DOWNLOAD: Professional_Rock_And_Roll_Excerpt
Very much along the lines of “Electric Rock” (1971) and “Starting Your Own Band” (1980), “Professional Rock And Roll” (h.f. “PRR”) is especially interesting in that it was published a mere three years after The Beatles appeared on Ed Sullivan, an event which is widely considered to have marked the beginning of The Sixties Rock Era. In such a short span of time, enough of an industry and codified set of working-practices seems to have formed around young teen-oriented electric-guitar-based groups to have resulted in the large paperback that I now hold in my hand.
We also get chapters on putting a band together, chords, songwriting, lead-singing, hitting-the-road, and managers/agents/publishers. Somewhat more surprising is the in-depth chapter on how to locate and buy stage-clothing and the chapter on light-shows.
Perhaps the most interesting thing about “PRR” is the subject that it totally omits: there is nothing offered on the subject of recording. Not demo recording, not studio recording. No mention. Also lacking is a chapter on promotion and publicity. To most musical groups today, these seem to be the central issues that occupy most of their energy: thanks to all of the incredible, affordable audio-recording equipment and software we have now, recording and composing music have effectively become the same task; they are inseperble activities. Likewise, the public promotion, marketing, and branding of a musical project can now begin as soon as the first track is mixed down.
*Is there a similar book to “PRR” published for the modern musical era?
*If a high-school age band were today to study and implement the ideas in “PRR,” could they generate a 1968-type garage-rock group?
*Did anyone reading this purchase “PRR” as a young musician? Did you find it helpful?
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Loving this post, and what great illustrations, are there any more in the actual book that you could post? Also any idea on who the illustrator was? Looks like the signature could read Roger Hane.
Hey man. Given that Milton Glaser wrote the into to this 'roger hane' monograph (http://www.bookpalace.com/acatalog/Home_Roger_Hane_710.html), yeah i think it's safe to assume that the cover illustration is indeed by a 'roger hane.'..... THAT roger hane in fact. Glaser BTW is most famous in the music world for this classic: (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dghH9s1AdEg/Tcuv3E7pXxI/AAAAAAAAAb8/0STTOfCgNPk/s1600/MiltonGlaserDylan1966.jpg).
i can't really scan anymore, sorry, time is short on this earth... but i am sure u can find a cheap copy online. good luck!
c.
I got a kick out of seeing the Mcintosh MI75 in that line up of amps. Yes, you used to be able to buy the "Mcintosh Industrial" amps like the MI75, MI200 and MI350 at a discount thru pro sound sources whereas the home McIntosh units were never, never discounted, not even just a tiny bit. The lack of swank chrome plating may have deterred some buyers.
These sort of books fascinate me a lot and I have a lot of titles on a lot of subjects. They are arcane and no one even thinks of them. One of my favorites is "The Axelrod Axe" about playing 12 string guitars with the strings in different tunings-within a single course. I have books on building steel guitars, repairing Russian cameras, even one on how to build an X ray machine with damper diodes and an ignition coil off a Model T Ford. Oh, and one by a guy named Santuci that has pictures of someone (and, a lot of her) the above commenter knows pretty well if he's who I suspect he is. Play any good Burns Scorpions lately, C.?
Yep, Roger Hane also did covers for Carlos Castaneda's books as well as the gatefold to Cream's Goodbye album, nice!