Explore the captivating world of Ralph J. Gleason, an iconoclastic journalist who revolutionized American music criticism. Gleason inspired San Francisco’s renowned jazz and rock scenes and co-founded Rolling Stone magazine with Jann Wenner. His impact on American jazz and pop is immeasurable.
Read a Free Sample:
35% off the hardcover at bloomsbury.com/9781501366987 with the following promo code: GLR AR9.
Review copies: Amy Carothers (amy.carothers@bloomsbury.com) and Brenna Akerman (brenna.akerman@bloomsbury.com)
Praise for The Life and Writings of Ralph J. Gleason
The Life and Writings of Ralph J. Gleason is a thoughtful celebration and an engagingly detailed reading of the work of one of the great American music journalists. Above all, Don Armstrong captures the astonishing energy with which Gleason sought to make sense of the music (and the country) that he loved.
Simon Frith, Emeritus Professor of Music, University of Edinburgh, UK
Ralph Gleason was among the most astute and impactful interpreters and mediators of mid-20th century American music, hip to everything from Bunk Johnson and Billie Holiday to Miles Davis’s Bitches Brew and the Grateful Dead. In this superb book, Don Armstrong gives Gleason what he deserves and what we desperately need: a richly detailed chronicle of this singular writer/producer/social activist’s career and a timely argument about the indispensable role such people play in shaping and sustaining our culture and our democracy.
John Gennari, Professor of English and Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, University of Vermont, USA, and author of Blowin’ Hot and Cool: Jazz and Its Critics (2006)
Fascinating deconstruction and analysis of the esthetic and ethical crusade of America’s greatest and most eloquent musical critic, Ralph J Gleason, who understood that the people’s music — gospel, blues, folk, jazz and rock and roll — were at the root of American identity and at its best spoke with morality and honesty and had the power to sway a nation and to change our lives.
Jann Wenner, co-founder of Rolling Stone magazine and the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame
Armstrong’s biography does what I want a biography of a critic to do, emphasizing the work, contextualizing it, exploring not just what went into Gleason’s writing but what came out—the impact his writing had, the feuds and the praise it inspired.
Scott Woods, Rockcritics.com
In telling the story of this writer’s life and craft, Armstrong draws on a number of exchanges with key media and music figures, including Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner and critics Greil Marcus, Jon Landau, Joel Selvin, Ed Ward, and Nat Hentoff, plus jazz players John Handy and Sonny Rollins and rock stars Grace Slick and Jorma Kaukonen of the Jefferson Airplane.
Simon Warner, Rock and the Beat Generation
This book makes a strong case for Gleason’s continued relevance today.
James Sullivan, San Francisco Chronicle
Armstrong documents Gleason’s life sympathetically and carefully.
Peter Richardson, Alta
Armstrong places Ralph J. Gleason smack dab in the middle of music history and the overall counterculture of his times, reminiscent of Woody Allen’s Leonard Zelig character – he was backstage for many important events.
Chris Ingalls, popmatters
Purchase a Copy: