Don_Krider's Full Review: Dave Marsh - The Heart of Rock and Soul: The 1001 ...
Anyone who sits down to make a list of "The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Recorded" has created a task for themselves that won't satisfy anyone totally.
To further describe and explain why each song is on the list is also a tough job for any music critic.
Dave Marsh knows his subject. He currently edits Rock & Rap Confidential (http://www.rockrap.com).
He is a former editor of Creem and Rolling Stone music magazines. He has written several music books, including two on Bruce Springsteen and one on The Who. On my list of the Top 1001 Music Critics Ever, he ranks in the Top 10 (sometimes at # 1).
In his book, "The Heart Of Rock And Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made," he offers a humorous, somewhat arrogant, but always interesting, intelligent read.
If you're wondering why he wrote about the 1001 Greatest Singles and not the 1001 Greatest Albums, he gives the answer in the book, saying, "Because nobody goes around humming albums."
He created the list and defined each song with compelling commentary on why songs from the expected (including The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Elvis Presley) to the unexpected (including The Raspberries, Madonna and The Commodores) all made the list.
For example: for his # 1 single of all time, the winner is "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" as performed by Marvin Gaye. His fine notes detail that the song was produced by Norman Whitfield, who also wrote the song with Barrett Strong. It was Tamla Records # 54176, released in 1968, reaching the # 1 spot in Billboard magazine for seven weeks.
Marsh says the song "isn't a plea to save a love affair; it's Marvin Gaye's essay on salvaging the human spirit. The record distills four hundred years of paranoia and talking drum gossip into three minutes and fifteen seconds of anguished soul-searching."
That would be plenty of commentary for most writers, but not for Dave Marsh. Marsh spends two fascinating pages making a case for the song's selection as the best single ever made as if he's presenting his case before a musical bar of justice.
It is never wordy and he makes a convincing case. He even details why he considers this version of the song to be better than versions recorded by Gladys Knight in 1967 and Creedence Clearwater Revival in 1970.
His Top 10 includes tunes by Chuck Berry, James Brown, The Four Tops, The Righteous Brothers, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, Little Richard and Martha & The Vandellas.
The garage rock, college fratboy classic "Louie, Louie" by The Kingsmen ranks # 11 on his list, while one of my all time favorites, "Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)" By The Raspberries, ranks at # 890 (I'm just happy they made the list).
Of "Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)" (the title in parentheses was the original title, but Capitol Records circa 1974 didn't think a song called "Hit Record" could be a hit record; The Raspberries, on the other hand, especially songwriter/lead singer Eric Carmen, thought it would be cool to have a deejay stumbling as he said "Here's the new hit record, 'Hit Record,' by The Raspberries" --- Capitol compromised, sort of, and changed the original song title, adding "Overnight Sensation" to it, without telling the band), Marsh says:
"Eric Carmen wanted fame as badly as any guy who ever blow-dried his hair into a perfect bouffant, squeezed himself into nut-numbing tight pants, strapped on a guitar, and stepped to the mike to fake some Beatles harmony. Carmen wanted to have it all, which as he conceived it meant a band that rocked as tough as The Who and crooned as smooth and tight as The Beach Boys, the lustful adoration of teenage nubiles, the cogent respect of rock critics, massive radio airplay and the royalty checks that go with it..."
Marsh never short-changes any artist in the book with most getting one to two pages to explain why the song was chosen for his list (The Kingsmen get nearly four pages; a few artists, like Gene "Duke Of Earl" Chandler, get one-third of one page). In most cases, he includes detailed information on the artists
Some artists, naturally, get numerous songs on the list, such as The Beatles, but the treasure is the unexpected, such as a double listing for Sonny Bono: as a performer as half of Sonny and Cher's 1965 hit "I Got You Babe," # 228 on the list, and as a co-writer of The Searchers' 1964 hit "Needles and Pins," # 239 on the list.
You'll find rock, soul, pop, country, funk and virtually every genre you can think of mixed in here.
This paperback has absolutely no illustrations. It's totally text and spans more than 717 pages (including a preface, introduction, index and an alphabetical listing of the songs with their positions on the list).
This is a fascinating read if you love music and ever plunked down your pennies for a vinyl 45 rpm record or CD single. Marsh offers plenty of trivia delivered with bright commentary mixed with a fun sense of humor.
He's also an honest guy. He includes two-and-a-half pages of another 101 songs in the preface to the book that have "a strong chance of joining or supplanting the current entries," which means Marsh changes his mind just like the rest of us.
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.