Mystery train : images of America in rock 'n' roll music

Greil Marcus simultaneously invented and ruined rock criticism. He suffuses his work with literary references (Moby Dick, John Bunyan, et al), humor, and a depth of emotion that makes it both beautiful and gritty. His style is inimitable, and yet he has countless imitators who wish they could write like him, who possess neither his insight nor his instinct, and just end up writing boring pieces that sound like they are trying too hard.

But he cannot and should not be blamed for his imitators. Mystery Train is an American classic. I will be poring over the appendix and the discographies (twice as long as the actual book) for weeks to come.

Founding rolling stone writer Greil Marcus is what you'd describe, were you English and of a certain age, as an "Anorak". He's an obsessive, passionate, academic lover of rock 'n' roll in all its many forms. Here he sketches out a book structured in a loose fashion like the bible, in that it has an "old testament" surveying two of rock's 'ancestors' and a "new testament" on five of their 'inheritors'. It's a book about rock 'n' roll. In short, Marcus waxes long and with great hyperbole on things which most grown ups in this day and age find rather trifling.
Well, I don't, and I think this is a fantastic book. It's subjects are eclectic as can be: Robert Johnson is a reasonable enough choice for "ancestor of the rock 'n' roll tradition" show more but it would be a brave man who would pick one-man band "Harmonica Frank" Floyd, from Toccopola Mississippi, as the other. But Marcus does, and creates a fascinating case for his inclusion.

The threads he picks up of rock iconography are incredible - the myth of Stagger Lee, blended into the history of Sly Stone was something I'd never heard of, but it prompted me to head off in that direction and see what I could find. Likewise the short chapter on Robert Johnson.

In a lot of ways, that's the beauty of this book: For all its obsession-shot prose, it functions as a bunch of references; directions which the reader can follow up at leisure, and Marcus's effervescent writing style functions like a firm push between the shoulder blades. The bibliography is almost as long as the text, and it's well worth the read.

There are some who find Marcus' style too garish, and there is a view that he is too much of a boffin - an anorak, if you will - for his own good. I don't agree with that - Marcus is self-aware enough to see the funny side of himself and his subject matter, and he is always so enthusiastic that it isn't fair to say he misses the point, or the energy, of what he's writing about.

Marcus' later work, especially on punk rock, is well worth investigating too. Don't believe the nay-sayers who don't like his "straying" into punk: "In the Fascist Bathroom", Marcus' anthology of essays on punk rock is one of the funniest, most compelling reads I've had in a long while. show less

Marcus tried to do something interesting here, commenting on rock music as an expression of American history, society and culture. For me, he doesn't quite achieve it but he succeeds in discussing rock music and at least in placing it in a cultural context.

This is history, social commentary and musical criticism in one great collection. Even if you're not a rock-history-geek, it's a worthwhile read. Really.

Very well written. One of the best books on Elvis.

Overrated

> Marcus Greil, Mystery Train, Images de l'Amérique à travers le rock’n’roll, Paris, Gallimard, coll. - Folio-Actuel -, 2003 (première édition américaine 1975), 561 p., 10,50 €.
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