David Hepworth gives us a tour of major moments in music in 1971. Friday, New Year's Day, 1971, the Beatles had officially broken up. Within the next year, people would see the rise of bands like Led Zeppelin and The Who, among others. Hepworth shows how musicians came together that year, sometimes working with each other, to start a musical era that lasted well beyond what anyone would have expected.
This was an interesting book, although I wouldn't say it was a riveting read. Some parts were interesting, especially if I knew the musician the author was writing about. And, the author does have a flair for a bit of snark here and there. He's definitely got opinions about the music and the musicians, and that made the book entertaining.
Example, p. 219 "These patchouli plutocrats seemed a new type of human being. They were immensely wealthy but required by their profession to conduct themselves like vagabonds... The heightened sensitivity everyone applauded in their songs was often achieved at the expense of their own personal relationships, where they moved decisively to dispense with any romantic relationship that was in danger of subtracting more than it was adding."
It's an interesting book, even if I felt like the author veered off topic a few times. If nothing else, he calls attention to some of the more important songs and music to come out of that year (and inspire me to look through the library's catalog for some of the albums he lists in the book).
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