What's That Sound? an Introduction to Rock and Its History, 2e

by John Covach

The Second Edition of What's That Sound? offers a balanced, insightful look at the evolution of rock music from its roots to the present. With innovative listening guides (both print and electronic), a rich visual program, and a strong support package, the text gives students a comprehensive and engaging introduction to rock history.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, History, School, Textbooks, Read For School, Reference

ebook

First published March 8, 2006

Reviews

[Modar Kajo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thorough and well written guide to Rock music and its place in popular music and culture as a whole that should be interesting to longtime fans and newcomers alike. Still, I couldn’t help but notice a few obvious omissions; I mean, how can anyone discuss post-punk/indie scene in the UK without mentioning bands like Joy Division, New Order, and the Smiths? Can you even talk about the Singer/Songwriter movement and the likes of Paul Simon and Joni Mitchell without saying at least a few words about Leonard Cohen? Is it fitting to write a few paragraphs about the Hardcore scene in the US without acknowledging the Dead Kennedys? Ideally, the answers to these questions should be: no, no and no.

Although not completely omitted, the Kinks and the Velvet Underground could have used a more in-depth coverage. One could argue that their influence on 60s Garage Rock and what followed is matched only by that of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.

Don’t let this hold you back. The book is still a very enjoyable reference, and it has a very nice flow to it. For each chapter in the book there is a corresponding playlist on Spotify that has all the songs from the “Listening Guides” plus many other songs from the time period discussed in the chapter, which make the reading experience all the more pleasant. You can even think of those playlists as a soundtrack that accompanies book!

[Tyler Williams · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a textbook that I read for a class called "History of Rock and Roll in America." While I have a bunch of separate thoughts, I don't quite know where to start.

How has this book affected my perspective of rock and roll music? Though I am a fan of a great deal of classic rock and the music of my day (to an extent, as most people are), I found myself simply disliking rock and roll more and more as I read through this. This book was very, very broad, evidenced, for example, by the brief mention of significant names that have dozens of books already written about them. So giving it a *slight* benefit of the doubt, maybe it fails to look in certain places that I would have found to be more favorable and socially positive. However, the main reason my perception of rock and roll has soured is due to the heavy use of psychedelics and various other substances, reliance and abundant turn to Eastern religions, and the normalization of many taboos. You simply cannot have rock and roll history without these elements unfortunately. It's not like people don't know about this, but the more I saw how pervasive it is, the more disappointed I became.

The book is written with critical theory sprinkled throughout and it makes it simply frustrating to read at times. For example, the book mentions multiple times how the rock industry is "male-dominated," meaning that if there is not absolutely equal, 1:1 representation in rock music, there will be inequality and inequity. Blargh. Unequal representation does not always mean inequality of opportunity.

I personally would have been more fascinated with learning about the personal lives of the significant players rather than the stylistic differences of each artist/band/subgenre, but that's okay. This book will tell you a lot about the specific musical components of a lot of music, so if that's your cup of tea, you'll like this more. I found this book to be kind of slow moving at a lot of points, dragging on and on. It did greatly expand my knowledge of rock music, and that was one of my favorite parts of the book.

It's fascinating watching Covach move through this book because he realizes how complicated it is to define a musical genre as broad as rock is. You watch it fragment into three gazillion different subgenres (which actually is helpful). At some points, you'll read this and think, "But is this really part of rock and roll?" It's slightly humorous because of that. Part of me really wants to be able to 100% categorize everything and make it black and white, but music is the farthest thing from being black and white, and it's such a beautiful thing. However, the question still stands: what is rock music? (I do not think that the definition that Google provides is very good).

I do think Covach does a decent job covering a lot of ground and appreciate him for writing this book. I wonder though how beneficial was rock music to the development of Western society over the past seventy years. I do not know.

