CREEM: America's Only Rock 'N' Roll Magazine by Robert Matheu, Brian J. Bowe
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Book Reviews of CREEM: America's Only Rock 'N' Roll Magazine
Book Review: America's ONLY Rock 'n' Roll Magazine? - NOT!
Summary: 3 Stars
I have always felt Creem's claim of "America's Only Rock 'n' Roll Magazine" was not only arrogant - but pure hype.
If you MUST buy the Creem book - or if you can only afford one purchase on the subject of Rock & Roll - do not pass up Suzy Shaw-Mick Farren's truly exciting, "Bomp! - Saving The World One Record At A Time".
Bomp! was a powerfull force in the explosion of underground Punk-PowerPop bands that began with The Ramones, Blondie, The Clash and the Sex Pistols - and changed the face of pop music forever. Bomp! Magazine made the news that Creem stood on the sidelines and wrote about. It isn't overkill to claim Greg Shaw played a role in the success of practically every Punk-PowerPop act to emerge during the late 1970s.
The book begins with Bomp! Magazine's original incarnation as the world's first R&R fanzine, "Mojo Navigator Rock & Roll News". Launched by a teenaged Greg Shaw in 1966, it's mimeographed pages covered San Francisco's emerging hippy music scene, and became a model for Jan Wenner's Rolling Stone.
You won't be reading a neatly-fonted version of the original text on clean, white paper - but full-scale prints of the actual pages of Mojo Navigator in all their mimeographed glory. Let's see Creem top THAT!
Mojo Navigator was the first zine to interview The Doors - and yes, this rare interview is in the book. So are very early interviews with the Grateful Dead, Big Brother & The Holding Company w/Janis Joplin, Country Joe & The Fish...Greg didn't just write about the scene - he LIVED in Haight Ashbury.
Moving south to LA with his wife, Suzie Shaw, Greg reinvented Mojo Navigator in the early 1970s as "Who Put The Bomp" (later shortened to Bomp!). In '76 the Bomp! Records label and distribution was launched, and Greg becoming one of the very first independent records distributors - just in time to handle the new wave of unsigned Punk and PowerPop bands.
You'll find crammed (and I mean CRAMMED) within these page, articulate Rock & Roll writing, historic photos, band fliers and incredible one-of-a-kind memorabilia. There isn't an ounce of 'dull' in this cutting edge account. You'll feel like you're back in the 1960s and '70s discovering R&R for the first time.
Now, here's a little tip for ya: On Amazon, as I write this, you can buy a used copy of the Creem book for only $9.20. You can't find a used copy of The Bomp! book for less than $19.99. What does that tell you?
Book Review: 3 Stars
Finding this book was sort of like finding a single love letter from your favorite old flame. Ahhh, the memories begin to flood back, maybe the barest hint of perfume, perhaps a picture falls out and you pick it up. You read the words that can only hint at how much fun the relationship was, but the feeling is fleeting. One letter can't tell the tale. You're older, you've moved on with your life, and so has she.....Man, oh man. See, back in the day, CREEM magazine was by far the best rock music rag on the planet. Hit Parader and Circus were ok, but neither of them was as raw and dangerous as CREEM was. CREEM didn't just report on the music scene, it helped to DEFINE the scene, it was a vital part of it. The rockers themselves read it, and some of the writers and critics that worked for CREEM were celebrities in their own right. I began reading CREEM in the late 1970's, when I was about 14 years old. It covered the bands that my parents absolutely HATED, so that made it a must-have for me. PLUS, there was always the chance that an issue would have a breast or panty shot in the photo section. SCORE! Those issues always went directly into storage under my mattress. CREEM turned me on to countless bands and helped to expand my mind, and for that I'll always treasure it.
This book? Naught but a trifle, a whisper of what was once greatness. Coffee table sized, packed with articles and pics, but barely a hint of what the magazine was all about. If you've never read CREEM, then this is a decent place to start, and I'll give it 3 stars for it's existence alone. If it can point people to search out back issues in used bookstores and on eBay, then it's done it's job. By no means, however, does it even begin to conjure any of the magic that was the magazine itself. Like that long lost love letter, it can only bring back a few faded memories and inspire a slightly naughty smile in tribute to days gone by. Get thee to a garage sale and see if you can find a box full of those old mags.....oh, and go BOY HOWDY!
Book Review: A Taste Of Creem
Summary: 3 Stars
Back in the mid-seventies, along with (that "other' rock magazine) Circus, I was an avid reader of: Creem. What set this magazine apart from everything else on the newstands was that Creem was only about rock music, no social commentary or politics like: "Rolling Stone". And while "Circus" was fairly straight journalism, this Mag: Creem. never ever took itself very serious. This rag was fun to read, and contained some really cool photographs of the good, the bad and the ugly. It was a: "Must-Read." And as a source for information on rock music and the wild lifestyle of the artists involved, this publication was second To none.
So, I had very high expectations about this book going in. Well, the major problem I have with this book is that it only scratches the surface of what this magazine was REALLY about. I don't agree with the book's editors, and why this was put together in this form. Again, Creem was: "Low-Brow" entertainment, and that is why that it is remembered so fondly today. But still, this book (in spots) does give you that creemy feeling that made this rag so special. Grace Slick, shows that wonderful breast and Joe Perry has wrecked his Corvette, that is what this magazine was all about. We need more totaled cars & cool breasts...That WAS Creem.
I can remember so much from the over 100 issues that I collected. But, I just didn't find enough great "Boy Howdy" in the pages of this book. This volume is good, but it could have been great. It would take set of books of this size, (at least 10) to bring back Creem for the children of the 21st century in the proper manner. The spirit of Creem was larger than this book would lead you to believe.
I need more Creem....Please!!!
Book Review: Great, fun, magazine that has very little in common with this book.
Summary: 3 Stars
Yeah, it's got some great articles. Yeah, it's got some Creem Profiles and photos. But.... it's boring. Unless you want to read about Alice Cooper, David Lee Roth, etc, there's just not much else going on here. What made the magazine so much fun were things like the AWESOME letters section, the laugh-yourself-silly-sometimes photo captions, the smaller articles and the fantastic photography (where is the great Lynn Goldsmith???) Where is any of that, where is the stuff we never got to see, the behind the scenes stories and photos?
This is one of those books that goes from 'Wow!' to 'hmmm.....ZZZzzzzz' in less than half an hour.
Book Review: Could've been much better.
Summary: 2 Stars
Hard to believe that with all the back issues of CREEM available to them, this is the best the editors could come up with. The Springsteen and Seger interviews are interesting, there's some good stuff on Pink Floyd and but - come on. Sparks? Mitch Ryder? The Dead Boys? The Knack?
Oh, and there's a few pages devoted to the Beastie Boys...which is really disappointing. I thought this was a book about rock n' roll.