The Birth of Loud

November 1, 2018

Port draws on his skills as a music journalist (Rolling Stone; the Village Voice) with this page-turning look at two central players in the sonic evolution of popular music. Leo Fender (1909{amp}ndash;91), who never played an instrument, and Les Paul (19152{amp}ndash;009), who revolutionized guitar playing and recording, created the most iconic weapons in the rock arsenal: the Fender Stratocaster, and the Gibson Les Paul. Millions of words have been written about the legends who play electric guitar{amp}mdash;and men such as Dick Dale and Eric Clapton certainly make appearances here{amp}mdash;but it's the inventors who finally take the stage this time around, and Port explores their trials and tribulations with an expert hand. This is a long-overdue cultural biography of musical innovation. VERDICT Thoroughly entertaining and deeply informative, this love letter to American creativity and rock and roll belongs in every library and should be read by all rock fans. [See Prepub Alert, 7/2/18.]{amp}mdash;Peter Thornell, Hingham P.L., MA

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November 1, 2018
A rip-roaring journey through the early days of rock 'n' roll, told through the lives of the men whose innovative guitars helped usher it into existence.In his first book, former San Francisco Weekly music editor Port offers an apt approach to the story of rock, in which the protagonists are less Leo Fender (1909-1991) and Les Paul (1915-2009)--whose instruments helped create the sounds associated with the genre--than the instruments themselves. In the hands of artists like Buddy Holly, Eric Clapton, and Jimi Hendrix, the Fenders and the Gibson Les Paul revolutionized the way guitar was perceived, how it was played, and, crucially, how it was heard. At the center of the narrative are the two opposite personalities behind the instruments, and their biographies are fascinating in their own rights--though workhorse Paul winds up much less compelling than the shy and inventive Fender--but it is the results of their creations that make the book an entertaining read. The author does an excellent job following the two sparring guitars around the world, moving smoothly among a variety of musicians. Port also peoples the narrative with intriguing supporting characters, including Fender's Don Randall, who "changed the image of the guitar in the popular mind"; Carol Kaye and James Jamerson, bassists on the forefront of a new rhythm offered by an electric sound; and F.C. Hall, the former Fender man who wound up supplying the Beatles with his competing Rickenbacker guitars. "Nothing could be at once louder, more vivid, more chaotic, more human," Port writes of Hendrix's iconic performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Woodstock in 1969, but he could very well have been describing his own indelible cultural history of rock 'n' roll.A lively, difficult-to-put-down portrait of an important era of American art that enhances readers' appreciation for the music it depicts.

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