Robert Dimery is the general editor of the massive 1,001 Songs You Must Hear Before You Die (Universe Books, 2010), which includes a lengthy supplement, And 10,001 You Must Download, making for several evenings of fun--and frustration. It's a rock'n'roll-as-continuum chronicle, spanning pre-rock recordings by Bessie Smith, Louis Armstrong, Bing Crosby and Robert Johnson (although Charley Patton is notably absent), running through James Carr in the 1960s, the Smiths in the 1980s and squeezing in Gil Scott-Heron's comeback of 2010. The best of it is stunning, with short essays and remarkable pictures (I'd never seen the shot of Sam Cooke with an acoustic guitar and cigarette drooping from his mouth); it has a decidedly British point of view, revering American roots rock while including early U.K. rockers Cliff Richard and Billy Fury. The stories are impressively researched, except for when one writer calls the Kingsmen "a Seattle band" (that would be Portland, three hours to the south).
The 950+ page book mixes international artists (Serge Gainsbourg, Esma Redzepova) with lots of items I've never heard: The Preachers' "Who Do You Love," for example. On the one hand, you're happy that 1,001 Songs includes brilliant choices like the Small Faces' "Tin Soldier" or Billie Holiday's disturbing "Strange Fruit." Because it's the work of several critics, a wide range of music from groundbreaking to crassly commercial is intermingled beautifully.
On the other hand, one has to wonder why only two tracks (one in the book's main body, one in the appendix) from Buffalo Springsfield's strong catalog ("For What It's Worth," "Rock'n'Roll Woman") merit inclusion while the band Kiss is represented 17 times. Huh? There's also the recommendation to download the Beach Boys' laughable cover of "Rock'n'Roll Music" (perhaps to let us know what can happen?). Thankfully, a lot of those poor choices are relegated to the And 10,0001 You Must Download section, which unfortunately alphabetizes artists by their first names. Surely the editor had control over how part two is alphabetized; for this blog, I do not have that power.
It's good, it's stupid, it's stimulating. If you haven't already, check out 1,001 Songs You Must Hear Before You Die.