By the Time We Got to Woodstock: The Great Rock 'n' Roll Revolution of 1969

by Bruce Pollock

A fast-paced, fun, and sometimes brutal look at America's most volatile and creative year in music – 1969: a time of euphoria and devastation, freedom and assassination, revolution and retribution, moonwalks and sit-ins, love-ins and race riots, sex, drugs, and guns. Idyllic college campuses became killing fields and inner cities went up in flames as the drumbeat of popular music tried to drown out the drums of war.

1969 was birthed through the visions and violence of 1968. By the Time We Got to Woodstock breathlessly documents a year that saw more music-as-manifesto and rock-as-revolution than ever before. At one mad outdoor party after another – from Miami to Denver, and from Woodstock to Altamont – cracks in the promised hippie utopia quickly turned to canyons. This was the year that saw the Beatles go supernova while Bob Dylan hightailed it to Nashville. From the Byrds, Joan Baez, Jimi Hendrix, the Airplane, and Janis Joplin to the Velvet Underground, the Mothers of Invention, Funkadelic, and the Fugs, 1969 stands up as a decade-smashing anomaly in the annals of rock'n'roll captured gloriously in this blistering book.

Genres: Music

332 pages, Paperback

First published August 15, 2009

Reviews

[Corey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I quit this halfway through because I tired of the author's agenda, which was to skewer the ideals of the 60s, to show them to have been shams and poses. I wanted to thump him on the bridge of the nose but instead I heaved his book into the corner of the room.

[Sannie · Rating 2 out of 5]

First things first: I did not finish reading this book. So how could I possibly give it two stars? The content is more than two stars worth for sure and I would actually give it four stars. However, the writing and style is only worth one star. I'd actually give the book 1.5 stars for what I read, but I went with two because honestly, the content and history of the time is so interesting.

The music that came out leading up to the "great rock 'n' roll revolution of 1969" is indeed amazing. But Pollock manages to make it unreadable. I first read the prologue and thought, "Hmm, this is poorly organized and poorly written, but I'll give it a chance." The structure is so haphazardly thrown together that it got confusing. The chapters seem to have been organized thematically (San Francisco, Country Music, British rock, etc.), but within the chapters themselves, Pollock jumps around from band to band and year to year. He'll talk about something that happened in 1967, then jump to 1969, and then go back to 1968, or he'll talk about the Charles Manson family murders and then talk about hippies.

I tried reading the first three chapters, but I felt frustrated. I decided to jump to the chapter on British rock which was dedicated to the problems that the Beatles and Rolling Stones were experiencing between 1967 and 1969. Because I am familiar with the Beatles' side of the story, reading the chapter made it clear to me that I wasn't just imagining the fact that the organization was lacking. Pollock started off describing the Beatles' problems, jumped to the Stones', and then back to the Beatles, focusing on John Lennon and Yoko Ono, then went back to talking about Brian Jones' death.

I think Pollock probably experienced a lot and it really must have been phenomenal to be in the middle of everything, but his writing completely hinders what could be a fantastic book. He has a lot of quotes from musicians that he himself heard, but his presentation is unfortunately poor. I love the music and the history of the time, but I think it suffices only to read the parts that you may need for research or you're interested in. Otherwise, don't really try to read it in one chunk because you'll end up frustrated.

[GT · Rating 3 out of 5]

My 2nd book on 1969 in just a few months. This one actually concentrates on rock music, and a little bit on folk, blues, jazz, and pop, and the musicians + concerts that took place. It is interesting to read about the prominence music took in people's lives which is no longer the case. I mean music is still important, but this book describes how people lived it!

The book is broken into 2 parts and I got a bit lost in all the details in the second section. Many songs I didn't know and artists as well. I wish I had the time to research as it all is interesting to read about. Great history on the emergence of FM radio as a clear distinctive outlet... that was eventually corrupted back into the media mainstream after 5 glorious years.

I'll be passing on this book to my brother who knows all about the art of the segue in radio music as the host of Rockin Pnemonia on a local public radio station.

3 Stars

★ = Horrid waste of time
★★ = May be enjoyable to some, but not me
★★★ = I am glad I read it
★★★★ = Very enjoyable and something I'd recommend
★★★★★ = A rare find, simply incredible

[Malcolm Frawley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting read for any baby boomer music fan, & the numerous mentions of King Crimson didn't hurt, but I can't work out what point Pollock was trying to make.