Rock and Roll, Social Protest, and Authenticity

A serious academic analysis of the contradictions between rock’s commercialism and its spirit of countercultural resistance. Writing in the tradition of Michael Lydon, Paul Hirsch, and Serge Denisoff, Torell connects the vexed marriage of authenticity and imitation in American popular culture to larger issues in western philosophy and art. This book reaches far beyond rock and social protest, too: important reading for those also interested in the commodification of folk, punk, and hip hop.

-- Granville Ganter, Associate Professor of English, St. John's University

Was rock music subversive? Conservatives certainly thought so, and the counterculture's spirit of rebellion can't be understood apart from its soundtrack. Yet as Kurt Torell shows, mainstream institutions, practices, and pressures shaped the production and consumption of rock music at every turn. What emerges from his study is a deep and productive tension between the media and the message.

-- Peter Richardson, San Franscisco State University

For decades, scholars, writers and listeners have argued about the theme of protest in popular music. Kurt Torell adds a fine and nuanced perspective to this enduring issue, providing an innovative, incisive, and timely analysis that will appeal to a wide range of readers in a variety of disciplines.

-- Nicholas G. Meriwether, Center for Counterculture Stu