Rock Dreams (1974)

by Guy Peellaert, Nik Cohn

Other authors: Michael Herr (Introduction)

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153	1	178,262	(4.15)	3
LIFE IS BUT A ROCK 'N' ROLL DREAMTHIRTY YEARS AGO, ARTIST GUY PEELLAERT TEAMED UP WITH AUTHOR NIK COHN TO CREATE THIS FANTASY TRIBUTE TO ROCK 'N' ROLL AND R&B. THROUGH SURREAL TEXTS AND IMAGES, COHN AND PEELAERT PAINT AN IMAGINARY WORLD WHERE THE GREAT GODS OF MID-CENTURY POPULAR MUSIC APPEAR IN THEIR OWN SETTINGS (THE DRIFTERS UNDER THE BOARDWALK, OTIS REDDING ON THE DOCK OF THE BAY, THE BEACH BOYS ON THE BEACH). HERE, ROCK MUSIC IS A ""SECRET SOCIETY, AN ENCLOSED TEEN FANTASY"" TREATED WITH THE SAME KIND OF PASSION AND OBSESSION FAMOUSLY GENERATED BY THE MOST FANATIC OF LOVESICK, PIMPLY ADOLESCENTS. ALL OF THE FOUNDING HEROES OF ROCK, SOUL, AND POP APPEAR IN PEELLAERT AND COHN'S COLORFUL HALLUCINATIONS, INCLUDING BUDDY HOLLY, ELVIS, RAY CHARLES, SINATRA, BOB DYLAN, JIMI HENDRIX, JAMES BROWN, THE ROLLING STONES, THE BEATLES, THE WHO, TINA TURNER, STEVIE WONDER, AND MANY MORE. TASCHEN's REVIVAL OF THIS UNIQUE BOOK COMES AT A TIME WHEN ROCK IS MAKING A STRONG COMEBACK AND YOUNG MUSICIANS ARE TAKING INSPIRATION FROM THE VERY STARS FEATURED IN ROCK DREAMS.… (more)

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Rather than heavy text, "Rock Dreams" is a series of lush illustrations with a short accompanying text, and this (to me) novel approach turns a possibly humdrum book on rock stars into something quite different.

We have a comic on how Paul Anka lost weight and became the teen sensation we know, we have Elvis and Elvis wannabes drawn in the way of "The Last Supper", we have Ray Charles driving a car with his arm around a white woman, we have Jethro Tull looking enough like a child molester for Jethro's lawyers to be interested, and we have a surprising amount of homoerotica and Nazi symbolism (not on the same page though).

At times I'm afraid I'm a bit lost by what point the authors are trying to make but the drawings are lush and would be stuck up around my house if they were posters. (

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MiaCulpa | Aug 19, 2015 |

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Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
Guy Peellaert	—	primary author	all editions	calculated
Cohn, Nik	—	main author	all editions	confirmed
Herr, Michael	Introduction	secondary author	all editions	confirmed

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"Under the Boardwalk" was a record by the Drifters early in the sixties, later revived by the Rolling Stones: a marvellous song about privacy and escape.

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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

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LIFE IS BUT A ROCK 'N' ROLL DREAMTHIRTY YEARS AGO, ARTIST GUY PEELLAERT TEAMED UP WITH AUTHOR NIK COHN TO CREATE THIS FANTASY TRIBUTE TO ROCK 'N' ROLL AND R&B. THROUGH SURREAL TEXTS AND IMAGES, COHN AND PEELAERT PAINT AN IMAGINARY WORLD WHERE THE GREAT GODS OF MID-CENTURY POPULAR MUSIC APPEAR IN THEIR OWN SETTINGS (THE DRIFTERS UNDER THE BOARDWALK, OTIS REDDING ON THE DOCK OF THE BAY, THE BEACH BOYS ON THE BEACH). HERE, ROCK MUSIC IS A ""SECRET SOCIETY, AN ENCLOSED TEEN FANTASY"" TREATED WITH THE SAME KIND OF PASSION AND OBSESSION FAMOUSLY GENERATED BY THE MOST FANATIC OF LOVESICK, PIMPLY ADOLESCENTS. ALL OF THE FOUNDING HEROES OF ROCK, SOUL, AND POP APPEAR IN PEELLAERT AND COHN'S COLORFUL HALLUCINATIONS, INCLUDING BUDDY HOLLY, ELVIS, RAY CHARLES, SINATRA, BOB DYLAN, JIMI HENDRIX, JAMES BROWN, THE ROLLING STONES, THE BEATLES, THE WHO, TINA TURNER, STEVIE WONDER, AND MANY MORE. TASCHEN's REVIVAL OF THIS UNIQUE BOOK COMES AT A TIME WHEN ROCK IS MAKING A STRONG COMEBACK AND YOUNG MUSICIANS ARE TAKING INSPIRATION FROM THE VERY STARS FEATURED IN ROCK DREAMS.

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