Sonic Boom!: The History of Northwest Rock, from Louie, Louie to Smells Like Teen Spirit

by Peter Blecha, Hal Leonard Corporation

In this epic exploration of the Pacific Northwest's esteemed garage rock traditions, Peter Blecha, Seattle's "rock 'n' roll archaeologist," skillfully weaves together the untold tales behind the rise of the region's early dance halls, recording studios, record labels, radio stations, and 1950s rockabilly, RandB, and doo-wop groups. The result is a compelling saga about an isolated region of America that, against all odds, managed to win global acclaim by stubbornly making music merely to satisfy its own provincial pop needs. Illuminating the creative continuum that arcs between the earliest rockin' pioneers and more recent demigods, Sonic Boom! reveals how one backwater music scene could produce such disparate mega-talents as the Ventures, Jimi Hendrix, Heart, Robert Cray, Queensryche, Sir Mix-a-Lot, Nirvana, and of course the legendary garage stompers, the Sonics. The culmination of over two decades of research, Sonic Boom! benefits from the 500-plus exclusive interviews that Blecha conducted with trailblazing DJs, sound engineers, label founders, and the leading luminaries of Northwest rock, including such hitmakers as the Kingsmen, the Ventures, the Frantics, the Sonics, the Wailers, Paul Revere and the Raiders, Dave Lewis, Ron Holden, Merrilee Rush, Larry Coryell, Heart, Sir Mix-a-Lot, Nirvana, and Pearl Jam.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, History

322 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2009

Reviews

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

"[The region] created a fresh art movement - one fueled by 'Louie Louie' and sparked by an electrifying bolt of 'teen spirit' - and the result rocked the world like a sky-cracking sonic boom." -- on page 278

I could point out that said quote promises more than the book delivers. I could take a stab at humor and suggest that the book could really be titled Sonic Bust! and sure smells like . . . something. (Ouch! Too soon?) To be fair, Blecha's Sonic Boom! is not a badly written tome, but its hyper-focused format and narrative thrust will likely mainly appeal mostly to the natives of the Pacific Northwest region (Washington, Oregon, and Idaho) and/or those well-versed in a narrow slice of U.S. music history. The initial 100 or so pages is just too much local and sometimes arcane musical information from the 1950's and early 60's - the groups / bands that achieved only regional success, concert halls and clubs that no longer exist, radio stations and DJs that will be known quantities only to the residents of the area - that by the time the interesting tunes or their musicians arrive on scene it is often a case of too little / too late. While Seattle native son Jimi Hendrix is barely mentioned - somewhat understandably, as he had to first abscond to Great Britain to make his initial impact - other acts like Heart or Queensryche frustratingly receive only a page or two of discussion. The final chapters focusing on the 'grunge' movement - highlighted by the vanguard of Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Alice In Chains - were good and a little more detailed, but they deserve their own book.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of information. A lot. This book is packed with tidbits, but not quite enough "heart" to really make it interesting. I liked reading about the local scene, especially landmarks and clubs, but just didn't grab me.

[Al · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I could have only lived in Seattle as a teenager in the early 60's!

[Josh Gering · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a good read, and it unearths a lot of forgotten and little-known bits of music history. It isn't as well-edited as it could be. There are quite a few grammatical errors that make you check yourself. Mostly, I'd love to see an updated version to see where the scene went. It ends abruptly at Cobain's death with only a little mention of years beyond.

[Bill Thorness · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great romp through Seattle's surprisingly influential music scene in the early decades of rock and roll. I would have liked more of the formative decade before Nirvana, which is tucked into a short chapter toward the end. But he's written a second book, so maybe it's in there!

[Eldon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful book for anyone growing up in the PNW, especially for us boomers.

