Faking It: The Quest for Authenticity in Popular Music (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780393060782)

Did Elvis sing from the heart, or was he just acting? Were the Sex Pistols more real than disco? Why do so many musicians base their approach on being authentic, and why do music buffs fall for it every time? By investigating this obsession in the last century through the stories of John Lennon, Kurt Cobain, Jimmie Rodgers, Donna Summer, Leadbelly, Neil Young, Moby, and others, Faking It rethinks what makes popular music work. Along the way, the authors discuss the segregation of music in the South, investigate the predominance of self-absorption in modern pop, reassess the rebellious ridiculousness of rockabilly and disco, and delineate how the quest for authenticity has not only made some music great and some music terrible but also shaped in a fundamental way the development of popular music in our time.

Author: Hugh Barker, Yuval Taylor
ISBN-10: 0393060780
ISBN-13: 9780393060782
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Language: English
Published: 02/01/2007
Pages: 400
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.27lbs
Size: 8.62h x 5.84w x 1.25d

Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 02/15/2007 pg. 124
Booklist 02/15/2007 pg. 22
New York Times 03/04/2007 pg. 24
Reference and Research Bk News 11/01/2007 pg. 230
Publishers Weekly 01/08/2007