Agent Palmer

“On the evening of July 25, 1965, Bob Dylan took the stage at Newport Folk Festival, backed by an electric band, and roared into his new rock hit, Like a Rolling Stone. The audience of committed folk purists and political activists who had hailed him as their acoustic prophet reacted with a mix of shock, booing, and scattered cheers.

It was the shot heard round the world—Dylan’s declaration of musical independence, the end of the folk revival, and the birth of rock as the voice of a generation—and one of the defining moments in twentieth-century music.”

While the Olympics have been a bit hit or miss for me, less of it has to do with the network and more of it has to do with time zones, I have caught some of it, and of course, the USA’s win in the Gold Cup has continued the summer of soccer, but sports is not the only thing I have been consuming this summer.

I have been watching and listening to other things as well, plus my regular podcast habit (with a few new ones I’ll be mentioning), and my reading, means that there is literally always something to consume.

Alright, Alright, Alright: The Oral History of Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused is a masterpiece of inspired writing, research, interviewing, and storytelling by Melissa Maerz.

But this book isn’t just about Dazed and Confused. It’s about the process of moviemaking, storytelling, corporate Hollywood, independent film, nostalgia, and art. It’s recommended reading for any creative person.

What we know of as rock n roll, is not only the story of music but the history of instruments as well. The Birth of Loud chronicles a rivalry that was at the center of more than one musical movement and it is superbly written by Ian S. Port who not only describes the people and their instruments, the trials and innovation, but the feelings of change and moments of inspiration.

Author Ian S. Port writes this book not only with great prose, but there’s some poetry in there too. His description of Hendrix at Woodstock performing the Star-Spangled Banner is the best I have ever read…

This book is three things in one. It’s an activist’s manifesto describing the thoughts and some of the actions that Alan Jennings has had that have cultivated his activist’s mentality; it is a memoir describing his assault on problems within his own community that has fed his activism; and it is a how-to manual for running, creating, and even just working for or volunteering at a non-profit organization.

All three of those things is what makes The Pursuit of Fairness: Fighting for What’s Right in a World That’s So Wrong by Alan Jennings a heavy and yet still entertaining book to read and learn from.