[Tyler J Hinds · Rating 3 out of 5]

5.3

[Ted · Rating 4 out of 5]

While the Pacific Northwest exploded as one of three major musical regions along the Pacific Coast during the 1960's, little has been rounded up in book form beyond scattered, but essential liner notes, print 'zines, websites, forum postings and Arcadia Press photo collections. After years of research and interviews, Peter Blecha has written what could be called the definite history of Seattle region music during the '50's & '60's. That being said Peter Blecha (or Backbeat Books) should have put the Sonics, with perhaps a small of inset of Pat O' Day, on the front cover. However, I realize they need to sell the book in 2010 and beyond--hence the Mudhoney photo. I didn't realize the huge impact (some say stranglehold) that Pat O'Day had on Pacific Northwest Rock 'n' Roll in the '60's. Also, amazing that he reappeared during the punk/power pop/new wave movement of the late '70's. The chapters about O'Day's rival Boyd Grafmyer and his merry hippies comes to a riveting twist as the Seattle '60s screeched to a halt. Blecha is generally on target with his assessment of the NW sounds, but I have to disagree with him that the Ventures' "Guitar Freakout and "Super Psychedelics" are sheer dreck and the worst of all their 250 albums. Their psychedelic exploitation experiments sound a lot better than their incongruous forays into disco. I also cannot share Blecha's enthusiasm for 90's major label grunge rock (e.g., Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden) that made the city world famous for something beyond coffee, computers and salmon. While I would have liked more recognition of the Fastbacks and Kurt Bloch, I have to give Blecha credit for his coverage of the K scene. Finally, it was refreshing not having to read about Jimi Hendrix once again-except for his earliest Seattle days when he was spurned by local musicians for playing solos all the way through songs.

[East Bay J · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderful book. Fans of The Sonics, The Wailers and Northwest music in general will be thrilled with the depth of knowledge and miles of information Blecha brings to the table. Covering the music of the Pacific Northwest from the 40's to today, Sonic Boom is an extremely well researched font of information about the bands, musicians and sound that has defined the region for decades. The sound has changed and mutated over the decades but the raw, visceral, tribal stomp of Northwest rock music has remained a beast all its own and Blecha documents it near perfectly.

The fantastic thing is, Blecha spends most of his time (and the book's length) talking about pre-"grunge" music. Ray Charles, Jimi Hendrix, The Frantics, the aforementioned Sonics and Wailers. He fleshes out the roots and development of the bands that rocked the pants off Northwest residents and gets well into the politics, influences and business machinations of the early players in the scene. It's a fascinating view into a world long gone, of teen dances, primitive recording studios and struggles for radio play and success.

The wealth of information about the music of the 40's, 50's and 60's is breathtaking. It's almost too much. Fortunately, Blecha almost glosses over the fairly bland 70's and ends concisely with a brief discussion of the 80's and 90's. To that end, Sonic Boom provides something pretty much no other books about Northwest music have. This book stands on its own as a history and testament to the origin of the fantastic sounds of the Pacific Northwest.

[Tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent look at the history of Seattle/Northwest music, from WAAAAAAAY before Nirvana broke out (Yes, we had a music scene before then).

I say it's "decent" because there's SO much to cover, you can tell a lot had to be left out to make this a normal-sized book. But for the most part, Blecha got the important stuff, with plenty of juicy parts thrown in.

My one problem is that there seemed to be a lot of issues with grammar, punctuation, sentence structure (including repeating words)... all that nitpicky stuff that irks me when I read a book. But the subject matter wins out over the irksome stuff, so the book still gets 4 stars.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting history of the Pacific Northwest music scene by a local author that knows his stuff. Blecha's specialty and main interest, however, seems to be in the region's R&B influenced rock music from the late 1950's and 1960's. The narrative doesn't even move out of the 60's until chapter 29 (out of 36!) and the grunge phenomenon is given less than 30 pages of attention. That said, there probably isn't a better history of the early Seattle/Tacoma/Portland/Vancouver musical climate than Sonic Boom.

[Mair · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book anticipating it to be mostly about the grunge scene, but boy was I surprised. There was only really any mention of the music industry in the Northwest after the 70s in the last chapter of the book. So if you're looking for a book about grunge, don't buy this one. HOWEVER, I thoroughly enjoyed the book anyway. I never knew much about the music scene in the 50s and early 60s, especially in the upper left USA, and found it fascinating. Overall, I would recommend it!

[Brandon Burke · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wish i could have finished this book. I really wanted the information in it, but it is so poorly written. I have read other reviews on here and other people seem to really like it, so you should give it a try, but I cant keep going with it.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good and quite informative. My only beef with it is that anything post 1966 or so seems kind of "tacked-on." I feel like grunge didn't quite get a fair shake.