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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 show more 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. show less

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Member Reviews

2 reviews
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 show more be stuck up around my house if they were posters. show less

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Author Information

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8+ Works 255 Members
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18+ Works 894 Members
Nik Cohn is the author of Rock Dreams (with Guy Peellaert), The Heart of the World, and a number of other books. One of his short stories became the film Saturday Night Fever.

All Editions

Herr, Michael (Introduction)

Common Knowledge

Original publication date
1974
People/Characters
Jerry Lee Lewis; Elvis Presley; Joe Tex; Wilson Pickett; Sam Cooke; Tina Turner
Dedication
For Alberta
First words
"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.
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)"Hope I die before I get old."

Classifications

Genres
Music, Nonfiction, Art & Design, General Nonfiction
DDC/MDS
759.4Arts & recreationPaintingHistory, geographic treatment, biographyFrance and Monaco
LCC
ML87 .P4MusicLiterature on musicLiterature on musicAspects of the field of music as a whole
BISAC

Statistics

Members
173
Popularity
188,917
Reviews
1
Rating
(3.98)
Languages
5 — Danish, Dutch, English, French, German
Media
Paper
ISBNs
8
ASINs
5