The Billboard Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock
In an age where anyone can (and everyone seems to) produce music, I can’t help but wonder about the future of a book like this. Billboard Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock is good for what it is, a reference source covering a vast topic.
As you would expect, there’s a lot of material here. They do a good job of presenting many more genres of rock, pop, country, metal, rap, blues and folk than I would have thought possible. To give you an idea, I just opened to a page where Phish, Bobby “Boris” Pickett, Wilson Pickett, Pink Floyd, Gene Pitney, the Pixies, PJ Harvey, Placebo, Robert Plant, Planxty and the Platters each have an entry. That’s quite a cross-section.
It’s certainly not complete and some of the omissions are as interesting as the entries themselves. Aimee Mann gets a nod but her band ‘Til Tuesday does not. Leo Kottke is here but not David Bromberg. I have to admit I was surprised (and pleased) to see Eddie and the Hot Rods.
As a general reference, this is a great book and I would certainly recommend it as such.
