Easy Riders, Rolling Stones

Reviews / Votes

John Scanlans fascinating study explores the theme of being on the road in 20th-century American popular music, from the itinerant blues guitarists of the Mississippi Delta travelling Highway 61 in the 1920s, to the mostly English, blues-inspired rock groups of the 1960s and 70s, such as the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin . . . A wonderfully evocative musical odyssey. * <i>Guardian</i> * John Scanlan delivers a beautifully rich and finely researched account of how Americas endless highway has influenced and manifested itself in key artists work . . . Scanlan draws from known documentation but displays an innate feel for his subject as he throws up insightful theories about the more direct times before social media, when artists could be covered at close range by chroniclers of the time . . . Its rare to find a tome which makes you ponder then punch the air in agreement but this highly recommended work is as much an endangered species as its subjects. * <i>Record Collector</i> * Beginning with early blues artist Charley Patton, [Easy Riders] explains how a mythology can quickly build up around itinerant musicians who never stay in one place too long . . . a fascinating read for anyone whos ever wanted to head out on the highway. * <i>Classic Rock</i> magazine * Despite the vast nature of his subject matter, Scanlan manages a concise, well-structured and presented picture of the musics evolution, placing it within a social and cultural context that owes as much to history as those with a reverence for the past and its preservation. Touching on the heavy hitters and lesser known performers in equal measure, Scanlan paints a holistic picture that serves as a sampler platter of sorts for a variety of artists, offering an inroad to those who may seem somewhat inaccessible. With his clear, sharp prose and decidedly British and openly reverential take on his subject matter, he presents a well-argued thesis and exploration of some seventy-five years of popular music rooted in the American South and eventually filtered through a British lens and back into a relevant form years after its initial appearance. No easy task, but one Scanlan manages with aplomb . . . Easy Riders, Rolling Stones proves a fascinating look at a bygone era from an outside perspective. * PopMatters * The many facets of the road are delineated in John Scanlans absorbing new book, from the Faustian pacts made by the old bluesmen at the crossroads, to the importance of the road to the aura of excess that grew up around bands such as Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones. When we talk about the road, of course, we mean the great highways of America not the M6 and Scanlan suggests that for both generations, the road provided a space that allowed music to become a vehicle for journeys that would inform the kind of experience that leads to self-discovery. * <i>Choice</i> Magazine, Paperback Book of the Month * The road has long been one of the most evocative cultural motifs in popular music. In Easy Riders, Rolling Stones John Scanlan provides a fascinating account of the emerging relationship between music and movement, from its origins in the pre-war Mississippi Delta to its deafening denouement in the rock shows of the 1970s. * Matthew Gandy, Professor of Geography, University College London *