Season of the Witch: How the Occult Saved Rock and Roll
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.85 (691 Votes) |
| Asin | : | B00INIYF5W |
| Format Type | : | |
| Number of Pages | : | 524 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2016-09-01 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Fun Read about a Long, Strange Trip LAdave65 Very absorbing and enjoyable book about a still controversial topic. It's not a definitive history, but more a series of anecdotes about performers who left their own occult stamp on popular music. Some of them I'd never heard of, others I had. The best part for me is a deeper understanding of music's influence on popular culture in my own early lifetime. While I don't agree that the occult saved rock and roll, I see how it increased the allure of the music and expanded the frontiers of the culture. Definitely worth a read for anyone interested in rock music and its times.. Like an ecstatic frenzy through an olive laden grove Like an ecstatic frenzy through an olive laden grove, what a journey Peter Bebergal has woven in his new book, Season of the Witch: How the Occult Saved Rock and Roll. Pan, Dionysus, Bacchus, and those chthonic gods of old, take on new shape and form, rising up from the underground stream known as rock and roll, to burn off the dross of conventionalism through mayhem, spectacle and revelry. For those who know the glamour, and how to howl deep into the night while gyrating to your favorite song, then shake a tailfeather and get this book. You will not be disappointed!. Listen to this book Listen to this book. Bebergal has an incredible ear for music, pop culture, myth and history. He hears them all at once - harmonizes them all at once. I read it in one sitting and then read it again a few months later. If you are moved by rock and roll and care about the world it comes from and the worlds it makes, this is a book not to be missed. Five stars
Bebergal studied religion and culture at Harvard Divinity School, and lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts. . He writes widely on the speculative and slightly fringe, and his recent essays and reviews have appeared in The Times Literary Supplement, Boing Boing, The Believer, and The Quietus. Peter Bebergal is the author of Too Much to Dream: A Psychedelic American Boyhood and The Faith Between Us:<
This epic cultural and historical odyssey unearths the full influence of occult traditions on rock and roll -- from the Beatles to Black Sabbath -- and shows how the marriage between mysticism and music changed our world.From the hoodoo-inspired sounds of Elvis Presley to the Eastern odysseys of George Harrison, from the dark dalliances of Led Zeppelin to the Masonic imagery of today’s hip-hop scene, the occult has long breathed life into rock and hip-hop—and, indeed, esoteric and supernatural traditions are a key ingredient behind the emergence and development of rock and roll. With vivid storytelling and laser-sharp analysis, writer and critic Peter Bebergal illuminates this web of influences to produce the definitive work on how the occult shaped -- and saved -- popular music.As Bebergal explains, occult and mystical ideals gave rock and roll its heart and purpose, making rock into more than just backbeat music, but into a cultural revolution of political, spiritual, sexual, and social liberation.
Perhaps more impressive is the book’s comprehensiveness—from Delta blues to beatnik bluster to acid evangelists to metal overlords, Season of the Witch puts the hellfire in highbrow.”--The Contrarian"Skillfully wovenwill delight any music fan and music historian in equal measure.”--Spirituality Today (5/5 stars)“This book is a glorious headlong rush into the dark, full of the electricity of the arcane. I loved it.”--Warren Ellis, author of Gun Machine and Transmetropolitan“From grimoires to topographic oceans, from heavy metal to hip-hop, Peter Bebergal tracks the Mysteries through half a century of popular music (and some underground noise as well). The world they hoped to change was a dangerous mess. It's an absorbing read deserving an important place in rock literature.”