1966: The Year the Decade Exploded by Jon Savage
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book is more than a history of music.
It also covers the growth of a rebellious youth culture, and a belief that the young can change the world. I have seen a revival of the energetic young, protesting climate change (or rather how government and local government deal with it) in my neck of the wood and I find it most heartening.
This book is divided into months, which initially I found a great way to organise the subject, but not all months were created equal, and when I was getting towards the finish line the read started to drag. This doesn’t mean December was a bad read – this was one of the most interesting chapters. Of course this also reflects on me as a reader. This book, if you include acknowledgements, discography, etc, etc clocks in at 651 pages! All personal taste. Even for nonfiction I prefer not to tackle door stops. But 1966 was one of my favourite years in music – I always wished I had been a teenager in the late 60s!
Another criticism is, that for such a thick index, a lot was missing. My example is the Hollies. Not every mention recorded of this group . Annoying for people who want to just dip in & read about favourite artists – not tackle the whole book at once.
And, as other reviewers have mentioned – the cover is both ugly and lifeless. I do like the picture of Mick Jagger -looks like he is lecturing as well as singing! I found the interior pictures to be poorly arranged and of low quality.
In spite of these quibbles this is as thorough a look as you are every going to get into British and American music for that year and this will be an invaluable reference tool.
Be sure to read page 175 about Dusty Springfield. What a woman.
Carol - She's So Novel! 