[Bry Z Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best textbook I’ve ever read🙂‍↕️

[Rosemary · Rating 4 out of 5]

In many ways this is a great resource, well researched, great format, but it's very American. Incredibly important bands like The Smiths, Joy Division/New Order, and The Kinks barely get a mention, or are brushed over all together. To me there seemed to be an emphasis on popular music rather than influential music, especially in chapters that discuss more recent music. Do we really care about Pink and Nickelback? There's also not a lot on the sociological and cultural factors surrounding the music. However, if you're looking for an overview of the last 60 years of popular music it's not a bad place to start.

[Tia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of fascinating info! The e-book had downloadable chapter summaries which were helpful. Great content and covered a lot despite not covering everything.

[Parsa · Rating 3 out of 5]

For better or worse, popular music has been a large part of my life, and has influenced me in ways few other mediums have(because, among other things, I have consumed so much of it). For me personally, it has had the added significance that for most of my life, my exposure to American popular culture, and even the English language itself, has been mainly through popular music. For these reasons alone, popular music deserved a closer study for me.
But there is more. Popular music has other merits, and we shouldn't look down upon it, or dismiss it. Popular music has a much more intimate connection with things happening in a society as a whole, and has been constantly influenced by social changes, reforms, protests etc. The civil rights movement is a prime example of this. So studying popular music sheds some light on these social issues.
However, popular music by nature is also full of fads and greedy corporations that play a huge, huge part in the development of the music.
The book itself was a little bit of a disappointment for me. It didn't surround the music in enough social and political context, but it did certainly provide some context. There was, in a goal to be objective, too little interpretation for my tastes, making the text a bit boring to read.
In another attempt to take an objective look at rock, the author's main criterion in discussing the music is chart success. This is fine, but I personally hoped for a more personal, interpretive, and yes, biased, narrative of rock music.

[Hunter McCleary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wrote a long review and it vaporized. Anyway. Worthwhile book.

[Simon Omnes · Rating 5 out of 5]

In 2019 and 2020, I did extensive research on Michael Jackson’s work and life. And from these exhaustive studies, which explored serious topics about the production and history of Rock (ex: racism and exploitation black artists endured from music labels, radio stations, and other white artists), it motivated me to do on Coursera a series of courses on the rock culture of the 20th century. And among these courses were those from Mr. John Covach and Andrew Flory. With them, I learned the origins of Rock, Country, and R&B; alongside new artists I never knew. And thanks to these studies, it enriched my music library and knowledge of music icons I knew or discovered with my lessons. Alongside the context and mentality of music from the American side to the United Kingdom one.

And for this course, it was essential to purchase this manual called What’s That Sound? An Introduction To Rock and Its History. Not only did it explored deeper the topics involved in the History of Rock courses, but they also presented exhaustive details about music terms and techniques. Including listening guides about the technicality of classics; exploring the form, the time signature, the instrumentation, and other details we discover while listening to the song. Among them, the difference between quadruple simple and quadruple compound meters; but also about the concept of bridge. Something that I never knew before, but which I now understand. Thanks to that, I can listen to songs and understand precisely their mechanics, functions, and strategies to captivate audiences.

Now for the book’s content, its chapters progress according to the history of Rock. From the 1920s till today. And for each decade, we have analyses of the specific genres within those time periods. Where we explore their origins, historical circumstances, the artists involved and their famous works. And as the book is over 578 pages, expect amazing informations about our music culture and detailled historical backgrounds. For to understand music and songs, we must understand the time periods they were done. That way we can understand about the inequalities within the music industry and society.

Such as the denunciation of the racism black artists endure as they have been ripped off by music labels and executives. Alongside all the racial hostilities, bigotry, and competitive spitefulness that certain audiences and artists have had toward certain music genres like disco, funk and soul overtaking several white artists’ successes; which offended certain medias, fandom cliques, and business men who found these new approaches dangerous for their form of music making and stage performances.

So when I read all these details about this racist climate within the music industry; from the payola scandal to how the disco culture was demonised by some individuals, it confirmed what Michael Jackson spoke a lot in his speech in 2001; where he denounced the racist climate within the music industry and how black artists were exploited. Stuff that unfortunately some medias mocked off as a publicity stunt for his career.

