Smithsonian Rock and Roll: Live and Unseen

(Hardback)

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In December 2015, the Smithsonian called on rock and roll lovers around the world to collect photos and stories of their favorite moments in music. Fans dug through attics, basements, closets, shoeboxes, digital cameras, and photo albums to post great rock shots to rockandroll.si.edu. From Woodstock to the Whisky a Go Go, from Lollapalooza to the 9-30 Club, and all the rockin' places in between, fans overwhelmingly responded with their favorite rock and roll moments. Iconic artists ranging from the Who to Nirvana to Chuck Berry to the Jimi Hendrix and many more are celebrated here. There are early photographs of everyone from Run-D.M.C. to the Runaways, and contemporary shots of some of the biggest names in music, including Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones, and Metallica. Presented together, these photographs create a kaleidoscopic history of the artists, the musical styles, the venues, the concerts, and the fans. This is rock and roll as it has never been seen before.

Reviews

For the better part of five decades, Bill Bentley and I have been listening to the music of the spheres together, and these visuals are a thrilling roadmap to where weve been and, one hopes, where were going. Billy F Gibbons, ZZ Top

Within minutes of meeting Bill for the first time back in the early 80s, we found ourselves talking about Joe Texs The Love You Save and Roky Ericksons Dont Slander Me in the same paragraph. I knew right there and then that hed always be a voice to which I would attend." Elvis Costello

Bill Bentley is that rare breed: a music industry insider who actually knows and loves music. Within these pages lurk fantastic images of everyone from Bob Dylan to the 13th Floor Elevators, many of them previously unseen. Buy this book! Jimmy McDonough, author of Shakey: Neil Youngs Biography and Soul Survivor: A Biography of Al Green

If rock and roll was a planet, Bill Bentley would be the head astronaut and Smithsonian Rock and Roll would be the operators manual. This is a trip worth checking out. Wayne Coyne, the Flaming Lips

Bill Bentley is a music mensch. Lou Reed

LOS ANGELES TIMES
A candid compendium of musical history marked by the trapped-in-time moments [] The joy and devotion contained in the photos is as infectious as the music itself.

WASHINGTON POST
Hundreds of fans rock-and-roll photos in a handsome new photography book [] The author was open to huge pop stars as much as cult musicians. The 13th Floor Elevators, a Texas psychedelic band, warrant a two-page spread. Kiss is in there; so are Guns N Roses.

PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER
Curated by legendary record man Bentley, the handsome tome covers Chuck Berry to Led Zeppelin to the Alabama Shakes.

HOUSTON PRESS
From early rock pioneers like Chuck Berry and Little Richard to 70s titans Led Zeppelin and David Bowie up to Jack White and Adele, 120 different artists are shown in concert in this coffee-table book.

PARADE
Its a gorgeous coffee-table book, a sweeping photographic history of stars, performances, style and magical moments.

BOOKLIST
A canon of rock [...] This large-format book is eminently browsable and will prompt readers to dig out their old records or stream their favorite songs.

LIBRARY JOURNAL
An excellent work that should have wide appeal for all music fans.

Author Bio

BILL BENTLEY is the former A&R Director at Concord Music Group and Vice President of Warner Bros. Records. He has been a drummer, record store clerk, DJ, concert promoter, music producer, and record label publicist. Through it all he's also been a writer, and in 2007 he was given the ASCAP Deems Taylor award.