The Beats and Rock Music

This new book by Simon Warner looks interesting

Reviews (from Amazon listing)

'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 and American Scream: Allen Ginsberg s 'Howl' and the Making of the Beat Generation

'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, Professor Emeritus, the University of Salford, Greater Manchester and Visiting Research Professor, the Bader International Study Centre, Queen's University (Canada), East Sussex

'An exhaustive and always illuminating account of the Beats' profound and still-registering impact on radical pop from Dylan to 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

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

Amanda Petrusich interview with Tom Waits