And regarding Michael Jackson, reading this book and learning from John Covach about the UK music culture and the British Invasion’s success in the 1960s and 1970s was helpful in understanding why the British medias have such hostility toward MJ. Not only due to the Beatles catalogue purchase, which was done in proper circumstances, but also because his success with Off The Wall and Thriller uncrowned the British Invasion music icons; which hurt some people’s egos and made them resent how this man’s solo career topped above them; especially with his amazing short films on MTV.

So more than about music, this book is an important volume that denounces various injustices within the music industry, its medias, and the public. And how all these elements are behind the songs and genres we have had through history.

Now for the book’s technical details, the text is printed at a very good size, with loads of images from musical or historical archives. Many images either printed in colour or in black and white. And for the text, several pieces are set in different sections. Presenting specific details about certain events or details.

And as for its relevance, the book is updated at several editions. So the content is always enriched over the years.

As for where you can purchase it, I got it on Amazon in a loose leaf edition. Very convenient to put in a binder if you want to study the course and want to replace your edition with a new one.

So to conclude, whether or not you are doing John Covach’s History of Rock courses on Coursera or just someone who wants to enrich your music knowledge, this book is a must that will enrich your life, your music culture, and perspectives over society.

[Vinícius Godoy · Rating 3 out of 5]

É um livro interessante sobre a música pop/rock. Eu uso o termo "pop/rock" porque o título pode ser um pouco enganador: embora o foco seja no rock e seu desenvolvimento, principalmente a partir dos anos 1950, o livro não ignora outros estilos musicais (a que eu estou chamando aqui de pop apenas no sentido de que não é música erudita), como a pop music, a música eletrônica e o rap.
Eu faço apenas algumas ressalvas, que já foram feitas por outros leitores:
É um livro fundamentalmente focado na música dos Estados Unidos, a ponto de, por vozes, salientar determinados músicos que são claramente menos importantes, mas dos EUA, e simplesmente ignorar músicos fundamentais de outros países.
Um outro problema - e isso tem a ver com as escolhas dos autores, que eu respeito - é que a obra foca muito naquilo que teve mais sucesso, dando menos acento ao que tem mais qualidade musical. Assim, vemos muitas vezes artistas citados basicamente porque estiveram nos primeiros lugares da "Billboard", sem dar maior atenção a músicos que tiveram uma grande influência na história da música, inclusive influenciando movimentos musicais, músicos, álbuns icônicos, etc.
De qualquer forma, é um livro bem estruturado, com um caráter eminentemente acadêmico (voltado ao estudante universitário e ao EM dos EUA), mas de fácil leitura, que permite ao leitor ter uma base razoável e suficientemente genérica sobre a música pop/rock (principalmente dos EUA), para seguir adiante em sua pesquisa sobre a música. Ele inclui, ao final de cada capítulo, uma bibliografia que permite esses voos maiores, aos interessados em se aprofundar nos gêneros ou músicos de sua predileção e maior interesse.

[Ralphz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the textbook for a very interesting online course I took at Coursera a couple of years ago.

It traces rock from the earliest point (pre-Elvis '50s) to modern day (the 2000s).

Each chapter tells about acts, labels and movements and analyzes the structure of a couple of important songs. Some are obvious, and some you don't expect, which is fun.

We get rock 'n' roll, calypso, folk, teen idols, girl groups, Motown, surf and the British Invasion, and that's only up to the 1960s.

When we hit the 2000s, it moves from analysis to a tallying of different popular rock and rockish acts and sounds, with the caveat that we won't really know which are the truly important ones for years.

Some typos and a couple of factual errors keep it from perfection.

[Nikki the Geek · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one gives a very nice overview about the history of rock music (from an mostly American point of view). Perfect place to start when you don’t know much (or anything, really, as in my case) and want to read about rock from the 50s till today. Nicely written, so it’s quite easy to breeze through.

[Augusta Dionysus · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this for my History of Rock Music course and learned some of the bizarre, shocking, colorful histories of some of the greatest rock artists of our time. It was interesting to learn about the origin stories of the artists I've been listening to for years, and find out why they made the stylistic choices that they did. Fans of rock music: this book is for you!

