Text and Drugs and Rock 'n' Roll: The Beats and Rock Culture

Simon Warner

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1628926279 ISBN 13: 9781628926279

Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic, 2014

Text and Drugs and Rock'n'Roll explores the interaction between two of the most powerful socio-cultural movements in the post-war years - the literary forces of the Beat Generation and the musical energies of rock and its attendant culture.

Simon Warner examines the interweaving strands, seeded by the poet/novelists Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs and others in the 1940s and 1950s, and cultivated by most of the major rock figures who emerged after 1960 - Bob Dylan, the Beatles, Bowie, the Clash and Kurt Cobain, to name just a few.

This fascinating cultural history delves into a wide range of issues: Was rock culture the natural heir to the activities of the Beats? Were the hippies the Beats of the 1960s? What attitude did the Beat writers have towards musical forms and particularly rock music? How did literary works shape the consciousness of leading rock music-makers and their followers? Why did Beat literature retain its cultural potency with later rock musicians who rejected hippie values? How did rock musicians use the material of Beat literature in their own work? How did Beat figures become embroiled in the process of rock creativity?

These questions are addressed through a number of approaches - the influence of drugs, the relevance of politics, the effect of religious and spiritual pursuits, the rise of the counter-culture, the issue of sub-cultures and their construction, and so on. The result is a highly readable history of the innumerable links between two of the most revolutionary artistic movements of the last 60 years.

Review:

[U]ndoubtedly, the most comprehensive survey of 'British Beat' (interviews with Michael Horovitz, Pete Brown,Kevin Ring..), as well as informative Q & A's with American Beat scholars, Levi Asher and Jonah Raskin, and a whole lot more. - The Allen Ginsberg Project

Simon Warner's new book is an intriguing and absorbing read that weaves together the Beat poets and novelists of the 1940s and '50s and their direct influence on rock musicians in the 1960s and onwards... A wide-ranging, ambitious 'bigger picture' book that's well worth a read for fans of these seminal and creative people. - --Vive le Rock

Those with an interest in the relationship between the Beats and rock, or between the world of words and the world music more generally, are certain to find this a useful publication. - Ian Collinson, Macquarie University, IASPM@Journal

Fascinating and impeccably researched... Warner's massive contribution to the literary and musical legacy of the Beat generation should be, along with Ann Charters's The Portable Beat Reader, the standard reference on the subject. - Edwin Pouncey, The Wire

Impressively comprehensive and frequently fascinating... Text and Drugs and Rock 'n' Roll succeeds because its eclecticism and its boldness in bringing genres together - it includes not only scholarly essays, but also interviews, reviews and obituaries - is consistent with the qualities he identifies in the Beats' artistic productions and their links with popular culture, as well as his own desire to break free of 'disciplinary rigidity'. - James Peacock, European Beat Studies Network

The lingering buzz of what we do get is more valuable: A deeper appreciation, sans Baby Boomer/Sixties clichés, of a period of anything-goes, no-rules creativity, and the feeling that, damn, it must have been a lot of fun to be there. - --Jim Derogatis, WEBZ.org - PopNStuff

Impressive and well researched - Yorkshire Post

[One of] two excellent new books... I'm particularly proud to be in this book now that I see what a handsome volume it is. - Levi Asher, Literary Kicks

Warner's academic and exhaustive examination provides a fascinating analysis on the pivotal confluence of two artistic movements. This book will prove valuable to students and to those deeply interested in music, literature, and Anglo-American cultural history of the mid- to late 20th century. - James Collins, Library Journal

Interesting book... - Pat Gilbert, Mojo Magazine

Text and Drugs and Rock'n'Roll is a well-researched and fascinating investigation into the relationship between rock music and the Beats, and the ways in which this interaction inspired a mode of expression that was to find common ground in the final third of the twentieth century. Warner offers readers a wealth of information on the Beats' rebellious and varied lifestyles, poetry and novels and how and why they influenced both iconic and lesser known musicians from the 1960s counterculture, through punk, heavy metal and grunge. Extended interviews with seminal figures, conversations, obituaries and a series of Q&As with individuals with close connections to the Beat-rock crossover add to the authority of this groundbreaking and timely text, while evidencing the growing importance of interdisciplinary studies for academics, researchers, students and mainstream readers alike. - Dr. Sheila Whiteley, Queen's University, Canada

An exhaustive and always illuminating account of the Beats' profound and still-registering impact on radical pop from Dylan to punk and even hip hop. Warner has left no stone unturned in tracing his inter-generational lines of influence, and his overview of the subject is commanding. - Barney Hoskyns, author of 'Lowside of the Road: A Life of Tom Waits'

At long last an electrifying exploration of the Beat Generation writers and the wild guitarists and poetic songwriters who transformed world culture. Bravo to Simon Warner for breaking down all the sound barriers and for bridging the musical and literary geniuses of our time. Hail Hail Text and Drugs and Rock'N'Roll, a book that's bound to be around for a long time. - --Jonah Raskin, author of 'Rock and Roll Women: Portraits of a Generation'

About the Author:

Simon Warner is a journalist, lecturer and broadcaster who teaches Popular Music Studies at the University of Leeds, UK.