Almost Grown - The Rise of Rock

1999, trade paperback edition, William Heinemann, London. The author has covered music for national publications since 1967. He was pop music critic and book reviewer for Newsweek Magazine for a decade. He also is unusual in that he received a PhD in the History of Ideas. He also is a college professor and a very busy man. "James Miller's illuminating and opinionated book is a cultural history of the rise of rock, from early beginnings in 1947, to the deaths of Sid Vicious and Elvis." Chapters deal with such memorable moments as: 1954's "Sh-Boom," the arrival of Brian Epstein and the Beatles, the acid test and Monterey Pop, Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, and a whole lot more. Wonderful stuff. Notes and discographies extend to 45 pages. This title proves that there ARE journalists who have something new to say about modern music.