[Calvin Calvin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like this book a lot with history of rock and roll. It's cool to see how jazz and country influenced artists to create rock. Also how the beatles change the rock game with more emphasis on impactful lyrics. It is cool to see how it all created new artists in each decade coming from root wirh jazz, vountry and pop

[Иосеф · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not bad. Kind of boring, but not bad. Followed the same sort of outline all throughout, good analysis, unbiased, it was one of the better college textbooks to read. Kinda of expensive for what it was, though.

[Olga · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hard to rate this book as it was for school and it is a textbook. Only read the parts I had to for class.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very thorough explanation of the history of rock and roll.

[Madelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

"this book ends much like it began, with the struggle to define rock."

Did not read like a textbook- probably why I liked it so much!

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rock History Davis 14

[bronwyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

read this for my history of rock music in uni. very american centric and does tend to gloss over sections, but overall a good diving point for in-depth research into specific genres

[clary · Rating 1 out of 5]

I loathe this class but the book is whatever

[Andy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was a bit difficult to follow

[Hayley Shea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this for my university music course. Very informative about rock music history. Found a few mistakes though.

[Jessica Evans · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was required reading for my History of Rock and Roll class. I had the e-book edition. I enjoyed the notes from the authors. It is a very interesting history book.

[A · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the more interesting and enjoyable textbooks I've had to read; I actually looked forward to my reading assignments. I loved looking at history from this angle, and listening to corresponding tracks throughout was straight up fun.

[John Blasko · Rating 5 out of 5]

I began this book hoping to find a source that I could potentially use to teach about popular music. This is the source. As a musicologist, Covach has noted that musicology often finds it difficult to reconcile the social and musical aspects of popular music. This book does its best to addresses these issues as well as considering the influence of the music industry -- the commodification of music. In addition, Covach makes connections between disparate artists, musical styles, and even distant historical periods -- providing ways to relate popular music to other styles of music throughout Western history. This survey also deals explicitly with the sexuality that underlies the history of rock and popular music (if one is planning on teaching from this book, be aware).

Overall, Covach has put together a tremendous and comprehensive retrospective of rock music combining the commercial, social, and musical qualities that make rock music a power force in the US and UK. It is highly recommended to all who are interested in this style of music and its place in Western culture.

[Olivia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally finished this textbook I unintentionally requested as a Christmas present last year...

Unintentional in that it was a textbook, with discussion questions at the end of each chapter...not because it was a book about the history of rock n roll.

I learned a lot flipping through this over the last few months. But I still want to read a less-textbooky book on this subject.

Favorite song still the first song, 1951's "Rocket 88" by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats. With a 19-year old Ike Turner!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gbfnh1...

[Jean Dory · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fun and fascinating look at the history of rock music! This was assigned for a class at Pace University, and the accompanying videos were terrific. I was a teen in the 60's, lost track of rock in the 70's and 80's, and picked up interest again when my kids were teens. "What's That Sound" filled in the gaps nicely, providing biographies of the performers, explanations of the cultural/societal changes of the times, and an in-depth understanding of the BUSINESS as well as the art of rock music. An easy read, and worth it.

[Coleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very comprehensive and detailed history of Rock and Roll, from its roots in Rhythm and Blues and Country all the way to the 1990s and present day. It covers traditional Rock as well as some of its splinter genres such as Rap and Heavy Metal. Very thorough. If you love music and history, you will love this book!

[Levi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was assigned to read this book for Rock and Roll History class, so I was expecting a dry and drawling text. It was a pleasant surprise to discover that it's actually an entertaining book full of helpful facts and details. Combined with the breakdowns of many notable songs in rock's history meant to be listened along to, and it's probably the best textbook I've ever had.

[Loni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, this book was a good historical record of rock and roll. I wish he would have went into greater detail on some artists that I personally felt had a greater impact. Sometimes I felt like he strayed away from rock and went more towards pop.