rockreads

before i went to joisey, i started re-reading peter guralnick's feel like going home and lost highways, two essential tomes of roots-music scholarship that definitely helped shape my thinking about music when i read 'em back in the '70s. prolly best known for his two-volume elvis bio i haven't read, guralnick's a fan of blues, rockabilly, and real country music who started scribing not because he wanted to be "a critic" but just to pull people's coats to music 'n' musos he dug, a motivation to which i can relate. sad to realize the musics heloved so well are now dead or dying, but still worthwhile to be reminded of 'em.

up in princeton, found a copy of the "rock issue" of waxpoetics, a journal (and rekkid label) usually devoted to hip-hop and related musics. cover bore iconic shots of bad brains' (second most viewed dvd chez liberio) frontguy h.r. and '68 comeback special elvis, and inside were well-researched and written pieces on those and the likes of my teenage faves the blues project, the rascals, nawlins rockaroll godfather dave bartholomew, black brit dj/filmmaker/clash associate don letts, post-hendrix axeman ernie isley, and glorious obscurities iron knowledge, sixto rodriguez, and black merda. a worthy read, this.