touches our imaginative lives by looking at themes that appear in classic rock music: freedom and liberation, utopia and dystopia, community, rebellion, the outsider, the quest for transcendence, monstrosity, erotic and spiritual love, imaginative vision, and mystery. The Rock Music Imagination explores blues imagination, countercultural dreams of utopia, rock’s critiques of society and images of dystopia, rock’s inheritance from romanticism, science fiction and mythic imagination in progressive rock, and rock’s global reach and potential to provide hope and humanitarian assistance.

Full Product Details

Author:   Robert McParland
Publisher:   Lexington Books
Imprint:   Lexington Books
Dimensions:   Width: 15.40cm , Height: 1.70cm , Length: 21.90cm
Weight:   0.327kg
ISBN:  

9781498588546


ISBN 10:   1498588549
Pages:   218
Publication Date:   15 March 2022
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand   Availability explained
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Themes in Classic Rock Music: Rebellion, Utopia, and Liberation Chapter One: Listening to the Blues Chapter Two: The Imaginative Legacy of the Beats: Countercultural Utopia Chapter Three: Science Fiction Imagination and Fantasy in Progressive Rock Chapter Four: The End of the World as We Know It: Rock Music Dystopia Chapter Five: Rock Romanticism: Power Chords and the Imaginary Company: Chapter Six: Paperback Writers: Rock Music and Fiction Chapter Seven: Human Rights, Community, and Global Rock

Reviews

In this addition to the For the Record: Lexington Studies in Rock and Popular Music series, McParland (English, Felician Univ., and an ASCAP member) focuses on the period between 1964 (the beginning of the British invasion) and the 1980s and joins the daunting discussion of rock's social and artistic contexts and rock music in relation to literature as a product of rock music's imagination. McParland focuses such classic themes as liberation, freedom, utopia/dystopia, the outsider, imaginative vision, and mystery. Including abundant references to songs and artists, discussions hinge on the author's extensive source work. He researched the standard literature on American popular music (specifically music of the 1960s), including work by all the usual suspects--Walter Everett, Susan McClary, Robert Walser. McParland discusses significant aspects of the musical imagination in reference to the blues, progressive rock, punk and new wave, the lyricist as poet, rock in literature, music as community identity/identifier, and the role of the musical imagination in the face of crisis. Part music history, part cultural analysis, The Rock Music Imagination works hard to address heady issues in American popular music. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.-- Choice McParland's The Rock Music Imagination explores the roles of creativity, imagination, and emotional expression in the era of 'classic rock' in a manner that is rewarding for the indoctrinated fan and accessible for the uninitiated reader. For those familiar with the subjects, McParland presents novel readings, interpretations, and connections between the popular and less popular, the creative process (produced from within the established commercial recording industry), and literature and related arts. For the newer fan of classic rock music, The Rock Music Imagination provides a primer of introduction that eschews linear and temporal timelines, scenes, and surface relations in favor of creative and imaginative connections between otherwise disconnected artists. Far from the repetitive playlists of classic rock format radio, McParland rescues classic rock's creative influence from the banality of one or two representative songs by nostalgia acts in favor of a web-like analysis of innovators and innovation in one of popular music's greatest 'golden eras.'--Colin Helb, Elizabethtown College The Rock Music Imagination takes on a huge and sprawling topic--and doesn't disappoint. Robert McParland maps out the diverse and complex terrain of the rock music imagination during its height of creativity from 1964 to 1980. Drawing on multiple theories concerning the creative process, he cuts a path through blues and psychedelic rock, folk rock and prog rock, utopian and dystopian imaginings, science fiction meanderings and humanitarian appeals, and more. It is an ambitious undertaking that not only succeeds but also suggests further lines of inquiry to the serious student of rock music.--Thomas Kitts, co-editor of Popular Music and Society and Rock Music Studies


"In this addition to the ""For the Record: Lexington Studies in Rock and Popular Music"" series, McParland (English, Felician Univ., and an ASCAP member) focuses on the period between 1964 (the beginning of the ""British invasion"") and the 1980s and joins the daunting discussion of rock’s social and artistic contexts and rock music in relation to literature as a product of rock music’s imagination. McParland focuses such classic themes as liberation, freedom, utopia/dystopia, the outsider, imaginative vision, and mystery. Including abundant references to songs and artists, discussions hinge on the author's extensive source work. He researched the standard literature on American popular music (specifically music of the 1960s), including work by all the usual suspects—Walter Everett, Susan McClary, Robert Walser. McParland discusses significant aspects of the musical imagination in reference to the blues, progressive rock, punk and new wave, the lyricist as poet, rock in literature, music as community identity/identifier, and the role of the musical imagination in the face of crisis. Part music history, part cultural analysis, The Rock Music Imagination works hard to address heady issues in American popular music. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. * Choice * The Rock Music Imagination takes on a huge and sprawling topic—and doesn’t disappoint. Robert McParland maps out the diverse and complex terrain of the rock music imagination during its height of creativity from 1964 to 1980. Drawing on multiple theories concerning the creative process, he cuts a path through blues and psychedelic rock, folk rock and prog rock, utopian and dystopian imaginings, science fiction meanderings and humanitarian appeals, and more. It is an ambitious undertaking that not only succeeds but also suggests further lines of inquiry to the serious student of rock music. -- Thomas Kitts, co-editor of Popular Music and Society and Rock Music Studies McParland’s The Rock Music Imagination explores the roles of creativity, imagination, and emotional expression in the era of 'classic rock' in a manner that is rewarding for the indoctrinated fan and accessible for the uninitiated reader. For those familiar with the subjects, McParland presents novel readings, interpretations, and connections between the popular and less popular, the creative process (produced from within the established commercial recording industry), and literature and related arts. For the newer fan of classic rock music, The Rock Music Imagination provides a primer of introduction that eschews linear and temporal timelines, scenes, and surface relations in favor of creative and imaginative connections between otherwise disconnected artists. Far from the repetitive playlists of classic rock format radio, McParland rescues classic rock’s creative influence from the banality of one or two representative songs by nostalgia acts in favor of a web-like analysis of innovators and innovation in one of popular music’s greatest 'golden eras.' -- Colin Helb, Elizabethtown College"


Author Information

Robert McParland is professor of English at Felician University.

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